====== Progress report on v2.4 beta3 ======
The [[bundydocs>aaron:todo:l3dt:v2.4|development plan]] for v2.4 beta3 has lurched away from what I had [[l3dt:2006:may:03|previously
planned]] (i.e. scripting). Instead, most of the changes in this next beta-release
are improvements to the climate/texturing system, plus a number of bug-fixes.
===== Textures and bump-maps =====
I've been busy improving high-resolution texture output from L3DT.
In previous versions each land type could have only two textures/bump-maps
- one for 'low-res' and one for 'high-res'. In //Beta3// each land type may have an arbitrary
number of textures and bump-maps, each with arbitrary horizontal scaling.
The texture-layer-combiner also supports textures in modulation-mode,
so you can bake greyscale (or colour) detail-maps onto
ultra-high res textures.
As for bump-mapping, previous versions of L3DT used a cheap-n-nasty vector
combiner that produced imperfect results on sloped terrain. I've re-written this
using a proper matrix transformation((A big thank-you goes to my 1st year university mathematics textbook for the quick refresher on matrix algebra, determinants and vector cross-products.)) so that the bump-mapping works properly
in all cases. Here is a pretty screenshot:
| {{:l3dt:2006:may:16xtex1.jpg?600}} |
Another change is the introduction of //[[wp>Stratum|strata mapping]]//, of which this is a quick (and less pretty) example:
| {{:l3dt:2006:may:desert-er1.jpg?600}} |
===== Land type editor =====
//Beta1// and //beta2// used my generic 'tree-edit dialog' as the land type editor interface.
In //beta3// there will be a dedicated dialog, which should hopefully be a little more usable
and a little less daunting. Screenshots will follow at a later date.
===== Bug fixes =====
The clean-up continues for the bugs introduced in the first two betas of v2.4
due to changes in file formats, script-handling and data structures.
These are mostly user-interface and file input/output problems
([[bundydocs>aaron:todo:l3dt:v2.4#beta3|listed here]]).
===== Release schedule =====
//Beta3// is at least a week away. The changes in texture-handing caused quite a bit of splash-damage on other parts of the code that now need to be upgraded. I also need to update the textures/bump-maps in the 'standard' climates (temperate, arctic, desert).
At the moment I don't plan to make a //beta4//, so the next update after //beta3//
will be the release-version of L3DT v2.4. //Finally!//
===== A question =====
For the commercial release, is [[http://www.paypal.com|PayPal]] an acceptable payment method, or would you prefer something more elaborate? Replies are welcome [[http://www.bundysoft.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=155|in the forum]].
{{tag>beta release climates bump_maps}}