A droplet for the community

Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/A droplet for the community

Moraldi(Posted 2006) [#1]
I am allmost ready to share with the community my droplet program i made for personal purposes. The final result is pretty good so its worth to share with all of you. But there is a problem i can't handle it:
When the application lost the windows focus by another OpenGL or D3D application then the screen update is freezing (not the program). The droplet is a Blitz3D application with native windows menus and dialogs (through a DLLs i made).
Currently the program saves the maps in its own format but in a few days it will export to Blitz3D code. There is also an incomplete help file
Because i have no web site, i can sent the application by e-mail to anyone who interested for testing and usage so i can have your feedback.
Thanks in advance


puki(Posted 2006) [#2]
OOoh, this sounds interesting.


John Blackledge(Posted 2006) [#3]
Very kind of you to share.
Any screenies?


Moraldi(Posted 2006) [#4]
I don't know how to post a screenshot...!


t3K|Mac(Posted 2006) [#5]
mail them to me, i'll upload them to my webspace and post them here..


jfk EO-11110(Posted 2006) [#6]
Maybe you can solve the problem with an Api call of SetWindowPos (I guess that was it). It allows to position and scale a window, as well as to set its Z-Position. Unfortunately this still won't give your hwnd the user focus in every situation.

I have to confess when I had a similar problem some time ago, I used a simulated mouseclick right onto my window, this worked, no matter what.

Pretty "quick'n'dirty", I know. :o)


Moraldi(Posted 2006) [#7]
jfk EO-11110,
thanks for your advise and I will try it. But if you are a C experienced programmer I can e-mail to you a small piece of C code to tell you exactly my tricks with windows API calls and Blitz3D...


t3K|Mac(Posted 2006) [#8]
First Screenshot:



Download here:

http://www.t3k-entertainment.com/DropIt.zip


t3K|Mac(Posted 2006) [#9]
Ok, at first look: nice - but the interface (especially the keys) is not very intuitive. i find it difficult to place objects when i have rotated the camera. the movement axes of your cursor don't rotate with the camera - making it very clumsy. maybe you could fix that. i'll go have a second look.


John Pickford(Posted 2006) [#10]
What's a droplet?


Fuller(Posted 2006) [#11]
John Pickford, A droplet is a entity placement program to assist in world creation.
Moraldi, Why are the controls inverted?


Moraldi(Posted 2006) [#12]
Fuller, what you mean inverted? if you press 6 from numkeys the cursor moving right on positive X-axis and so on. I suppose you mean what allready t3K|Mac said: There is a confusion if you rotate the camera lets say 180 degrees around Y-axis: in this case because cursor has not been rotated with the camera if you press 6 again then it still moving on positive X-axis but you see e left movement...


puki(Posted 2006) [#13]
I'm not keen on the controls either - however, I have only had a quick go on it. Probably takes getting used to.


Moraldi(Posted 2006) [#14]
Hi guys,
Thinking of your suggestions about the user interface I have changed some things in DropIt including the following additions:

1. Support surface creation with animated textures
2. Store all preferences in configuration file
3. Blitz3D code generation (the most important)

If I see that there is an interest I'll continue with more futures. Otherwise I'll stop. Because I don't have a web site yet, please feel free to send me your request and I'll send you the installation program...


Moraldi(Posted 2006) [#15]
Well, here is a link for download:
http://files.filefront.com/DropItexe/;5240089;;/fileinfo.html


Moraldi(Posted 2007) [#16]
After several months I am back with a new droplet program. This time it is much more user friendly and has the ability to export data in an ASCII format
You can grab it from here:
http://www.moraldigames.com/downloads.htm
Please let me know for your feedback and most importantly bugs you will find because I intend to post it to the Blitz Toolbox

Thanks


puki(Posted 2007) [#17]
I can't get it to run - ie double clicking the exe doesn't launch it.


Moraldi(Posted 2007) [#18]
Did you download the installation program? Normally it will create s shortcut in the Start->Programs->Unlimited Drop
It runs on 1024x768x32 windowed screen mode. I didn't implement a graphics mode selection yet. Does your card support this mode? I hope in a few days I will finish the graphics mode selection
Here is the main screenshot: