Poll: what do you miss in FFilmation ? ( Mon 1 Dec 2008 )
While I’m busy optimizing and fixing stuff for release 1.3.2, I thought I could run a small poll among the FFilmation community ( I get plenty of hits, so I’m assuming there’s at least a small one out there ) to see what do you miss the most or what buggers you the most.
I’ve always envisioned this as a real development tool rather that another flash lab, so I’m most interested in stories about real projects that are being developed with the engine or even better stories about projects that could have been developed with the engine but didn’t because it lacked some crucial feature.
So, do you have any stories that go something like “I was commissioned a website for a client of mine and I wanted to use FFilmation but I couldn’t because of …. or the lack of …… ” ? Tell them here so I know what path should I take next. I have limited resources ( two hands ) so I’d rather be doing what it is most needed.
Some suggestions:
- Better performance / flash 10 specific optimizations ( in case there are some, as this is not real 3d and it is uncertain if it would benefit from the new drawing features )
- More development tools. It is still way too slow and painful to build the assets for the scenes
- More tutorials and examples. It is too difficult to understand how the engine works and in projects with a deadline you can’t afford the learning period.
- More elements such as dynamic boxes and moveable planes.
- Nicer visuals ( I doubt anybody discarded the engine because there are no reflections and volumetric smoke, but you never know ).
Let me know !
I’m using the engine for a small project creating a prototype world. It’s a great engine, but there are still a couple of things that would be good to add.
- More tutorials and examples. It is too difficult to understand how the engine works and in projects with a deadline you can’t afford the learning period.
It would be great to have a tutorial on connecting the scenes to the flash doc, and how some of the special effects like hovering over an object to get a message are done.
- More development tools. It is still way too slow and painful to build the assets for the scenes
Main thing would be to have a way of linking the materials and objects in the editor without hand-coding, and a refresh button for them in the scenes.
- More elements such as dynamic boxes and moveable planes.
I could find some good uses in being able to push a box, or go up a ramp.
Great editor already, just adding to the wish list!
Patricia said this on December 1st, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Definitely performance! 1.3.1 was a huge jump in performance, congratulations on that. would be nice to see further optimizations if possible
jonas said this on December 2nd, 2008 at 1:20 am
I’m working in a demo using the FFilmation, I hope that this demo become a big project. I’m using the engine in a way a little different and achieve a result quite interesting. I hope that in a few days I can show the demo.
My big problem was with complex objects. When I needed to be realistic split into more than one object. Can you say a very clear explanation of how the engine understands the point of reference objects?
Certainly when the editor is ready will be a big help!
TaruTaru said this on December 2nd, 2008 at 4:15 am
Thanks for opening this engine for devloping or learning, I’ve used this engine for developing some APRG game for few weeks , I think that there is some issue could be optimized.
1.Better performance, Since our destiny was developed for Rich Web Game, I think that was different between PC game and web game, for web game application, I think our engine was easy to use and designed for compatible with most PC, few CPU sensitivity
2.More option for adjust render speed and frequency, I suggest that if we reduce our render frequency for compatible with low CPU computer.
BTW.my show case, diablo like game prototype: http://211.100.18.93:8099/demo/FFTestProject.html
any comment plz send email to me
spdavid@gmail.com
spdavid said this on December 2nd, 2008 at 6:04 am
1. I’d really like to see one of the physics engines built into the game.
2. an ability to zoom in and zoom out with the scroll wheel.
e said this on December 2nd, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I’m currently using this engine for a game we’re developing for a client and while things are going pretty well, there are some pretty big bugs that I haven’t been able to fix. One thing that I’d love to see a fix for is the tendency to get stuck inside of boxes I’ve created with fWall objects. This is a HUGE problem and happens very frequently.
Otherwise, just better documentation and more flexible and dynamic object creation would help a lot. Also, an ability to disable all lighting would be great since it’s not needed for some projects. (Maybe this one already exists but I haven’t been able to find it.)
Thanks for for this great engine!
ojuzu said this on December 2nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
@ojuzu
I’ll try to fix this stuck-inside-boxes bug. Is it possible that you send me your scene XML (no media or swf needed) ? This way I can work with you structures and grid size an so.
As for disabling the lighing: simply setup your scene with a white environemnt light of intensity = 100.
admin said this on December 2nd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
@admin
Awesome, thanks for the quick response! I just emailed you the XML for my scene.
As for the lighting, that’s actually what I’m doing. I guess I wasn’t sure if that actually disabled the lighting or not so that’s good to know.
Thanks!
ojuzu said this on December 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
zoom in and zoom out. is ease to implement and helpfull.
Un motor impresionante!! muchas gracias por compartirlo con la comunidad
david said this on December 5th, 2008 at 11:20 am
i’ll take a guess and say you’re handling quite a bunch of arrays? wouldnt typed vectors great then!
(according to your ‘lost’ post.
also the drawtriangle method combined with the already implemented caching could maybe provide another 15% performance increase
so maybe really give f10 a try
poncho on!
kris said this on January 22nd, 2009 at 12:36 am