Mini map

[YouGroove]

I would know the best way for some mini map ?

A second viewport ? is possible in LE3 ? We have no example ?

This window viexport would display a fraction of the map with a shifted position centered to some porportionnal coordinates of the real player position perhaps.

 

In 3D art side, perhaps take some Top down screenshot, than place some player point with coordinates proportionnal to actual player position ?

Same for ennemies coming to you

[AggrorJorn]

It depends a little what you want to show on this minimap. If it is a realtime topview of the map then have a look at the security cam. Instead of rendering to the texture of a model, render to a texture that is drawn on as a 2d image.

 

http://leadwerks.wikidot.com/wiki:render-to-texture-security-cam

[Tim Shea]

I have never played a game with a fully rendered minimap. That would be jarring I think. What you typically would want is just a sprite pane in your GUI system, with icons for each of the objects you're interested in, and a prerendered (probably stylized) image for the static map.

[YouGroove]

Yes, some screen capture of level from top view , scaled down , you just display that top down image in a box and place player in it by some proportionnal equation to it's model position in 3D world.

But to display only the map section you are on, you just shift move the top down mini map as your player moves in 3D, the player in mini map beeing always centered in that 2D mini map.

I need a 2nd viewport for mini map so ?

[DudeAwesome]

do you need a 1:1 map from original map? I just would use a painted heightmap (.raw or whatever) and draw dots for every unit onto the map by asking its position. the 2nd view solution will give you a nice performance drop and should only be used if you really need it (its worst case i guess)

[Tim Shea]

I just would use a painted heightmap

 

This is a good idea. The diffuse map from a terrain could be a good source as well. You definitely don't want a second view, since the minimap is not a view into your real time scene, it's just a component of your GUI.

[YouGroove]

It is possible in LE3 to display a fraction of a big image in some GUI element ?

Image functions ?

[Tim Shea]

If you aren't using a GUI framework, you can use a plane with texture coordinates to accomplish this. Any decent framework will have this option though. Leadwerks has a graphics engine, but no GUI functions built in, so you have to decide how to accomplish that.