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Author Topic: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app  (Read 325619 times)

Andir

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #870 on: October 21, 2009, 12:33:04 pm »

As for the auto-uploading I was just going to use Internet Explorer COM automation. It's a technique I've used before for functional test automation but it's not exactly 'friendly' or something you'd want to put into the product as it spawns an IE instance.

I wanted to bypass using a browser altogether but I haven't found a picture sharing site that has a web services API to make that easy.
Gah, ActiveX is the devil.

http://blog.kwiqq.com/2009/02/16/major-api-to-integrate-into-your-social-network/ (scroll to Picture API)

That was a 15 second search result.
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"Having faith" that the bridge will not fall, implies that the bridge itself isn't that trustworthy. It's not that different from "I pray that the bridge will hold my weight."

Scarpa

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #871 on: October 21, 2009, 01:57:44 pm »

As for the auto-uploading I was just going to use Internet Explorer COM automation. It's a technique I've used before for functional test automation but it's not exactly 'friendly' or something you'd want to put into the product as it spawns an IE instance.

I wanted to bypass using a browser altogether but I haven't found a picture sharing site that has a web services API to make that easy.
Gah, ActiveX is the devil.

http://blog.kwiqq.com/2009/02/16/major-api-to-integrate-into-your-social-network/ (scroll to Picture API)

That was a 15 second search result.

hehehe I should know to be more precise in this forum. I should have said "I haven't *looked* for a picture sharing site". I have been using TinyPic but they are obviously ad-supported and probably not interested in people uploading without getting an eyeful of their ads. Of the list you linked Cellblock seems the most interesting and least restrictive, I'll check it out.

Curious about your ActiveX statment, is that just because I mentioned IE? I was using WatiN, which now support Firefox I think, and spawned out of watir which uses Ruby if you're anti-MS in general.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2009, 02:00:23 pm by Scarpa »
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smjjames

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #872 on: October 21, 2009, 02:34:05 pm »

How do you make the ground less.... bulgy? On the surface its not too bad, but when looking underground, it makes it hard to see sometimes. I know smoothing fixes this, but how do you change that in VF.
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Andir

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #873 on: October 21, 2009, 02:43:43 pm »

As for the auto-uploading I was just going to use Internet Explorer COM automation. It's a technique I've used before for functional test automation but it's not exactly 'friendly' or something you'd want to put into the product as it spawns an IE instance.

I wanted to bypass using a browser altogether but I haven't found a picture sharing site that has a web services API to make that easy.
Gah, ActiveX is the devil.

http://blog.kwiqq.com/2009/02/16/major-api-to-integrate-into-your-social-network/ (scroll to Picture API)

That was a 15 second search result.

hehehe I should know to be more precise in this forum. I should have said "I haven't *looked* for a picture sharing site". I have been using TinyPic but they are obviously ad-supported and probably not interested in people uploading without getting an eyeful of their ads. Of the list you linked Cellblock seems the most interesting and least restrictive, I'll check it out.

Curious about your ActiveX statment, is that just because I mentioned IE? I was using WatiN, which now support Firefox I think, and spawned out of watir which uses Ruby if you're anti-MS in general.

I haven't looked at any of those APIs (to the point of 15 seconds of search) and ActiveX is evil because it's vendor locked.  I'm not a Microsoft fan because they do this a lot, but I don't like any vendor locked tool.  I don't care how "easy" it is.  If DirectX/ActiveX was licensed or open, I'd encourage more people to use that as well.  It's not, so I encourage people to use open standards to promote competitiveness.
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"Having faith" that the bridge will not fall, implies that the bridge itself isn't that trustworthy. It's not that different from "I pray that the bridge will hold my weight."

Kishmond

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #874 on: October 21, 2009, 03:40:12 pm »

How do you make the ground less.... bulgy? On the surface its not too bad, but when looking underground, it makes it hard to see sometimes. I know smoothing fixes this, but how do you change that in VF.

When you import your map uncheck 'Add Noise' or something like that.

smjjames

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #875 on: October 21, 2009, 04:22:23 pm »

Okay.

What exactly does the add noise thing do or is for anyway?
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Sizik

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #876 on: October 21, 2009, 04:51:02 pm »

Okay.

What exactly does the add noise thing do or is for anyway?

It makes things look more "natural" by not having everything perfectly straight and square.
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Skyscrapes, the Tower-Fortress, finally complete!
Skyscrapes 2, repelling the zombie horde!

Baboonanza

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #877 on: October 22, 2009, 03:54:40 am »

Perhaps I should add an option to disable it underground. That would solve almost all the problems with the feature while retaining the intended benefits (a more natural surface)

EDIT: Yes, thats a vast improvement. I should have added it in earlier, but it handily tied into another feature I just implemented which I guess is why I only just thought of it.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2009, 04:44:18 am by Baboonanza »
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smjjames

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #878 on: October 22, 2009, 05:14:34 am »

Cool, thanks. It's fine aboveground but it just gets annoying sometimes underground as it just blocks your view and while I realize that the tunnels would be rough, but not so rough like the head of a tunnel bieng mined.

Given dwarven engineering, I would pretty much expect the rock part of the fortress to have nearly flat floors which are made completely flat later by smoothing.

Sounds like theres going to be a whole lot of new stuff in the new VF version.
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Magua

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #879 on: October 22, 2009, 03:34:34 pm »

I'm a programmer, but I'm no artist.

That being said: is there any way to make clear glass walls / floor / ramps etc look like clear glass windows do?  Similarly for green glass walls / floors / ramps and green glass windows?

Likewise, ice (as in, frozen water) looks nice.  But constructed things made of ice (again, walls, etc) look like copper (bright red).  Is there a way I can make them use the "natural" ice texture?

Here's what I get right now:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Also, you can manufacture vomit at a smelter.  Subsequently removing the smelter spews vomit over a surprising area.

smjjames

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #880 on: October 22, 2009, 04:09:09 pm »

Oh yea, what about giving metal walls more of a metallic texture rather than a brick wall texture?
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QuantumSawdust

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #881 on: October 22, 2009, 05:31:22 pm »

And wooden walls to look more like walls of wood logs, instead of wooden bricks.
I would be curious as to if these are even possible to do.
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Solitus

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #882 on: October 23, 2009, 01:26:24 am »

First time with a mega construction.  Central tower is 15 z levels high, max for this map.  Ugh...never make irregular shaped roof's...major pain.  Also I am terrible at taking screen shots so I apologize.  Visual Fortress is AWESOME!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The dwarves are guarding the walls
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And the roof...I guess...
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Andir

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #883 on: October 23, 2009, 06:01:48 am »

They are keeping the heliport guarded ;)
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"Having faith" that the bridge will not fall, implies that the bridge itself isn't that trustworthy. It's not that different from "I pray that the bridge will hold my weight."

Kishmond

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Re: Visual Fortress: another 3D visualisation app
« Reply #884 on: October 23, 2009, 01:31:03 pm »

I found a bug. Walls next to fortifications are invisible.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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