Next3D

[User137]

Something new again... Along with a simple test app, UI is now made interactive with mouse events. Not all components have full functionality yet but buttons and scrollbars do. I can already predict alot of issues with memo component needing a flexible select area and insert-typing... but what is already done is enough to make a full game user-interface. Even though main program can use even a slow timer to render it all, the response speed is lightning fast because of form events.

UIEditor had a little cleaning done by using PageControl for extra dialogs. MainPanel child objects have a visibility toggler so it is possible to design multiple fullscreen views, or bits and parts here and there.

Edit and list components have next highest priority. Texture- and font-selector should also be done some point.

One word about customizability, UIEditor can't and propably will not be able to change settings of subobjects such as scrollbar belonging to List object. They however can be easily customized runtime in code; changing colors, texture, fonts etc. UI uses default textures (reserved png filenames) which all components will use unless changed in texture-selector.

[User137]

New versions and new test program added, also first public release of UIEditor:
http://next3d.webs.com

With the test program you should be able to scroll memo, list, dropdown-list ect with mousewheel, arrow keys and mouse. I cannot express how much you can do with that stuff already but i hope the tester gives out some hint I also made a built-in system for frame fading which are used at start and end of test program. It can be used to easily but smoothly hide/show different frames in given milliseconds.

Delphi compatibility is remaining in the demos, and the engine core has had a lot of fixes here and there. For example nx.FrameTick variable is faster and preferred alternative to using GetTickCount function in the main program.

edit: OH! And that is the way i'd want every scrollbar to work Not having to search for the handle to drag but instead be able to click and drag anywhere in the bar to move it there.

[User137]

Time to update on status again.

Just almost done (edit: Done and all Delphi compatible again) with a huge change within UI files. There is now nxUI.pas and nxGLUI.pas because i like to make universally working code. nxUI can be somewhat easily adapted to be drawn with any engine, even with standard Canvas. I just now need to finish drawing functions in the GL unit.

With 2D drawing in good shape already with easy to use functions, i feel like i need to start working on 3D. This means i'll try to create 2 applications: 3D modelling program and animator. Modelling program will use save format OBJ and import as many formats as i can. Both programs will use this GL based UI.

The 3D animator is new project what i have been experimented a bit years ago. But only recently i've been starting to have more vision of what i want of it.
- Bones (joints) are created and attached in this editor.
- 1 project open at the time. Saved in 1 file of custom format (maybe N3D).
- Vertically scrollable small bar left side of screen containing all 3D models in project.
- Vertex and bone animation in same file.
- Each model has N amount of keyframes.
- Multiple animations can be created and shown same time in purpose of making synchronized animation between many objects. (For example 2 humans handshaking would be rather frustrating task without sync)

And still, purpose of Next3D is to be useful to many, maybe fill the gaps. It can be used as standalone for games, but it can also be used alongside other engines. It is highly modular etc. For instance you may have a OpenGL based graphics engine of your own but you will still be able to use drawing, math, font functions and UI with it. The beauty is in that there are no components or anything needed to install at all. Just add units to the Lazarus\FPC\Delphi search path.