I’ve been building up to this for years, and still have some cogs to put into place, but I’ve finally got a major part working; the master script. The master script is something I started about 6 months ago now, wow, and ran into some issues. First I needed it to recursively search directories and run a set of scripts that would be part of the auto build process. These scripts have been

After a random discussion on in the #LudumDare irc channel about directory watching and the desire to get a normal mapping shader implemented one Saturday morning I decided to develop and integrate “hot loading” shaders scripts. Never heard of hot-loading assets, well the best description I can give is: Flipping Magical. No really, I can open Game _Project_ and change an asset file, like the script, hit save, and watch the effects be applied immediately. It is not that difficult to setup.

After getting the mouse to drag a joint it was clear I needed to make the editor smart enough to keep the joint dragged within the length of the bone as the bones would be growing/shrinking during the animation and messing stuff up.  After adding the limits, it was starting to act how I wanted; although I had to press digits 0 through 9 quickly to see the animation.

During development programmers often have to make a choice between spending time making an editor or just programming away. Often they choose a middle ground, where objects can be manipulated in a horrible fashion which can in the worst cases be counter-productive. After finding many of my projects go down this road I’ve decided to make a framework to quickly create an editing environment for designers of the game. This gives the benefits of an intuitive Win32 interface, while giving full power to the programmer.