Progress report for L3DT 2.4

[Aaron]

Hi All,

Sorry I haven't been around much lately and haven't responded to mail in a while (I'll get back to you soon, I promise). I have, however, found some time to bash together an outline of exactly what is coming in L3DT 2.4 and an approximate timeline thereof:

http://www.bundysoft.com/L3DT/news/2006.php#Feb14

Please note that while the feature-list seems sparse, the final release is likely to have more. I often have a bad habit of engaging in last-minute unexpected feature creep (high-res shadows, new texture routine, bump-mapping, heightfield preview, duplicate tile borders, etc, etc).

As mentioned in the above item, most L3DT text files are to be converted to XML. This shouldn't affect many users, as L3DT and L3DTVi2 will be fully backwards compatible (for a change). However, I'd like to hear from anyone that has written or is using another program that reads the .mgf file. We may need to arrange for some demo files or an early beta-release to help with the transition to the new XML .proj file.

Other feedback is of course most welcome.

Cheers,
Aaron.

[Aaron]

Hello,

Thought I might mention that basic georeferencing support has been included. I wasn't expecting to implement this quite so soon, but it turned out to be a useful test case for a new storage architecture in L3DT, which I'm now extending more widely across the app (will make scripting easier). The upshot is that no update will be released until those changes are completed, so it's still going to be a month or so until the first beta is available.

Anyway, back to georeferencing:

Basically, when you load terrain in the .bt format, all of the georef data is read and stored, and when the map is saved again, the georef data is pushed back into the .bt file. You can also edit this data, and in the case of a new map (i.e. not loaded from an existing .bt), you will be able to create the georeferencing data.

There is not, however, a nice user interface that knows anything about georeferencing, UTM zones, etc. I use my generic VarListEdit dialog, just like for the 'Options->Settings->Wizards' dialog, but I have improved the usability of this dialog class since the last release (larger text, all buttons working, wider window, values displayed in list, etc). If this system proves too odious to use I might consider a new purpose-built dialog for georeferencing (loathe as I am to make single-use dialog boxes).

Toodles,
Aaron.

[monks]

Great work Aaron.
Hmmm... georeffing eh? -could be ever so slightly useful

monks

[JavaJones]

Is it coincidence that this may just be released at the same time as our base ME-DEM map finishes being georeffed? I think not! The world works in mysterious ways.

- Oshyan

[Aaron]

Hello,
 

Is it coincidence that this may just be released at the same time as our base ME-DEM map finishes being georeffed?

 
Hmmm...I guess that depends on whether the ME-DEM work is also timed to coincide with the Australian financial year (starts July 1). Tax does indeed work in mysterious ways .
 
I will be putting this relatively long deadline to good use though; it gives me the opportunity to do some long-needed structural surgery on L3DT and have it pretty-well debugged in time for release. For the last week or so I've been hacking into most of the core classes and functions to make them easier to manage and more future-proof. This work shouldn't make any noticeable difference to users, but is aimed at making further development easier. Some of it is also required for the scripting interface, such as standardising and simplifying data structures and functions, and reducing the number of classes (wherever possible).
 
The up-shot is that, while L3DT 2.4 may not add a whole lot of new functionality for those not into scripting (or for non-registered users), the code will be a lot easier for me to manage and extend, meaning that new features should be easier to add. That's the plan, anyhow.
 
Aaron.

PS: I apologise to everyone waiting for e-mail replies for the last week or so - I'll try to get to my mailbox either tonight or tomorrow.

[Aaron]

Hello,

I've dashed-together another progress report, being a month since the last one, to summarise the current state of play regarding development of L3DT 2.4. The big news is that there will be a climate editor interface, and that it's almost finished already. You can read all about it here:

http://www.bundysoft.com/L3DT/news/2006.php#Mar14

Cheers,
Aaron.

[DeathTwister]

Hay Aaron,

Yup, yup, read the update progress report, /drools. Woot, so glad to see ya working /chuckles......

My programmer wanted me to say something bout VC6. He said the biggest difference between the 2 he has found is the class wizard (Ctrl-W). It's gone in the new version so he decided to keep using VC6 for our current project. Then we will buy VC2005 the new one for any new projects we will start. he also said the new interface took him a while to get used to as well. But you probably all know that by now those that are using it.

DeathTwister

[Aaron]

Hello DeathTwister,

He said the biggest difference between the 2 he has found is the class wizard (Ctrl-W). It's gone in the new version so he decided to keep using VC6 for our current project.

Yeah, it took me a little while to get used to 'new way of doing things' w.r.t the class wizard. I don't think that part of the UI is really any better or worse, just different.

On a technical level, however, the VC7 compiler is much more strict than the VC6 compiler, which is a good thing I suppose. When I moved L3DT from VC6 to VC7, the compiler threw a huge number of errors due to some really sloppy code that I may not have otherwise found. The down-side is that VC7 is now producing a much 'buggier' executable than VC6, so it's not all roses.

Getting back to the climate editor for a moment; I've spent an evening using and refining and debugging the interface, and I'd have to say it makes the task of writing climates about 12 - maybe even 13 - times easier than with the old climate files in the text editor. I'm rather pleased with it.

Cheers,
Aaron.

[DeathTwister]

Oh, KEWL KEWL COOL cool, I am looking forward to playing with it. Well back to making buildings today and solving problems I wish I didn't have to deal with haha. So catch y'all laterz.

deathTwister