StarFire Game Development Blog #4 - neutronio

Updates! Still primarily working on the editor alot. The most recent version includes tons of internal changes that enable me to extend and work with this editor more easily. It's running rather stable which is mostly due to the fact I've been spending most of the time with fixing the current bugs instead of adding new features.

This above image is the result of a 2h hardcore test where I wanted to figure out if the editor was running stable enough to endure normal using conditions (and I must say I really lost myself making that ship :D )

I will post the newest demo of the current version (0.0.035a) later on. You can find the changelog at the end of this blog.

Future! I am currently preparing for profound changes in the editor interface, which will include a better overview of the tools you have and what they do. You will be able to:

• change tool settings
• chose between mouse/keyboard or keyboard only input (which both have their advantages and disadvantages in my opinion, so I decided to let the user make use of both if he (she?) desires to)
• select multiple blocks, repainting and removing of multiple blocks
• copy and paste blocks
• set camera viewpoints
• [low priority] it should be technically possible for me to make a mirroring function as well.

Besides the changes on the ShipEditor I've slowly begun to work on other fields such as the space simulation itself, storing of game settings and also made some approaches towards implementation of music and sound. I expect to be ready with a basic space simulation at the end of next month.

Changelog:

v.0.0.35a
- implemented removeBlock and paintBlock modes.
- implemented ShipModelHandler (+threaded loading&saving) and ShipModel.
- adapted editor to the implementation of ShipModel. All ship relevant data is now saved in a single
shipModel variable instead of multiple static variables inside of the editor intself.
- added new blocks: 3x4x1 element, 2x4x2 cockpit element (+4 different glass tones), 1x2x1 lamp element
- added customizable lighting (very buggy)
- improved internal material handling (easier to extend now)
- fixed a bug where the last placed block could not be repainted/removed.
- fixed a bug that didn't let the user repaint and remove blocks after a model has been loaded.
- fixed a bug where some ship elements weren't loaded into the editor.
- fixed an internal duplication bug caused by missing removal of the old model after loading a new model.
- fixed ShipInfo Box not updating.
- fixed material display on material info box on Paint Mode
- fixed material display on material info box while displaying special materials (material handling changed)