Finished integrating the code today. As the texture code had been reorganised a bit for version 1.5 I decided to go with version 1.4.2 for the project. The library has been recompiled, though I haven’t tested the new functionality yet the old functionality still works without trouble which is a step in the right direction, right? I’ll test the new functionality (floating point textures/render targets, not multiple render targets which anyone who went to the link last time will have noticed was also a part of the patch) tomorrow. After that, presuming the current work doesn’t screw up, I expect to begin writing the actual shaders. I’ll probably start with bloom since that is a cool effect and this sterile blog could use some pictures to liven it up.
Finally, merry belated christmas and a happy prevenient new year.
As I’ve gone through the functionality of the engine I can now make some statements on functionality and how it will affect my future work. Bluntly stated the engine has most of the functionality that I desire but lacks the ability to render scenes to floating point textures, which as previously stated is a necessity. This need not mess up my plans all that much though as there is existing third party code to add this functionality (coincidentally written by the same mind behind the IrrCG add-on which I mentioned in one of the early posts; here is the link) and I’ve read up a bit on buffers in general as well. This code doesn’t seem to confirm exactly to the latest version but that’s nothing that I can’t handle (double negative). There is some more as well but I shall save that until I’m certain of my facts.
So the prototyping phase officially begins. Not much to report yet, mostly learning my way around the engine and looking at existing lighting options. As previously mentioned I’ll be using the Irrlicht Engine (currently working with version 1.4.2 though it seems that version 1.5 has recently been released so I may switch over). This choice was based on a few criteria and a search through available engines. Basically I needed an engine to work with in order to avoid having to write as much of the background code as possible. Furthermore, if possible, I wanted an engine without an existing native HDRR implementation, which Irrlicht lacks (I believe there is a project to implement this but not a part of the main engine). Finally, from what I’ve read about the engine it’s supposed to be rather fast and simple to use. This we will see about.
That’s all for now. Me out.
The presentation for milestone 1 was last Tuesday and the results of the examination (or whatever I should call it) came in on Thursday. Seems I did OK. Some completion, mostly missing specifics in the project plan, a new version is available for viewing in the milestone folder. More information on general progress here on the blog was also desired, I will be commenting further on my past progress during milestone 1 now as it becomes relevant. Anyway, prototyping will begin in earnest next week, there will be information on my chosen environment and so on. ‘Til then.
The rest of the documents for milestone 1 have been finished and uploaded.