Hello SunBurn community!

Last night we delivered a feature-complete preview of SunBurn Game Engine 2.0.18 to contributors!  The release is now in testing and should be available very soon. :)

Along with SunBurn's new physics system and terrain enhancements, the release also includes a character controller for easily manipulating objects based on input from the player!

Character Controller

SunBurn's new character controller provides an extremely easy (yet flexible!) way to move objects, cameras, and more around the scene.

The controller exposes movement and rotation methods, as well as information about the object's physical state (whether on a surface, sliding, crouching, ...), and allows the developer to determine what input drives the controller.

So for example you can tie character controllers A, B, and C to gamepads 1, 4, and 2, while letting your AI drive controllers D, E, ... :)

You can also adjust properties per-object like speed, jump force, maximum height the object can step up onto obstructions, movement smoothing, and more.

Sounds easy?  Well we've made it even easier!

The character controller is also an ICollisionMove object, meaning to control any object you simply set the controller on the object's CollisionMove property, then move it around. :)

As an example:

// grab control of the object...
ICharacterController controller = new PhysicsCharacterController();
objectToControl.CollisionMove = controller;

// now take charge of "objectToControl"!
controller.Rotate(angle);
controller.Move(Vector2.Forward);
...

Looks cool, but what if you'd prefer to assign controllers in the editor?

We've got you covered there too. :) SunBurn 2.0.18 also includes a wrapper component called CharacterControllerComponent, which allows you to control any scene object simply by assigning the component to it.

Better yet you can assign the component in either the editor or in code - and the component (as well as its wrapped controller) serialize with the parent object, meaning you can save the controller along with its properties to the scene and it will load again later with the scene.

Likewise the controller component can be included in prefabs, making it easy to create custom character templates / prefabs for use in your games.

And More!

This release is absolutely packed with new features, enhancements, and possibilities for your games - make sure to check out my previous blog for even more release details!

If you have any questions or comments let us know!

-John Kabus

 

Other SunBurn 2.0 Blogs:

1. Announcing the SunBurn 2.0 Game Engine - free upgrade, new editions, and updated features
2. SunBurn 2.0 Collisions, Scenegraph, and Components - new collision system, components, and more
3. SunBurn 2.0 upgrade for our Torque customers - upgrade path for all of our previous TLK technology customers
4. SunBurn 2.0 goes Mobile on Windows Phone 7! - full Windows Phone 7 support, light mapping, and more
5. Holiday, Components, and more! - read about the new components and more
6. SunBurn 2.0: components, perfabs, and more! - more details about SunBurn's new component system
7. Festive SunBurn 2.0 Starter Kits, yum, yum! - first release of the new SunBurn Starter kit
8. SunBurn 2.0.10 update available - streamlined user experience and integrated starter kits
9. SunBurn Dev Journal: Scenegraph Optimizations - faster scenegraph and City Demo with 10,000 buildings
10. SunBurn 2.0.12 Update Now Available! - edit components and custom scene object types in editor
11. SunBurn Update: Windows Redistributable - ship Windows games using only the XNA Redistributable
12. SunBurn Dev Journal: Workflow Enhancements - background importing, shared materials, Visual Studio templates, and more
13. SunBurn 2.0.13 Update: Get it Now! - the latest goodies are now available
14. SunBurn 2.0.14 Update Available! - extended materials and sprite rendering on Windows Phone 7
15. SunBurn Dev Journal: Reflections and Clipping Planes - the return of the Reflection / Refraction example
16. SunBurn Game Engine: Audio System, Drag-Drop, and More! - announcing the new SunBurn audio system!
17. SunBurn 2.0.15 Released - Audio System, Reflections, and Auto-Unwrap! - check out new the audio system and more
18. SunBurn powers British Airways demo at Microsoft's WP7 Mango event - Microsoft and British Airways chooses SunBurn for huge Mango event demo
19. SunBurn Game Engine Storms into Dream Build Play! - see the awesome SunBurn games in Dream Build Play 2011!
20. SunBurn Game Engine: Advanced Static Lighting - as awesome as SunBurn's dynamic lighting only faster!
21. SunBurn Game Engine: Transparencies, Player Controller, and More! - see the latest upcoming features
22. SunBurn Launches Powerful new Community Plugin System - tools and SDK to develop and share SunBurn plugins, examples, code snippets, tutorials, and more
23. New SunBurn Community Resources Portal! - download and share the latest community resources!
24. SunBurn Game Engine: A Whole New Level of Flexibility! - community resources, editor plugins, and more!
25. Orbitron: Revolution blasts onto Xbox LIVE Marketplace! - Orbitron makes one hell of an impression on Xbox LIVE!
26. SunBurn 2.0.17 Released – Advanced Lighting, Transparencies, and tons of Enhancements! - Wow!
27. New SunBurn Documentation and Silverlight WP7 Example - lots of new resources to get started
28. Starting 2012 with style: SunBurn Game Engine 2.0.18 Preview! - integrated physics, enhanced terrain, and more!

 

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Posted 02-04-2012 4:50 PM by JohnK "bobthecbuilder"