[Visualpython-users] Released: VPython 4.beta0

[Jonathan B. <jbr...@ea...>]

A Windows-only build of this release is now available on the sourceforge
download area.  The autotools-based builder will be up on Sourceforge
soon for Linux/UNIX/OSX, hopefully later this afternoon or evening.

At the time of this writing, the Gtk+ source files are still being
uploaded.  They form the contents of gtkdev.tar.bz2, and are only there
to satisfy the requirements of the LGPL.  This archive also includes
precompiled binaries, debugging symbols, and utility programs for Gtk+,
that make it easier to start hacking on VPython from within Windows.

There are still a few problems with the code that I am aware of.  At
this point the project is in "release early, release often" mode.
Please report any problems to the mailing list.  The APIs for texturing,
transparency, and lighting are still in flux, so please contribute your
comments to those as well.


RELEASE NOTES:
The "Its not vaporware, I swear!" release
Note: You do not need to download "gtkdev.tar.bz2" if you don't want to;
it is there to satisfy the requirements of the GNU LGPL.

This release contains many new features, including:
- A toolbar with some simple functions (the recenter button doesn't do
anything yet).
- New mouse interaction mode "pan", selectable by the user through the
toolbar
- Most objects support an "alpha" color property, that controls
transparency.  This also makes foo.color a 4-tuple (RGBA)
- Most objects support a "shininess" property, that controls specular
highlighting (value between 0 and 1, exactly 0 or 1 disable it)
- Most objects can have their lighting explicitly turned off (foo.lit =
False)
- Simple texturing support (see examples/textest.py)
- Advanced lighting support, including spotlights, attenuation, and
local (non-infinity) sources (no demo as yet, see help(light))
- Supports integration with other GUI toolkits, such as PyGTK, WxPython,
PyObjC, etc (no demo yet)