Sapphire

[Madcowthomas]

Wondering if possible to move the information that is displayed in the upper left hand corner say to the menu bar.

Or Create a box with a background so able to read this information more clearly when using Sapphire.

[Aaron]

Hi William,

Sure, I'll add some options to change the colour/background for the text overlay. It's on the to-do list for the next update to Sapphire, which will be after L3DT v2.5b launches.

Cheers,
Aaron.

[David Walters]

Hi, I've been following L3DT on and off for quite a while now and seeing it grow over the years has been fun to watch. I really like niche tools like this that do their job well. I'm currently running 2.7 dev 6, and especially like the newly added toolbar for Sapphire.

I have a few suggestions, mostly to do with Saphire but they didn't seem like they were worth creating a new topic for, so I'll just add them onto the end of this thread if that's okay! Okay here goes (I've tried to check these aren't on your dev-plans, but I guess I might have missed some):

* Can you update the input code so that you can move in more than one axis at a time. I'd like a more fluid FPS type movement, currently there's a noticable delay when you switch from forward to strafing. I think this would really help in making it more immersive.

* On my machine, if you access the menus they are very flickery - unless you are paused. Would it be possible to auto-pause (perhaps in response to 'WM_INITMENUPOPUP' ? ) for the duration of menu activity ?

* Could you add a mouse look invert option (unless I've missed one) - I'm not trying to turn this into an FPS engine - it's just really disorienting for me, and would help some more with immersion.

Anyway, not a massive list - but all little things that I think would add a nice layer of polish. Keep up the good work!

[Aaron]

Hi David,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll add the keyboard & mouse items to the development plan, and I've just now implemented renderer auto-pausing when entering the menu (using WM_ENTERMENULOOP/WM_EXITMENULOOP), so that will be in the next developmental build when it's available.

Thanks again!

Cheerio,
Aaron.

[Aaron]

Hi David,

Item number one is done too; I've changed the key hander from WM_CHAR to ON_KEYDOWN and WM_KEYUP, which permits multi-axis movement simultaneously. This also makes the movement more smooth, as the repetition rate is now locked to the frame rate, rather than the default Windows keyboard repetition rate.

I've also made the keys case insensitive, so you can have caps lock on without any drama.

Edit: I've also added an option to invert the y-axis hander when mouse panning. To set this flag, you'll need to select the 'Extensions->Sapphire->Renderer settings' menu option, then change the value of the flag at 'UI->MousePanInvertY' in the settings window.

These changes will be included in the next update. I'll post back here when it's available for download.

Cheerio,
Aaron.

[David Walters]

Great thanks! This will really help with prototyping and visualising walking around the terrain without having to export into a game engine, etc.

[Aaron]

Hi David,

These changes are included in L3DT v2.7 build 9, which is on the downloads page now. Please let me know if you find any problems.

Best regards,
Aaron.

[David Walters]

BRILLIANT!, the smooth strafing really helps me visualise distances better and feels much more polished. No problems here!

BTW, I've actually thought of a couple more movement suggestions if you want them:

* I'd like the 'fly up' button to switch to hover mode if you're walking. It saves moving my hand to the space bar and just seems naturally to be the key I press to "take off", so to speak.

* I think that switching from flying to walking mode should store your previous (relative) altitude - and apply that when you press <space> again. This change would make it quicker to get a quick ground based look at the terrain without 'losing' a favourable eagle-eye vantage point.

Again nothing spectacular, but I think it makes a difference

[Aaron]

Hi David,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll add them to the to-do list for Sapphire.

Cheerio,
Aaron.

[David Walters]

Thanks!

So, I was having a play around today trying to prototype a more atmospheric night-time map. I set the fog colour to a nice dark shade - but the sky stayed blue. Unfortunately I had to close Sapphire to go to the settings for the sky colour. It would have been good to have a more instant feedback.

I realise you plan to integrate Sapphire as part of the main L3DT view (can't wait ) and in doing so presumably allowing access to the settings while it's running -- but as a short term measure can you add a simple 'sky colour' option to the Atmosphere menu? - just like the fog colour one that's there already.

Additionally, an extra option I would like to see is the ability to set the fog near and far distances in the renderer settings. This would work well as a percentage (of the draw/clip distance) I think, and allow you to create a distant tinge or a dense bank of cloud. I'm wanting to create region based fog parameters ( like for a wooded area, or a misty mountain ) and it would be nice to try out a few different combinations within the editor itself!

[Aaron]

Hi David,

Unfortunately I had to close Sapphire to go to the settings for the sky colour. It would have been good to have a more instant feedback.

I'll add this option to the Sapphire menu for the next release.

I realise you plan to integrate Sapphire as part of the main L3DT view (can't wait )

I did this, and it was surprisingly horrible to use. When Sapphire was shown in the main window, it had to hide the regular L3DT toolbar and menu [since most of the options can't be used when Sapphire is active], and show the Sapphire toolbar and menu in their place. Guess what? This just made the regular L3DT window look exactly like the Sapphire window, except there was no obvious way to close the 3D view (closing the L3DT window still closed the application). Hence, I've canned the idea of integrating the views (though the code still exists, just in case).

Additionally, an extra option I would like to see is the ability to set the fog near and far distances in the renderer settings. This would work well as a percentage (of the draw/clip distance) I think, and allow you to create a distant tinge or a dense bank of cloud.

Okay, I'll add an option to allow you to edit those settings.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Cheerio,
Aaron.

[David Walters]

I did this, and it was surprisingly horrible to use. When Sapphire was shown in the main window, it had to hide the regular L3DT toolbar and menu [since most of the options can't be used when Sapphire is active], and show the Sapphire toolbar and menu in their place. Guess what? This just made the regular L3DT window look exactly like the Sapphire window, except there was no obvious way to close the 3D view (closing the L3DT window still closed the application). Hence, I've canned the idea of integrating the views (though the code still exists, just in case).

Actually, yeah when you put it like this - it isn't very desirable is it!

Thanks for taking the time to explain it and I look forward to the next build!

[Aaron]

Hi David,

I've included the menu options for choosing the fog distances and the sky colour in the latest release, which is on the downloads page now as v2.7 build 15. Please let me know if you find any problems.

Best regards,
Aaron.