456 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
456 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
------------------------ RELEASE 1.0.0 ------------------------
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Configuration, installation, and execution environments:
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* This is the introduction of the new Panda version numbering
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system. The Panda version will be represented with three
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dot-separated numbers. The first number, the major version, will
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change only very rarely. The second number, the minor version,
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will increment frequently, with each new feature release. The
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third number will increment as needed to indicate bugfix releases
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on the minor version.
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* Use PandaSystem::get_version_string() (or
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PandaSystem.getVersionString() in Python) to return the version
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number of the currently-running Panda.
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* New runtime config system allows for dynamic loading of prc files
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and supports querying of available variable names. Use
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ConfigVariableString, ConfigVariableBool, etc. to get a value from
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the prc file(s); use the ConfigVariableManager and
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ConfigPageManager classes (or the cvMgr and cpMgr global objects
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in Python) to make general queries.
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* The ppremake build system now properly detects intra-tree
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dependencies, but only if each tree is fully built and installed
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before ppremake is run within the next dependent tree. Requires
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using ppremake version 1.18 or higher.
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Miscellaneous:
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* New support for encrypted streams, including encrypted subfiles
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within a multifile, using the OpenSSL encryption library. Adds
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pencrypt and pdecrypt programs.
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* The default port for PStats is now 5185, to avoid a conflict with
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Instant Messenger.
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* New "smooth" checkbox on PStats graphs provides a better sense of
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overall trends when graphs are noisy.
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* The meaning of the three components of HPR angles has been
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officially changed, in particular the meaning of the R component.
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This change was introduced to make the three components more
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consistent with each other, and to make P and R work together in a
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more sensible way. Existing code which used hard-coded HPR angles
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may be invalidated by this change. To convert existing code, you
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should use the global function old_to_new_hpr() to determine what
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new HPR triple that corresponds to an old HPR triple. As a
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temporary stopgap, you may define temp-hpr-fix 0 in your prc file.
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* Add support for weak reference counts using the WeakPointerTo
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class.
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* Add optional support for STL's semistandard hashing containers,
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e.g. hash_map and hash_set.
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Rendering system:
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* Multitexture support is now part of Panda. This introduces the
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TextureStage and TexCoordName classes, as well as new interfaces
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like NodePath::add_texture(). As of the present release,
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multitexture is only supported when using the OpenGL renderer.
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* Support for programmable shaders is now possible using the Cg
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shader language. Assign a CgShaderAttrib to a node to apply a
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programmable shader.
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* New support for the Helix library allows playing of a streaming
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movie in a Panda texture. Presently only supported on Windows.
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* Deprecated the old "win-origin-x" and "win-origin-y" prc variables
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in favor of "win-origin", which takes two numbers separated by a
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space. Similarly with "win-width" and "win-height", in favor of
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"win-size".
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* Deprecated the old Camera::set_scene() interface; now a Camera
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implicitly renders whatever scene graph it is parented to.
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* Removed the old GraphicsLayer and GraphicsChannel classes.
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Instead of using these interfaces, you can now create any number
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of DisplayRegions directly on the window.
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* Offscreen render-to-a-texture will now be properly oriented under
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DirectX (previously, it would render the texture image upside-down
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and backward).
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* Support for automatic keystone correction caused by an off-axis
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physical projector using Lens::set_keystone().
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* New framebuffer-mode prc variable allows explicit control over the
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default framebuffer properties requested by Panda, including
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whether software or hardware rendering is required.
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* Added "multisample" transparency mode (alpha keyword "ms" in an
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egg file), which allows good-quality transparency (especially for
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alpha cutouts) without requiring back-to-front sorting, and
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without artifacts from improper sorting. This does require
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special multisample hardware capabilities, however. Presently
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supported in OpenGL mode only. Automatic fallback to "binary"
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transparency mode if multisample is not supported on a given
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platform.
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* New cursor-filename and icon-filename config variables replace the
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old win32-mono-cursor and win32-window-icon variables. Also,
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runtime control over these properties is now provided by the
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WindowProperties class.
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* Better management of potential memory leaks due to cyclic
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reference counts in the RenderState and TransformState caches.
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Now cycles are automatically detected and broken.
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Scene graph:
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* GeomNodes now have a CollideMask, just like CollisionNodes, which
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deprecates the old set_collide_geom() interface to detect
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collisions with visible geometry. There is a new NodePath
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interface for querying and setting the collide masks for single
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nodes or for entire subgraphs.
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* New NodePath interfaces to control lighting eliminate the need to
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create an explicit LightAttrib. The new lighting interfaces are
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designed to be similar to the new multitexture interfaces.
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* New NodePath interfaces to control the texture matrix, including a
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new project_texture() method to enable hardware-assisted
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projective texturing.
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* New NodePath::flatten_multitex() interface to bake in certain
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kinds of multitexture effects into a single texture, generated
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on-the-fly.
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* New options for ColorBlendAttrib and RenderModeAttrib.
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* NodePath::set_transparancy() now accepts a
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TransparencyAttrib::Mode parameter to specify exactly what kind of
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transparency you'd like.
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* New NodePath::set_render_mode() interface accepts a
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RenderModeAttrib::Mode parameter, deprecating
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set_render_mode_filled() and set_render_mode_wireframe().
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* LerpQuatInterval can be used as a drop-in replacement for
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LerpHprInterval; it performs spherical lerps in quaternion space,
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rather than lerping each component of a HPR individually.
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LerpHprInterval is not deprecated; it remains useful within its
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limitations.
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* New DirectSliderBar gui object implements a standard slider bar
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with a thumb (like a window scroll bar).
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* Lighting normals are now automatically counterscaled properly when
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lighting is enabled in the presence of a scale, uniform or
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nonuniform, in the scene graph. You can also use
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RescaleNormalAttrib for explicit control over this behavior.
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* Improvements to RopeNode for rendering splines in various
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representations.
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Collisions and physics systems:
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* New CollisionSegment and CollisionInvSphere collision solids.
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* The collision system now reports normals for intersections
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detected from collision rays, segments, and lines.
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* Several improvements to the physics system.
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Model converters:
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* x2egg and egg2x added to converters, as well as to inline
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conversion supported via ptloader. This adds support for
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DirectX's native so-called "retained-mode" file format. This file
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format supports animation and joint hierarchies as well as basic
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polygonal models.
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* vrml2egg added to converters, as well as to inline conversion
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supported via ptloader. This adds support for VRML 2.0 model
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files only.
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* Added -noabs option to many model converters, to help detect
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problems with unintended absolute path references.
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* Added egg2bam -flatten and -combine-geoms.
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------------------------ RELEASE 2004-07-27 ------------------------
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Configuration, installation, and execution environments:
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* We have moved to a new, more explicit naming convention for our
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import statements. Rather than installing all Python files into
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one big flat namespace, we now import them from their appropriate
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directories, e.g. "from direct.actor import Actor".
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* "from ShowBaseGlobal import *" is replaced with "import
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direct.directbase.DirectStart" and/or "from pandac.PandaModules
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import *".
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* The old "generatePythonCode" script has been replaced with a new
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"genPyCode" script that automates the Python wrapper generation
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process without requiring any special parameters.
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* The old dependencies on environment variables have been removed.
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There are no longer requirements for any environment variables to
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be set in either the build process or the runtime environment
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(although a few optional environment variables remain to allow
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custom configuration).
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* INSTALL document greatly enhanced for clarity.
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* An automatic build script is now provided to further simplify
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building Panda3D for Unix and Cygwin users.
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* The old "Configrc" filename to identify runtime configuration
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files is deprecated; configuration files should now be named
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Config.prc, or in general, *.prc. The system-default
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configuration files are auto-generated as 20_panda.prc,
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30_pandatool.prc, and 40_direct.prc (the numeric prefixes control
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the order in which these are loaded at runtime).
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Rendering system:
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* Some deprecated methods of CollisionEntry have been flagged to
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raise an exception now; these are replaced with the newer
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interfaces that can return a collision point in an arbitrary
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coordinate system.
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* Camera::set_cull_center() can be used for debugging culling by
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setting the effective point of visibility culling different from
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the actual point. From Python, use base.oobeCull() to examine
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this effect.
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* Alt-Enter in pview toggles between fullscreen and windowed modes.
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* Added experimental support for GL display lists.
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Scene graph:
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* Exposed methods to directly retrieve and set the individual
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vertices of a GeomNode from Python code.
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* The new PortalNode defines the interface for Panda's new
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cell-portal visibility system; each PortalNode is a window into
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another zone, or a separate subgraph; the PortalNode can hide or
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show the subset of its zone's geometry visible through its
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"portal".
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* The new PolylightNode applies a simple lighting-like effect
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without actually using lighting; objects will brighten or darken
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as a whole according to their proximity to the light. Use
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PolylightEffect to enable this effect.
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* The new FadeLODNode works like ordinary LODNode, but the switches
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are alpha-blended in over a short period of time rather than
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popping immediately.
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Text display:
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* Text now supports embedded mode changes--special characters to
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switch fonts, colors, scale, etc. within a line or within a
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paragraph.
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* Windows IME is better supported by Panda/Direct widgets
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(e.g. PGEntry and/or DirectEntry) in fullscreen mode as well as in
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windowed mode.
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Model converters:
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* dxf2egg and egg2dxf added to converters, as well as to inline
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conversion supported via ptloader.
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------------------------ RELEASE 2004-03-29 ------------------------
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Miscellaneous:
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* We once again support the Microsoft VC6 compiler.
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* The "pstats" program is now provided in the Windows environment as
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part of pandatool. It is similar to "gtk-stats" on a Unix
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environment, and can be used to view a real-time graph of
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performance timing in a running Panda process. See
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panda/src/doc/howto.use_pstats.
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* New session recording and playback support allows capturing user
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and network input to a disk file, for replaying later, offline.
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Use "record-session filename.boo" and "playback-session
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filename.boo" in your Configrc file.
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* The genPyCode script now uses PythonWare's SqueezeTool to
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"squeeze" the large number of generated .py files into a single
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shared library, for substantially improved startup times on
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Windows.
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* The Task system now has substantially reduced overhead when many
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doLater's are waiting in the system.
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* The png image file type is now supported.
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Rendering system:
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* Introducing native DirectX9 graphics support, although we do not
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yet support any features specific to DirectX9, such as
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programmable shaders.
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* DirectX7 and DirectX8 modules are now somewhat more robust.
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* New support for offscreen rendering and render-to-a-texture, which
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will become part of a general multipass-rendering interface.
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Presently supported in OpenGL, with limited DirectX support. Use
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GraphicsWindow::make_texture_buffer() to make a buffer you can
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render into and apply the result as a texture map to objects in
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your scene. The NonlinearImager in the distort directory is a
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complex example of using this interface.
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* Explicit support for the Mesa 3D library's software-based
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offscreen rendering, allowing a Panda program to generate
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offscreen images as a background process, independently of any
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graphics card or desktop environment.
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* GraphicsLayer and GraphicsWindow render order can now be easily
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adjusted dynamically with set_sort() methods.
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* Built-in frame rate meter can be activated by setting
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"show-frame-rate-meter 1" in your Configrc file.
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Scene graph:
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* New tag system on PandaNodes allows storing of arbitrary string
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data on nodes, keyed by a string dictionary. The
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NodePath::get_net_tag() interface retrieves the data value for a
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particular tag on a node or the nearest ancestor of the node.
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NodePath::find() can search for a node in the scene graph with a
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given tag or tag/value pair.
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* Explicit shear transforms are now supported on nodes, as well as
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in character animation tables.
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* Characters now have an interface to control joint and slider
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values dynamically, instead of strictly from an animation file.
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Use Actor.exposeJoint() and/or Actor.controlJoint().
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* Nurbs surfaces and curves can now be rendered directly by Panda,
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which will tesselate them on the fly at some CPU cost. This is a
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modeling convenience only; it is not intended to be used for
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production code. Triangle strips are still the fastest way to
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render complex surfaces.
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* However, Rope.py is now provided as a high-level wrapper around
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Panda's runtime NURBS curve evaluator; it can render dynamic
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curves in a variety of ways.
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* The egg library is now published to Python, allowing construction
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of geometry on-the-fly by show code for convenience. This is also
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intended as a developer's convenience more than a production
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feature.
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Text display:
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* The special character \3 (ASCII 0x03) embedded in a text string
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indicates the position of a soft hyphen when wordwrap mode is in
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effect. The character \4 (ASCII 0x04) serves as a hyphenless
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invisible break point.
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* A default font is compiled in even if the FreeType library is not
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available.
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* pnmtext library added for rendering text directly into an image.
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* New egg-mkfont utility uses FreeType to generate static font
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models that Panda clients without FreeType can use to render text.
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Collision and physics system:
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* More robust collision interface, supporting NodePaths properly so
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that collisions detected into (and from) particular instances of
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nodes can be differentiated. CollisionEntry has a much simpler
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mechanism for getting the intersection point and normal in an
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arbitrary coordinate space defined by a NodePath, instead of the
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user having to convert the coordinate space by hand.
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* New CollisionVisualizer object to visually show collisions as they
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are tested and detected, useful for optimizing collision
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performance. Activate this with
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base.cTrav.showCollisions(render).
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* Implicit velocity system is now integrated with scene graph; the
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relative velocity of moving nodes is automatically considered when
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testing for most kinds of collisions. Use
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NodePath::set_fluid_pos() to indicate that a node is moving
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fluidly to its new position and should test for collisions along
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the way (as opposed to the more traditional NodePath::set_pos(),
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which unconditionally sets the node to its new position).
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* Introduction of "tube" collision shapes, sometimes called
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"capsules" in other libraries. It is a cylinder capped with
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hemispheres.
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* CollisionSolid::set_effective_normal() provides a way to define a
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sloping surface with an apparently vertical normal, to prevent
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characters standing on the surface from sliding down.
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* Collision polygons now respect clipping planes.
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* Many changes to physics system.
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HTTPClient and net systems:
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* More verbose error reporting.
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* Better support for proxy servers, including SOCKS5 proxies.
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Model converters:
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* maya2egg converter now supports skeleton/morph animation files
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fully, including soft-skinning, hard-skinning, and morphs (blend
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shapes). NURBS and polygon meshes are both supported.
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* A new Maya plugin called libmayapview allows opening a Panda
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window from within Maya to view how the scene will look once it
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has been converted to Panda.
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* New soft2egg converter supports models and animation stored in
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SoftImage 4.3 files. (Newer versions of SoftImage are not
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supported.)
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* New egg2flt program more or less reverses flt2egg.
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* The ptloader Panda loader allows direct loading into Panda of most
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model file types defined within pandatool: Maya, flt, and lwo.
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Specify load-file-type ptloader in your Configrc file.
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* New egg-optchar preprocessor improves character animation runtime
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performance by eliminating unneeded joints. It can also
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reorganize a skeleton and/or expose joints for the show code's
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convenience.
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* New egg-qtess utility converts NURBS egg files to polygon egg
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files with either a trivial interface for quick conversions or a
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sophisticated parameter file for more precise control. It
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preserves soft-skinning and animation information.
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* New visibility flag in egg format allows model files to define
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invisible subtrees which will be initially stashed when loaded.
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* The egg library now allows implicit forward references to vertex
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pools, making it much easier to generate a valid egg file from a
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third-party model format.
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