What's m_type in material

I wish I could at least look at the Behaviors functions and all, but the links don't work on the wiki. They are all red. I wonder if there the documentation has been made into a pdf or something.

aout m_type in material :

it's an optional variable from the mesh format,
right now it's not used, a material is "standard" by default and "custom" is there is a shader attached (FX).

It cannot be made enum because it's use is not defined,
for example it could be useful if you write a custom renderer where you want different types of materials that are not controlled by shaders.

THe url you quoted has no docs, just api structure of some kind, which 'atm' anyway mostly as a non programmerof c++, it makes little sense, but the point is, its not in human readable terms to someone that  needs guidance as relates to 'what' a certain api function actually does and how to use it.

I don't , yet, know enough about maratis api to edit anything. I'ts hard to do something when docs are lacking so much

I am here because I think maratis has promise, but lacking docs make it terribly hard to do much unless you are a polished experienced c++ programmer, given lua docs are mostly nonexistant as well.

Cheers
hs

It's me who has provided the link. LOL ^^
Actually I've only linked that because heartseed named doxygen. If you want to look at the source code then you should bookmark this:
http://code.google.com/p/maratis/source … dev%2FMSDK
It's up to date and you can actually see the content of the .cpp files.

@heartseed
Sorry but if you don't know C++ you will have a hard time doing anything even if a documentation is provided.
For example, if you're not sure how pointers work, you couldn't use certain functions anyway. Unless the wiki is VERY verbose and contains A LOT of examples. But that would be too much work and IMHO not really necessary, because if you want to do complex games you are supposed to know C++ (in the case of Maratis) and programming in general.

I was considering (if I find the time and the will) to write something in the wiki so I think this discussion could be useful to understand which level of information/help people need.
But IMO if you (impersonal you) think you could do good things with Maratis without knowing C++ or having a good understanding of programming in general then you're wrong.

To me it seems that http://wiki.maratis3d.org/index.php?tit … tions_list is almost complete; some pages have also examples. All functions are mostly self-explanatory due to their name.
So IMO one should be able to develop with no big problems using scripts.

BTW the Maratis source code is so simple and clear that writing a wiki which tells you "the function getMaterial() is a function that gives you a pointer to a material" seems pretty useless to me. The "m_type" for which I've opened this topic is an exception for obvious reasons.

So, I'm asking, what do you/anael/committers think about this and what's the level of details/information/help/examples you expect from the wiki?

Last edited by 255 (2013-08-21 20:45:33)

Oh. haha. Thanks 255! I guess you are using Maratis as much as I am haha.

Almost complete is a VERY relative term, that we should be VERY careful to be clear about, and not throw words around that aren't 100% specific, as that does a horrible injustice to new people especially coming here trying to ascertain what is going on .

I"ts hardly almost complete, but that's beside the point, but yes it looks like somebody has been adding to it ?  Im not asking anael to do all the heavy lifting, so maybe over time somebody will add more to the entire lua script api. Lua is incredibly easy compared to c++.

The example you used to chide me over 'not needing further examples' , was absolutely INSULTING to me. Was that on purpose I wonder , if so tha't s really unnecessary , and very immature. You should have known better!

So I"ll just ignore it, and point out to you that not everything in the c++ docs ARE obvious, at least to programmers learning the ropes, not to mention to the fact that many many engine tons of examples of using c++ code to 'get things done'. Just look around if you dont  believe me. Again, Im n ot expecting anael to do ALL the heavy lifting, just stating facts that are inconvenient to some people maybe, or that too elite to realize not everyone is a 10 grad student in programming0

If you go here, : http://wiki.maratis3d.org/index.php?tit … umentation , its adundantly clear, that almost NONE Of it is documented,,all blank pages. If you think its 'ok' for that to occur, then you aren't thinking of the average programmer coming here, looking for a 'ease' into game engines ( as lua at least provices, yes! I realize that), meaning learn as they go. Knowing where to start without such examples ( or enough OF them at least)/docs can be very  grueling or impossible, therefore making your engine irrelevant to a large segment of hobbyists, etc.

Just sayin...;)

I was tempted here by the lovely editor, but it takes more than that in general to make progress of any consequence Im not the ONLY one whom has stated this severe lacking docs on both c++ and lua side, and those   if I recall right, were people who CAN already code and likely very well.

cheers
hs

I think The API needs to be documented for beginners, as I am new to Maratis, LUA, and C++ (I am now learning C++ because as heart seed noted, it seems everyone uses C++.

The main reason I say this is because the documentation of the functions on the wiki, however trivial it may be to post them, also give examples of how they would be used in a scenario.

For example, when I getAxis("MOUSE_X") am I getting the location of the mouse on the X axis?

But that could easily be interpreted differently.

If it were getLocation("MOUSE_X") it might be better, although one might get that mixed up with getPosition().

Also I use the wiki to see the parameters of the functions.

Even if it was clear that setPosition() sets a position, what would be the parameters it takes?

Between perhaps not interpreting the function of a function correctly, and not knowing the parameters the functions take, I'd be lost as to what is actually possible with Maratis. Harder to debug that way too.

(This is actually a present case. I'm trying to make a Character Selection menu, and I can't see the functions on the wiki)

Last edited by Tutorial Doctor (2013-08-22 16:15:05)

Yes, these are all relevant issues.

I"ve seen people comment on lacking docs are some didn't come back so as incredibly useful and inspiring as maratis is , yes as we've all noted its something that needs addressed.

BTW, I wanted to reiterate that while I think your quick terrain example is completely worthy, and with a lot of time invested you could do some scripting , etc. to make something possibly even with commercial viability, the terrain I meant was the type you mke in L3TD or other similar programs, that allow you to create 'splatting' for say up to several textures.

I think this was addressed somewhere on the forums to do in blender possibly ? , but the trouble with that approach is then you alienate everyone else that uses some other 3d app, as sketchup in your case, and in mine possibly as Im considering heavily  using it to grab terrain off the GE. I"ve actually done it once, but I've not had time ( busy summer) to bring it into Maratis. I doubt heavily that SE (sketchup) can splatt, and honestly that can create stunning worlds, and by worlds I mean say 4096x4096, which even something like CUBE can easily do.

I"ts n ot just huge worlds that I enjoy, I can easily enjoy much smaller worlds if done with some level of decent artistic integrity/story/scripting blah. BUT big worlds are quite common in engines and very needed by  many developers/enthusiasts.

IRRPG can't splat, but it does allow for rather huge worlds with splatting done by 'height' given lowering/raising the terrain which is something huge to makeup for not allowing regular heigtmap based terrain( which has its own disadvantages too ). I guess you could do something similar in a 3d app but then you'd have to split it to get performant behavior inside maratis and the be careful when putting down objects to avoid the seams ? I've yet to go down that road from time constraints but its something I should try .

later
hs

Thanks for replying anael. I will try to make a list of what I think to be the most important functions for making a game (at least on the lua side of things for now)

What functions? Yours is a very specific task which is not meant to be implemented in the engine. It's something you have to code yourself; in the wiki you could find examples but not functions that does it automatically.