Questions / Observations about ShapeBase?
by Jarrod Roberson · in Torque Game Engine · 05/13/2002 (1:17 pm) · 2 replies
Correct me if I am wrong or off base here! PLEASE!
It seems to me this class seems to have lots of stuff that relates directly to Tribes?
Looking thru the class there are lots of operators like
setEnergyLevel()
getRechargeRate()
etc.
that seem to be directly related to gameplay in Tribes?
Also there are lots of operations that refer to muzzle?
Do these muzzle operations really have direct connection with what they seem to, the muzzle of a weapon or does it mean something else?
If all the above == true then it seems that this class could use some refactoring or is it just that the name implies more Genericity than I think. Could someone from GG explain the design of the ShapeBase class and the thinking behind it.
This it seems is a VERY IMPORTANT class in the game engine and it would help to know when to use it and when to use GameBase or one of the other siblings of ShapeBase.
It seems to me this class seems to have lots of stuff that relates directly to Tribes?
Looking thru the class there are lots of operators like
setEnergyLevel()
getRechargeRate()
etc.
that seem to be directly related to gameplay in Tribes?
Also there are lots of operations that refer to muzzle?
Do these muzzle operations really have direct connection with what they seem to, the muzzle of a weapon or does it mean something else?
If all the above == true then it seems that this class could use some refactoring or is it just that the name implies more Genericity than I think. Could someone from GG explain the design of the ShapeBase class and the thinking behind it.
This it seems is a VERY IMPORTANT class in the game engine and it would help to know when to use it and when to use GameBase or one of the other siblings of ShapeBase.
About the author
#2
From my own knowledge, sceneobect is there for drawing but doesnt support datablocks or time based incrementation (processtick etc)
gamebase adds time based updating.
shapebase adds a few useless things AND support for image mounting (i.e. sub object mounts)
My best advice is to find something thats doing close to what you need and see what thats derived from.
Most of my stuff is gamebase derived.
Phil.
05/13/2002 (3:10 pm)
Badguy's pretty much got it IMHO. Shapebase DOES have some excess baggage, you can remove that if it offends. Or ignore it otherwise.From my own knowledge, sceneobect is there for drawing but doesnt support datablocks or time based incrementation (processtick etc)
gamebase adds time based updating.
shapebase adds a few useless things AND support for image mounting (i.e. sub object mounts)
My best advice is to find something thats doing close to what you need and see what thats derived from.
Most of my stuff is gamebase derived.
Phil.
Torque Owner Badguy
ShapeBase is the base class for anything that is a 3d model.
being how many of the game objects had use for these properties ..
they were placed in the class to reduce code im sure.
(energy, muzzlepoint,...)
I would say the line between using this class ,
and using GameBase..
could be drawn by stating :
if this object needs interaction with the player
ie: mounting, collecting, carrying.
then it should prolly be shapebase.
if this object does not need direct interaction with the player.. yet needs to be processed everytick
ie: an elevator, door
it could be GameBase.
if the object needs no processing or interacting.
but needs to remain in the scene to draw
it should be SceneObject
these are my thoughts on this ..
If someone with more information could say ya or nay.
it would be good