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[Debugging console]

76

General Discussion / Latest beta: WME 1.7 beta 2 (Jan 1st, 2007)

« on: October 01, 2006, 07:21:39 PM »

Hello wintermuties,

I'm releasing a second beta version of WME 1.7 for your testing pleasure. Suggestions and bug reports are welcome. Enjoy

Warning: This beta version is intended for testing purposes only, not for production. Don't install this update if you're not comfortable with using beta versions.

Use at your own risk and expect bugs! Backup your project first!!!


Download WME 1.7 beta 2
(14MB, updated documentation included)


(Note: Saved games are incompatible with previous releases)



Changes in WME 1.7 beta 2 (January 1, 2007)

• Debugging console. The console allows the developer to inspect running scripts and the values of script variables at runtime. It also allows setting breakpoints to pause game flow at specified script lines. See the "Debugging console" chapter in the documentation for more details.

• String Table Manager. A new tool for extracting game texts and managing the string table for localization purposes. See the "String Table Manager" chapter in the documentation for more details.

• Note: Both Debugging console and String Table Manager require Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 installed. It can be downloaded here.

• Changed the behavior of scene scrolling for 2.5D scenes. WME now assumes the camera overviews the entire scene (previous versions assumed camera only overviewed the top-left part of the scene). The original behavior can be restored by checking the "Scene scrolling pre-1.7" checkbox in SceneEdit.

• New scripting function Debug() which pauses game execution and invokes the debugging console.

• New scripting method Game.ClearResponses() for clearing any responses previously added by Game.AddResponse().

• In windowed mode, WME now remembers and restores the previous window position.

• Low-res shadow model can now be also used for flat shadows, not only for stencil shadows.

• FIX: Memory leak in Actor3D.SetTexture().

• FIX: Game.HideLoadingIcon() was causing script stack corruption.

• FIX: Alpha values lower then 8 are no longer ignored.

• FIX: Alpha blending modes were causing graphical artifacts on 3D actors.

• FIX: Passing 'float' values from plugins didn't work.

Changes in WME 1.7 beta 1 (October 1, 2006)

 
• Stencil shadow support for 3D characters.  
  • Stencil shadows are projected onto hidden scene geometry. For that reason, more detailed geometry is necessary. It is now possible to include meshes only for the shadow casting purposes in the geometry 3DS file. See the "3D Characters -> Principles and requirements" chapter in the docs for updated hidden geometry discussion.
   
  • 3D actors can now reference a separate low-poly model for stencil shadow generation purposes (see the "3D actor definition file" in the docs).
   
  • It's possible to set shadow detail level on scene-per-scene base directly in SceneEdit (you can only enable stencil shadows in some scenes if you need to).
   
  • New attributes and methods: Game.MaxShadowType, Game.IsShadowTypeSupported(), Scene.MaxShadowType, Actor3D.ShadowType.
   
  • There is a new chapter called "Shadows" in the docs which describes all the supported shadow types, and their pros and cons.
   
   
 
• X models now support the "AnimTicksPerSecond" attribute exported by some 3D packages.
 
• Added right-to-left reading order support for the game settings dialog (see the "Localization support" chapter in the docs).
 
• Upgraded to the latest version of Theora decoder, which now uses MMX instructions to improve performance.
 
• New scripting methods and attributes:
  • Game.TalkSkipButton - specifies which mouse button can be used to skip talk lines (left, right, both, none).
   
  • Actor3D.AnimTransitionTime - default time for smooth animation transitions.
   
  • Actor3D.GoToTolerance - to prevent actors from moving by just one pixel.
   
  • Emitter.MaxBatches - maximum number of particle batches generated by the particle emitter.
   
  • Button.TextAlign - omitted in previous versions.
   
  • Actor3D.MergeAnims() - to load 3D character animations from X file at runtime.
   
  • Actor3D.UnloadAnim() - to release animations from memory.
   
 
• Spacebar in SceneEdit toggles visibility of a selected node (useful for fine-tuning overlay placement with keyboard).
 
• ProjectMan doesn't show hidden files by default (can be re-enabled in ProjectMan settings).
 
• FIX: Bounding box for 3D characters was only growing and it was never restored to its original size.
 
• FIX: Animation events for 3D characters are no longer skipped on low framerates.
 
• FIX: Camera roll value is now properly read from 3DS files generated by 3D Studio Max.

77

Obecné fórum / Nova verze fora, cestina

« on: August 22, 2006, 12:14:59 PM »

Nainstaloval jsem novou verzi fora, ktera uz podporuje i cestinu. Takze pokud byste chteli prepnout jazyk fora, kliknete nahore Profile -> Account Related Settings. A tady prekliknete Preferred Language na Czech.

78

Scripts, plugins, utilities, goodies / Exporting 3D characters to DirectX format using XSI / Maya / ?

« on: August 02, 2006, 05:58:11 PM »

[originally written by hanser]


Hello everyone

You're often asking how to export to DirectX .X format from other 3D packages than 3ds Max (where there's our favourite Panda Exporter available). For our team, export from XSI has been a big problem for a long time. Until now!


Here's the workflow:

1) First, visit the Autodesk website and download the FBX format export-import plugin for your 3D package (you'll find plugins for XSI and Maya here, you'll have to look elsewhere for other programs plugins) and for 3ds Max (latest version).

2) Install those plugins. In XSI it will be neseccary to install "by hand", in the running program.

3) The plugins contain generic skeletons, which need to be used when rigging your characters. Also, all!! the extended options of a given program need to be turned off. The skeletons can be modified, they contain everything you'll need to make a fully-featured animations.

4) After rigging and animating the characters it's necessary to create keyframes for every joint that moves (independently on kinetics of the skeleton - it needs to be set for all moving joints). We will achieve this by so called animation plotting.

5) Now, export the character in FBX format. In the exporter settings leave all the default values except: don't export cameras and lights, and don't enable extended options (e.g. XSI).

6) Then import the FBX file into 3ds Max with the following importer settings:

• Geometries -> Skin -> More -> Skin modifier (I wasn't able to use Physique)
• Don't import cameras and lights
• Turn on Markers
• ...leave all the other values to default

7) If everything went ok, you can now export to X using Panda.


This workflow is 100% working for Softimage XSI 5.0 Advanced and 3ds Max 8 SP3. But there shouldn't by any big problem for other software. In addition, the FBX files can be easily edited directly in Motion Builder - probably the best application for animation creation.

We've been finetuning this process for more than 4 months, but we always hit some problems. Now we finally made it work - hopefully this information will be useful to you!


UPDATE!
When importing FBX format the Rescale function sometimes turns itself off for some reason (I don't know why). It HAS TO be active!

79

Technical forum / *** WME forum rules - please read before posting ***

« on: July 22, 2006, 01:13:37 PM »

WME forum rules

1) Be polite to others:

• Don't start useless flamewars. Solve personal differences in private, don't start "holy adventure engine wars", respect the work of others.
• Don't spam the forum with useless or advertisement posts. Spam will be deleted and spammers will be banned.
• Try to help the others if you can! When you need some help, perhaps they'll repay you.
  
• On the other hand, when someone helps you, the least you can do is to thank them...
• Don't write topic names IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Your topic will not get more attention, quite the contrary, you'll annoy a lot of people.

2) When you're reporting bugs or describing your problem:

• Try to be as descriptive as possible. Remember the others are not visionaries. The best you can do is to describe step-by-step how to replicate the problem and or WME/tools crash. I recommend everyone to read this nice and true article about bug reporting.
  
• If the game reports "Runtime error. View log for details" it tries to suggest you to look into a log file, which is generated as the game runs (it's the wme.log file in your project directory). You will find there detailed information about the error. The same information is displayed in the debug console if you run the game from ProjectMan.
• Generally speaking, if there's some problem you don't understand, look into the log file first, to see if it contains some errors or warnings. It will save you a lot of time.
• When posting, try to make clear whether you're using 2D actors or 3D actors. It can make a huge difference sometimes.
• If your game exhibits some strange graphical artifacts or glitches, it often helps to update your video card drivers. Do NOT underestimate outdated drivers, they DO cause problems!
• If you are reporting a problem, write the configuration of your computer, expecially the Windows version you're using, your video card type and the memory size.
• If you are posting pieces of script, use proper indentation and enable syntax coloring, as described HERE.
  
• If WME crashes, it allows you to upload the crash report to the website. Use this option.
• If you are experiencing some mysterious problem, sometimes the fastest way is to create some minimal test project exhibiting the problem and sending the project to Mnemonic for testing. But never send huge files by email without prior announcement! It's better to upload the files somewhere and only post a link. If you don't want to post the link in the public part of the forum, use private messaging.
  
• Remember: the extensive WME documentation (you have the offline version installed, just press F1 in ProjectMan), WME Resource Center (everyone can contribute!), Free Online WME Book by metamorphium
  

3) Miscelaneous:

• Don't edit your posts to add more info, make a new post instead. Many forum members are using RSS readers and they might miss your modifications.
• Don't post in threads older than a few months. Better start a new thread instead.
• Only use this forum for getting WME technical support. Don't send Mnemonic emails, private messages, don't stalk him on IRC/ICQ/MSN/Whetever.

80

Obecné fórum / Pravidla WME fora - ctete, nez zacnete psat!!!

« on: July 22, 2006, 12:28:05 PM »

Pravidla naleznete zde: http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=1621

81

Technické fórum / Pravidla WME fora - ctete, nez zacnete psat!!!

« on: July 22, 2006, 12:25:08 PM »

Pravidla WME fora

1) Chovejte se slusne k ostatnim:

• Nevyvolavejte zbytecne hadky, osobni spory si reste v soukromi, nevyvolavejte "svate valky" mezi adventurnimi enginy, respektujte praci druhych.
• Nespamujte forum zbytecnymi ci reklamnimi prispevky (spam bude smazan a spammeri dostanou zakaz vstupu na forum).
• Snazte se pomahat druhym, pokud je to ve vasich silach! Az budete potrebovat pomoc vy, treba vam to vrati.
  
• Naopak kdyz nekdo pomuze vam, to nejmensi, co muzete udelat, je podekovat mu...
• Nepiste nazvy temat VELKYMI PISMENY, neziskate si tak vice pozornosti, naopak tim dost lidi nastvete.
• Technicke dotazy a problemy patri do technickeho fora, vse ostatni patri do obecneho fora (tj. oznameni, inzeraty, prani k narozeninam, diskuze mimo tema atd.)
  

2) Kdyz hlasite chyby ci popisujete svuj problem:

• Snazte se problem dostatecne popsat. Mejte na pameti, ze ostatni nejsou jasnovidci. Nejlepe je popsat krok za krokem postup, ktery vede k chybe ci padu WME/nastroju. Vtipny a vystizny clanek o tom, jak efektivne hlasit chyby, naleznete tady. Kazdemu doporucuji precist.
  
• Pokud vam hra hlasi "Runtime error, view log for details", snazi se vam naznacit, ze se mate podivat do log souboru, ktery hra generuje (soubor wme.log v adresari s vasim projektem). Zde najdete podrobnejsi informace o chybe.
• Obecne pokud nastava problem, ktery nechapete, nejdrive se podivejte do logu, jestli neobsahuje nejaka varovani ci chyby. Usetrite si tak hodne casu.
• Ve svem prispevku uvedte, zda pouzivate 2D postavy nebo 3D postavy. Nekdy to znamena zasadni rozdil.
• Pokud se vam zobrazuji podivne graficke artefakty, casto pomuze nainstalovat novejsi ovladace pro videokartu. Nepodcenujte zastarale ovladace, opravdu jsou casto zdrojem problemu!
• Pokud hlasite problem, napiste konfiguraci sveho pocitace (zejmena jakou verzi Windows pouzivate, jakou videokartu, a kolik mate pameti).
• Pokud WME spadne, vygeneruje "post-mortem" do souboru wme_crash.txt. Pokud problem hlasite na foru, snazte se prilozit obsah tohoto souboru.
• Pokud mate nejaky zahadny problem, casto je nejrychlejsi vytvorit nejaky minimalni ukazkovy projekt, kde se dany problem vyskytuje, a poskytnout ho Mnemonicovi k otestovani. Ale nikdy neposilejte obri prilohy mailem bez predchoziho ohlaseni! Lepsi je nekam projekt nahrat a poslat jen odkaz. Pokud nechcete odkaz davat do verejne casti fora, pouzijte soukromou zpravu.
  
• Pro pripomenuti: podrobna dokumentace k WME (offline verzi mate nainstalovanu, proste stisknete F1 v ProjectManu), WME Wiki (ma i ceskou sekci; prispet muze kazdy!)
  

3) Ruzne:

• Nepridavejte do svych prispevku dodatecne nove informace. Misto toho radeji poslete dalsi prispevek. Mnoho clenu fora pouziva RSS ctecky, a modifikace prispevku jim muzou uniknout.
• Nepridavejte nove prispevky do temat, ktera jsou stara vice nez nekolik mesicu. Radeji zalozte nove tema.

82

Technické fórum / Upozorneni

« on: June 26, 2006, 12:48:47 PM »

Vsiml jsem si, ze nekteri mate v bookmarku jen tuhle jednu sekci fora, a ostatni sekce nenavstevujete. Proto vam mozna nekomu uniklo, ze ceske forum bylo rozdeleno na dve podsekce. Vice informaci zde: http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=1526.0

83

Game announcements / Five lethal demons

« on: June 04, 2006, 09:41:23 PM »

Off Studio released a new game called Five lethal demons. It's a (very) short parody game about game developers. Any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental

Download here: http://dead-code.org/5ld/5ld_setup.exe (15MB)

84

Obecné fórum / Rozdeleni ceskeho fora

« on: May 25, 2006, 10:13:13 PM »

Jelikoz si nekteri uzivatele stezovali, ze je ceske forum zamereno prilis technicky, a ze se zamykaji temata, ktera se zvrhla v nerizenou diskusi, rozdelil jsem ceskou sekci na forum technicke a forum obecne.

Pokud mate pocit, ze by mely byt pridany jeste dalsi sekce, pripadne pokud mate dalsi pripominky ci navrhy na zlepseni stavajici situace, mate moznost se nyni vyjadrit.

Ja osobne budu jen rad, pokud se toto forum posune do obecnejsi roviny a nebude zamereno uzce jen na WME, nicmene to nezalezi ani tak na mne, jako na vas.

[3D postavy nyní využívají modely ve formátu Microsoft X.]

85

Technické fórum / WME 1.6.1

« on: May 13, 2006, 01:35:47 PM »

Mili wintermutici,

po nekolika betaverzich vam prinasim finalni verzi WME 1.6. O neco nize naleznete seznam vsech novych vlastnosti a oprav.
Tentokrat neni k dispozici samostatny update, takze si budete muset stahnout kompletni instalator (updaty posledni dobou uz dost narustaly, takze vsechny nasledujici uz budou prirustky vuci verzi 1.6). Snad vam to nebude cinit velke problemy.


Takze si to uzijte


WME 1.6.1 instalator (11MB):
http://www.dead-code.org/download/wme_devkit_161.exe

Update z WME 1.6 na WME 1.6.1 (4MB):
http://www.dead-code.org/download/wme_update_161.exe


(Poznamka: Ulozene pozice nejsou kompatibilni s prechozimi verzemi)

WME 1.6 (13. kvetna, 2006)
[html]

• 3D postavy nyní využívají modely ve formátu Microsoft X. Formát definice 3D postav a jejich skriptovací podpora se změnila. Starý formát je stále podporován kvůli zpětné kompatibilitě, ale je nyní považován za zastaralý. Pro více informací o změnách a o přechodu na nový formát si přečtěte kapitolu "3D characters support" v dokumentaci. Mezi nejvýznamnější vylepšení nového formátu pro 3D postavy patří:
  • Plynulé přechody mezi animacemi.
  • Možnost měnit textury modelu za běhu, jako texturu můžete použít i animovaný sprite.
  • Předměty, které lze připojit k modelu (attachments) jsou nyní samostatné skriptovatelné objekty.
  • Nové standardní animace TurnLeft a TurnRight.
  • 3D scény mohou být nyní navrhovány ve SceneEditu ve 2D, tj. můžete pro 3D postavy definovat blokované oblasti a navigační body úplně stejně, jako byste to dělali pro 2D postavy. Více informací naleznete v dokumentaci v kapitole "Additional 3D options".
  • Nový atribut DrawBackfaces, který udává, zda má 3D model vykreslovat polygony, odvrácené od kamery.
• Nový systém částicových efektů. Podrobné informace naleznete v dokumentaci v kapitole "Particle effects". Součástí instalace WME je nyní také demonstrační projekt "wme_particles", který obsahuje několik předdefinovaných částicových efektů.
• Podpora usnadnění. WME nyní poskytuje několik možností usnadnění pro zrakově postižené hráče. Mezi tyto možnosti patří přesměrování psaného textu do hlasového syntezátoru, možnost zvýraznit aktivní místa na obrazovce pomocí klávesových zkratek, a možnost kdykoliv pozastavit hru. Vývojářům poskytuje WME několik nových skriptovacích metod a atributů pro podporu usnadnění. Více informací je v dokumentaci v kapitole "Accessibility".
• Vylepšená podpora pro více monitorů. Okno WME se nyní otvírá na správném monitoru jak v režimu běhu přes celou obrazovku, tak v režimu běhu v okně. V režimu celé obrazovky je ukazatel myši uzamčen na správném monitoru. WME nástroje nyní používají správnou videokartu podle toho, na kterém monitoru jsou právě zobrazeny.
• WME je nyní odolnější vůči nejčastějším chybám vývojářů. Některé z častých pádů WME z důvodu chyby vývojáře byly obslouženy (syntaktické chyby v definičních souborech atd.). Chybějící obrázky jsou nyní nahrazeny zástupným obrázkem "invalid image", takže jsou při běhu hry hned patrné. WME vypisuje do logu varování, pokud se hra odkazuje na nějaký soubor plnou cestou, což způsobuje problémy po kompilaci hry jejím spuštění na jiném počítači.
• Okno s nastavením při spuštění hry bylo přepracováno, byly do něj doplněny nové volby. Poznámka: Standardní tabulka řetězců k překladu byla doplněna o nové texty. Dopl

[3D actors are now using the Microsoft X model format.]

86

General Discussion / Latest stable: WME 1.6.1

« on: May 13, 2006, 12:10:05 PM »

Hello wintermuties,

after a series of beta versions, here's the final release of WME 1.6. See below for the complete list of new features and bugfixes.
There's no update package available this time, you'll have to install the whole thing (the updates were getting pretty large lately, so all the future updates will be based on 1.6). Sorry for the inconvenience.


And as always, enjoy

WME 1.6.1 installer download (11MB)

Update from 1.6 to 1.6.1 (4 MB)


(Note: Saved games are incompatible with previous releases)

WME 1.6.1 (May 20, 2006)

 
• Response box definition can now specify vertical alignment of responses.
 
• BUGFIX: The tools no longer crash after changing hardware settings.
 
• BUGFIX: Theora video playback no longer crashes when "no sound" option is  enabled.
 
• BUGFIX: The tools no longer issue the absolute-path warning when opening  file for editing.
 
• BUGFIX: Some .X models were rendered with mismatched textures.

WME 1.6 (May 13, 2006)

 
• 3D actors are now using the Microsoft X model format. The 3D actor  definition files have changed, so did the scripting support. The old format is  still supported for backward compatibility, but it's now deprecated. See the  "3D characters support" chapter in the documentation for more details and for  migration hints. Some of the notable improvements to the new 3D character  format:
  • Smooth transitions between animations.
  • The ability to    change actor's texture at runtime, you can also use WME animated sprites for    textures.
  • The attachments are now independent scriptable objects.
  •    New standard animations, TurnLeft and TurnRight.
  • 3D    scenes can now be setup to use 2D-based pathfinding, i.e. you can use    the same way of designing blocked areas and waypoints as you would use for    2D actors; see the "Additional 3D options" chapter in the documentation for    details.
  • New DrawBackfaces attribute for 3D actors which    specifies whether the 3D model should display polygons facing away from the    camera.
 
• New particle generator system. See the "Particle effects" chapter  in the documentation for more details. There is a new "wme_particles" demo  project with several predefined particle effects available.
 
• Accessibility support. WME now provides options for improving  accessibility for visually-impaired players. These include sending written  text to text-to-speech synthesizer, manually highlighting active areas on  screen using keyboard shortcuts and pausing the game at any time. There are  also some new scripting methods and attributes to support accessibility. See  the Accessibility chapter in the documentation for a detailed  discussion.
 
• Multi-monitor support improvements. WME window now opens on the  correct monitor in both windowed and full-screen mode. The mouse pointer is  locked on the correct monitor in full-screen mode. WME tools now use the right  video device depending on which monitor they are displayed.
 
• WME is now more bullet-proof to common developer mistakes. Some of  the engine/tools crashes caused by developer mistakes have been handled  (syntax errors in definition files etc.). Missing images and sprites are now  replaced by a generic "invalid image" picture making them immediately obvious  to the developer. WME now issues a log-file warning if the game references  some file using an absolute path, which will cause problems after compiling  the game and running it on a different computer.
 
• The startup settings window has been redesigned to accommodate new  options. Note: The standard string table now contains new localizable  strings. Please update the string table of your game.
 
• New BlendMode attribute for actors, entities and particle emitters,  which allows you to set the drawing more (normal, additive blending,  subtractive blending).
 
• New Game.LastResponseOrig attribute, which returns the last  selected dialogue response in it's original form, i.e. before it got localized  (useful for games with automatic voice-overs).
 
• New RightDoubleClick event.
 
• If you are using multiple inventories, each inventory remembers its scroll  offset, so when switching from one inventory to another the original scroll  offset is restored.
 
• New Game.InventoryScrollOffset attribute for setting and querying  current scroll offset of the inventory box.
 
• All inventory items are now accessible using the new Game.TotalNumItems  attribute and Game.QueryItem() method.
 
• New Game.SmartItemCursor property to only highlight the mouse  pointer with selected item if the object can handle the item.
 
• New Game.SetSceneViewport() and Scene.SetViewport() methods  for changing the scene viewport at runtime.
 
• New Game.SoundBufferSize attribute for setting the size of sound  buffer used for streamed sounds/music.
 
• New Game.SuspendedRendering attribute to temporarily disable screen  refreshes. Useful when you need to run multiple script updates in one frame.
 
• Entity.PlayTheora() method for entities now takes Entity.Scale into  account, video is scaled accordingly.
 
• ProjectMan no longer tries to check for WME updates if there's no active  internet connection.
 
• The debugging settings file formerly named dcgf.ini has been renamed to  wme.ini.
 
• WME installation folder now contains the script language reference in XML  format. Useful for third-party tools.
 
• BUGFIX: Custom camera FOV is correctly restored when loading a saved game.
 
• BUGFIX: Changes to save/load to prevent memory leak causing long save/load  times under certain conditions.
 
• BUGFIX: The GUI buttons no longer display mouse-hover effects when game  isn't in interactive state.
 
• BUGFIX: Inventory items animations didn't work correctly after saving game  and loading it after restarting Windows.
 
• BUGFIX: 3D actors' direction/angle became broken after using the keyboard  rotation.
 
• BUGFIX: Item.GetHoverSprite() and Item.GetSprite() methods were broken.
 
• BUGFIX: Division by decimal numbers lesser than 1.0 no longer causes  "Division by zero" error.

87

Obecné fórum / MAXCON 2006

« on: April 18, 2006, 03:08:00 PM »

Dovoluji si upozornit pripadne zajemce, ze ve dnech 17.6. az 18.6.2006 (so, ne) se bude v Praze konat druhy rocnik konference MAXCON 2006 pro uzivatele a priznivce 3D Studia Max. Konferenci porada server maxarea.com.

Stranky konference MAXCON 2006
Predbezny program

88

General Discussion / MOVED: ok maybe i am dumb... (inventory question)

« on: March 20, 2006, 10:55:54 AM »

This topic has been moved to How do I...?.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=1425.0

[Particle system additions.]

89

General Discussion / Latest beta: WME 1.6 beta 4

« on: February 07, 2006, 10:24:03 PM »

Hello wintermuties,

I'm working on a new WME version, 1.6. This release should improve the 3D characters support and address some problems and suggestions the developers had.

The first step was to add support for the Microsoft X format instead MS3D format used in previous WME versions. And since some of you were eager to test the X format support, I decided to release a beta version of WME 1.6. I'm planning many more changes for 1.6, so I'll be probably releasing more beta versions as more features are added. But for now, here you are... Enjoy and please report any bugs/problems you might encounter.

Warning: This beta version is intended for testing purposes only, not for production. Don't install this update if you're not comfortable with using beta versions.

Use at your own risk and expect bugs! Backup your project first!!!


http://dead-code.org/download/wme_update_16beta4.exe
(5.8MB, updated documentation included)


Changes in WME 1.6 beta 4 (May 8, 2006)

• Particle system additions. New attributes for setting particle rotation, angular velocity, growth rate, random alpha and the ability to mask particles by a scene region. Breaking change warning: to keep the API consistent, the behavior of Alpha1 and Alpha2 attributes has changed. You must now set the AlphaTimeBased attribute to true to get the same functionality as in beta 3.
• New Game.SuspendedRendering attribute to temporarily disable screen refreshes. Useful when you need to run multiple script updates in one frame.
• Accessibility support. WME now provides options for improving accessibility for visually-impaired players. These include sending written text to text-to-speech synthesizer and manually highlighting active areas on screen using keyboard shortcuts. There are also some new scripting methods and attributes to support accessibility. See the Accessibility chapter in the documentation for a detailed discussion.
• The startup settings window has been redesigned to accommodate new options. Note: The standard string table now contains new localizable strings. Please update the string table of your game.
• Multi-monitor support improvements. WME window now opens on the correct monitor in both windowed and full-screen mode. The mouse pointer is locked on the correct monitor in full-screen mode. WME tools now use the right video device depending on which monitor they are displayed.
• WME is now more bullet-proof to common developer mistakes. Some of the engine/tools crashes caused by developer mistakes have been handled (syntax errors in definition files etc.). Missing images and sprites are now replaced by a generic "invalid image" picture making them immediately obvious to the developer. WME now issues a log-file warning if the game references some file using an absolute path, which will cause problems after compiling the game and running it on a different computer.
• ProjectMan no longer tries to check for WME updates if there's no active internet connection.
• The debugging settings file formerly named dcgf.ini has been renamed to wme.ini.
• BUGFIX: Blending mode is now correctly restored after Alt-Tabbing.
• BUGFIX: Division by decimal numbers lesser than 1.0 no longer causes "Division by zero" error.

Changes in WME 1.6 beta 3 (Apr 17, 2006)

• new particle generator system; see the "Particle effects" chapter in the documentation for more details
• new "wme_particles" demo project with several predefined particle effects
• new BlendMode attribute for actors, entities and particle emitters, which allows you to set the drawing more (normal, additive blending, subtractive blending)
• all inventory items are now accessible using the new Game.TotalNumItems attribute and Game.QueryItem() method
• new Game.SmartItemCursor property to only highlight the mouse pointer with selected item if the object can handle the item
• BUGFIX: Inventory items animations didn't work correctly after saving game and loading it after restarting Windows
• BUGFIX: PlayTheora() method ignored the Scale after restarting video playback
• BUGFIX: 3D actors with multiple X models weren't properly restored when loading a saved game
• BUGFIX: 3D actors' direction/angle became broken after using the keyboard rotation
• BUGFIX: Item.GetHoverSprite() and Item.GetSprite() methods were broken
• BUGFIX: The PlayAnimAsync() method for 3D actors didn't always work properly
• BUGFIX: WME should now remember previously selected device on dual-screen systems

Changes in WME 1.6 beta 2 (Feb 12, 2006)

• new SetTexture() method for 3D actors; you can assign either a static image or an animated WME sprite as a texture
  
• new standard animations for 3D actors, "TurnLeft" and "TurnRight", used when the actor is turning counter clockwise or clockwise
• new DrawBackfaces attribute for 3D actors which specifies whether the 3D model should display polygons facing away from the camera
  
• 3D scenes can now be setup to use 2D-based pathfinding, i.e. you can use the same way of designing blocked areas and waypoints as you would use for 2D actors; see the "Additional 3D options" chapter in the documentation for details
  
• if you are using multiple inventories, each inventory remembers its scroll offset, so when switching from one inventory to another the original scroll offset is restored
• new Game.InventoryScrollOffset attribute for setting and querying current scroll offset of the inventory box
  
• new Game.SetSceneViewport() and Scene.SetViewport() methods for changing the scene viewport at runtime
  
• new Game.SoundBufferSize attribute for setting the size of sound buffer used for streamed sounds/music
  
• the GUI buttons no longer display mouse-hover effects when game isn't in interactive state

Changes in WME 1.6 beta 1 (Feb 07, 2006)

• new format of 3D actor definition files (see the docs)
• support for Microsoft X for 3D actors
• smooth animation transitions for X files
• new demo project "wme_demo_3d_2", built on the old 3D demo, but with the new actor format
• new RightDoubleClick event
• PlayTheora() method for entities now takes Entity.Scale into account, video is scaled appropriately
• BUGFIX: Custom camera FOV is correctly restored when loading a saved game
• BUGFIX: Changes to save/load to prevent memory leak causing long save/load times under certain conditions

Q&A:
Q: Why the X format?
A: X format has several major advantages over the previously used MS3D format:
-X format supports weighted vertices. Your 3D artist will love that.
-X format natively supports multiple animations stored in a single file.
-X format is widely supported by various 3D packages.

Q: What do I need to know when switching from MS3D to X?
A: The 3D actors definition file format and scripting support have changed for X actors.
-3D actor definition file starts with ACTOR3DX, not ACTOR3D, to distinguish between X actors and MS3D actors.
-Animations no longer need to be defined by their frame ranges, because the X format supports named animation sets directly. You only specify additional properties of the animation in the act3d files (see the docs for details).
-The AddMesh(), RemoveMesh(), HideMesh() and ShowMesh() methods are deprecated. The attachments are now treated as autonomous scriptable objects. You add an attachment using the AddAttachment() method and remove it using RemoveAttachment(). The GetAttachment() method returns a reference to an attachment object, which provides it's own set of methods and properties (e.g. using the Active property you can show or hide the attachment).
-Unlike MS3D actors, the PlayAnimChannel() now blocks script execution even if the animation plays in other channel than channel zero. Use PlayAnimChannelAsync() if you want to play the animation without blocking script.

Q: How do I export/convert my model to X format?
A: I have started a Wiki page on X file support in various 3D programs. Feel free to expand the article if you have any additional info or experience with other programs.

Q: The old 3D actors format using MS3D models is marked as "deprecated" in the docs. What does it mean?
A: It means this old format is not going to be expanded. All the new features will be added for the new format only (the one using X files).The old format will stay in place for backward compatibility, but the plan is to completely remove it in WME 2.0. Hopefully the advantages of the new format will be worth the trouble with converting your models.

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General Discussion / Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

« on: December 24, 2005, 10:31:38 AM »

Hello folks,

I'd like to wish you all calm and peaceful holidays spent with your beloved ones, and all the best for the year 2006.


_{P.S. Oh and very special thanks to Wintermute Army Productions for the best Christmas present I could ever get. Thanks again, guys, you rock}