IrrLicht BlitzMax.

Is the Irrlicht mod for BlitzMax fully functioning? Also is it the latest 0.12.0 version and will support remain for it with updates should any appear?

Thanks :)

fully functioning as far as i know :) all the interface classes have been wrapped and you should be able to use anything exposed in the engine interface within BMAX. some of the more complex stuff such as animation callbacks, shader callbacks, and custom scene nodes have been lightly tested. given that, im 100% positive there are issues out there to be found. its simply too big to not have :) areas that still have some question marks IMO are vertex manipulation, image pixel manipulation, and Linux support. i have accomplished vertex manipulation, but it appears to be limited to static meshes. i have done nothing with image manipulation and dont have Linux to test out the linux build. on a side note, please keep in mind that while i wrote the wrapper i am by no means a master of Irrlicht or 3D game developement so my ability to answer questions on how to use Irrlicht are limited.


it is current with the latest version of Irrlicht which is v0.12. v0.13 is much anticipated as it will have initial Mac support. just to tack on, if there is a bug with the wrapper it will usually be fixed within a day or two. there are no outstanding bugs in the wrapper that i know of. implementing a new version usually takes about a week.


it has been updated and supported since Irrlicht v0.09 and it will continue as long as i am able. while i cant guarantee i wont fall off the face of the earth, poop does happen. the source is always there in case anything major suddenly happens.

along with that, i do know that 250+ downloads a month means it has a decent user base and i would never leave the project without finding an adequate replacment to take over maintenance. much of my free time for months has been put into the development and maintenance of the Irrlicht mods, not including the upcoming gg.IrrB3D, so just having it piddle out is in my mind, not an option.

i know none of that is a 100% guarantee but hopefully it answers your questions to the best that a freeware mod writer can :) with already maintaining the Irrlicht mods and the 3Impact mod, i plan on gg.IrrB3D being my last major mod contribution as i do not want to get spread too thin. time for me to actually push more towards actual game dev. just as an FYI, my game dev will be done using the Irrlicht mods using gg.IrrB3D.

when I downloaded the last version and tried to compile the examples I get this.

Linking:helloworld.debug.exe
C:/Program Files/BlitzMax/mod/gg.mod/irrlicht.mod/irrlicht.debug.win32.a(irrlicht.cpp.debug.win32.o)(.text+0x15161):irrlicht.cpp: undefined reference to `_imp___ZN3irr12createDeviceENS_5video13E_DRIVER_TYPEERKNS_4core11dimension2dIiEEjbbbPNS_14IEventReceiverEPKw'
C:/Program Files/BlitzMax/mod/gg.mod/irrlicht.mod/irrlicht.debug.win32.a(irrlicht.cpp.debug.win32.o)(.text+0x15170):irrlicht.cpp: undefined reference to `_imp___ZN3irr14createDeviceExERKNS_27SIrrlichtCreationParametersE'

Process complete

@ckob - did you download the latest lib distribution and locate the .a file in the lib folder of BMAX or just the mods?

no I didnt see the lib disribution zip but I just downloaded it and put the library into the lib folder and it works fine. I think we need a site for your Modules :P

good deal. i really need better documentation on the install of the Irrlicht mods :( maybe after gg.IrrB3D...


if i had the time i would do something about that. i have plenty of web space. i even just recently freed up 2 hosting accounts (migrated to a better host provider). just need to take the time to whip up a web page for it...

this would be the part where I offer but.... i've seen 12 yr olds with better webpage development skills then me so:P

Oh also when compiling the Terrain source I get a weird message.



SCRATCH THAT: im an idiot and didnt put dll's in the folder :P

GOOD WORK TO THE ONE(S) WHO MADE THIS POSSIBLE!
Nice to see an alternative to the yet to be announced BRL module.

It is possible to have a valid link with the last version of irrlicht wrapper ?

because i have find 5000000 pages with differents versions :)
without find the valid :)

@filax - the gg.Irrlicht worklog always has the latest links. is that what you were looking for? i really need to get a web page going...

@Jeroen - for some reason my mail system rejected your mail domain :( anyways, heres part of my reply:

> etc. Do you have such a site?
not at the moment :( best thing available is the info in the worklog. i
really need to get something going for that. when gg.IrrB3D is released i
plan on including install info for the Irrlicht mods in the documentation.
until then i probably wont get anything good out there :(

to install you essentially need 2 things:

a) my mods distribution (in the worklog)

b) either my Irrlicht DX lib (worklog) or the regular Irrlicht distribution
from Irrlicht (OpenGL only)

- under your BlitzMax\mod folder there needs to be a folder called gg.mod.
inside of this needs the mod directories from my distro. the resulting
structure should look like:

BlitzMax\mod\gg.mod
BlitzMax\mod\gg.mod\irrlicht.mod
BlitzMax\mod\gg.mod\irrbmax.mod

- the .a file from either b) distribution needs to go in the BlitzMax\lib
folder. the .DLL files from either b) distro needs to go in your
windows\system32 folder.

i would download all the samples, but sample 1 is a good place to start in
order to find out if everything is installed properly. one of the beautiful
things about the mods are that they are modeled to near exactly replicate
the Irrlicht API. this means that almost all the info in the regular
Irrlicht help file is useful to the BMAX developer. the help file is online
at the Irrlicht website or in the distro from Irrlicht as a CHM (i would
recommend getthing this). as much as i tried to be like Irrlicht, there are
a few exceptions:

a) method overloading. in these situations naming has changed slightly.

b) all exposed properties are available through get/set methods instead of
direct access.

c) all types are prefixed with T_irr

d) key constants have changed slightly

e) most constructors are implemented as create() functions on the type

f) more but cant think of them off the top of my head...

if you havent already i would read the worklog in its entirety. is pretty
boring but it tells many of the API differences as i found them.

> And, does Irrlicht contain a good collision engine?
given my limited 3D dev knowledge, i would say it is adqeuate. it has at
least the capabilities of the B3D collision system but organized in a
different fasion. it is a little hard to understand at first. if you dont
need physics i think it can do the job as is. it does have sliding and
basic gravity support.

Thanks GMAN :) but before Try i have a question ? Your engine
wrapper is functional with 2D max commands ?

@filax - the Irrlicht wrappers have the 2D commands from Irrlicht. although i havent mapped out a conversion for the B3D 2D commands, the ultimate goal of gg.IrrB3D will be to include as many of the 2D commands from B3D as it can (using the Irrlicht 2D command set of course). currently though, the goal is strictly 3D commands and will be for probably a couple months at least while bugs and inconsistancies are hashed out.

@everyone - if someone would like to volunteer to take a shot at the 2D command set, please lmk.

Thanks to reply Gman :)

Do you think that possible to convert iglass to work with Irrlicht ?
(with your 2D blitzed commands ?)

Am I doing something wrong here? I have the DLLs in the right folder (latest version).

@filax - not sure. depends on what commands and how complex they are? i would need to map out the 2D commands and provide you a list to get a better idea

@Jeroen - what code are you trying to run? are there any messages in the output window? you are running windows correct (as in not trying the linux version)? what version of BMAX are you running?