Possible feature request discussion

#1 @Robert: The general idea is sound but I think that'd be a very limited way of doing it as it only works with the properties you consider to be useful and is difficult to extend to other properties. As I mention in a previous post, we'll be looking at animatable properties for all T2D objects at a later stage, similar to the way the particle system works.

Lots of stuff to get done first though. :)

For now, you're free to implement any of this in the source/script and possibly distribute it as a resource if you wish.

- Melv.

#2 One thing I'd like to see is effects such as refraction and such on objects. I'd find that quite useful not to mention cool. :)

#3 Definately a nice thing to play with and not that difficult to convert T2D to work under TSE. I'd say you could do the conversion in about a week.

We've already discussed T2D meets TSE but that kind of thing won't get worked on until we've got a stable base.

Lots of stuff to get done in the meantime but definately something for the future.

- Melv.

#4 I don't know how refraction would be done (if I knew I'd do it myself :) ) but it'd be very useful for effects: shields, powerful energy bursts, shockwaves, heatwaves, water, bubbles, etc...

Another useful feature would be the ability for image control: brightness, contrast, saturation, etc...

#5 Refraction would be done no differently than its done elsewhere, using pixel shaders. With a simple material setting, your sprites or tiles could be refracted water, reflections of objects in front of them etc.

All for the future though. We've got a number of milestones to hit before we get there.

- Melv.

#6 Can you do springs yet? I would like to be able to have a side-on vehicle with suspension.

#7 @Andrew: We don't have springs yet. We'll be looking at some more sophisticated constraints for the mounting system later. Different kinds of constrained joints would be nice, leading to fully articulated characters, bikes, cars etc.

You can fake really spring forces quite easily though by reversing the idea of the mounts. You can have your wheels mounted onto a lower-frame (chassis) and have the rest of the vehicle mounted onto (and in front of the chassis layer) with a strong force. That way, when the chassis/wheels move, the card bounces up/down to catch-up with it. This would be pretty convincing and would probably look really cool if done correctly. I'd actually like to see that done. :)

- Melv.

#8 @Melv: Heh! I've got a vehicle kinda working as you described, but I can't get the physics worked out right. My little truck can fly and drive on the walls! Can't wait for that physics documentation and the tutorials :) Until then, I'll keep messing with values.

#9 @Rob: I that's another thread. ;)

@Matt: Unless your stuff is too secret, any chance of posting me at least an example and I can see if I can help.

Yeah, we definately need to get some examples/tutorials on the physics. Bug-fixes nearly complete.

- Melv.

#10 No problems Rob, just giving you a hard time. ;)

I've got a 7 month old so I know how you feel, especially this morning after having a couple hours sleep (or should I say a couple hours of having my eyes closed)!

- Melv.

#11 For the far-future: One thing that would be cool is a fxDistortedStaticSprite2D(). It would behave like a normal static sprite, but instead of being made of a single quad, it would be subdivided into a hundred or so quads. Then, you could apply various modulations to the vertices and get cool effects such as waves, smearing, swirling, etc. It would, of course, only be a render effect -- I wouldn't expect it to change the shape's collision mesh in any way.

As for full-screen effects, they could be done, but you'd have to modify the scene graph so it rendered to a subdivided quad much like I stated above. Then you could do effects such as heat-waves and blackhole type distortions.

I'm not sure how one goes about using render targets in OpenGL, or how well its supported.

#12 @Melv: I'll post my vehicle code as soon as I can. Unfortunately I've got class until 10pm tonight :( So probably tomorrow. Anyone know a good place for hosting files like this?

#13 @Matt: Could you just email me the files?

- Melv.

#14 @Melv: will do. Though... my code is rather scary...

#15 @Matt: No problem. I cannot say exactly when I'll look at it because I'm so busy but I'll at least be able to give you some hints on how to move forward on it. It's just such a cool idea having 2d articulated vehicles.

@David: I'd like to see lots of community stuff like this. So easy to knock up cool objects. Of particular interest are the fxActiveTile2D which are customised tile classes that are rendered inside the tilemap. They can be anything including particle emitters, gun-turrets or even render a whole scene in a tile!

Lots of cool things to come. :)

- Melv.

#16 @Melv: "or even render a whole scene in a tile!" Wow, giant TV screens showing what's happening in other parts of the game here we come...!

#17 Yep, anything is possible because T2D stores its scene in a scenegraph so an object such as an active-tile could render any arbitrary T2D scene. You could setup a scene, and tell one of these objects to render it.

We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what we can do with the scenegraph.

- Melv.

#18 Ya know what would be cool? If someone *hint hint* were to take the concepts of a 3D animation program and transpose them into a 2D animation program for T2D. We already have the ability to create characters out of sprites mounted on each other, why not take it further and allow us to animate them as well?

It'd be less work for artists who wouldn't have to draw every single frame of animation and it'd be much more flexible. We'd still need sprite frames, but they'd be minimal compared to what artists have to do now (ex: frames for hand in different positions).

This would allow for much more dynamic animations, reusable animations, animation blending and a whole lot more that I can't think of because it's late and I need to go to bed. I've always thought this a cool idea, but never seen it done.

What do you think Melv? Is something like this possible for T2D in the future? Or is there a reason I've never seen it done before?

I've had this idea for years and I think it's a great idea :)

EDIT: I just can't seem to word this right. Ah, well. I think I got the idea across. Time for bed.

#19 I think it's a great idea and that's the kind of cool feature we'd like to see, including sophisticated joints with constraints and a kick-ass animation system but obviously we've got to finish all the other stuff first.

I'd like the ability to construct something along the lines of a "South-Park" episode with T2D and an scene/animation editor. This is the kind of idea we've had for along time and we'll be steering in that direction as we move forward with the other milestones.

- Melv.

#20 Oh yes...

- Melv.