mg^2 0.1.16

this code is free. licensing is covered under the terms of the GPL.

anyway, you need: Gtk+, Gtk GL Area, and openGL/Mesa. check the html page for links to the preceding.

NOTE: Imlib is no longer required. it may be an optional library when texture mapping is implemented. i was only using it before because gdk was excrutiatingly slow at loading xpm's, but now it's much faster.

to compile: if you have the above things installed properly, # ./configure
# make
# cd src/
# mg^2

consult the INSTALL file for more info about autoconf. that's it. give me suggestions.

there are menus behind those buttons. try right clicking them!

RANTING SECTION:

things to do in the immediate future: speed things up a bit, open and save different file formats, plug-ins, texturing, and animation support. SEE TODO.

NEW: POVray output! yay! it works. that's all have to say :) some things were fixed, but the addition of a child/sibling scheme has opened the doorway to some possible new bugs. i will get to fixing those in the next release. there might be some other things that i forgot. it's been a LONG month!

for now, please regard the following questions and answer any you like:

the POVray output seems to work well with what it supports. however, opengl is right handed, afaik, and povray is left handed. the docs said that the correctness of povray's right hand method is in dispute. the output file is set to right hand mode. is this a problem? maybe some povray person would like to help?
How does the POV output of mg^2 look?
should tools always be able to operate on all of an object's children and siblings at the same time? Truespace does it that way, which i think is not terribly useful. in some cases i think it is, like for the painting tools, that way you don't have to descend the hierarchy to do something simple like setting materials. maybe this isn't an issue of the tool interface, but an issue up to the individual tool writer? what do you think?
How is an infinite light like the sun made in povray? can anyone tell what's wrong with the spot light output from mg^2?
Is it possible to simulate the other Povray light types like cylinder and area lights in OpenGL? How about the camera types other than ortho and perspective (fisheye, panorama, etc.) ?

NEXT RELEASE:
i've got alot to work on, aside from adding new features. i will be making a release at the end of November with bug fixes and better handling of current features.

I plan on trying to add the follwing features: animation (maybe), improved handling of subobjects, set of tool init functions instead of data structure, slightly improved tool gui, improved and animatable materials and light data, and fixes for stuff.

every release will be made once a month at the end/beginning of the month. unless, of course, significant changes warrant diversiform action.

OUTPUT: the code is largely mine, but the md2 decoding function is mostly the work of chris taylor ( if you want to contact him let me know). anything else might have taken from examples, etc.

mg^2 is written in C with an object oriented approach. a note on C: i've been using // comments. not all C compilers understand //. if you have trouble AND you are serious about getting mg^2 running, tell me and i guess i'll start converting all those // to /* */. UUUGGHH. maybe C++ compilation could be forced in such cases... i have been replacing // with /* */ when i see them, so they will be gone eventually... but // are soooo nice :)

INPUT: any seg faults or problems that you may have with mg^2 may be helpful to this project if you tell me about them and why you think that they are happening. unless noted, i try to make every release as seg fault free as possible. don't forget to send me code suggestions. if you're interested in joinng this project, email me and we'll work out a scheme. help is good.

when sending me mail, please put a '[mg^2]' or something in the beginning of the subject. i get ALOT of mail... thanks.

bye!

main author: greg waltz <finklesk@op.net> url: http://www.op.net/~finklesk/download.html