Changelog.txt

=================================================================================================================
Release > 1.6:
--------------------------------------------------
- Gather runtime statistics (memory)
- Support for CMake
- Invert render order
- Threading.
- GPU rendering.
- ElectricBeamEmitter for creation of lightning bolts, etc.
- TextEmitter: Emits particles from a (3D) text.
- Create ExtendedScaleAffector (derives from ScaleAffector): This one includes several specific scale options. One option is that it uses the angle 
  between collision normal and direction.
- Change ScaleAffector: Change step value so it calculates the real size the particle has in a time point.
- OnProximityObserver: Checks wheter a particle is near a certain position (in worldspace), using a radius.
- LOD change observer
- ParticleSystemManager::createDepthMap uses viewport dimensions. This must be made variable, with setDepthWidth and setDepthHeight
- Add setTrailNode and getTrailNode. See http://www.fxpression.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=173
- (Box-, Plane- and Sphere- Colliders): Add PhysicsActor to a particle if it doesn't exist and set the collision attributes, including collision normal. Also add function
  deriveOrientationAfterCollision(), that sets the orientation of the particle based on the collision normal (optional). This can be used when a particle acts as a sort of decal
  (the renderer must take that into account, so in case of a Billboard Renderer, BBT_ORIENTED_SHAPE must be set (the renderer will make use of the orientation).
- Change GravityAffector: Implement scaling (also other affectors?). How?
- Volumetric Particles
- Customer feedback: http://www.fxpression.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=460
- ParticleEmitter: Delay - just delays once after start for a certain period.
- CustomEventHandler that submits an event + flag value to the ParticleSystemListener. This makes it possible to use the inner events in the listener, without generating 
  an event for each individual particle ([color=#FF0000]0 %[/color]).
- TextureEmitter: Emit from exture, defined by width, height, normal and texturename.
- TextureScalar: Scales the texture (only non-shader materials)
- ColourAffector: Add mRMultiplier, mGMultiplier, mBMultiplier and mAMultiplier attributes to multiply the colours' rgba values. Because these attributes
  are dynamic attributes, it is possible to oscillate the colours.
- Scaling of LOD
- ColourPulsator: Used for pulsating the colour of a particle.
- ParticleSystemManager::createDepthMap(): Make it possible to set DepthCheckEnabled, DepthWriteEnabled and LightingEnabled from outside.
- CustomEventHandler that submits an event + flag value to the ParticleSystemListener. This makes it possible to use the inner events in the listener, 
  without generating an event for each individual particle
- Demo.
:arrow: Plugin: Particle System pooling. Particle systems that are stopped are automatically added to the pool again, or automatically deleted ([color=#00BF00]Moves to 1.5[/color])
- ParticleSystemPool:
     o Creation by means of ParticleSystemManager.
     o Precreates an arbritrary number of ParticleSystems, based on template name.
     o Precreates an arbritrary number of ParticleSystems, based on other ParticleSystem as input.
     o ParticleSystemPool has a name. This is the same as the template name or the name of the ParticleSystem that is added as a blueprint.
     o ParticleSystems in the pool have an automatically generated name.
     o ParticleSystemManager is used to manage the pools. Search is by means of name or index.
     o ParticleSystemPool implements isEmpty() and getSize()
     o ParticleSystemPool implements getParticleSystem(). This returns a 'free' ParticleSystem.
     o ParticleSystemPool implements setAutoDelete(bool). This means that a ParticleSystem is deleted as soon it is stopped (after it was started).
       Note, that it must be detached from the node first. A precondition is, that it may not have ParticleSystemListeners, because they are not 
       automatically deleted.
     o The ParticleSystemPool iterates over the first 'x' ParticleSystems every update. The value of 'x' is configurable per ParticleSystemPool.
       During the iterations it checks which ParticleSystems are stopped, detaches them from the node, and either locks them or deletes them
       (which requires a Pool::deleteLatestElement()).
     o removeAndDestroyDanglingSceneNodes() is called optionally if a ParticleSystem is locked again.
     o Deletion of a pool also deletes all ParticleSystems in the pool. Deletion can only be done by the ParticleSystemManager.
     o ParticleSystemManager::destroyAllParticleSystems also destroys all the pools.
     o Uses Pool (ParticleUniversePool.h) to store ParticleSystems.
     o If a ParticleSystem is destroyed by means of ParticleSystemManager::destroyParticleSystem, it is also removed from the pool that contains it.
 :arrow: Plugin: Customer feedback: http://www.fxpression.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=460 ([color=#00BF00]Moves to 1.5[/color]).
 :arrow: Plugin: VelocityAffector: Influencing the velocity of particles over the lifetime of a particle becomes easier. This makes it possible to gradually slow down the velocity of individual particles over its lifetime ([color=#00BF00]Moves to 1.5[/color]).
 :arrow: Plugin: CustomEventHandler that submits an event + flag value to the ParticleSystemListener. This makes it possible to use the inner events in the listener, without generating an event for each individual particle ([color=#00BF00]Moves to 1.5[/color]).
 :arrow: Plugin: ParticleFollower: Replace Min and Max with dynamic attributes, so min/max distance changes in time (so the 'follow' effect gradually increases/decreases) ([color=#00BF00]Moves to 1.5[/color])
 :arrow: Plugin: DoPlacementParticleEventHandler: Improvements ([color=#00BF00]Moves to 1.5[/color])
 :arrow: Plugin: Sample for samplebrowser ([color=#00BF00]Moves to 1.5[/color])
 :arrow: Plugin: During parsing, any mesh required for a script is already loaded.
 

=================================================================================================================
Release 1.6:
--------------------------------------------------
:arrow: When PU prepared particle vertices for vertex buffer it`s transformed from local to world space. This is a problem for large scenes.
See http://www.fxpression.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=567&sid=bdba56414a4638423b59109da27d6a72
:arrow: Particle System pooling. Particle systems that are stopped are automatically added to the pool again.
:arrow: Share a Renderer between Techniques. This way multiple renderers can share the same vertexbuffer. This is memory efficient.
:arrow: 

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Release 1.5.1:
--------------------------------------------------
:arrow: Plugin: Porting to Ogre 1.8 ([color=#00BF00]DONE[/color]).


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Release 1.5:
--------------------------------------------------
:arrow: Plugin: Add a sample for the SampleBrowser ([color=#00BF00]DONE[/color]).

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Release 1.4:
--------------------------------------------------
 :arrow: Plugin: GCC patches. See http://www.fxpression.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=490 ([color=#00BF00]DONE (partly)[/color]).
 :arrow: Plugin: Patch http://www.fxpression.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=489 ([color=#00BF00]DONE[/color]).
 :arrow: Plugin: Abstract Ogre classes and data types. For now this means that Ogre classes and datatypes are typedef-ed, extended, etc. and isolated in specific .h files. The reason is to split the ParticleUniverse code from the the Ogre code, so that migration to another rendering system becomes easier ([color=#00BF00]DONE[/color]).

=================================================================================================================
Release 1.3.1:
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) Applied changes that makes it easier to port to GCC (removed inline, changed >> into > >, ...). Thanks to TaeHyungKim.
- (DONE) Remove end() from loops
- (DONE) Implement scaling for other components:
             PlaneCollider, 
             OnPositionObserver, 
             RibbontrailRenderer, 
             ParticleFollower,
             SphereCollider,
             BoxCollider,
             OnVelocityObserver,
             GravityAffector,
             ParticleTechnique (to apply scaling on emitted techniques)
- (DONE) Extend VisualParticle with rotationAxis, so each particle can rotate independently (use for GeometryRotator).
- (DONE) Extend ComparisionOperator with CO_EQUALS. This makes it for instance possible to fire an event on a specific moment (OnTimeObserver can be
  specified in such a way, that the event for each particle occurs on one specific moment).
- (DONE) DoPlacementParticleEventHandler: Besides position, also the direction, orientation, colour, etc. can be inherited from 
  the particle for which the event occurs.
- (DONE) ScaleAffector: Set 'since start system' indication, so that scaling can be different for older particles
  (if control points are used). This gives a bit more control over particle scaling.
- (DONE) VelocityAffector (NEW): Influencing the velocity of particles over the lifetime. 
  This makes it possible to gradually slow down the velocity of individual particles over its lifetime, without changing the direction.

=================================================================================================================
Release 1.3:
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) Add ParticleSystemManager::removeAndDestroyDanglingSceneNodes(), which deletes all dangling SceneNodes that are made by PU. 
         This is to prevent that all childnodes of a parentnode are destroyed
- (DONE) ParticleSystemListener that handles different events (particle system started, stopped, deleting, particles emitted, lod transition, ...). 
         Where the Observer/Event Handler components have their use internally inside the particle system, has the ParticleSystemListener an 
         important function outside the plugin (client application)
- (DONE) Renamed Collider to BaseCollider
- (DONE) Renamed ForceAffector to BaseForceAffector
- (DONE) ForceFieldAffector: Creation of a force field based on noise generation, including multithreaded force field generation
- (DONE) Minimize compiler warnings
- (DONE) Add ParticleSystem::start(Real stopTime)
- (DONE) LightRenderer: Removed diffuse light, because the colour is received from the particle itself.
- (DONE) Added FlashFrequency, FlashLength and FlashRandom to the LightRenderer.

=================================================================================================================
Release 1.2:
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) Migration to Ogre version 1.7
- (DONE) Changing STL container definition; (most) containers are using nedmalloc now
- (DONE) Implement PhysX Fluid properly (including script parsing).
- (DONE) Realisation of BeamRenderer.
- (DONE) Added inner-collision flag to BoxCollisionAffector and the SphereCollisionAffector to define whether particles collide with the inner 
         surface or the outer surface of the box/sphere (this is not realized for the BoxColliderExtern and the SphereColliderExtern). This makes 
         it possible to include particles in a Box or Sphere.
- (DONE) Use precompiled headers. Compilation is must faster now.
- (DONE) Deleted Ogre.h from ParticleUniversePrerequisites.h to reduce the size of the obj files.
- (DONE) Added ParticleSystem::setUseController(). This can be used in cases where a Particle System must be updated by another timer function 
         than the build-in ControllerValue.
- (DONE) Added ParticleUniverseManager::_getAliasMap()
- (DONE) Migration to new script compiler. This requires some changes in the existing scripts, but also offers more possibilites. Summarised:
         o The use of $ prefixes in names isn't allowed. All alias names in the example scripts now have names without the $
         o The new compiler makes it possible to simplify some properties. Many property names have been changed. This also deprecates 
           several existing property names, but the deprecated property names can still be used in a script (backwards compatibility). 
           The manual is updated with the new property names.
         o The 'exclude_emitter' (of affector) now takes a list of names without double quotes.
         o The camera_dependency structure is somewhat changed. Instead of:
    
           attribute_name value << camera_dependency {...}
   
           the new layout is:
   
           attribute_name      value
           camera_dependency   attribute_name
           {...}
         See particle system 'lodSystem' in the example scripts. 
         o The 'camera_dependency' settings are also written to script.
- (DONE) Removed UserDefinedObject / OgreUserDefinedObject.h. The mUserDefinedObject attribute is of type Any now.
- (DONE) Added ParticleSystemManager::isAutoLoadMaterials() and ParticleSystemManager::setAutoLoadMaterials() to define whether loading the 
         material is done automatically or whether this must be done manually on a later stage. Note, that there is no similar function for 
         loading the meshes.
- (DONE) Add collision normal to physics actor; each particle with physics capabilities has a physics actor object with a contact point (was already
         implemented) and a contact normal (new), which are set when the particle collides with another particle (only in case a physics engine 
         (PhysX) is used).
- (DONE) Renamed ParticleTechnique::setSpatialHashing() into ParticleTechnique::setSpatialHashingUsed(). Added 
         ParticleTechnique::isSpatialHashingUsed().
- (DONE) ParticleSystem::startFade() function to start the particle system for a specific time and gradually stop the Particle System 
         until there are no particles left.
- (DONE) ParticleSystem::stopFade() function to stop the particle system after a specific time and gradually stop the Particle System 
         until there are no particles left.

=================================================================================================================
Release 1.1:
--------------------------------------------------

- (DONE) A few default settings are changed. This concerns attributes of the emitter: Velocity, Angle and Direction. Beware that previous scripts may
         behave different because of these changes.
- (DONE) Allow parsing scripts with the same name. This doesn't result in an exception anymore, but a copy is created.
- (DONE) Replace isEnabled() with _getOriginalEnabled() in the Tokens classes, because the mEnabled value changes; writing the
         'enabled' value to the script was wrong.
- (DONE) Various small changes (mainly addition of new functions used by the editor).
- (DONE) Small updates on ParticleTechnique::removeEmitter, ParticleTechnique::removeAffector, etc. and added 
         ParticleTechnique::_removeBehaviourTemplate() and ParticleObserver::removeEventHandler().
- (DONE) Implemented ParticleSystem::getFastForwardInterval().
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter: New signature for setDynDuration, setDynRepeatDelay, setDynParticleAllDimensions, setDynParticleWidth, setDynParticleHeight, 
         setDynParticleDepth. Bool is passed as argument to force the use of the attribute. This was needed for the editor.
- (DONE) ParticleUniverse::ParticleEmitterTokens writes the direction with getParticleDirection(). This was not the original value; replaced with
         getOrginalParticleDirection().
- (DONE) Add copyParentAttributeTo() to all major components (emitter, affector, etc.). This makes it possible to copy attributes to components of 
         a different sub type (i.e. attributes from BoxEmitter to PointEmitter).

Release 1.01:
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) Add ParticleUniverseManager::destroyTemplate() and rename removeAllParticleSystemTemplates() with 
         destroyAllParticleSystemTemplates()

=================================================================================================================
Release 1.0: Scheduled for end of 2008
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) Soft particles.
- (DONE) PhysX support added as part of the core: Both rigid body as fluid based particles are supported. PhysX support is optional
         and can be included/excluded by means of a preprocessor directive.
- (DONE) TextureAnimator added, which makes it possible to 'play' a different texture animation for each particle 
         individually, using an Atlas texture.
- (DONE) Added recording option to the Viewer. Every x milliseconds, the particle system is paused and an image file is 
         written to disk. These image files can be concatenated to create a video file or added to an atlas file 
         (with the AtlasImageTool) and played as a 'video' with the TextureAnimator. Settings are included in the 
         puviewer.cfg file.
- (DONE) Commandline tool (AtlasImageTool) for creating atlas images:
            1. Create one atlas image from multiple images.
            2. Create one atlas image from multiple images, where intermediate images are interpolated.
- (DONE) Overall orientation/rotation changes, so it is possible to rotate all particles if the node to which the particle system is
         attached, rotates.
- (DONE) Debug logging with runtime attributes added. The maximum number of emitted particles is calculated, for example. This way it is 
         possible to set quota right and allocate no more memory than needed.
- (DONE) Serializer added, which generates a particle universe script from a particle system. The script can be written to 
         a string or written to a file. This is usable for editors.
- (DONE) SceneDecorator realised. The SceneDecorator is used to add additional scene elements to the scene for fast prototyping.
- (DONE) ParticleSystem::stopFade() added, which disables all emitters and stops the whole particle system when the 
         last particle is expired.
- (DONE) ParticleSystem::stop(Real stopTime) added, which stops the particle system after a certain period 
         (this is the same as setFixedTimeout())
- (DONE) ParticleSystem::pause(Real pauseTime) added, which pauses the particle system for a specific time. This 
         was also needed for the recording option in the viewer.
- (DONE) ParticleSystemManager::getParticleSystem() added; Particle Systems are now truly managed by the ParticleSystemManager, 
         although they have to be explicitly destroyed by the user.
- (DONE) Allocate memory with PU_NEW and PU_NEW_T to benefit from the memory tracker.
- (DONE) ParticleSystem::setRenderQueueGroup() and ParticleTechnique::setRenderQueueGroup() added. This way the renderqueue group 
         can be set on a particle system level, for every renderer in all particle techniques.
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter: Added 'orientation', 'range_start_orientation' and 'range_end_orientation'.
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter: Added 'texture_coords' and 'start_texture_coords'/'end_texture_coords', to allow emitted 
         particles to use a fixed texture coordinate or a random one within a range.
- (DONE) DynamicAttribute is not pure virtual anymore.
- (DONE) Added AtlasImage class to support the new atlas tool.
- (DONE) Added ParticleSystem listeners with callback functions started() and stopped(). Paused() and Resumed() are not implemented,
         because this creates more overhead and the question is whether anyone uses it.
- (DONE) Added remove-functions to ParticleTechnique for Emitters, Affectors, Externs and Observers, which only 
         removes them from the ParticleTechnique, but doesn´t delete them. This makes it possible to create 
         for example, just one SphereColliderExtern and let it affect particles of multiple ParticleTechniques 
         (in different Particle Systems).
- (DONE) Find performance bottlenecks in code. Use VTune, etc.
- (DONE) Added ColourAffector::clearColourMap().
- (DONE) Cleanup non/licensed textures.
- (DONE) VC8 (2005) and VC9 (2008) .sln file.
- (DONE) Create Mediapack.
- (DONE) Finish all loose ends.
- (DONE) Add Commercial license.


=================================================================================================================
Release 0.8: Scheduled for April, 2008
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) GeometryRotator: Add 'geom_rot_axis'. If the rotation axis is set, all particles are rotating around this
         vector, otherwise the particles are rotating random.
- (DONE) VortexAffector: change 'vortex_aff_speed' into dynamic attribute.
- (DONE) ParticleSystem: Added option 'tight_bounding_box' to wrap the bounding box tight around the particle 
         system instead of let it grow and never shrink (which is default).
- (DONE) Make ParticleEmitter::mAngle a DynamicAttribute. This makes it for instance possible to let the angle 
         increase over time.
- (DONE) SlaveEmitter: Makes it possible to emit a particle on the same location and with the same direction 
         as a just emitted particle from another emitter (of another technique).
- (DONE) SlaveBehaviour: Expands the SlaveEmitter. If you add both to your ParticleTechnique, the particle will not only
         start at the same location as another emitter particle, but it also follows that particle.
- (DONE) Replace IPipe with TechniqueListener, which allows multiple listeners per ParticleTechnique. 
         Callback functions are particleEmitted() and particleExpired().
- (DONE) 'enabled' can also be used in an observer script.
- (DONE) Add 'keep_local' to Particle System, Technique and Emitter. This makes particles move relative to the
         system, technique or emitter. Only useful if system, technique or emitter itself are moving/emitted.
- (DONE) ColourAffector: Add 'colour_operation' to define operations on particle colour and ColourAffector.
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter: Add 'start_colour_range', 'end_colour_range' and 'colour', to initialise a particle with a
         colour.
- (DONE) Create SphereRenderer and SphereSet, which is similar to the BoxRenderer. This renderer used a SphereSet, which
         can also be use stand-alone, just as a BillboardSet.
- (DONE) Validate in all Observers whether the particle is null (if it is used).
- (DONE) DynamicAttibute in ScaleAffector, TextureRotator, JetAffector and GeometryRotator must receive the particle 
         time-to-live fraction instead of the time since the start of the particle system. This is needed to define 
         dynamic_curved_... in such a way, that it enables control points between begin..end of the particles' 
         time to live.

=================================================================================================================
Release 0.7: Scheduled for February, 2008
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) ParticleAffector: Add attribute 'affect_specialisation', with options 'default', 'ttl_increase' and 
         'ttl_decrease'. This means that affection is normal or based on the time to live (resp. just emitted 
         particles are more affected (ttl_increase) or nearly expired particle are more affected (ttl_decrease)). 
         This has to be implemented for ScaleAffector, GravityAffector and LinearForceAffector. If needed, other 
         affectors may follow.
- (DONE) Add Maximum Velocity to ParticleTechnique.
- (DONE) Flocking behaviour. This involves 3 separate affectors which, combined, offer flocking behaviour. These are
         the affectors FlockCenteringAffector, CollisionAvoidanceAffector and VelocityMatchingAffector. Note, that the
         CollisionAvoidanceAffector only offers collision avoidance between the particles themselves, but no collision
         avoidance yet between particles and colliders (Plane, Box, Sphere). This is on the todo.
- (DONE) Added 'observe_until_event' to ParticleObserver. This is used to observe (a particle), until the event occurs
         and the eventhandler(s) are called. After that, the observer doesn´t observe anymore.
- (DONE) Added 'entity_orientation_type' to EntityRender, to allow both the particles' own orientation, but also orientation
         towards the particle direction.
- (DONE) Added 'circle_em_normal' to CircleEmitter, to apply orientation to the circle emitter.
- (DONE) Added ParticleUniverseSystemManager::removeAllParticleSystemTemplates() to explicitly delete templates and aliasses.
- (DONE) OnRandomObserver: Generates a random value between 0..1 and if the value exceeds a certain threshold (0..1) it fires
         an event.
- (DONE) Add 'observe_interval' to ParticleObserver, to observer after each interval.
- (DONE) DoEnableComponentEventHandler is now also able to enable/disable an 'observer_component'.
- (DONE) Add Oscillate types (Sine and Square first, others later) to DynamicAttribute. This can be used for example, 
         to assign a sine-function to the 'emission_rate' of an emitter.
- (DONE) Add Spatial Hashing to the Particle Technique, to determine nearest neighbours, instead of a brute-force method.
         This is used for Flocking behaviour and inter-particle collision.
- (DONE) InterParticleCollider: Particles colliding with each other.
- (DONE) Added hasEventFlags() to Particle and change getEventFlags() in if-statements with hasEventFlags()
- (DONE) Create flip-flop force affector: 2 OnRandomObservers each with a DoEnableComponentEventHandler that 
         enable or disable 2 LinearForceAffectors with opposite forces. To be used to apply wind to a flame.

=================================================================================================================
Release 0.6: Scheduled for January, 2008
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) PositionEmitter: Add positions to an emitter so that the particles emit on there positions. This makes it
  possible to read positions from a file and add them to the PositionEmitter.
- (DONE) Apply Scale for each Particle System, to scale the position, size (by means of scale attribute) and 
  direction/velocity (by means of speed factor, that scales time since last update). This results in new properties
  for the Particle System: scale, scale_velocity and scale_time.
- (DONE) Added distance threshold to the Attachable. Any attachable can use it to determine whether the Attachable
  still has any influence on the particle if the distance between the particle and the SceneNode to which the 
  Attachable is attached exceeds the threshold.
- (DONE) Add 'pre_post' indication to the DoEnableAffectorEventHandler, to execute also the pre- and post processing
  functions.
- (DONE) DoScaleEventHandler: Scales the velocity, ttl, with a scale value
- (DONE) Create VortexExtern, take distance from each particle in relation to the position of the VortexExtern
  into account. The longer the distance, the lesser the rotation.
- (DONE) Add _getSortMode() to the ParticleRenderer.
- (DONE) ParticleRenderer: Create ParticleRenderer.cpp en ParticleRendererTokens and set the defaults for renderqueue.
- (DONE) Solve linker warnings 4217
- (DONE) Create ParticleUniverse_d.dll in debug mode and move .lib files to the lib folder.


=================================================================================================================
Release 0.5: Scheduled for December, 2008
--------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) Bugfixes
- (DONE) LightRenderer
- (DONE) enum TokenID: Is part of ITokenRegister class itself, but should be outside. Same for other enums. Result: Moved some of the enums to the 
  Common.h. TokenID will not be changed anymore.
- (DONE) enum TokenID: Not clear how new id's should be added by other DLL's. Result: No time given to find a solution. Hopefully, this isn't an issue
  anymore if the scriptcompiler is changed (> 1.0 version)
- (DONE) Add more example scripts
- (DONE) OnQuotaObserver also for system quota´s
- (DONE) Add scaling to VertexEmitter and MeshSurfaceEmitter
- (DONE) New Particle type 'Particle System'.
- (DONE) Destroy all childscenenodes per particle system instead of doing this in the renderers.


=================================================================================================================
Release 0.4: Scheduled for November, 2007 (this will be the first public release)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- (DONE) Test everything
- (DONE) Complete manual.
- (DONE) ParticleTechnique: Suppress emission change in case of deleting emitters (not sure what this is. No change applied)
- (DONE) PathFollower, Affector that causes a particle to follow a predefined path made up from control points (positions)
- (DONE) Reserve domainname: www.fxpression.com
- (DONE) Setup site

=================================================================================================================
Release 0.3: Scheduled for November, 2007
-----------------------------------------------
- (DONE) Add Node to a VisualParticle. This node is used in the EntityRenderer, RibbonTrailRenderer, ...
         (solved with IVisualData)
- (DONE) Create RibbonTrailRenderer
- (DONE) Example scripts: Randomiser
- (DONE) The EntityEmitter uses particle dimensions as scale. Scale should be a separate entity of VisualParticle.
- (DONE) Create particle system viewer application; an application with a GUI that is able to create, load, pause, 
         resume, stop and delete particle systems.
- (DONE) Technique: Also call _notifyCurrentCamera for pooled techniques!!! This solves the bug that particles from
         emitted techniques are not always visible.
- (DONE) Externs: External collidors.
- (DONE) Rotation around z-axis (needed for texture rotation) isn't implemented yet for both the box renderer 
         and the entity renderer
- (DONE) Observer observes only visual particles by default. This should be ALL particles (don't forget to change the 
         ParticleObserver.html for this). Note, that is not true, so nothing changes.


================================================================================================================
Release 0.2: Scheduled for October, 2007
----------------------------------------------

- (DONE) Observers: OnEventFlagObserver (validates a given event flag. If the flag has been set, the observer triggers the handlers. 
         Event flags are used for flexibility. Instead of several specific observers, it is possible to set a flag in the particle if a certain 
         situation occurs. The observer validates this flag with the given flag.
- (DONE) Example scripts: OnEmissionObserver, DoForceAffectorEventHandler
- (DONE) Observers: OnCollisionObserver (detects that a particle has collided).
- (DONE) Affectors: Realise BoxCollidor, SphereCollidor and PlaneCollidor, which provide collision with particles, sets the
         collisionflag of the particle and calculates the new direction (bouncing from the shape). Collidor 
         only collides with particles in its own technique.  This attribute is named 'contact_point_collision  true | false'
         If particle collides with the collider, it will set the collision flag and searches in the particle for the CollisionBehaviour
         object. It then passes itself in the CollisionBehaviour object. If the processloop handles the CollisionBehaviour,
         it will use the Collider data to determine the behaviour (i.e. it calls the Collider::calculateNewDirection()).
         Besides the CollisionBehaviour it still remains possible to observe the collisionflag and provide additional functionality.
         The CollisionBehaviour is purely used to determine the particles' behaviour after a collision (bounces, determines new direction based
         on shape and physical material of the Collider, calculates new velocity)
- (DONE) Use original... attributes in emitters, affectors, etc. Reset the attributes to the original values in case
         of a _notifyStart().
- (DONE) BillboardRenderer: Check whether setting position of billboard is correct; either local or worldspace.
- (DONE) Observers: OnVelocityObserver (determines whether the velocity is below the min_threshold or above the max_threshold)
- (DONE) EventHandlers: DoFreezeParticleEventHandler disables movement
- (DONE) ScaleAffector: scale must be dynamic attribute instead of Real. Add explosion example that uses ScaleAffector
         with controlpoints (fast->slow)
- (DONE) Behaviour: CollisionBehaviour. Define the behaviour of a particle when it collides with a Collider. 
         The particle is affected in terms of direction, velocity and rotation speed. This doesn't 
         exclude the use of a CollisionObserver. Note: CollisionBehaviour seems artificial. Everything is solved
         in the Colliders!
- (DONE) Create example scripts
- (DONE) MeshSurfaceEmitter: Use the one in the FXPlugin. Add option to keep a distinct distance between particles.
         That way it becomes possible to create a mesh outline from a number of blocks with the same size.
- (DONE) Remove compilation warnings (especially 4217)
- (DONE) Affectors: Create TextureRotationAffector, which rotates the texture.
- (DONE) Emitters: CircleEmitter. Comparable with the ring emitter. Emit random on a given circle, or start
         on a certain point an run around (once or continuous).
- (DONE) Script: Emitted Circle emitters (with upwards direction), where the emission of each circle emitter starts at a certain point
- (DONE) Script: SphereSurface emitter with a Gravity affector in the center; this makes the particles emit from the surface to the center 
         of the sphere
- (DONE) Script: Stones in tornadoSystem must have different dimensions.
- (DONE) Observers: OnQuotaObserver (validates whether the quota has been reached (if number of emitted particles >= quota))
- (DONE) Affectors: Create GeometryRotationAffector, which generates a random rotation vector during particle emission 
         (and sets it in VisualParticle::orientation) and updates the particle rotation.
- (DONE) Affectors: VortexAffector, creates rotation around an axis, based on the distance between the center point and
         a particle.
- (DONE) Change VortexAffector and GeometryRotator in manual
- (DONE) VortexAffector: Take fraction of Quaternion to calculate rotation is probably incorrect.
- (DONE) Realise GeometryRotatorTokens
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter::_notifyStart() has an emtpy implementation. However, the duration and the force emission
         attributes need to be reset, otherwise a restart fails.
- (DONE) Renderers: Realize MeshInstance, MeshSet and MeshRenderer
         Clone the mesh, recalculate the vertices based on the position, scale and orientation
         Add the vertex and index data of each cloned Mesh to the MeshSet
         (This has become the EntityRenderer!)
- (DONE) AlignAffector: Add attribute (and make it scriptable) to only align, but not change dimensions
- (DONE) Create Extern class 'Attacher', which is a Movable and implements Extern and can be attachted to a Scenenode. 
         On its turn it is also possible to attach other objects to the Attacher itself. One example is to attach 
         an Affector. The attacher is updated by a particle technique while on its turn the attacher updates the 
         registered affectors. Objects that are attached to the Attacher must be of the type Extern also.
         This also means that any particular reference in the affector to mParentTechnique must be eliminated. This 
         means for instance that GravityAffector::calculatePosition() must determine whether it is attached to a 
         ParticleTechnique or an Attacher.
- (DONE) Observers: OnStartTimeObserver (detects that x seconds have been passed since the particle system has been started).
- (DONE) EventHandlers: DoForceAffector. This calls the named affector for this particular particle, even if the
         affector is disabled. It might be convenient to affect a particle only when a certain event occurs.
- (DONE) OnTimeObserver should include the option to switch between time since the particle system started, or the
         time since the particle was emitted.
- (DONE) EventHandlers: DoJetEventHandler -> give particle extra speed (multiply direction with scalar).
         This has become the JetAffector.
- (DONE) Add additional attribute to Particle Emitter called 'force_emission true or false'. This means that 
         the emission rate is not based on time, but the actual requested number of particles are emitted 
         (once).
- (DONE) Observers: OnTimeObserver (detects that x seconds have been passed after the particle was emitted).
- (DONE) Affectors: ColourInterpolatorAffector (see Ogre)
- (DONE) ParticleAlignAffector: Aligns a particle towards the previous particle (set x, y, z of the orientation based on particlePosition1 - 
         particlePosition2). This is for creating a particle chain.
- (DONE) BillboardRenderer: Change setBillboardType () function to allow new type BBT_ORIENTED_SHAPE (or something), to allow orientation
         of another vector instead of the normalised direction vector. Reason is that particle can be aligned to another particle.
- (DONE) PositionRandomiser: Add time step to change the position every x seconds
- (DONE) LineEmitter: Attributes also by means of script (implement tokens file)
- (DONE) Add autoDirection (bool) to the ParticleEmitter. If autoDirection is set to true, it generates a particle direction based on the
         type of emitter. I.e. Perpendicular on a Line- or a Sphere Emitter. It doesn't always have a meaning for other emitters though
         (i.e. Point Emitter). Default value is false.
- (DONE) Emitters: SystematicMeshEmitter (emit from the surface of a mesh/entity in the vertex order).
         Note, that it is now called VertexEmitter.
- (DONE) Observers: OnParticlesClearObserver (Calls eventhandler(s) if no active particle are available anymore. Note, that initially 
         there are no particles, so the observer initially should at least detect 1 particle and from that moment the 
         validation starts)
- (DONE) Change lod_camera_name into main_camera_name. The main camera isn't only used for LODding, but also for camera dependencies.
- (DONE) EventHandlers: DoEnableTechniqueEventHandler (enables or disables a particle technique)
- (DONE) EventHandlers: DoEnableAffectorEventHandler (enables or disables a particle affector)
- (DONE) Emitters: SphereEmitter (emit from the surface of a sphere)
- (DONE) Change Camera Dependency. As it should work, a CameraDependency object is created and added to the emitte (not sure)
         (in case of emission rate dependency). If the requested emission rate is calculated it is passed as an argument
         in the CameraDependency::apply(Real value) function, which returns the new real.


================================================================================================================
Release 0.1: Released on July 26, 2007
--------------------------------------------

- (DONE) Complete manual.
- (DONE) In case of OnCountObserver, the counter must be set to 0 again if the ParticleSystem restarts again.
- (DONE) Add Sphere and Box renderers and test it with the PhysX plugin. Use the orientation of the particle
- (DONE) ParticleTechnique: Implement sorting. This is only really possible if the implementation of the Particle pool
         is changed into a container type of class, implementing iterator, begin and end.
- (DONE) Implement Billboard sorting.
- (DONE) Implement lodCameraName in ParticleSystem. In case of _notifyCurrentCamera, the LOD code may only be executed
         for this specific camera, otherwise the lod code is executed for every camera, which basicly screw
         things up.
- (DONE) In particle emitter define width, height and depth of particles (hasOwnDimensions = true), 
         using DynamicAttribute. Also check the synchronisation in PhysXBehaviour in this case
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter: Implement repeat.
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter: Implement delay.
- (DONE) ParticleTechnique: Implement functions that have an empty body in the .h file.
- (DONE) Implement fastforward
- (DONE) ParticleSystem: Update bounds
- (DONE) Add preCalculate to ParticleBehaviour (similar to ParticleAffector)????
- (DONE) Implement _initStart() and _initStop() for Externs, Affectors, Observers. The _initStop() in the PhysX Extern should remove
         all actors (belonging to the particles of the technique)
- (DONE) Calculate bounding box in Particle System: update worldAABB in ParticleTechique::_update(). Create a 
         ParticleTechique::getWorldAABB(), which is called in ParticleSystem::_updateTechniques();
- (DONE) Add a preProcessParticles() function to the Affector and move code from the _firstParticle() function to the
         preProcessParticles().
- (DONE) Set colour in both BoxRenderer and BillboardRenderer
- (DONE) Colour buffer in BoxSet
- (DONE) UV mapping in BoxSet is reversed (at least in 1 case)
- (DONE) ParticlePool: Creation of visual part (to be rendered) of the Visual Particles not in place yet. Not sure 
         whether this is still needed. Analyse again during implementation of another renderer.
- (DONE) Add Orientation to the Particle class.
- (DONE) Realise Box- and Sphere renderer, similar to Billboard renderer. (NOT SPHERE)
- (DONE) Box::_initCorners() should only calculate the local corners (so don't add position), using the 
         mOrientation.
- (DONE) Box::getWorldspaceCorner(i) calculates the corner on the fly (getCorner(i) + position). 
         Box::getWorldspaceCorner() is used in the BoxSet to generate the Vertices.
- (DONE) Rename ParticleTechnique::_expireAllParticles() into stop(). In stop(), run through all observers 
         and call the init() function (= new function). In case of OnCountObserver, the counter is set to 0 again.
         Note, that ParticleTechnique::start() doesn´t exists, because if it is started, all activities are done in the
         _update()
- (DONE) Add postProcessParticles() to IExtern and implement its calls in ParticleTechnique::_postProcessParticles()
- (DONE) ParticleBehaviour::postProcessParticle() must be renamed into ParticleBehaviour::initParticleForExpiration()
- (DONE) ParticleUniverseContext: Rename nextSection into beginSection (+ endSection)
- (DONE) ParticleUniverseScriptParser: CompilerContext and enum CompilerContextSection are limited to a few 
         types. This must be setup more generic to allow other plugins to define their own sections.
- (DONE) Miscellanious: Cloning of ParticleSystem, ParticleTechnique, ParticleEmitter and ParticleAffector
- (DONE) SineForceAffector: Similar to the LinearForce affector, but it used a sine() function to vary the force. Using
         a random sine, which generates a new sine for every interval from 0-2pi, a wind-effect is simulated. After every
         2pi, both the frequency and amplitude can be changed.
- (DONE) ParticleTechnique: _updatePooledTechniques only to be called if mIterationIntervalSet
         is true, otherwise updating the technique inside the _applyParticleActions-loop is 
         faster.
- (DONE) Change camera dependency. Syntax must be something like:
         'attribute' <#value> ['<<' <Dependency>]
- (DONE)  Grammar:
         <Dependency> := <CameraDependency>
         <CameraDependency> := 'camera' '{' {<CameraDependencyProperties>} '}'
         <CameraDependencyProperties> := <DistanceFactor> | <Increase>
         <DistanceFactor> := 'distance_factor' <#distanceFactor>
         <Increase> := 'increase' <True_False>

         Example:
         emission_rate 10 << camera
         {
                  distance_factor   1000
                  increase          true
         }
         Camera is input for emission rate and changes the emission rate. It cannot be an attribute of emission_rate,
         because how would the value '10' be assigned to emission rate?
- (DONE) Implement emission of ParticleAffectors
- (DONE) LOD system: Implement dependencies for emission rate, velocity, time_to_live, width, height and depth.
                     One dependency is the camera_distance (distance between camera and particle system)
                     For instance:
                     emission_rate_dependency              camera_distance    100     0.95
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter: Implement duration
- (DONE) Implement Handlers. This concerns real implementations of handlers and also how they are related to observers.
- (DONE) rainSystem: ParticleTechniques that are emitted still hold particles in the pool after the technique
                     itself is expired. This is noticable in the rainSystem. Implementation of duration in
                     ParticleEmitter is needed and should be used in the rainSystem.
- (DONE) Rename and particle_type (property of observer) into observe_particle_type
- (DONE) Implement emission of ParticleTechniques
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter: Replace 'named_particle', 'named_technique', 'named_emitter', 'named_affector' with 
                          'visual_particle', 'technique_particle', 'emitter_particle', 'affector_particle'
- (DONE) ParticleGrammar: Implement on expire observer
- (DONE) ParticleSystemManager: Implement parse function for parsing Observer
- (DONE) ParticleObserver: Add 'particle_type' as generic attribute. This is to observe only particles of that type.
- (DONE) ParticleEmitter::copyAttributesTo clone DynamicAttribute without knowing the type
- (DONE) ParticleSystemManager: Add RendererFactory for Billboard
- (DONE) ParticleTechnique: If the emitsName of an emitter has been set, the technique must be notified, to mark all emitters
         techniques, affectors again
- (DONE) ParticleTechnique: Implement function emitOneParticle()
- (DONE) ParticleBillboardRenderer: update
- (DONE) ParticleSystem: Create ParticleSystem by means of a SceneManager
- (DONE) ParticlePool: Various bits
- (DONE) Destruction Emitters: Must be done in ParticleTechnique destructor, but gives exception; investigate!


=================================================================================================================
Release > 1.0: Not scheduled yet
--------------------------------------------------------
- Create tests that combine multiple effects (LOD with soft particles, LOD with PhysX, ...)
- Test with Hydrax, Cealum and PagedGeometry, escpecially with soft particles.
- Setup testscene showcase with multiple particle systems.
- Extend API documentation.
- Extend ScaleAffector: Not only particle (dimensions) are be scaled, but also other affectors, emitters, ... This makes it possible
  to dynamically apply scaling over a period of time.
- Create BillboardChainRenderer. Also create an emitter that generates lightning.
- Multi-threading support.
- Add infinite bounding box, which results in 3 types.
     o growing bounding box
     o tight bounding box
     o infinite bounding box- 4 variations of ParticleSystem::getEmitter (techniqueName, emitterName)
  ParticleSystem::getEmitter (techniqueName, emitterIndex)
  ParticleSystem::getEmitter (techniqueIndex, emitterIndex)
  ParticleSystem::getEmitter (techniqueIndex, emitterName)
  Also use a small buffer (array), that searches the last x emitters. This allows fast searching of the most recent emitters.
  Do the same for Affectors, Observers, Externs.
- Compress scripts:
  o Combine one or multiple scripts into one compressed script.
  o Change the compressed script in a binary form.
  o Use a file archive that reads the binary script and expand it to a text format, so the parser is able to parse it (takes a little 
    more overhead, because of the two-step).
- Link attributes to each other (Velocity to particle dimensions, velocity to emission_rate, ...).
      => Serializer: 'Camera dependency' is not realised, because linking attributes gets an overhaul.
     - Rename Dependency into Function
     - multiple Functions can be added
     - Create function with FunctionParameter: Function(FunctionParameter param). Example
       EmissionRateFunction(const VelocityParameter& velocityParam);
     - FunctionParameter::calculateDeviation(), which calulates a value between max [-INF, INF], based on the attribute it 
       refers to (Velocity for example). Notem that in some cases -INF/INF isn't reached, because of the type of curve.
     - FunctionParameter::setThreshold(). If the value of a threshold is equal to attribute value of the parameter, the 
       calculated deviation is 1 (for Reals)
     - FunctionParameter::setCurve(), LINEAR, EXP, LOG. The curve determines the slope between [-INF, INF].
     - Function::affect(), which takes the current value of the attribute to which the Function refers (emissionRate for 
       example) and calcultes the new value by means of: value += value * FunctionParameter::calculateDeviation();
       Function::affect() has several overloading variations.
     - Function::affectParticle(); Similar to affect(), but affects only one particle at the time.
- 3dText that disolves into particles.
- Replace current scripts deserializer (based on compiler2pass) with Preators' version.
- Tool that generates random ParticleSystems that act as a base for further development.
- Particle System editor with wxWidgets or better, create an editor plugin in a worldeditor (still to be 
  determined which one).
- Advanced options: 
      GPU renderer
      Hardware instancing renderer
      Particles with sensors + Target steering behaviour (seek, pursuit, ...)
      Particles with field of view + Neighbor steering behaviour (alignment, keep distance, avoiding basic shapes)
      Fluid system
      Create predefined animation tracks
      Metaball Renderer
      Animation of particles (also take into account that affectors affect animation (i..e flocking behaviour))
- TurbulenceAffector, using Perlin noise
- ColourImageAffector, similar to the one in Ogre
- TextureEmitter, emits from certain colours of a texture, also takes the object shape on which the texture 
  is wrapped into account
- OverlayEmitter, emit particles on an overlay
- ParticleSystem::stop(): Expiring all particles at once could kill the framerate. Possible performance patch:
  Introduce new state PSS_STOPPING and particle system attribute 'expirationDecay'. 
  During _update of the particle system, call each technique which expires just a few particles 
  each frame. This way, the particles expire graduately. If all particles are expired, the state 
  is set to PSS_STOPPED.
  Note, that the particle system isn´t visible anymore, as soon as the stop() function is called.
  This way you don´t see the fading effect (which is the desired behaviour).
- ParticleTechnique: Camera dependency on width, height and depth should resize individual particles and not all
  of them at once. If this setting is used, the particles ownDimension is set to true and the particles 
  are rendered  using their own width, height and depth.
- EntityRenderer doesn´t use particle dimensions properly. It is currently misused for scale.
- ParticleEmitter: Add property ´dynamic_scaledown´ true|false, to reduce number of particles if the fps is low
- EventHandlers: DoExcludeAffectorEventHandler excludes one or more affectors from one specific particle.
- Define Min and Max dimensions of a particle.
- Implement camera dependency for particle dimensions/particle width, height and depth in the ParticleEmitter
- SphereCollider and BoxCollider. Also posibility to keep the particles inside the shape
- DoSetDirectionEventHandler:
- Add option to Particle Emitter that defines that the emission rate will be related to the velocity (= length
  of the direction vector). If the velocity increases, the emission rate also increases. This way a trail
  from a fast moving object remains more compact. Use dependencies (emission_rate 10 << velocity_dependency {...})
- Refactor the Pool classes. Use boost::any (?)
- VortexAffector: Rotate around the direction vector
- Combining multiple objects into 1 alias. This means that an alias not represents just one emitter, renderer, 
  observer, etc., but multiple observers in combination with a few affectors, must also be possible to wrap them
  into one alias.
- CollisionAvoidanceAffector should also take Plane-, Box- and Sphere Colliders into account.
- Mechanism that makes particles stick to the emitter. Using 'affect_specialisation' (or different) it is possible 
  to let newly created particle stick more than older ones.
- EntityExtern: This extern makes it possible to create an Entity that is automatically attached to the same Node 
  to which the ParticleSystem itself is attached. The EntityExtern is more or less used for testing and to be able to
  quickly create an Entity (by script).
- GravityPlaneAffector: The particle is attracted to a plane instead of a point and the distance between 
  the particle and the plane is taken into account.
- Create Image manipulation tool, that reads a list of input images en output the manipulated images:
  1. Basic perturburation, using 2D perlin noise. Perturburation is applied to each pixel position (moving pixels), 
     rgb value (lighter/darker) and alpha (more solid/transparent)
  2. Cosine perturburation, using 2D perlin noise. The same, but with a cosine function
  3. Radial split, using 2D perlin noise. Radius > noise value => set to black / alpha 0
  4. Radial blur, using 2D perlin noise. Smear everything along radius outside.
- Create DoSetFlagEventHandler
- Interpolation of direction/position/orientation by PU in case of large steps in PhysX.
- Features of "Thinking Particles" at http://cebasserver.de/products/products.php?UD=10-7888-33-788&PID=15
- Features of "Trapcodes' particular" at http://www.trapcode.com/products_particular.html
- Complete API documentation.


=================================================================================================================
Miscellanious (to be evaluated if still needed)
-----------------------------------------------
- Change ParticleUniverseHook.h so it also works with other compilers.
- BillboardRenderer: Add normal, binormal, tangent, and particle size data in the vertex buffer.
- ParticleSystem pooling (this is just a list, you can use the existing pool class).
- General: Add a "_" to all public methods that are supposed to be internal methods.
- Move a technique relative towards the camera (camera_shift). This is used when different techniques are 
  on the same position, but materials are not rendered in the desired order (alternative for renderqueue)
- Observers: OnDimensionsObserver (validates whether the width, height or depth of a particle exceeds a certain threshold)
- EventHandlers: DoBounceEventHandler
- Observers: OnColourObserver (detects that the colour of a particle is below a certain threshold) .
- Observers: OnEmissionrateObserver (determines whether the emission rate is below the min_threshold or above the max_threshold)
- Affectors: RandomForceAffector, to give a random force to each particle (redundant with Randomiser?)
- Create separate timesteps for affectors, observers and externs, so they don´t get called after every 
  frame-ended call.
- Rename ParticleUniverseSystem::mIterationInterval in ParticleUniverseSystem::mTimeStep.
- ParticleEmitter::_init....: Uses getTimeElapsedSinceStart of ParentSystem. This results in wrong values for
  mDurationRemain.
- In particle technique define particle limit (number of particles displayed at the same time). 
  Oldest particles are expired if the limit is reached.
- Behaviour: The ParticleUniverseRotationBehaviour determines recalculates the particles´ rotation speed. The
  rotation speed depends on the velocity of the particle. If the velocity decreases, the rotation speed also
  decreases. This logic isn´t added in an Affector, because it uses additional data per particle. If the
  particle velocity increases again, the rotation speed may not be increasing, so it needs some ´last velocity´
  value. The ParticleUniverseRotationBehaviour is also responsible to affect the rotation speed in case of a 
  collision.
- Particle: Add _notifyEmitted(), which sets the ParticleEmitter* in the Particle. The _init() function of the
  Particle must set mParticleEmitter* to 0. _notifyEmitted() is called by the emitter and passes a 'this'.
- ParticlePool::increasePool has ParticleTechnique as argument, but it already has the parent 
  ParticleTechnique set, so the extra argument is not needed.
- Add 'affect_particle_type' to ParticleAffector. This property makes it possible to only affect particular particle
  types (probable not needed, because you can exclude emitters)
- ParticleFollower: Accelerate towards the previous particle instead of correcting the position (VelocityMatchingAffector
  should be sufficient)
- TextureInterpolator or TextureMorpher: Interpolate between textures. This needs a generic material in combination 
  with a shader. Textures can be added dynamically (limited to max. of one pass). (The TextureAnimator does the same, but then
  offline).
================================================================================================================