PDA

View Full Version : Where should I put it?



Michael Hartlef
17-10-2008, 13:34
Hi folks,

right now I'm working on several game related functionalities that will end up in one module or more.
I have developed two modules so far. One for gamepad/joystick/Controller support, one to bring a simple event management to thinBasic.
Before I switched over to thinBasic I was developing a lot of stuff for IBasic Pro. And some of this stuff I want to port over or recreate it for thinBasic. But I wonder if I should extend my TBEM module or create several new modules.

This is what I am cooking right now:

- Zones - (Status done)

They are event related and would fit into the TBEM module. Zones are 2D or 3D spaces. They can have data pointers and handler functions attached to them. You can check, if a point (XYZ) is inside any of the created zones and then the attached handler function is called automatically. Image based gui system are easy to create with something like. Or if you need areas in a game, which will trigger something, that would be a good reason to use them too.

- Waypoints/Pathnodes - (Status WIP)

You can setup a chain of waypoints, which will lead into paths. Then you have a virtual path marker that is traveling along the path at a given speed. Each waypoint can have a handler function attached to it. Once the marker reaches the waypoint, the handler function will be called automatically. In IBasic Pro the paths between the nodes were just straight lines. I hope I can manage it to have also bezier paths.

- AStar - (Status WIP)

A few weeks ago I got my own ASTAR implementation running in thinBasic. Of course, not very fast. So I want to port it over to PowerBasic and so turn it into module functions.

- Mozart library - (Status not started)

This a a music lib that uses the Audiere sound library. Good for 2D games as it doesn't have 3D sound support. Well at least when I developed mozart. And the good thing is that it is free to use.

- Box2D - (Status not started)

I like the Box2D physic library and I think it would be a nice addition to the module set of thinBasic.


So, at lot of stuff. Some would fit into my TBEM module, some don't fit at all, more in a general game development module.
What do you think? How should I package these functionalities?

Michael

Petr Schreiber
17-10-2008, 13:57
Hi Mike,

I tried Box2D now, compiled with CodeBlocks ... very impressive.
I guess with support for this library it would be redundant to use 2D collision space in my planned collision module.
I would definitely put Box2D out of TBEM.

I would pass Zones to TBEM.

AStar and Paths would create nice separated module.

Mozart library sounds interesting, again I would be for separate module.


Petr

Michael Hartlef
17-10-2008, 14:06
Yeah Box2D. I will see how I can interface it with PowerBasic. Don't stop working on your collision stuff as this will be the last thing I will try and also it has dependencies on the Box2D lib so your stuff will be independant. Some people like that better. It will take me some good months for the first things to finish up. Maybe my Box2D wrapping will never see the light.

Petr Schreiber
17-10-2008, 14:09
Ok then,

thanks for the information.
Anyway - I do the 3D part first.


Petr

Michael Hartlef
18-10-2008, 11:18
Just now I had the idea to change the zones into trigger canons. They don't call a function directly anymore, but fire a trigger for the event manager. I think that this will fit better into the concept of TBEM.

ErosOlmi
18-10-2008, 11:23
Hi Michael.

All those new stuffs are great.

Thanks.
Eros