Somebody mentioned the "asset pipeline", and I'm also wondering about deployment… So what about these two task proposals:
Evaluation: Game Asset Pipeline
Evaluate various model converters, audio tools, 3-D and 2-D graphic tools (free and paid).
Write a make script that regenerates all the artwork provided by the designer, and copies the output to the developers directory.
Collect the results (pros/cons/limitations of tools and approaches) in a comparison table.
Evaluation: Deployment Options
Evaluate deployment options:
- Applet, Webstart, OneJAR, …
- Free vs commercial executable creators for all supported operating systems…
- Icons, auto-updaters, and installers, for all supported operating systems…
Write an ant target that generates
- zipped release-ready desktop executables for all operating systems…
- Webstartable or Applet-ready JARs…
Collect the results (pros/cons/limitations) in a comparison table.
The ant and make scripts should be written for a simple example game, but in a way that users can learn from them and extend/adapt them to fit their own projects. The more abstract, the better.
PS: Good for students who suck at Java, but are good at scripting. These two tasks are collections of best practices, so when we start a new JME3 project, we can lay out the package and directory structure in an orderly way right from the start.
Zathras, most of the things you describe could be built into the GDE. Especially deploying should imho not be included in any scripts provided with the core engine. Savvy programmers know how to deploy their apps and probably want to do it on their own. For GDE users, the integrated NetBeans deploying possibilities can be used/extended.
In the end, these scripts can go where ever we want them to go. All I'm saying is, we can already start with the evaluation, it would not require a lot of background knowledge of our system for the student to get started.
Will GSoC students also be working on GDE, or not this time?
In the end, these scripts can go where ever we want them to go. All I'm saying is, we can already start with the evaluation, it would not require a lot of background knowledge of our system for the student to get started.
Will GSoC students also be working on GDE, or not this time?
I totally agree that students who can not program java could do research in the art pipeline and deploy method fields etc., sorry if I came across like completely rejecting the idea itself. I am just afraid of "feature creeps" in the jme3 core engine..
I *hope* to get the GDE in a state where it can easily be picked up by students, anyway if its not I could still upload it, then theres the more "general" work to do as well for them ;) I dont hope to have much info for docs ready by Mach 18, but lets see..
These two tasks are collections of best practices, so when we start a new JME3 project, we can lay out the package and directory structure in an orderly way right from the start.