LDCad 1.6 Alpha 2 (win+linux)

[Roland Melkert]

With my vacation coming to an end I wanted to share the latest 1.6 Alpha version as the next version might take awhile due to work etc.

Get Alpha 2 here for windows or Linux

I again only compiled the 64 bit Linux version as nobody seems to need the 32 one, if someone does need it let me know.

As this is a Alpha version it might be very unstable and backwards compatibility with the next alpha or even beta will not be guaranteed. So it is highly recommended to keep them separate from other releases.

This version includes some bugfixes and two new major features over Alpha 1:

Model level buffer exchange support.

They are applied in realtime so you will only see stuff relevant to the current building step etc, the source window will show everything but with the hidden ones in grey (just like normal hidden items). You can use all 26 buffers at once if needed.


Region select.

   

This is highly experimental/raw though and needs some usage explaining.

Start a selection using the right mouse button while the ctrl key is down.
While sizing the rectangle you can adjust the far and near clipping plane using the mouse wheel (hold shift for near.)
Currently the 'inside' tests are very rudimentary (bounding sphere/frustum tests) as this is just to get the feeling of things until everything is more worked out etc. So it probably best to test it with single part items only.


Any feedback, especially on the region selection, is highly welcome.

Edit: updated to Alpha 2a which fixes the inventory bug mentioned by Merlijn below.


Complete change log:

Code:

--==1.6 Alpha 2 (08-May-2016)==--
Fixed:
- [GUI] Fixed the button filter in the menubar config dialog.
- [GUI] Fixed select center move hints (most noticeable in the hotkey config dialog).
- [Scripts] addNewLine operations are no longer excluded from undo.
- [Scripts] Using the selection lua object will no longer cause access violation problems later on.
- [Scripts] Some minor bugfix/adjustments to the tools.lua script.
- [Editing] Canceling an item drop will no longer leave the 'selection is invisible' label behind.
- [Editing] The LDCad marker part is now again useable in its temporary state.
- [Editing] Fixed selection center move hotkeys to mimic 1.5 behavior.


Improved/Changed:
- [GUI] Most hints will now show their associated hot key. (more pending).
- [PartBin] Added icons for the newly supported meta's.
- [Editing] Selecting something without a color (e.g. a step meta) will no longer change the working color to 16.
- [Editing] Using the arrow keys etc will no longer complain about missing positional information when nothing is selected.
- [SourceWin] Hidden items are now selectable in the source window.


Added:
- [LDraw] Added support for the BUFEXCHG (buffer exchange) meta. Including visualization through the source window. The meta is only processed for models though.
- [Editing] Added experimental region select using CTRL+RMB. It's a 3D box, you can adjust the far/near clipping plane using the (shift+) mouse wheel.


Known issues and limitations:
- [LDraw] Scientific notation (e.g.. 1.323E12) is not supported in LDraw line content.
- [LDraw] LDraw files containing concave quads will render wrong as they are currently processed as if they are twisted.
- [Path] Using circle points at 180 degrees difference to each other might result in a weird rendering after reloading the file using it. The circular points are not designed for this kind of usage, try using bezier points instead.
- [Scripting] File changes to lua files will only be detected for the main script, if the script uses additional modules (include files) a manual reload will be required after changes to them.
- [Editing] During nesting mode some parts will be rendered at the wrong place while moving existing parts around, if those parts live in a sub model that's used more then once in the main model of the session. This is not a big issue because one set of the selection will be at the correct place, and your eye will be on them most of the time.