Citrus Engine goes Stage3D with Starling
Hey folks, I’m happy to share a new version of the CE. A new view has been added to target the Flash Player 11, using Starling. It also includes a Level Manager and an abstract class to store the game’s data. This is the first beta of the Citrus Engine V3. For more informations : Aymeric’s blog. Don’t hesitate to become a contributor!
Template for PhysicsEditor’s software
Hi everyone, I’m Aymeric Lamboley a new official contributor to the Citrus Engine project. I have made many articles/tutorials on my blog concerning the Citrus Engine. They are available at : http://www.aymericlamboley.fr/blog/category/flash/citrus-engine/.
One week ago, I made a plugin for PhysicsEditor‘s software to export physical objects to use in the CE. You would like to create complex box2d shape, but don’t know how to do that? Don’t panic, here is a quick look.
PhysicsEditor allow users to create easily box2d object from png file. To create complex box2d physical object you need to define vertices which are quite complex, and determine convex / concave polygons. Actually PhysicsEditor do that.
Download the software (you can use its free version), and add my template in this folder on Mac OS X : Contents/Resources/exporters I think it isn’t too different on Windows.
Then launch the soft and select the Citrus Engine template on the right.
Add one or many png files, select the Shape tracer tools (the magic wand) and choose your tolerance. We could also modify density, friction and restitution. Then publish.
It is really easy to use an object created from PhysicsEditor’s template, for example in the State class just use it like that :
var pe:PhysicsEditorObjects = new PhysicsEditorObjects(“Pe”, {x:200, peObject:"muffin", view:"muffin.png", registration:"topLeft"});
add(pe);
Be careful, the registration point is topLeft instead of center!
Don’t forget, don’t use many vertices if it isn’t really necessary. In my case, I’ve put lots of vertices for the example, but it may be quite good with 10 vertices instead of 40. You have to think about optimization, complex shape are heavy to manage for box2d.
I hope this tool will be useful. Tell me if there are something that I can improve!
The Official Level Editor Has Arrived
After a lot of hard work, I’m proud to announce that the Citrus Engine’s Level Architect is available for beta testing starting today. The Level Architect is a level editor specially designed for the Citrus Engine. While there are other level editors available, you will find that this one is the most ideally suited for designing your levels in the Citrus Engine.
The new Level Architect features
- Start creating levels immediately, without writing a single line of code! Just install the Level Architect and start designing and testing your levels. The Level Architect makes it easy to ease into learning the rest of the engine.
- Live code monitoring puts all the game object classes right into the editor so they can be dragged-and-dropped.
- The Level Architect knows all the properties for all game objects, showing them to you automatically. No more scouring the documentation trying to figure out what properties the hero has. This even works automatically for custom-made game objects using live code monitoring!
- Automatically creates Citrus Engine projects for you by downloading and installing the latest version of the engine. And you can upgrade at any time with the click of a button.
- Test your level changes right from the editor. No need to switch over to your code to compile.
- Uses Adobe Air and works on both Mac and PC.
- A detailed Manual helps you get off the ground quickly.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Get the Level Architect.
- Read the Owner’s Manual.
- Grab some quick tips.
- Post some feedback. Being that this is a beta version, it has not been tested with a large audience (thanks to my small group of focus testers for your great feedback!). This full version will be available for free for a limited time. Once the Level Architect reaches a stable state, it will become fully integrated with the Citrus Engine. The Level Architect will become the official delivery platform of the engine, and will likely be split into a free version and a commercial version. So make sure and try it now while it’s free! I have many plans for the Level Architect if you guys make it successful. In the future, I would like to add most, if not all of these features:
- An asset store where people can create, sell, and download game objects, then start using them immediately.
- Improved layer and object management.
- New navigation features such as zooming and snapping.
- Automation of project-setup for FlashDevelop, Flash, and FlashBuilder.
The Level Architect has an auto-update feature (thanks to Adobe Air, this is easy to do). As these new features arrive, you can easily update the Level Architect.
I would love to hear feedback about your experience with the Level Architect. Please visit the forum or social media and join in on the conversation.
Happy designing!
Why There is No More Level Architect
You may have noticed that the level architect no longer is a part of Citrus Engine 2. This is likely to confuse and frustrate many people, so let me explain why, and offer alternatives that we are heading towards:
There are many suitable generic level editors that have already been built, so rather than making another one, we are in the process of writing parsers for level editors that already exist (Take a look at GLEED2D, this will be the first one). This means that you will get to choose which level editor you would like to use, or write a parser for a level editor of your choice. Subscribe to the Citrus Engine blog to hear about updates for level editors that will be supported.
We found that the Level Architect was taking up too much of our development and support time, not allowing us to focus on improving the actual features of the engine. Since most people already have a copy the Flash program, we thought “Why don’t we just make the Flash IDE our level editor?” This method allows us to focus on making the Citrus Engine better, and still gives designers a great avenue to create and manage levels.
Within a few days, I will write a tutorial video on how to use the Flash IDE as a level editor for the Citrus Engine. Please look out for that. I will write a blog post about the tutorial as soon as I upload the tutorial.
Version 2 Prerelease: Get it Early
Citrus Engine 2 is almost ready to be released, and I’m looking for some experienced developers and teams to give it a run-through. If you purchase the commercial version of the Citrus Engine between now and the official V2 release, I will send you version 2 and give you up to 8 hours of free support and engine development in exchange for your valuable feedback on the new version.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions. I am looking forward to helping some of you make great games!
Version 2.0 Coming Soon
Now that I am working full-time on the Citrus Engine, I am iterating quickly on getting a brand new version of the Citrus Engine out! I expect it to be available with an updated demo and documentation in about a month and a half. If you are planning on beginning development on a game with the Citrus Engine, I highly recommend that you wait until this new version is out. Below the break are some of the new features that will be available in version 2.0.
- Box2D Alchemy - The fast, feature-full version of the Box2D physics engine will be very easy to integrate into the Citrus Engine. Additionally, it will be decoupled from the engine itself, so that developers have the option of using a different physics system, or no physics at all.
- Decoupled Rendering Code - The engine’s “game view” will be decoupled from the data and logic in the Citrus Engine, meaning that developers can build and use any rendering method that they’d like, such as Flash display objects, blitting (like Flixel), or even Molehill in the future. The engine will initially ship with traditional display object rendering, with blitting planned after launch.
- Flash IDE Level Design - I will be giving up development of the Level Architect (RIP) and instead supporting level design using the Flash IDE. This will allow my time to keep from being sucked up by tool creation so that I can focus on engine development, and make the engine more stable overall. Additionally, the community will be able to create level creation tools themselves.
- Lighter, improved API - I have spent a lot of time studying the best parts of other comparable engines, and using the knowledge to create what I believe will be the best, most diverse and scalable Flash game engine out there.
Keep an eye open for the new version! Back to work…
Full-time Citrus Engine Support!
I am pleased to announce that I have decided to begin supporting the Citrus Engine and related Blueflame projects full-time for all new and existing customers! Now that I am full-time on this project, I can now offer consulting on game projects, Citrus Engine or not (I also have a lot of experience with Flixel). So feel free to get in touch with me, and let’s make something happen!
Page 1 of 1
