IPS Pro dev blog 5, the wonders of DNT
by Lukas Joergensen · 11/27/2012 (9:47 am) · 3 comments
Hey guys! Been a while since I have been able to show you some actual movement on the IPS Pro development, so I'm very proud to finally be able to show you what I have spend my time on, and why I believe it was good for me to delay the release of IPS Pro.
DNT is set up in such an ingenious way that I was able to do just that!
In the video below I work with the current IPS-AT version (just a prototype) still misses some features, current state is mostly a proof of concept but I think it is promising!
Now, what features do I plan for the IPS-AT? Apart from what is in the video above, I plan to add an emitter editor aswell, and I want to be able to load in a mesh to finetune your effect to the animation of the player.
I got alot of ideas for the IPS-AT but in the initial release, it will only have features for what it was originally intended to be, a tool to help creating and editing ParticleEffects, so it will only have the features which you might be able to see in the above video, and hopefully be able to load in a mesh to time the ParticleEffect with the player.
Once again I have to send a cheer towards Winterleaf Entertainment for all of their help, ideas and time they have given me! Dan, and Paul have been most valueable at debugging IPS Pro and giving me feedback on it's ease of use and what they find annoying as users of IPS Pro, wouldn't have the same quality in IPS Pro without you! Also I want to thank Vince Gee for all of his help with customizing DNT so that it could be used for my preview window!
So back on track, apart from documentation etc.. I have been working on refactoring the IPS Pro codebase, which cuts the amount of code down by approximately 40% without hitting the features of IPS Pro, and it also enables one feature that I honestly don't understand how I could even consider releasing IPS Pro without! The feature of using any emitter, anywhere. With the refactored code, you can have GraphEmitters as foot puffs or MaskEmitters as water splashes. You can mount GroundEmitters to projectiles to emit particles beneath the projectile! (simulate dust from the drag of the projectiles perhaps?)
I also have a few extra planned features which is not settled yet.
Now with all my refactors and improvements there is a slight amount of work to do, and after that I want to benchmark and optimize the code before I release it, so I have to push the official release of IPS Pro a bit into the future. Now are you worried that this is too far out in the future? I will be opening for a preorder / beta access model before the official release which is that far out in the future!
Really really can't wait because you are considering whether or not to use this in your game and want to evaluate IPS Pro now?
If you email me at lukaspj [at] fuzzyvoidstudio [dot] com I can give you exclusive access to the development repo on GitHub without charging you (please write what you intend to use IPS Pro for and why you want early access to the repo. Also access to the repo will grant you rights to evaluate only not to produce anything)
What does DNT have to do with IPS Pro?
DNT gave me some incredible tools, ever since DNT was first announced, this have been idea that has been running in my mind! I wanted to create an interface between the IPS-AT(IPS Authoring Tool) and Torque3D so I could create a preview window for the ParticleEffects! (And in time, emitters aswell)DNT is set up in such an ingenious way that I was able to do just that!
In the video below I work with the current IPS-AT version (just a prototype) still misses some features, current state is mostly a proof of concept but I think it is promising!
Now, what features do I plan for the IPS-AT? Apart from what is in the video above, I plan to add an emitter editor aswell, and I want to be able to load in a mesh to finetune your effect to the animation of the player.
I got alot of ideas for the IPS-AT but in the initial release, it will only have features for what it was originally intended to be, a tool to help creating and editing ParticleEffects, so it will only have the features which you might be able to see in the above video, and hopefully be able to load in a mesh to time the ParticleEffect with the player.
Okay, but what is the status on the IPS Pro itself?
I have been working a lot with documentation, bugfixing and getting feedback on the current code!Once again I have to send a cheer towards Winterleaf Entertainment for all of their help, ideas and time they have given me! Dan, and Paul have been most valueable at debugging IPS Pro and giving me feedback on it's ease of use and what they find annoying as users of IPS Pro, wouldn't have the same quality in IPS Pro without you! Also I want to thank Vince Gee for all of his help with customizing DNT so that it could be used for my preview window!
So back on track, apart from documentation etc.. I have been working on refactoring the IPS Pro codebase, which cuts the amount of code down by approximately 40% without hitting the features of IPS Pro, and it also enables one feature that I honestly don't understand how I could even consider releasing IPS Pro without! The feature of using any emitter, anywhere. With the refactored code, you can have GraphEmitters as foot puffs or MaskEmitters as water splashes. You can mount GroundEmitters to projectiles to emit particles beneath the projectile! (simulate dust from the drag of the projectiles perhaps?)
I also have a few extra planned features which is not settled yet.
Now with all my refactors and improvements there is a slight amount of work to do, and after that I want to benchmark and optimize the code before I release it, so I have to push the official release of IPS Pro a bit into the future. Now are you worried that this is too far out in the future? I will be opening for a preorder / beta access model before the official release which is that far out in the future!
Really really can't wait because you are considering whether or not to use this in your game and want to evaluate IPS Pro now?
If you email me at lukaspj [at] fuzzyvoidstudio [dot] com I can give you exclusive access to the development repo on GitHub without charging you (please write what you intend to use IPS Pro for and why you want early access to the repo. Also access to the repo will grant you rights to evaluate only not to produce anything)
About the author
IPS Bundle available at: https://www.winterleafentertainment.com/Products/IPS.aspx
#2
11/27/2012 (11:42 am)
That is a very cool looking editing solution you have there, Lukas. I'd also like to mention how awesome it is that you take so much pride in your work. The results are worth it I think. And, ah, no need to thank me at all. I really haven't done much, and I actually feel kind of bad about that. Anyway, what sort of launch date are you looking at with IPS Pro? Ballpark I mean.
#3
Thanks ^^
@Dan
Believe me, you have helped me alot, maybe more than you know of!
I am almost done with the 'Any Emitter Anywhere' feature and after that I will focus entirely on IPS-AT and node based emission limit on the MeshEmitter. Then IPS Pro will be nearing release. I would love to say that the official release will get out before christmas, but there is too many if, then, else statement in my lifes source code atm :)
Mildly spoken, life is rough on my family atm so I don't dare guess at what will hit us next and delay IPS again.
Lets just say that IPS Pro is almost release ready and I just want to ensure that the quality is the best it can get before I release it so before christmas is feasible but not ensured :)
11/27/2012 (4:26 pm)
@VinceThanks ^^
@Dan
Believe me, you have helped me alot, maybe more than you know of!
I am almost done with the 'Any Emitter Anywhere' feature and after that I will focus entirely on IPS-AT and node based emission limit on the MeshEmitter. Then IPS Pro will be nearing release. I would love to say that the official release will get out before christmas, but there is too many if, then, else statement in my lifes source code atm :)
Mildly spoken, life is rough on my family atm so I don't dare guess at what will hit us next and delay IPS again.
Lets just say that IPS Pro is almost release ready and I just want to ensure that the quality is the best it can get before I release it so before christmas is feasible but not ensured :)
Torque Owner Vince Gee
WinterLeaf Entertainment
Dude.... amazing.