This is a WIP thread for the next version of the Newton Wrapper for DBPro. Newton itself will be updated soon, and I have been working with a preview version of the new SDK to get the wrapper ready for the new features. Here is a short list of new features in the next version:
CHANGES TO NEWTON ITSELF
New Collision Primitives:
* Sphere now takes 3 values, one for each axis, making elipsoids possible
* Cylinder primitive
* Capsule primitive (cylinder with rounded ends)
* Cone primitive
* Chamfer Cylinder primitive
* Convex Hull primitive (imagine wrapping your 3D object in wrapping paper, this basically does that)
New Vehicle Constraint
this is like the ragdoll system, designed specifically for wheeled-vehicles. The interface is very simple, yet powerful. this makes racing games, tanks, etc. VERY easy!
Raycast System
a new general raycast system, which works for both dynamic and immoble bodies. this makes FPS and other games super easy.
Collision Scaling
You can apply scalar matrices to the Newton collision, changing it's size/shape over time. this feature can be used for special effects like inflating baloons, and for making "slanted" collision shapes. Kind of hard to explain, but very, very cool.
Tunnel Collision Protection
New attribute that protects small and fast-moving bodies from penetrating or "flying through" other bodies. This of course takes more calculation, so the user can turn it on only for bodies that might possibly suffer penetration/flying through other bodies.
New Joints
* Universal joint
CHANGES TO THE WRAPPER
Force system changes: you no longer have to set Forces and Torques manually, there is a new, more intuitive way. the is based on 4 new commands:
NDB_BodyAddForceLocal
NDB_BodyAddForceGlobal
NDB_BodySetForceLocal
NDB_BodySetForceGlobal
you can use these commands to add forces to any body. for example with the local commands, you can add a force that always pushes an object forward, regardless of it's orientation in the world. you can imagine how easy it would be to make helicopters, space ships, etc.
There are also lots of other changes, including an overall simplification of the wrapper, removing confusing commands, and generally making it simpler. this means old code will no longer compile with the new version, but I feel it's worth the change.
NEW DEMOS
8 planned demos, I will add screenshots as I make them...
Demo 01 - Just a Ball
This is an extremely simple demo, showing the basics of setting up Newton, and creating a rigid body.
Demo 02 - Collision Primitives
A demo showing all collision primitive types available. This demo also will feature the ability to drag objects around with the mouse, which intermediate/advanced users can learn from.
Demo 03 - Joint Examples
A demo showing all joint types allowed in Newton. This demo will also feature dragging objects, to show the user how Joints can limit the degrees of freedom for a body.
Demo 04 - Materials and Collision demo
A demo showing how to use Newton`s material features to control how objects interact, and to detect when objects have hit. this demo uses material-influenced sound effects to show the technique, although there are many other uses.
Demo 05 - First Person Shooter Demo
FPS DEMO VIDEO
This demo will show Newton in a simple First-person-shooter example. This demo will make use of the RayCast system for shooting bullets, and the Add/SetForce commands for shooting bodies, etc.
Demo 06 - Vehicle Demo
VEHICLE VIDEO!!
This will be a simple vehicle demo, showing how to setup a vehicle with the new Newton Vehicle constraint. It will basically be a vehicle on a terrain object, with a few other rigid bodies to interact with.
Demo 07 - Buoyancy Demo
Although already in the wrapper, this will be a detailed example of how to use Buoyancy in Newton, one of the most impressive, but often overlooked features of the engine. The demo will be similar to Demo02, but with a liquid for the ground, rather than a solid ground.
I will update this thread with my progress on the new wrapper until its release. feel free to ask any questions you may have here, or on my Wrapper forum at:
http://walaber.proboards23.com/index.cgi
Go Go Gadget DBPRO!
Athlon XP 2400+ || DDR-SDRAM 1GB || Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti4200 AGP 8x 128MB
