My latest project... Ogre Studio

Post by **pjcast** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:15 am

Some may be aware that I have been working (dabbling) with making a Visual Studio type of clone for Ogre

(Currently named: Visual Ogre Studio -- though, open for change)

Anyway, before some screen shots. I want to list lib's used, and some rough features currently supported (mostly).

Libs used:
C# .Net 2.0
OgreDotNet
Ogre (1.2)
MagicLibrary (For form docking)
DotNetFireball (Code Editor / Syntax Highlighting)

Currently Supports / Features:

Plugin Interface (Only Main IDE and Ogre window are part of the actual core - all functionality is added via plugins)

DotScene Loading (70% complete)

A Small sceneviewer window - Shows the the scene graph (Nodes, Entities, and lights only currently)

Embeds an Ogre Window into a winform's tab (and is updated real time when the window is viewable)

Dock/move/hide/float windows

Syntax highlighting and cold folding for many formats (.cpp, .xml, etc), plus option for BreakPoint setting's (via DotNetFireball editor window)

Known Bugs:
Ogre window has poor qaulity (need to use higher settings).
Cannot unload projects, loading more than one project or creating more then one project leads to problems.
Does not check for already loaded files
Syntax highlighting for Ogre Scripts not started/worked on yet
Code editing not yet implemented (Undo/Cut/Copy/etc)
Missing Context menus when right clicking on tree views

Anyway, now for some screenshots:

Also, the small demo: http://www.wreckedgames.com/files/OgreStudio.msi

It is a .Net C# App, and requires .Net 2.0. Various libs that it uses (Magic and DotNetFireball) are only Win32 atm, but the source is available, and a linux/mono port is possible.

A quick rundone of how to try the (limited, I admit) features:
Start it up, go to File->New->Project, select the only type currently available. Name it and set the directory.

This will automatically create a small skeleton project (and use the default media included in the install) plus copy a test.scene file into the new directory. Ok, then go to File->Open->File chose the scenefile that was copied over (this will work via the context menu on the treeview once implemented). GIve it a few secs, then switch to the ogre window, and you can hold the left mouse button and move the mouse around. You can also activate the scene explorer by chosing view->plugin windows->sceneviewer.

Anyway, any feedback/questions/etc are welcome

Lodes · Post by **Lodes** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:37 am

Keep it up. I like all your custom little icons

You're aiming exactly at what Chronos was also aiming to be. But this is using Ogre/OgreDotNet so go go go!

synaptic · Post by **synaptic** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 9:27 am

this looks good, i've been working on a project pretty much the same as this. If you need any help with i'd be glad to share my code

raicuandi · Post by **raicuandi** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:36 am

Though I'm looking forward to see this project completed,
I have a somehow bad feeling about this...

Wretched_Wyx · Post by **Wretched_Wyx** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:16 pm

raicuandi wrote:Though I'm looking forward to see this project completed,
I have a somehow bad feeling about this...

Why is that?

pjcast wrote:Currently named: Visual Ogre Studio -- though, open for change

That's a cool name. I tried thinking up a few for fun, the best I could come up with was "Vulgar Studio". That's the proper spelling of vulgar, but I thought it sounded good, as it ryhmes with Ogre, and was the closest combination of "visual" and "ogre" I could come up with

. Though the definition isn't so lovely:

Code: Select all

   1.  Crudely indecent.
   2.
         a. Deficient in taste, delicacy, or refinement.
         b. Marked by a lack of good breeding; boorish. See synonyms at common.
         c. Offensively excessive in self-display or expenditure; ostentatious: the huge vulgar houses and cars of the newly rich.
   3. Spoken by or expressed in language spoken by the common people; vernacular: the technical and vulgar names for an animal species.
   4. Of or associated with the great masses of people; common.

Though 3 sounds kinda cool, I don't think many people associate vulgar with it. I think Visual Ogre Studio works just fine, but who knows? Maybe someone else will come up with a better name.

Post by **sinbad** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 3:59 pm

Nice work mate.

Code: Select all

assert (moreTools == good);

Post by **pjcast** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:13 am

@synaptic
Code sharing would be great. Once the main interface API is a bit more stable (just about there - I did alot of file and project factory refactoring today) I plan to Document the plugin interface (and open source the current plugins -- the main editor will remain mostly closed for now). Anyway, adding features via plugin's will be/is a simple matter.

@raicuandi
I don't plan on making this into a MMORPG generator, so no need to worry

Just a scene editing tool, mesh viewing, scripting, etc, and plugable editor.

@Wretched_Wyx
Vulgar does ryme, but sounds like.. emm.. Not that good. However, with a cool logo (I suck at art), maybe that name would be ok

@Sinbad
Yeah, I agree, more tools is always good. I know many tools have come and gone (Cronos, LunchBox?, etc), but I am hoping that my tool may be a stayer though.

For a little more background on my plans, I plan to offer it free for commercial or non-commercial when used to develop content for your projects. However, distribution would be against the terms of the license. If you would like to distribute the editor along with your app (if for example you let users mod your product) then low-cost pricing arrangements can be made - this will, depending on negotiated deal, allow you access to the main source so you can customize the look/feel/style/logo's etc. Anyway, those are my plans, hopefully they don't put anyone off of using my tool

Oh, and I upgraded the download link. Besides major (backend) refactoring, it is now possible to load/close/switch between multiple scene files. And, I fixed a annoying treeview problem when moving the tool windows (icons would mess up, and no more contextmenu).

- If anyone is interested in working on a material editor plugin, I am interested in hearing from you (feel free to post here, or PM me).

Post by **Praetor** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 2:37 pm

As for the scene viewer quality, obviously you could let the user select resolution, FSAA, etc. for options, correct? I think it would just take a little RenderSystem::reinit call.

For scene loading, is that a pluggable interface as well? I'd like to allow for oFusion loading too. I can help out with these suggestions of course... (my .NET experience is limited, but I'll learn...).

Post by **pjcast** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:21 pm

The way the editor works is that plugins register file and project factories. And, by the requested open extension, the correct plugin is sent a filename to open. So, Ofusion can be supported, as any kind of file can. There is no strict scene format. There is, however, only one loaded scene at a time supported.

As for the qaulity issue (and other settings), yes, I plan to have user options to adjust the renderer init. As for the blurry qaulity I mentioned above, I fixed that. Seems I was doing something wrong with the RenderWindow resizing.. I was using window->resize(,), and that led to a crumpy resoultion or aspect, not sure why.. I didn't look in to it that much. Now, I use window->WindowMovedOrResized() and let Ogre determine the new dimensions and settings itself.. And, qaulity is back

Post by **Praetor** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:33 pm

@pjcast check your messages, I sent you a pm. Did you get it?

Post by **pjcast** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:40 pm

Praetor wrote:@pjcast check your messages, I sent you a pm. Did you get it?

Yeah, I was replying after I replied here

Post by **pjcast** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:22 pm

Ok, I know this screen shot takes up a fair amount of screen space, and that I could just hyperlink it, but I am proud to show of the latest screen shot of the editor:

Functionality has not changed a whole lot, as I am spending the most amount time right now getting the backend and UI poslished, as I believe that is the most imoprtant thing atm, to make it as user friendly, and flexible as possible. Anyway, I've been doing quite a bit of Icon work, and have gotten the main toolbar complete (I feel anyway). All the editing buttons work (if you open up a txt, scene, cfg, type of file for text editing, you can use the toolbar (or filemenu, or keyboard shortcuts, eg ctrl-z is undo) to assist in editing.

The Link is the same: http://www.wreckedgames.com/files/Visua ... nstall.msi and has been updated to current build.

What it needs:
Some actual scene editing plugin
Material Editing
Mesh Viewer
Custom Material, other Ogre script Syntax rules, if anyone feels like tackling this, let me know and I will provide the information on what to look at to do that.

Also, suggestions on other features to add to the wish list would be welcome

Post by **sinbad** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:28 pm

Cool

A few light suggestions you probably already have on your TODO anyway:
- Double-clicking on nodes should do something. Took me a while to figure out I had to right-click and select 'Load into Ogre' on test.scene

- Use the automatic aspect ratio option on camera for when people move / resize the view to avoid it getting squashed
- View > Plugin Windows > Scene Viewer didn't seem very intuitive to me. Either it should appear when you load a scene automatically, or it should be somewhere more obvious (or both?).

Keep it up

Post by **pjcast** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:47 pm

sinbad wrote: - Double-clicking on nodes should do something. Took me a while to figure out I had to right-click and select 'Load into Ogre' on test.scene

This has been raised by others, and I plan to definately implement double clicking.

sinbad wrote: - Use the automatic aspect ratio option on camera for when people move / resize the view to avoid it getting squashed

Good point, I will enable that.

sinbad wrote: - View > Plugin Windows > Scene Viewer didn't seem very intuitive to me. Either it should appear when you load a scene automatically, or it should be somewhere more obvious (or both?).

The sceneviewer tool is an addon, and not always in view. Besides that, that is the least worked on plugin at this point, it has some other issues in regards to not staying current with the loaded scene (you have to reactivate it) - I plan to address that by haing the OgrePane class have an event you can listen to for when the scene changes. As for appearing automatically, hmm, it's not really part of the same plugin that handles loading .Scene files, so, not really possible to do that. That wold make a dependence of that plugin within the DotScene plugin.

However, if that is a tool you like to see often, if you bring it to a tool bar, float it, or position it somewhere and leave it there when exiting. Then, on the next load, your windows will all be in the same spots

Sinbad, thanks for you good points, and hopefully soon, a material and scene editor will be arising

Post by **pjcast** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:25 am

Double clicking is now in and functional

. File loading has been cleaned up a bit, and if a file is already loaded (either into Ogre or into editor) then it does not load again. There are still some issues regarding file handling that need more attention - such as exceptions raised for ill-formed xml (for scene files) or non existant files (if you add a file to the project), but these will be dealt with eventually.

Also, the camera auto aspect is set to true now, no more squashed renderings

EvilPickles · Post by **EvilPickles** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:44 am

Post by **jacmoe** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:56 am

No, it does not.

It basically means 'common', from Latin 'vulgus': of the common man.

Read about it here:
http://www.google.dk/search?hl=da&lr=&d ... n&ct=title

SuprChikn · Post by **SuprChikn** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:21 pm

@EvilPickles: it's also worth noting that the person who made that suggestion for the name is not the developer of this, and he also gave the dictionary definition of the word (and so is well aware of any negative connotations that may come with it).

Another name I could suggest derived using a similar method would be something along the lines of "VogueR Studio" or something similar. Phonetically, it has "ogre" in there, with the starting 'V' for "Visual". Also, I believe "vogue" to be a more possitive term than "vulgar"

Game_Ender · Post by **Game_Ender** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:48 pm

What about "Vogre Studio".

Robomaniac · Post by **Robomaniac** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:53 pm

More Vouge than before, its VOgre!

Looks good pjcast, has a lot of potential, hopefully this won't die like Chronos

Post by **Praetor** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:53 pm

I kind of just like Ogre Studio.

Post by **pjcast** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:23 am

Hmm, good point. Dropping the Visual is worth thinking about. I'm still waiting till I see some cool artwork with different names to get a final definitive name though

A little update, file saving/loading/closing works. So, now my editor is a glorified text editor atm. Still more work to do, but I plan to work on adding/removing project files/resources/resource groups next.

Post by **pjcast** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 6:37 am

Resource removal, adding, and some basic viewing is implemented (you can get list of all files in a folder - FileSystem).

Also, I started working on a little MeshViewer plugin. Don't be too harse, i only spent a short amount of time on it. Consequently, it needs more polishing and features. Also, I do not have that many materials for most of the meshes, so alot of them show up as base white. Anyway, feel free to drop in your own Ogre media folder, as that is what I am currently using for testing (though, very stipped down).

To open the meshviewer, expand the Resource group treenode in the Project Explorer window, select the General Group, models, then double click or right click the .mesh you want to see.

Post by **pjcast** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Ok, some new updates:

Loading time has increased (and is always the slowest during the first load). So, splash screen has been introduced to show progress

New WGE Scene Editor In work - To activate it, create/load a project, go to Tools->Plugin Tools->WGE Scene Editor. Doesn't do too much at the moment - Single Picking and Volume Picking (and, Ctrl and Shift modify the behavior), material definition dragging from the Project Explorer Treeview onto a Entity in the Ogre Scene will apply that material.

DotScene enhancements - SubEntity material saving. Ability to save all environment settings(ambient colour, skydome/skyplane/skybox settings, etc). Some minor tweaks with previous errors.

I started on a Material Plugin. It only does text editing at the moment, as visual editing is not my priortity currently. Though, it has complete syntax highlighting rules (except for shaders). And, keywords/parameters are only valid in their respective material blocks (material, tehnique, pass, texture_unit, texture_source, etc).

Material File Expansion (I hacked together) the ability to expand the material treeview in the project explorer to display all materials within - it is these that you should drag to the scene window for applying to obects. Though, this means you cannot double click material files to open them, however, right clicking them will allow you to text edit them. As the material plugin is developed, you will be able to open the definitions to for editing, along with visual editing.

Still, it doesn't have a lot of purpose, as you cannot add new meshes, remove meshes, move meshes, etc, but all in due time. If anyone wants to help out on the project, please, PM me.. As, I am always interested in collaborators

Kezzer · Post by **Kezzer** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:26 pm

Are you using MFC to code that by the way? I'm just interested to know