Friday 23 November 2012

XNA 3D Gizmo v2.0.0

I've just released a new version of the XNA 3D Gizmo! The updated source has been available on CodePlex for a while, but I never got around to add the final touches and create a release.

As the name suggests (2.0) it involves a major change compared to 1.0 which was released well over a year ago. The new release provides a much improved framework and simplified code while adding customization options if more advanced usage is desired.





The following is a snippet from the release notes:

FOR EXISTING USERS: If you are already using v1.0 you may choose to leave this release alone unless you require additional customization options or more advanced features which have been added in this release (see notes below for all additions)

- Quaternion support.
- Built-in vertex lists replacing fbx models (easier implementation for new users),
- ITransformable interface to add transformation support to anything in the scene (example: vertices inside an editable mesh that lives inside the 3d scene)
- A lot of framework simplifications and no more dependancies on Engine class or any other outside classes.
- Gizmo is now a standalone DLL (class files can still be placed in any other engine project without a hitch if standalone DLL is not preferred)
- Support for custom Select functionality (ITransformable.Select(ray) to allow users to define their own selection methods (triangle precision or bounding box etc.)
- Improved internal code for readability.
- Transformation is now done through event handlers, allows much more customization options on how to apply transformations in your own editor. For example it allows you to support a undo/redo system.
- You can now set different 'selection pools' this allows you to select and/or ignore certain object types by only passing a pool of a specific type (example: pass a pool of 3d entities or a pool of selectable vertices)

You can get the latest version right here!