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* Release README (list of changes by jasoka) * Release should be ready for tagging
author mvbarracuda@33b003aa-7bff-0310-803a-e67f0ece8222
date Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:36:20 +0000
parents ab8b11adfb70
children fa98d27d0036
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52:ab8b11adfb70 53:1bcf91b6a1ee
1 == Introduction == 1 == Introduction ==
2 Welcome to the FIFE 2008.1 README. This snapshot is based on SVN revision !FIXME. 2 Welcome to the FIFE 2008.1 README. This snapshot is based on SVN revision 2509.
3
4 == Table of contents ==
5 1 Theme of this release
6 2 Important changes since the 2008.1 release
7 3 Features
8 4 Building & running FIFE
9 4.1 General notes
10 4.2 Linux
11 4.3 Mac
12 4.4 Win32
13 5 Configuration
14 6 Known issues
15 7 Feedback
16 8 Signature
17
3 18
4 == Theme of this release == 19 == Theme of this release ==
5 For the 2008.1 release we decided to stick to the tropical island concept and called our example game "Rio de hola". 20 For the 2008.1 release we decided to stick to the tropical island concept and called our example game "Rio de hola".
6 21
7 Caution: this release is still lacking a lot of polish, especially the "Rio de hola" game that ships with it. It lacks almost any form of gameplay but there is a reason why we decided to ship the release in its current form nevertheless. We planned to ship future FIFE releases under the LGPL to offer a less "restrictive" license to possible FIFE users (we know that the term "restrictive" is just our personal point of view). 22 Caution: this release is still lacking a lot of polish, especially the "Rio de hola" game that ships with it. It lacks almost any form of gameplay but there is a reason why we decided to ship the release in its current form nevertheless. We planned to release future FIFE milestones under the LGPL to offer a less "restrictive" license to possible FIFE users (we know that the term "restrictive" is just our personal point of view).
8 23
9 We had to clear up the legal situation first and fortunately the software freedom law center (http://www.softwarefreedom.org/) helped us with the transition. The agreement of all developers who contributed code that was still used in FIFE was needed and because over two dozens of people contributed code to the project, this took us a lot of time. We were not able to reach all of them so we decided to either remove or rewrite the code of the contributors who didn't reply to our license switch proposal mails (from scratch). 24 We had to clear up the legal situation first and fortunately the software freedom law center (http://www.softwarefreedom.org/) helped us with the transition. The agreement of all developers who contributed code that was still used in FIFE was needed and because over three dozens of people contributed code to the project, this took us a lot of time. We were not able to reach all of them so we decided to either remove or rewrite the code of the contributors who didn't reply to our license switch proposal mails (from scratch).
10 25
11 We were able to replace the last parts of the problematic code today so now FIFE is officially LGPL'ed software. We're glad that we were able to make this step after it took us so long and we think that the new license alone is worth a release. Therefore we're proud to finally present the first FIFE release that is published under LGPL 2.1 or newer (your choice). 26 We were able to replace the last parts of the problematic code today so now FIFE is officially LGPL'ed software. We're glad that we were able to make this step after it took us so long and we think that the new license alone is worth a release. Therefore we're proud to finally present the first FIFE release that is published under LGPL 2.1 or newer (your choice).
12 27
13 Engine and the editor tool made _huge_ steps forward since the last release about 5 months ago. Therefore we decided to release the current status as stable release although it offers not many new aspects on the content side and the content that is in place is very likely to change with the 2008.2 release. 28 Engine and the editor tool made _huge_ steps forward since the last release about 5 months ago. Therefore we decided to release the current status as stable release although it offers not many new aspects on the content side and the content that is in place is very likely to change with the 2008.2 release.
14 29
15 The milestone itself seems to be a very important step into the right direction. You can build your own maps now with the help of the editor tool. Furthermore a basic application structure is in place that should give you an idea how can create your own FIFE-based game; this release is stable enough to start working on your game now :-) 30 The milestone itself seems to be a very important step into the right direction. You can build your own maps now with the help of the editor tool. Furthermore a basic application structure is in place that should give you an idea how can create your own FIFE-based game; this release is stable enough to start working on your game now :-)
16 31
17 == Important changes since the 2008.0 release == 32 == Important changes since the 2008.0 release ==
18 * !FIXME 33 === Model improvements & simplifications ===
34 * Elevations removed (Fallout legacy).
35 * Support for namespaces:
36 * New resource infrastructure migrated into whole engine. This enables:
37 * uniform pooling for all resources that need to be pooled.
38 * uniform loading for all resources (model stuff, images, sounds...).
39 * uniform saving for resources which support saving (model stuff).
40 * Datasets are now stored in a flat list in model instead of dataset hierarchy.
41 * Changes in model are now bookkeeped. Observer interfaces provided for change listeners.
42 * This enables e.g. reacting only to changes instead of polling on every round.
43 * Also critical enabler for triggers.
44 * Instances now support initial rotation value.
45 * Objects support default actions.
46 * Further model cleanup.
47
48 === XML format changes ===
49 * All resources are now defined with principle 1 file / 1 resource.
50 * Importing of objects can now be done also based on directories where they are contained.
51 * Relative paths are now used instead of absolute ones.
52
53 === Loaders ===
54 * All loading happens now from python (tinyxml dependency removed).
55 * Improved error reporting.
56
57 === Editor ===
58 * Possibility to move instances on map.
59 * Possibility to rotate instances on map.
60 * Possibility to zoom the map (OpenGL mode only).
61 * Painting with currently selected instance (e.g. large ground areas).
62 * Importing of multiple objects based on given directory.
63 * Initial map creation wizard (still work in progress).
64
65 === Rio de hola game ===
66 * More assets:
67 * Graphics, sounds, music...
68 * Two new maps matching the storyline.
69 * Rio de hola now conforms to package structure: http://wiki.fifengine.de/Fife_Package_Specification
70 * Popup menu integration, demonstration of actions (kick, talk).
71
72 === Pychan improvements ===
73 * Hiding of scrollbars.
74 * Text wrapping.
75 * A lot of smaller improvements.
76
77 === Functionality ===
78 * Pixel perfect instance picking (taking transparency into account).
79 * Ability to get list of instances from given screen rectangle.
80 * Distance calculations made easy, exposed to scripts.
81 * Instance outlining.
82 * Instance coloring.
83 * Screenshots are now saved in png format (instead of bmp).
84 * Stereo sound support in linux (introduced with the help of openal-soft).
85
86 === Video / view improvements ===
87 * Both renderbackend and separate images can now render graphical primitives (e.g. lines, dots..).
88 * Each camera now has separate set of renderers. Allows truly adjusting cameras independently.
89 * Zooming capability (currently properly supported only by OpenGL backend).
90 * Support for drag cursor definitions.
91 * OpenGL graphics chunking size is now definable in settings. Should help e.g. with large backgrounds.
92 * GenericRenderer adding customised rendering capabilities for scripts.
93
94 === Misc. changes ===
95 * Initial package structure defined for FIFE clients.
96 * Updated guichan to the latest release 0.8.1.
97 * Usage of unittest++ instead of boost unittests.
98 * Lots of bug fixes.
19 99
20 === Non-code related changes === 100 === Non-code related changes ===
21 * Switch from GPL to LGPL 101 * Switch from GPL 2.0 to LGPL 2.1 (or newer).
22 102
23 == Features == 103 == Features ==
24 * A complete list of the features that FIFE offers can be found at the project wiki: 104 * A complete list of the features that FIFE offers can be found at the project wiki: http://wiki.fifengine.de/index.php?title=Engine_features
25 http://wiki.fifengine.de/index.php?title=Engine_features
26 105
27 == License == 106 == License ==
28 The source code (*.cpp, *.h & *.py) is licensed under LGPL 2.1 or newer: 107 The source code (*.cpp, *.h & *.py) is licensed under LGPL 2.1 or newer: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html
29 http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html
30 108
31 Content was taken from a lot a lot of different 3rd party sources. Therefore each client directory comes with a separate LICENSE file that states the origin of the content, the author and the actual license it was published under. 109 Content was taken from a lot a lot of different 3rd party sources. Therefore each client directory comes with a separate LICENSE file that states the origin of the content, the author and the actual license it was published under.
32 110
33 == Building FIFE == 111 == Building & running FIFE ==
34 === Dependencies === 112 === Dependencies ===
35 A list of all dependencies (including accurate version numbers) that you'll need to obtain to build FIFE on your platform can be found at the project wiki: 113 A list of all dependencies (including accurate version numbers) that you'll need to obtain to build FIFE on your platform can be found at the project wiki:
36 http://wiki.fifengine.de/index.php?title=Build_dependencies 114 http://wiki.fifengine.de/index.php?title=Build_dependencies
37 115
38 === General notes === 116 === General notes ===
69 147
70 The editor tool can be found within the <FIFE>\clients\editor directory. You can launch it by running run.py. 148 The editor tool can be found within the <FIFE>\clients\editor directory. You can launch it by running run.py.
71 149
72 Last but not least there is an example client residing in <FIFE>\clients\pychan_demo that shows how the pychan GUI library works. Start the GUI demo application by running pychan_test.py. 150 Last but not least there is an example client residing in <FIFE>\clients\pychan_demo that shows how the pychan GUI library works. Start the GUI demo application by running pychan_test.py.
73 151
74 == Configuring FIFE == 152 == Configuration ==
75 The engine utilizes special settings files for configuring FIFE. This file is called settings.py and resides in the same directory as the run.py scripts. You can customize FIFE by editing this file. 153 The engine utilizes special settings files for configuring FIFE. This file is called settings.py and resides in the same directory as the run.py scripts. You can customize FIFE by editing this file.
76 154
77 == Known issues == 155 == Known issues ==
78 * All included maps are still really early work in progress versions that lack proper blocking. Furthermore a lot of planned map objects are missing because we're still searching for 3d artists who could help us with the creation of those. 156 * All included maps are still really early work in progress versions that lack proper blocking. Furthermore a lot of planned map objects are missing because we're still searching for 3d artists who could help us with the creation of those.
79 * Despite the Rio de hola client is labeled as a game, it does not feature any relevant kind of gameplay yet. We can hopefully improve this over the next releases. We released FIFE in its current form nevertheless because the license switch as well as the engine and editor improvements are huge steps forward in our opinion. 157 * Despite the Rio de hola client is labeled as a game, it does not feature any relevant kind of gameplay yet. We can hopefully improve this over the next releases. We released FIFE in its current form nevertheless because the license switch as well as the engine and editor improvements are huge steps forward in our opinion.