Constructor 1.06 for windows released
by Jaimi McEntire · in Constructor · 06/23/2009 (11:52 am) · 33 replies
Constructor 1.06 for Windows
Whats new:
Fixed a bug where it would sometimes become impossible to edit properties due to refreshing.
Removed DRM - No longer requires ignition key.
Source code for plugins is now included.
New plugin: Pie.cs - Make pies, banked curves, loops!
Some other issues which were not documented. Sorry.
To install:
To install this, Install a BRAND NEW version of constructor 1.03 into a new directory on your hard drive. Extract this file directly into your Constructor directory, overwriting all files, keeping the directory structure intact.
Note that this is a windows release. If you are using the 1.04 macintosh version, you can still use the plugins, just pull them from the plugins folder.
Whats new:
Fixed a bug where it would sometimes become impossible to edit properties due to refreshing.
Removed DRM - No longer requires ignition key.
Source code for plugins is now included.
New plugin: Pie.cs - Make pies, banked curves, loops!
Some other issues which were not documented. Sorry.
To install:
To install this, Install a BRAND NEW version of constructor 1.03 into a new directory on your hard drive. Extract this file directly into your Constructor directory, overwriting all files, keeping the directory structure intact.
Note that this is a windows release. If you are using the 1.04 macintosh version, you can still use the plugins, just pull them from the plugins folder.
#2
06/23/2009 (3:05 pm)
Oh wow, great work! 
#3
06/23/2009 (7:38 pm)
Nah, the pie slices plugin makes it easy. Texturing on the other hand... =p 
#5
06/24/2009 (12:11 pm)
Thanks Jaime! I really like Constructor--it is the availability of this tool which decided me on licensing the Torque engine in the first place (and I was terribly disappointed GG chose to deprecate support for its output format in T3D). 
#6
06/24/2009 (12:16 pm)
@Netwyrm: check out this post www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/17653 
#7
Thanks Jaimi. Haven't had chance to try it out yet but I suspect you just made my life a whole lot easier. Manually building banked curves for a racing game has been driving me nuts.
06/24/2009 (2:52 pm)
Mmm, pie...Thanks Jaimi. Haven't had chance to try it out yet but I suspect you just made my life a whole lot easier. Manually building banked curves for a racing game has been driving me nuts.
#8
I am aware that you can place DIFs in T3D... being as slow as I am, however, on a multiyear development cycle--engine support gone missing once an investment in modeling has been made carries a lot of weight. Learning doesn't come as easily to me as it seems to for others, and previous experience has shown me it takes a minimum of two years of my time to achieve competence with a language or a platform.
I was an early adopter of the iPod, because it was obvious that was game-changing--not because the *device* itself was irresistible, but because of the tool chain put in place to support it. It was clear that an investment in an iPod was solidly backed by a company who had thought through the infrastructural ecosystem needed to support their product for the long haul for a very large number of users of varying degrees of technical skill.
I've had a project collapse right at the finish due to a sudden change in the software platform I had built the client on. Once I got over that disappointment and began thinking about starting over with a purchased engine, I'll confess an enormous criteria moving was obtaining source, but I also had to think through assembling a tool chain--Constructor was an amazing tool and a huge factor in pushing me over the edge in clicking that "buy" button on GG's website.
A student version of 3DS Max or Maya was not an option for me, a full version was over-the-top for an experimental investment, and I am not about to "torrent". The availability of Constructor is what sold the license: here was a modeling program with an interface suitable for an entry-level user such as myself, guaranteed to work with the family of engines I was evaluating, and which was available at low cost. A copy of Torsion, AFX and the MACK PACK followed in short order, along with a texture maker capable of producing normal maps, and I was set to begin the long process of learning something entirely new.
Thus, my trepidation expressed above about dropping support for such an historically integral part of Torque's toolchain--and my appreciation for Mr. McEntire's efforts. I am glad to see he is still maintaining it with this release, and would very much like to see it adapted to Torque's new family of engines*.
*Even if it winds up costing a little money!
06/24/2009 (3:03 pm)
@Britt Scott, that's a very nice model! I am aware that you can place DIFs in T3D... being as slow as I am, however, on a multiyear development cycle--engine support gone missing once an investment in modeling has been made carries a lot of weight. Learning doesn't come as easily to me as it seems to for others, and previous experience has shown me it takes a minimum of two years of my time to achieve competence with a language or a platform.
I was an early adopter of the iPod, because it was obvious that was game-changing--not because the *device* itself was irresistible, but because of the tool chain put in place to support it. It was clear that an investment in an iPod was solidly backed by a company who had thought through the infrastructural ecosystem needed to support their product for the long haul for a very large number of users of varying degrees of technical skill.
I've had a project collapse right at the finish due to a sudden change in the software platform I had built the client on. Once I got over that disappointment and began thinking about starting over with a purchased engine, I'll confess an enormous criteria moving was obtaining source, but I also had to think through assembling a tool chain--Constructor was an amazing tool and a huge factor in pushing me over the edge in clicking that "buy" button on GG's website.
A student version of 3DS Max or Maya was not an option for me, a full version was over-the-top for an experimental investment, and I am not about to "torrent". The availability of Constructor is what sold the license: here was a modeling program with an interface suitable for an entry-level user such as myself, guaranteed to work with the family of engines I was evaluating, and which was available at low cost. A copy of Torsion, AFX and the MACK PACK followed in short order, along with a texture maker capable of producing normal maps, and I was set to begin the long process of learning something entirely new.
Thus, my trepidation expressed above about dropping support for such an historically integral part of Torque's toolchain--and my appreciation for Mr. McEntire's efforts. I am glad to see he is still maintaining it with this release, and would very much like to see it adapted to Torque's new family of engines*.
*Even if it winds up costing a little money!
#9
06/25/2009 (2:07 am)
Thank you Jaimi! 
#10
07/01/2009 (8:40 am)
How do I get the plugins to work? All I have r the 4 basic plugins & I dont know how to add the rest. Also it won't let me add any textures when I create a new album.
#11
07/01/2009 (8:46 am)
I think you just have to copy new plugins into the plugins folder.
#12
07/01/2009 (8:50 am)
All the plugins are in the folder. Unless there's another folder, i dont see why it's not working. 
#13
<edit for being a bonehead> Ah run it as Administrator.</edit>
07/01/2009 (9:59 am)
Constructor 1.03 works in Vista x64. I did a fresh install and did the update and 1.06 did not work. advise?<edit for being a bonehead> Ah run it as Administrator.</edit>
#14
07/02/2009 (6:54 am)
@John - I just re-downloaded and patched to 1.06, and the plugins looked OK. I think something is wrong with your install - you may want to retry a base 1.03 install and then re-patch.
#15
07/02/2009 (6:58 am)
@Netwyrm - I believe dif's will still be supported in T3D. However, I've been thinking that I might be able to add Collada export to constructor, and export with lightmaps intact. Matt has added a collada export feature to T3D already (you can export a collada from a dif), but it doesn't have built in light maps, so you would have to have a separate lighting utility if you went that route. The cool thing is that it would enable us to ignore the convexity rules, and we could go in and move vertexes around to basically wherever we wanted... 
#16
07/02/2009 (8:46 am)
@Jaimi - That would be awesome!
#17
07/02/2009 (10:59 am)
@Jaimi - Yep, that fixed it lol thanks. Now I just gotta figure out how to make loops with the pie plugin! ;) 
#18
07/02/2009 (7:02 pm)
very cool, thanks. 
#19
ps - I can alter them if I go in manage entities window, but thats about it.
07/05/2009 (8:56 am)
Installed this update and now I cant adjust any light attributes. If I try and change the color value they remain the same, as do all the other settings. Any help would be appreciated.ps - I can alter them if I go in manage entities window, but thats about it.
#20
I tried to duplicate this using the following steps:
Selected "Add point entity" button in Entities group on tools panel.
Selected "light_point"
Clicked on the screen to create the light
Clicked "make" button.
I was then able to edit all the fields on the object panel. (ie, changed the intensity to 200.0, the color to 255 255 0, etc.
Are these the same steps you are using?
07/05/2009 (9:40 am)
@Andrew - Did you install over a fresh 1.03 install?I tried to duplicate this using the following steps:
Selected "Add point entity" button in Entities group on tools panel.
Selected "light_point"
Clicked on the screen to create the light
Clicked "make" button.
I was then able to edit all the fields on the object panel. (ie, changed the intensity to 200.0, the color to 255 255 0, etc.
Are these the same steps you are using?
Perishingflames
Simple loop, made by using the outer slope function
Banked curve and spaceship-looking-thing (image cut off - view full image to see it). Banked curve made by simply adjusting each slice's outer face upwards, but could also be made by using the center top adjust function in combination with an equal value for center bottom and flipping it 180 degrees after. Spaceship-thing made by simply inputting a value for center top adjust.