dim3 Forum

I just wanted to throw this one out there...

I was looking at the scripting spot function in Editor and noticed that you can assign various functionality to objects ( this is a basic function i know but bare with me).

I noticed that you can select a function and hit the edit button ( this brings up the script in the safari window for me I dont know if you can assign a "helper app but it would be good for me to open in a text editor instead).

I started thinking about the basic functions of each player character ( speed health as well as other attributes).

I was thinking wouldnt it be great if you selected the pull down for an existing template ( weapon, character etc) and predefined parameters would show up named and with their appropriate input fields, sliders and tick boxes on a per scripted object basis.

I see that you are already halfway there and if you already have that idea then forget I wrote this.

the scripts out of the box have predefined parameters that you have to search through lines of code to get to ( I know they are commented and everything but I am lazy). If you could juts present the expressions parameters to the user in an RPG character sheet like fashion I think it would make the flow of game creation a little more streamlined.

Sort of an RPG sheet that you can customize with your own script.

Now if you could make a dialogue window that could sniff through code and create a front end with input options ( say for a float number you could have a slider, or ranges, a tick box for a boolean) it would be cool.

I just think it would be cool.

end of rant..

-Danny

Truthfully, learn to code . It's fun.
You'll never get far making a game if you don't learn to code .

I can get in and out of the scripting enough to figure some things out.

I have done scripting in C4D and find that the XPRESSO visual environment has made my life tons easier. If I have preexisting buttons that have basic parameters ( in C4D you select a node in the XPRESSO pool and an attribute manager will come up with input fields so that you can assign values to the various parameters in a coherent fashion).

XPRESSO also has what is called a COFFEE node where you can code something from the ground up and set input output and functions to build a custom node.

The nodes also have open fields where you can drag and drop other objects to assign the functions too.

In video games you can have a lot of standard functions.

Say you have a weapon. It has a range, accuracy, projectile, ( a model), behaviors, as well as damage points.

I think that if you just had those basic functions named with an input field that it would make things easier.

Im not slamming coding but some people might want a more visual environment for development.

DIM uses XML as well as JAVA text files. I am thinking that if you had everything up and running you could coordinate several documents across their various file formats. I am the first to admit that I am terrible at project management.

I just think a top down manner in which to choreograph parameters might give the user a better vantage point to see how the parameters he is dealing with are playing off of each other.

Programming itself has benefited from object oriented approaches that have lead to visual environments. If you are dealing with a finite set of number formats ( Integer, Boolean, Floats, ) and Units ( Real, Percent, Degree) I see no reason why they cant be presented to the user without all the code that constructed them.

Its just a thought.
-Danny

It's not really necessary, is it?
Editing the code is just as easy. Maybe not as convenient but certainly not harder.
Just takes a little time to get used to.

No Not necesary,
Brian already had some pull down items set up in the scripting spot function. Basically I was just asking for a simple expansion on that theme.

-D

Oh, and dim3 does NOT use java, it uses javascript, they're different .

Cool.

-D