Static objects and LP.

#1 Hi Markus,

Good question, right now those options are only available to TSStatic objects. However, as far as I remember the options could work with StaticShape objects, with the exception of shadows, which will not work with any ShapeBase derived objects, because of the way they're scoped (they don't exist until you see them, which is after scenelighting).

The options generally are designed for objects that don't change position, so I think adding them to StaticShape, which doesn't move, should be fine.


*quick edit* - ok, after looking over the TGE code there is a class derived from StaticShape named ScopeAlwaysShape (which I've never noticed before), this object should cast shadows after a few code changes, and will have the script hooks and animation capability of StaticShape (keep in mind that the static shadow created from the object wont be animated).

Does this sound like it would help, or am I misunderstanding the question?

-John

#2 Hi John.

After checking the code, I noticed, that you dts related enhancements are implemented in TSStatic.

This explains, why my project (which mostly uses StaticShape objects) does not use very much of the LP features (except the stuff you do for the general lightning).

You guessed right. What I really want is LP features and shadows for my StaticShape derived objects.

Theses objects are mostly non moving, so a non moving shadow is not an issue. Why are these objects StaticShapes and not TSStatics? I cannot tell.
This is a design decision, made long ago.

If I understand you right I would have to add the shadow and LP features to ScopeAlwaysShape and use this class as base instead of StaticShape, right?

Any hints or tipps how to do this? Or what to keep an eye on?
If you think this is behind the scope of this thread, feel free to email me offline.

-- Markus

#3 "If I understand you right I would have to add the shadow and LP features to ScopeAlwaysShape and use this class as base instead of StaticShape, right?"

Those changes may be rather complicated, so I'll roll them into the next release. This is a feature I've wanted to add for a while, but other things have had higher priority this gives me the opportunity to finally implement the changes.

#4 Hi Markus,

The changes were rather complex (too much so for a patch), but StaticShape support is in for the next release. I'll be testing the ScopeAlwaysShape tonight, hopefully with a few minor changes I can get them casting static shadows too.

-John