the features that are needed to run the game. Compile tested with
scons, make, but not cmake, that seems to have an issue not related
to these changes. The changes include:
* GLSL support in the viewport and game engine, enable in the game
menu in textured draw mode.
* Synced and merged part of the duplicated blender and gameengine/
gameplayer drawing code.
* Further refactoring of game engine drawing code, especially mesh
storage changed a lot.
* Optimizations in game engine armatures to avoid recomputations.
* A python function to get the framerate estimate in game.
* An option take object color into account in materials.
* An option to restrict shadow casters to a lamp's layers.
* Increase from 10 to 18 texture slots for materials, lamps, word.
An extra texture slot shows up once the last slot is used.
* Memory limit for undo, not enabled by default yet because it
needs the .B.blend to be changed.
* Multiple undo for image painting.
* An offset for dupligroups, so not all objects in a group have to
be at the origin.
- For newtonian particles a "self effect" button in particle extras makes the particles be effected by themselves if a particle effector is defined for this system, currently this is a brute force method so things start getting slow with more than ~100 particles, but this will hopefully change in the future.
- Two new effector types: charge and a Lennard-Jones potential based force (inter-molecular forces for example).
-Charge is similar to spherical field except it changes behavior (attract/repulse) based on the effected particles charge field (negative/positive) like real particles with a charge.
-The Lennard-Jones field is a very short range force with a behavior determined by the sizes of the effector and effected particle. At a distance smaller than the combined sizes the field is very repulsive and after that distance it's attractive. It tries to keep the particles at an equilibrium distance from each other. Particles need to be at a close proximity to each other to be effected by this field at all.
- Particle systems can now have two effector fields (two slots in the fields panel). This allows to create particles which for example have both a charge and a Lennard-Jones potential.
get lost in reading libraries. The pointers were being remapped in the
expand stage, but not all objects were guaranteed to be linked in at that
point, so they got lost. Now it always does this in the lib linking stage
for both regular and library objects.
Introduction of a new Delay sensor that can be used to
generate positive and negative triggers at precise time,
expressed in number of frames.
The delay parameter defines the length of the initial
OFF period. A positive trigger is generated at the end
of this period. The duration parameter defines the
length of the ON period following the OFF period.
A negative trigger is generated at the end of the ON period.
If duration is 0, the sensor stays ON and there is no
negative trigger.
The sensor runs the OFF-ON cycle once unless the repeat
option is set: the OFF-ON cycle repeats indefinately
(or the OFF cycle if duration is 0).
The new generic SCA_ISensor::reset() Python function
can be used at any time to restart the sensor: the
current cycle is interrupted and no trigger is generated.
Flags control the behaviour and grouping of markers. At present, Ctrl+M places a marker with TMARK_EDITALL set for testing purposes.
I have also split the text area event handler into separate methods for marker handling and the existing text tools. This makes the events system much easier to follow as it was getting a little hairy.
=======================================
Alpha blending + sorting was revised, to fix bugs and get it
to work more predictable.
* A new per texture face "Sort" setting defines if the face
is alpha sorted or not, instead of abusing the "ZTransp"
setting as it did before.
* Existing files are converted to hopefully match the old
behavior as much as possible with a version patch.
* On new meshes the Sort flag is disabled by the default, to
avoid unexpected and hard to find slowdowns.
* Alpha sorting for faces was incredibly slow. Sorting faces
in a mesh with 600 faces lowered the framerate from 200 to
70 fps in my test.. the sorting there case goes about 15x
faster now, but it is still advised to use Clip Alpha if
possible instead of regular Alpha.
* There still various limitations in the alpha sorting code,
I've added some comments to the code about this.
Some docs at the bottom of the page:
http://www.blender.org/development/current-projects/changes-since-246/realtime-glsl-materials/
Merged some fixes from the apricot branch, most important
change is that tangents are now exactly the same as the rest
of Blender, instead of being computed in the game engine with a
different algorithm.
Also, the subversion was bumped to 1.
Based on user feedback, I've made some changes to the Grease Pencil UI (most notably in 'Time Editing' facilities).
* 'Edit Timing' button gone
* Pin button and '<Grease Pencil Data' string gone from Action Editor
* Action Editor in 'Grease Pencil' mode now displays all grease-pencil datablocks for current screen.
* AE: GP-Datablocks are drawn like 'groups', with an expand/collapse button to show/hide layers. Its name shows the type of space it comes from, and shows indicative status info (i.e. for 3d-view, it shows view-angle)
* Added refresh calls for action editor after editing relevant data.
I haven't tested all tools yet, but most should be stable.
Also, I've removed some unnecessary buttons, and added a few tooltips. There's also some experimental code to try to get clearer indication of 'active' layer.
Grease Pencil is a tool which allows you to draw freehand in some views, allowing you to annotate/scribble over the contents of that view in either 2d or 3d. This facilitates many easier communication and planning abilities.
To use, simply enable it from the View menu (choose 'Grease Pencil...' and click 'Use Grease Pencil'). Then, click+drag using the left-mouse button and the shift-key held to draw a stroke.
For more information, check the following page on the wiki:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Aligorith/247_Grease_Pencil
General
=======
- Removal of Damp option in motion actuator (replaced by
Servo control motion).
- No PyDoc at present, will be added soon.
Generalization of the Lvl option
================================
A sensor with the Lvl option selected will always produce an
event at the start of the game or when entering a state or at
object creation. The event will be positive or negative
depending of the sensor condition. A negative pulse makes
sense when used with a NAND controller: it will be converted
into an actuator activation.
Servo control motion
====================
A new variant of the motion actuator allows to control speed
with force. The control if of type "PID" (Propotional, Integral,
Derivate): the force is automatically adapted to achieve the
target speed. All the parameters of the servo controller are
configurable. The result is a great variety of motion style:
anysotropic friction, flying, sliding, pseudo Dloc...
This actuator should be used in preference to Dloc and LinV
as it produces more fluid movements and avoids the collision
problem with Dloc.
LinV : target speed as (X,Y,Z) vector in local or world
coordinates (mostly useful in local coordinates).
Limit: the force can be limited along each axis (in the same
coordinates of LinV). No limitation means that the force
will grow as large as necessary to achieve the target
speed along that axis. Set a max value to limit the
accelaration along an axis (slow start) and set a min
value (negative) to limit the brake force.
P: Proportional coefficient of servo controller, don't set
directly unless you know what you're doing.
I: Integral coefficient of servo controller. Use low value
(<0.1) for slow reaction (sliding), high values (>0.5)
for hard control. The P coefficient will be automatically
set to 60 times the I coefficient (a reasonable value).
D: Derivate coefficient. Leave to 0 unless you know what
you're doing. High values create instability.
Notes: - This actuator works perfectly in zero friction
environment: the PID controller will simulate friction
by applying force as needed.
- This actuator is compatible with simple Drot motion
actuator but not with LinV and Dloc motion.
- (0,0,0) is a valid target speed.
- All parameters are accessible through Python.
Distance constraint actuator
============================
A new variant of the constraint actuator allows to set the
distance and orientation relative to a surface. The controller
uses a ray to detect the surface (or any object) and adapt the
distance and orientation parallel to the surface.
Damp: Time constant (in nb of frames) of distance and
orientation control.
Dist: Select to enable distance control and set target
distance. The object will be position at the given
distance of surface along the ray direction.
Direction: chose a local axis as the ray direction.
Range: length of ray. Objecgt within this distance will be
detected.
N : Select to enable orientation control. The actuator will
change the orientation and the location of the object
so that it is parallel to the surface at the vertical
of the point of contact of the ray.
M/P : Select to enable material detection. Default is property
detection.
Property/Material: name of property/material that the target of
ray must have to be detected. If not set, property/
material filter is disabled and any collisioning object
within range will be detected.
PER : Select to enable persistent operation. Normally the
actuator disables itself automatically if the ray does
not reach a valid target.
time : Maximum activation time of actuator.
0 : unlimited.
>0: number of frames before automatic deactivation.
rotDamp: Time constant (in nb of frame) of orientation control.
0 : use Damp parameter.
>0: use a different time constant for orientation.
Notes: - If neither N nor Dist options are set, the actuator
does not change the position and orientation of the
object; it works as a ray sensor.
- The ray has no "X-ray" capability: if the first object
hit does not have the required property/material, it
returns no hit and the actuator disables itself unless
PER option is enabled.
- This actuator changes the position and orientation but
not the speed of the object. This has an important
implication in a gravity environment: the gravity will
cause the speed to increase although the object seems
to stay still (it is repositioned at each frame).
The gravity must be compensated in one way or another.
the new servo control motion actuator is the simplest
way: set the target speed along the ray axis to 0
and the servo control will automatically compensate
the gravity.
- This actuator changes the orientation of the object
and will conflict with Drot motion unless it is
placed BEFORE the Drot motion actuator (the order of
actuator is important)
- All parameters are accessible through Python.
Orientation constraint
======================
A new variant of the constraint actuator allows to align an
object axis along a global direction.
Damp : Time constant (in nb of frames) of orientation control.
X,Y,Z: Global coordinates of reference direction.
time : Maximum activation time of actuator.
0 : unlimited.
>0: number of frames before automatic deactivation.
Notes: - (X,Y,Z) = (0,0,0) is not a valid direction
- This actuator changes the orientation of the object
and will conflict with Drot motion unless it is placed
BEFORE the Drot motion actuator (the order of
actuator is important).
- This actuator doesn't change the location and speed.
It is compatible with gravity.
- All parameters are accessible through Python.
Actuator sensor
===============
This sensor detects the activation and deactivation of actuators
of the same object. The sensor generates a positive pulse when
the corresponding sensor is activated and a negative pulse when
it is deactivated (the contrary if the Inv option is selected).
This is mostly useful to chain actions and to detect the loss of
contact of the distance motion actuator.
Notes: - Actuators are disabled at the start of the game; if you
want to detect the On-Off transition of an actuator
after it has been activated at least once, unselect the
Lvl and Inv options and use a NAND controller.
- Some actuators deactivates themselves immediately after
being activated. The sensor detects this situation as
an On-Off transition.
- The actuator name can be set through Python.
This patch introduces a simple state engine system with the logic bricks. This system features full
backward compatibility, multiple active states, multiple state transitions, automatic disabling of
sensor and actuators, full GUI support and selective display of sensors and actuators.
Note: Python API is available but not documented yet. It will be added asap.
State internals
===============
The state system is object based. The current state mask is stored in the object as a 32 bit value;
each bit set in the mask is an active state. The controllers have a state mask too but only one bit
can be set: a controller belongs to a single state. The game engine will only execute controllers
that belong to active states. Sensors and actuators don't have a state mask but are effectively
attached to states via their links to the controllers. Sensors and actuators can be connected to more
than one state. When a controller becomes inactive because of a state change, its links to sensors
and actuators are temporarily broken (until the state becomes active again). If an actuator gets isolated,
i.e all the links to controllers are broken, it is automatically disabled. If a sensor gets isolated,
the game engine will stop calling it to save CPU. It will also reset the sensor internal state so that
it can react as if the game just started when it gets reconnected to an active controller. For example,
an Always sensor in no pulse mode that is connected to a single state (i.e connected to one or more
controllers of a single state) will generate a pulse each time the state becomes active. This feature is
not available on all sensors, see the notes below.
GUI
===
This system system is fully configurable through the GUI: the object state mask is visible under the
object bar in the controller's colum as an array of buttons just like the 3D view layer mask.
Click on a state bit to only display the controllers of that state. You can select more than one state
with SHIFT-click. The All button sets all the bits so that you can see all the controllers of the object.
The Ini button sets the state mask back to the object default state. You can change the default state
of object by first selecting the desired state mask and storing using the menu under the State button.
If you define a default state mask, it will be loaded into the object state make when you load the blend
file or when you run the game under the blenderplayer. However, when you run the game under Blender,
the current selected state mask will be used as the startup state for the object. This allows you to test
specific state during the game design.
The controller display the state they belong to with a new button in the controller header. When you add
a new controller, it is added by default in the lowest enabled state. You can change the controller state
by clicking on the button and selecting another state. If more than one state is enabled in the object
state mask, controllers are grouped by state for more readibility.
The new Sta button in the sensor and actuator column header allows you to display only the sensors and
actuators that are linked to visible controllers.
A new state actuator is available to modify the state during the game. It defines a bit mask and
the operation to apply on the current object state mask:
Cpy: the bit mask is copied to the object state mask.
Add: the bits that set in the bit mask will be turned on in the object state mask.
Sub: the bits that set in the bit mask will be turned off in the object state mask.
Inv: the bits that set in the bit mask will be inverted in the objecyy state mask.
Notes
=====
- Although states have no name, a simply convention consists in using the name of the first controller
of the state as the state name. The GUI will support that convention by displaying as a hint the name
of the first controller of the state when you move the mouse over a state bit of the object state mask
or of the state actuator bit mask.
- Each object has a state mask and each object can have a state engine but if several objects are
part of a logical group, it is recommended to put the state engine only in the main object and to
link the controllers of that object to the sensors and actuators of the different objects.
- When loading an old blend file, the state mask of all objects and controllers are initialized to 1
so that all the controllers belong to this single state. This ensures backward compatibility with
existing game.
- When the state actuator is activated at the same time as other actuators, these actuators are
guaranteed to execute before being eventually disabled due to the state change. This is useful for
example to send a message or update a property at the time of changing the state.
- Sensors that depend on underlying resource won't reset fully when they are isolated. By the time they
are acticated again, they will behave as follow:
* keyboard sensor: keys already pressed won't be detected. The keyboard sensor is only sensitive
to new key press.
* collision sensor: objects already colliding won't be detected. Only new collisions are
detected.
* near and radar sensor: same as collision sensor.
Shape Action are now supported in the BGE. A new type of actuator "Shape Action" is available on mesh objects. It can be combined with Action actuator on parent armature. Only relative keys are supported. All the usual action options are available: type, blending, priority, Python API. Only actions with shape channels should be specified of course, otherwise the actuator has no effect. Shape action will still work after a mesh replacement provided that the new mesh has compatible shape keys.
sprintf(str, "/bin/su root -c 'cd %s; /bin/tar cf - \"%s\" | (/bin/cd %s; /bin/tar xf -)'", from, file, to);
return system(str);
This would ask for a password in blenders terminal, in ubuntu there is no root user...
If this feature is added back it should be written in a much nicer way.
Also made HKey toggle hidden files in the file selector.
=======================
Caching and Baking:
- The point cache is now cleared on DAG_object_flush_update(), and not cleared for time dependency graph updates.
- There is now a Bake button instead of Protect. Also cache start and end frames were added to softbody and particles.
- The cloth autoprotect feature was removed.
- The Ctrl+B menu now also bakes cloth and particles next to softbody and fluids. Additionally there are now frree bake and free cache menu entries.
- The point cache api has been changed. There is now a PTCacheID struct for each point cache type that can be filled and then used to call the point cache functions.
- PointCache struct was added to DNA and is automatically allocated for each physics type.
- Soft body now supports Bake Editing just like cloth.
- Tried to make the systems deal consistently with time ipo's and offsets. Still not sure it all works correct, but too complicated to solve completely now.
Library Linking:
- Added some more warnings to prevent editing settings on library linked objects.
- Linked objects now read from the cache located next to the original library file, and never write to it. This restores old behavior for softbodies. For local simulation the mesh and not the object should be linked.
- Dupligroups and proxies can't create local point caches at the moment, how to implement that I'm not sure. We probably need a proxy point cache for that to work (ugh).
Physics UI:
- Renamed deflection panel to collision for consistency and reorganized the buttons. Also removed some softbody collision buttons from the softbody panel that were duplicated in this panel for cloth.
- Tweaked field panel buttons to not jump around when changing options.
- Tabbing e.g. Soft Body Collision into the Soft Body panel, it now only shows Collision to make the panel names readable.
- I tried to make enabled/disabling physics more consistent, since all three system did things different. Now the two modifier buttons to enable the modifier for the viewport and rendering are also duplicated in the physics panels. Toggling the Soft Body and Cloth buttons now both remove their modifiers.
- Fixed modifier error drawing glitch.
Particles:
- Particles are now recalculated more often than before. Previously it did partial updates based on the changes, but that doesn't work well with DAG_object_flush_update() ..
- Fixed memory leak loading keyed particle system. Now keys are not written to file anymore but always created after loading.
- Make particle threads work with autothreads.
Continue Physics:
- The timeline play now has a Continue Physics option in the playback menu, which keeps the simulations going without writing them to the cache.
- This doesn't always work that well, some changes are not immediately updated, but this can be improved later. Still it's fun to get a feel for the physics.
Todo:
- Point cache can get out of sync with and undo and changing a file without saving it.
- Change the point cache file format to store a version (so old point cache files can be either converted or at least ignored), and to do correct endian conversion.
- Menu item and/or buttons for Ctrl+B.
- A system("rm ..") was changed to remove() since the former is very slow for clearing point caches. These system() calls were already giving trouble in a bug in the tracker, but really most use of this system("") should be changed and tested.
- The Soft Body Collision and Clot Collision panel titles don't mention there's point cache settings there too, doing that makes them unreadable with the default panel setup.. but may need to make the names longer anyway.
