The DVG format, used for vector games like Asteroids, is the
predecessor to the AVG graphics used in games like Battlezone.
Also, added some extended error checks on wireframe vertices.
Also, minor edits to the README and daily tips.
Some tests were duplicated between VisWireframe and the code that
consumed the data. We now expose the Validate function as a public
interface, and invoke it from WireframeObject. Failed validation
results in a null object being returned, which was previously allowed
but not actually checked for.
SourceGen Edit Commands is a feature that allows you to generate
commands into a file and have SourceGen apply them to the current
project. I'm not expecting this to be used by anyone but me, so
for now I'm just adding an entry to the debug menu that can read
comments out of a file.
Also, fixed a bug in the re-centering min/max code that prevented
it from working on trivial shapes.
Also, renamed the atari-avg visualizer to atari-avg-bz, with the
expectation that one day somebody might want to create a variant
for newer games.
This converts AVG commands to wireframes. We don't try to track
color or intensity. (This is a disassembler, not a graphics
converter; perfection is not required.) The various rotation and
animation options are still enabled, though they're not terribly
useful for this.
Commands that are meant to be used in series, such as font glyphs,
tend to use (0,0) as their left edge and baseline. This puts the
shape in the upper-right corner of the thumbnail, which makes
everything smaller. The change adds a "re-center" option to the
wireframe renderer that computes the visible bounds and adjusts
the coordinates so that the center of the object is at (0,0) for
display.
This allows rendering of a vertex directly, rather than just as an
edge endpoint. They're currently drawn as small '+' signs. A
round dot would be better, but the code is passing a list of line
segments around, so this is simpler.
There's no "standard" coordinate system, so the choice is arbitrary.
However, an examination of the Transporter mesh in Elite revealed
that the mesh was designed for a left-handed coordinate system. We
can compensate for that trivially in the Elite visualizer, but we
might as well match what they're doing. (The only change required
in the code is a couple of sign changes on the Z coordinate, and an
update to the rotation matrix.)
This also downsizes Matrix44 to Matrix33, exposes the rotation mode
enum, and adds a left-handed ZYX rotation mode.
This does mean that meshes that put the front at +Z will show their
backsides initially, since we're now oriented as if we're flying
the ships rather than facing them. I considered adding a 180-degree
Y rotation (with a tweak to the rotation matrix handedness to correct
the first rotation axis) to have them facing by default, but figured
that might be confusing since +Z is supposed to be away.
Anybody who really wants it to be the other way can trivially flip
the coordinates in their visualizer (negate xc/zc).
The Z coordinates in the visualization test project were flipped so
that the design is still facing the viewer at rotation (0,0,0).
Elite has a level-of-detail cutoff in the mesh data. This change
provides a way for the visualization generator to exclude vertices
and edges that should not be rendered based on the desired LOD.
Also, tweak the perspective projection scaling to fill out the area
a bit more, and change the visualization editor to use the grid's
size when setting the path dimensions.
Also, note gimbal lock.
Moved X/Y/Z rotation out of the plugin, since it has nothing to do
with the plugin at all. (Backface removal and perspective projection
are somewhat based on the data contents, as is the choice for
whether or not they should be options.)
Added sliders for X/Y/Z rotation. Much more fun that way.
Renamed VisualizationAnimation to VisBitmapAnimation, as we're not
going to use it for wireframe animation. Created a new class to
hold wireframe animation data, which is really just a reference to
the IVisualizationWireframe so we can generate an animated GIF
without having to pry open the plugin again.
Renamed the "frame-delay-msec" parameter, which should start with
an underscore to ensure it doesn't clash with plugin parameters.
If we don't find it with an underscore we check again without for
backward compatibility.
We extract the data from the wireframe visualization, perform a
trivial transform, and display it. The perspective vs.
orthographic flag in the parameters is respected. (No rotation or
backface removal yet.)
Also, increased the thumbnail sizes in the visualization set editor
list from 48x48 to 64x64, because the nearest-pixel-scaled 48x48
looks nasty when used for wireframes.