[Pipmak-Users] re:engine settings et al

[Wenzler, T. <we...@st...>]

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"Christian Walther" <cwa...@gm...> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:e4csu4$duq$1...@se......

> Wenzler, Thomas wrote:
>> Dear developers
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> That would be "developer", at the current time :)
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Dear Christian, :-)


>> While reading the Reference, some questions poped up to my mind:
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>> 1.since pipmak.setviewdirection() is a global state, can it be
deleted=20
>> or set back to default or do i have to set it from the first use to
the=20
>> end of the project?
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> I think you're misunderstanding something (which probably means I
didn't=20
> explain it properly in the reference). The viewing direction (English=20
> speakers, any better word for this? My dictionary says "line of sight"

> for German "Blickrichtung", but that doesn't sound appropriate to me.)

> is what you change by looking around you in a panorama. The numbers
you=20
> give to pipmak.setviewdirection() are the spherical coordinates of the

> point on the panorama that you want to see in the middle of the
screen.=20
> You can call that function any time you like, but usually you only
need=20
> to do it when you go from a slide to a panorama. The default is 0,0=20
> (i.e. looking north and horizontal).

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I was asking this because most of the time stepping from node to node
was done correctly with some exception where i was "turned around"
facing the node i left...well, I guess i will play around with
setviewdirection a bit....


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> (It just occurs to me that there should probably be a
"getviewdirection"=20
> function as well. Added to the To Do list.)
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>> 2.pipmak.setfullscreen() sets the window to fullscreen at whatever
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>> current resolution of the window was,
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> That's not true. It uses the next bigger (or same) resolution if the=20
> argument ("smaller") is false or absent, or the next smaller
resolution=20
> if it is true. Of course, this isn't explained in the reference yet,
so=20
> I can't blame you.
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>  so images even when rendered with
>> 1024x1024 look blurred. is there a way to set the screen resolution
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>> the window/fullscreen resolution to a certain value other than
pressing=20
>> F several times, such as/.a lua command in the main.lua /?
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> No, but something better than the current awkward handling of
resolution=20
> switching is planned: item 6 on the To Do list=20
>
(http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.cgi/pipmak/trunk/pipmak/To%20Do.txt?
view=3Dmarkup
<http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.cgi/pipmak/trunk/pipmak/To%20Do.txt?
view=3Dmarkup> ).

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That was a worthy piece of information to start from, thank you.


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>> 3.At what time do you plan to further explain the engine settings
listed=20
>> in 3.10 of the reference, or the other way round, can you shed some=20
>> light on what these settings do?
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> Uhm... when I feel like it? :) Or when a contributor feels like it?=20
> Seriously, I don't have a plan any stricter than "sooner or later". By

> asking about it, you just increased the likelihood that it will happen

> sooner rather than later. After all, point 3 on the To Do list is
"Write=20
> documentation". :)
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> What you're supposed to do until that day (apart from asking here) is=20
> search for these functions in the demo project or in Pipmak's internal

> nodes and see how they're used. For these specific functions, it's=20
> mostly the latter - they're the ones used by many of the key commands=20
> listed on the preliminary "Preferences" screen. Have a look at the=20
> default keydown handler in defaults.lua in the "Pipmak Resources" ZIP=20
> archive (assuming you're on Linux or Windows), or at=20
>
<http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.cgi/pipmak/trunk/pipmak/resources/re
sources/defaults.lua?view=3Dmarkup
<http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.cgi/pipmak/trunk/pipmak/resources/re
sources/defaults.lua?view=3Dmarkup> >.=20
> It's in the pipmak_internal.loadmain function, search for
"function(key)".
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> Here's a short synopsis (mostly off the top of my head, so some
details=20
> might be incorrect):
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> - getmousemode/setmousemode: returns/takes either pipmak.joystick or=20
> pipmak.direct. This is what you switch between using the M or shift=20
> keys. Joystick means free mouse, drag to pan; direct means mouse fixed

> in the middle of the screen, immediate panning.
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> - setwindowed: go to a 640x480 window (from fullscreen or a window of
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> different size) (W key).
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> - setfullscreen: see above (F & D keys).
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> - screensize: size in pixels of the current window or fullscreen mode.
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> - getinterpolation/setinterpolation: switches on and off bilinear=20
> interpolation (I key).
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> - getshowcontrols/setshowcontrols: shows or hides controls and patches
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> hotspots solid, handles striped, patch corners (C key).
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> - getjoystickspeed/setjoystickspeed: gets/sets how fast panning is in=20
> joystick mode. Panning speed (degrees/second) is proportional to
dragged=20
> distance (pixels), this is the proportionality constant in=20
> degrees/(s*px) (1 & 2 keys).
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> - getverticalfov/setverticalfov: zoom in or out in a panorama. Sets
the=20
> vertical field of view in degrees, the default is 45 (Z & X keys).
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Great, you saved me browsing  a lot of lua files, i owe you another hour
;-)

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>> 4.It's said you plan to remove pipmak.saveequirect which imho speeds
up=20
>> the hotspot generation to minutes. Will this be replaced with
something=20
>> equally usefull?
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> That's up to you to decide, but I hope so... it will be replaced by=20
> direct painting of the hotspots in Pipmak. In fact, this is already=20
> semi-functional and you can try it if you like: On a panorama that=20
> already has some hotspots, call pipmak_internal.tool(2) to bring up
the=20
> brush tool and paint away. Press the option/alt key or call=20
> pipmak_internal.tool(3) to select the eyedropper tool to pick up
another=20
> color (hotspot number). Pan using the right mouse button (or using
shift=20
> to switch to direct mode). pipmak_internal.tool(0) brings you back to=20
> the hand tool. Currently, your paintings aren't saved, you can't
change=20
> the brush size (without recompiling), and it only works on panoramas.
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That's indeed great news...

Btw. Can these functions be supressed for delivery of a finished
project?(I#m still far from shipping something but who knows...*g*)


> There's also an item on the To Do list to implement cubic hotspot
maps,=20
> which are easier to create externally for cubic panoramas, but that's=20
> not a high priority at the moment.
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>> 5.How does the engine decide on the viewdirection when linking from a

>> hotspot to the next node?
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> Not at all. It just uses the same direction as before. That's usually
OK=20
> for panorama-to-panorama transitions, if not (e.g. on
slide-to-panorama=20
> transitions) use pipmak.setviewdirection(). See e.g. node 13 in the
demo=20
> project.

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thanks for the hint.


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>> And some wild wishes for the future development of the engine would
be:
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>> Sound. Eventsounds (and background Soundloops as well) would add 200%

>> percent value to all pipmak projects.
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> I'm actually working on this. The next release will have sound,
although=20
> it'll only support a single file format (Ogg Vorbis) for the time
being.=20
> If you're adventurous, you can try a Subversion checkout, most things=20
> should already work there.

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I guess I'll wait for the next update.But good to know so I cann look up
Ogg Vorbis in the meantime....


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>> Flash. Do you see any chance of using .swf files for animation, as=20
>> panels or even an interface between actionscript and lua code? I know

>> this is a really wild one...but Flash and Actionscript are capable of

>> many things that are veeery useful in game production...
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> Hmm, I don't know much about Flash. I suspect that it would be a bit
too=20
> heavy-weight for Pipmak. Is there a platform-independent open-source=20
> implementation of it, anyway?

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Sorry for myself dreaming away.....I use to spent 95% of my working
schedule with multimedia projects in flash, so i thought about giving it
a shot, hehe....


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>> Video. Any way to diplay Video from within pipmak would be great.
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> Sure. That's planned for the future, though no concrete work has been=20
> done on it yet.

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> Thanks for your interest! Those were good questions. Getting feedback
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> which parts of the reference need most work is useful.
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>  -Christian
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