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Topic: OpenGL 3D library (Read 608 times) |
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michaelgallup
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Re: OpenGL 3D library
« Reply #1 on: Oct 23rd, 2016, 10:57pm » |
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So do you plan to expand BBCSDL so it has the option of compiling stand alone programs?
Also, since you have made this much progress, would you consider experimenting further with OpenGL to make it more user friendly?
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Richard Russell
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Re: OpenGL 3D library
« Reply #2 on: Oct 24th, 2016, 08:49am » |
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on Oct 23rd, 2016, 10:57pm, michael wrote:So do you plan to expand BBCSDL so it has the option of compiling stand alone programs?
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The first thing to say is that 'compiling' is the responsibility of an IDE, and there are two quite separate IDEs supplied with BBCSDL: BBCEdit written by Andy Parkes and SDLIDE written by me! So in enquiring about what capabilities might be added you need to ask the question not only of me but also of Andy - and of course who's to say somebody else won't write yet another IDE? 
A related point is that both IDEs are fairly straightforward BBC BASIC programs (in the case of SDLIDE, at least, there's not even any assembler code) so what capabilities may be provided depends not only on the original author but on what others - like yourself! - might add.
But to address your main point, what precisely do you mean by "stand alone programs" in the context of Linux and Mac-OS? The various incompatible 'flavours' of Linux rule out creating a single universal binary, so you're faced either with using some third-party installer/packager tool or relying on the end-user to install the various components he needs (as BBCSDL itself does).
In the case of Mac OS an application is distributed as a disk image file (.dmg) containing a complete hierarchy of directories and files. So whilst it's 'universal' (at least currently - who knows if and when Apple will drop support for 32-bit apps altogether) it's not a "stand alone program" in the same sense as a single .exe file in Windows.
So can you clarify what you're asking?
Quote:| Also, since you have made this much progress, would you consider experimenting further with OpenGL to make it more user friendly? |
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I don't really understand the question. My objective in creating the library was to make writing portable 3D programs easy, by providing a substantially identical interface to D3DLIB. So are you saying you don't find D3DLIB "user friendly", and if so what issues do you have with it?
Although it's always difficult to find the right compromise between 'simplicity' and 'functionality' (that applies equally to all the BBC BASIC libraries) I'm not unhappy with D3DLIB in that regard and I don't think anybody else has complained about it.
Richard.
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michaelgallup
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Re: OpenGL 3D library
« Reply #3 on: Oct 24th, 2016, 11:32am » |
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Quote:So are you saying you don't find D3DLIB "user friendly", and if so what issues do you have with it?
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I have no problem with it. I was interested in the direction you seemed to be heading.
If you planned to expand BBCSDL further with OPENGL abilities and you had studied it enough to adapt D3D programs, I thought you had more future work in OPENGL. That is all.
As for me, I am focusing on 2D animation tools, since Ric is working on 3D tools.
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Richard Russell
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Re: OpenGL 3D library
« Reply #4 on: Oct 24th, 2016, 12:03pm » |
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on Oct 24th, 2016, 11:32am, michael wrote:| I thought you had more future work in OPENGL. |
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The point is that "future work in OpenGL" would not be (straightforwardly) compatible with BB4W, because that does its 3D graphics primarily using Direct3D. So having gone to the trouble of improving compatibility between BB4W and BBCSDL, by writing the new library, it wouldn't make a great deal of sense to worsen it again by doing something OpenGL-specific.
In any case, I've seen very little use made of D3DLIB other than the demo programs I and David Williams have written. So I would argue that's it's premature to consider "future work" when the capabilities of the current libraries have been far from fully exploited.
Quote:| Ric is working on 3D tools. |
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Ric's work, whilst impressive, is largely an academic exercise because it can never compete in performance with Direct3D and OpenGL which do their calculations using the GPU.
Richard.
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