[Saving modified .map files can not be reloaded]

Another option (which would be IMHO more convenient) would be to add Import and Eport menues. This way you can later support multiple map formats without breaking the original save and save as workflow. 

Load/Save/Save as -> only for UltraEngine files

Import/Export -> reserved for plugins or fixed imports/exports in the engine.

[Saving a leadwerks map as an ultra scene let the terrain layers disappear]

Also some of the objects are not exported correctly, some are scaled or positioned wrong.

[Saving a leadwerks map as an ultra scene let the terrain layers disappear]

If you load a leadwerks map with a terrain (lets say the-zone.map) , resave it as a .ultra map and reload the saved ultra scene, then the terrain layers are there, but all shown as empty. I assume that might be as the materials for these layers are generated on the fly by the leadwerks map loader (you can see that, if you try to edit a layer material in the imported leadwerks map) and the new scene can't find the materials. 

[When Terrain is selected the editor is painfully slow]

If i load the 'The-Zone"-map the performance for navigating in the Perspective viewport is fast. But when i select the terrain and try to navigate, the controls begin to feel laggy. If i select any other element in the scene, the camera-navigation is smooth again.

[Groups in the property grid should have a button to remove them]

Currently if you add a component you have to right click on the group to remove the component.

A better option might be to add a button on the right (with a big X  ) to remove them. If you don't know that there is a context menu on the group to delete something the user might search a long time (which might be frustating).

[Browse option in dropdowns reopens file browser multiple times]

If a file is already attached to a dropdown and you try to change it via the Browse-menu, the OpenFile dialog opens at least 3 times. Even closing the dialog with cancel reopens it. After the 3rd time the selected file is loaded correctly.

[Saving modified .map files can not be reloaded]

When i load a leadwerks map file, modify it (maybe also without modifiing it) and save it under the same name, it can't be reloaded.

[Some small things.]

A small addition to the idea: 

the new Environment-Object should have an option to mark it as the default for the editor. So you can see the settings in the editor

viewrange in the Perspective viewport should be dependent on the camera settings (maybe add an option to specify a camera to the rendering viewport)

[Some small things.]

Just an idea: 

• rename the Environment group in the root node to World-Settings and remove all settings which are actually belonging to the camera
• add a new Environment Object (which may be added initially by default, but where you can have multiple Environments in one scene)
• then there might be 2 options
  1.  add the possibility to link one scene object to a previous defined object (like the add link to file in Visual studio
  2. or add the possibility to specify an existing Environment for each camera. 

 

[PostEffects and SetSSR(true) leads to runtime exception]

Hi,

i get this with the latest update as soon as i add any PostEffect or activate SSR on a camera:

>	ucrtbased.dll!00007ffece0e2fb5()	Unbekannt
 	ucrtbased.dll!00007ffece0e3153()	Unbekannt
 	ucrtbased.dll!00007ffece0fae2d()	Unbekannt
 	ucrtbased.dll!00007ffece0f9db0()	Unbekannt
 	ucrtbased.dll!00007ffece1deee9()	Unbekannt
 	ntdll.dll!00007fff9df1221f()	Unbekannt
 	ntdll.dll!00007fff9dec14b4()	Unbekannt
 	ntdll.dll!00007fff9df10d2e()	Unbekannt
 	KernelBase.dll!00007fff9bb6cf19()	Unbekannt
 	vcruntime140d.dll!00007fff4aa8b760()	Unbekannt
 	PfxTest_d.exe!UltraEngine::RuntimeError(class UltraEngine::WString const &)	Unbekannt
 	PfxTest_d.exe!UltraEngine::Assert(bool)	Unbekannt
 	PfxTest_d.exe!UltraEngine::Render::RenderTexture::Initialize(enum UltraEngine::TextureType,int,int,int,int,int,bool,int,enum UltraEngine::TextureFlags,int,int)	Unbekannt
 	PfxTest_d.exe!UltraEngine::Render::RenderBuffer::Initialize(int,int,int,int,int,bool,int,bool,int,int,bool)	Unbekannt
 	PfxTest_d.exe!UltraEngine::Render::RenderCamera::PrepareBuffers(class std::shared_ptr<class UltraEngine::Render::RenderContext>,class std::shared_ptr<class UltraEngine::Culling::CameraVisibilityList>)	Unbekannt
 	PfxTest_d.exe!UltraEngine::Render::RenderingThreadManager::Update(bool)	Unbekannt
 	PfxTest_d.exe!UltraEngine::Core::ThreadManager::EntryPoint(class std::shared_ptr<class UltraEngine::Object>)	Unbekannt
 	PfxTest_d.exe!UltraEngine::Thread::thread_function(void *)	Unbekannt
 	ucrtbased.dll!00007ffece103010()	Unbekannt
 	kernel32.dll!00007fff9dd87344()	Unbekannt
 	ntdll.dll!00007fff9dec26b1()	Unbekannt

Code:

#include "UltraEngine.h"
#include "Components/Motion/Mover.hpp"
#include "Components/Player/CameraControls.hpp"

using namespace UltraEngine;

int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
{
    RegisterComponent<Mover>();
    RegisterComponent<CameraControls>();

    //Get the displays
    auto displays = GetDisplays();

    //Create a window
    auto window = CreateWindow("Ultra Engine", 0, 0, 1280, 720, displays[0], WINDOW_CENTER | WINDOW_TITLEBAR);

    //Create a world
    auto world = CreateWorld();

    //Create a framebuffer
    auto framebuffer = CreateFramebuffer(window);

    //Create a camera
    auto camera = CreateCamera(world);
    camera->SetClearColor(0.125);
    camera->SetFov(70);
    camera->SetPosition(0, 0, -3);
    camera->SetSSR(true);

    //Create a light
    auto light = CreateBoxLight(world);
    light->SetRotation(35, 45, 0);
    light->SetRange(-10, 10);

    //Create a box
    auto box = CreateBox(world);
    box->SetColor(0,0,1);

    //Entity component system
    auto component = box->AddComponent<Mover>();
    component->rotationspeed.y = 45;

    //Main loop
    while (window->Closed() == false and window->KeyDown(KEY_ESCAPE) == false)
    {
        world->Update();
        world->Render(framebuffer);
    }
    return 0;
}

 

[Reep's Wishlist before release.]

I hope you don't mind for hijacking this thread, but i would like to add some things (Having this all-in-one thread, might be easier for Josh to keep track of it):

• More viewport Configuration options (e.g.: view range for large terrain editing)
• Missing Primitives (Sphere, etc.)
• Global posteffect system (I know it's on the to-do list)
• Filter in the Project tab (filtering for scripts/textures/materials etc.) (optionally a filter system like in Visual Studio for CPP projects)
• Batch functions for folders (convert all textures, or create all materials in a folder)
• A folder like node in the Map Browser
• A way to extract meshes from bigger meshes
  • A lot of 3rd party meshes come as one big mesh, and it would be nice to extract the individual meshes into new ones
• Advanced Terrain editing options
  • Masked brushes
  • Visibility brush
  • Predefined layers (import and export multiple layers)
  • Fill all in the added order (currently you can only fill one layer at a time)
• Advanced documentation for editor scripting (it is currently hard to guess)

 

[Windows 11 Editor Issues]

@Josh: My issue was caused by a windows update which corrupted the nvidia driver. A reinstall of the nvidia drivers fixed it. 

The rendering looks much smoother now and nearly no artifacts are there. Only when resizing the viewport, then the viewports are not updated, otherwise a great enhancement.

[Windows 11 Editor Issues]

No, Nvidia. I will investigate it further tomorrow. Maybe something was odd with the drivers. 

[Windows 11 Editor Issues]

Not only in the editor, even simple apps just render a white window with the latest release.

[Windows 11 Editor Issues]

Have you changed something with the latest update? I can't see anything in the viewports anymore since today.

[Various smaller Editor bugs (spinner, etc.)]

Ok, here is a first list of spinners: 

• Map/Environment
  • Gravity (should be in 0.01 steps at least) 
  • FogRanges and Angles (maybe both to 0.1 ranges)
• Transform
  • All properties for position, scale and rotation should be with a lower increment. (position could maybe adjusted to the grid snap)
• Physics
  • Mass should be float instead of int
  • Friction/Damping and Elastacity should have at least 0.1 steps
• Light
  • Range (at least 0.1)
• Probe
  • Fades should be 0.01 or 0.1
• Camera
  • Ranges ( should be 0.1 steps)
• Navigation
  • All float values should be at least 0.1 (some maybe better 0.01)
• Options:
  • General
    • Texel size should be 0.1
  • Viewport
    • Gridsize should be 0.01

Additionally i would suggest to add some functionality to the spinners eg:

• holding ctrl while clicking increases the increment
• holding shift decreases the increment
• some editors add some timing to the spinners:
  •  if you do a single click it uses the lowest increment possible
  • if you hold down the button it starts with the lowest increment, but raises the increment in time steps eg, after every second the increment goes up by one digit.
• also some editors support some dragging features to alter the value in the textboxes

[How to load/play any video file with LUA]

@Josh, as UltraEngine uses Vulkan you might consider using the Vulkan Video extensions ( researched since 2018 and integrated since 2021 )

https://www.khronos.org/blog/an-introduction-to-vulkan-video

It enables you to decode and encode H264 (mp4) and maybe other formats (don't know exactly) directly on the gpu and use the frames as normal VKImageViews / VKImages and VkBuffers. 

A good sample of the integration is located here: 

https://wickedengine.net/2023/05/07/vulkan-video-decoding/

[Various smaller Editor bugs (spinner, etc.)]

I know you @Josh are still working in these things, but i think to document them here is practical as well:

These are some minor bugs i encountered while using the Editor:

• The Spinner needs some adjustments, currently the up/down buttons in-/decrement in 1.0 steps, which is annoying on some properties like material displacement or near ranges
• The Generate-Material Option stores the textures relative to the material, not relative to the base path
  • leads to empty materials when opened in editor
• some elements using a Scrollable area are initially not drawn correctly. (options-> Viewports(tab)) After first resize of the parent the items are displayed correctly
• Tab cycling through controls doesn't work
• Delete key is not supported in input controls
• Input-Boxes with spinning loose value if you first enter the a value in the textbox and directly use the array buttons without leaving the control prior to the button press.
• ColorControl:
  • Using the spinner doesn't update the "color icon" (first click updates the button)
  • Selecting a color via the dropdown and using the spinners afterwards resets the value to the previous one

Thais it for know  more to come.

[CPP Template: Components refer to Scene instead of Map]

In the CPP template, the Components are not updated to reflect the Change from Scene to Map.

virtual bool Load(table& properties, shared_ptr<Stream> binstream, shared_ptr<Scene> scene, const LoadFlags flags);
virtual bool Save(table& properties, shared_ptr<Stream> binstream, shared_ptr<Scene> scene, const SaveFlags flags);
   
 

 

[Terrain height at given point]

A good starting point might be this topic: 

 

I haven't worked with LE since the UltraEngine Early Access, but the essential methods should all be located in Terrain.h and Vegetation.h .

If i remember correctly it is also possible to use camera picking to get the actual instance, but that is not for sure.

[Terrain height at given point]

No, at least not officially supported. In lua there is no way to achieve this. In the cpp version it is possible by using the not documented Vegetation methods of the terrain class, but as said, these are not supported to be used by the end user.

 

[Terrain height at given point]

 

What error do you get? And how does the lua code look like?

 

[Terrain height at given point]

Hi, 

if you mean in UltraEngine, then this is what you're looking for: 

https://www.ultraengine.com/learn/Terrain_GetElevation?lang=cpp

https://www.ultraengine.com/learn/Terrain_GetHeight?lang=cpp

GetElevation get the global height of the terrain (including the scale), whereas Getheight get the raw height value (0.0 - 1.0) of the heightmap at the specific position.

For Leadwerks Engine the same commands exists.

 

[ImGui - Integration]

You can give it a try now: https://github.com/klepto2/ImGui-UltraEngine

Everything but MultiViewport rendering should work out of the box. Look at main.cpp for a more detailed sample.

[ImGui - Integration]

Yes, I plan so. The repo is already Setup and will be filled soon. ( maybe tomorrow;))