31.30. Turbulenz SDK 0.9.0

31.30.1. Summary

Turbulenz SDK 0.9.0 is an update for both the Turbulenz Engine Installer and SDK components.

Please see the Change List for details on API changes.

31.30.2. Requirements

Essential

• Python 2.6.5 - http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.5/
• Turbulenz Engine Installer 0.9.0 - http://www.turbulenz.com/download

Optional

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 - Used to compile speed-ups for python environment if available on platform.
• Java 1.4+ (Required for YUI Compressor) - http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
• PDF reader

Note

Performance of any Python modules could potentially be slower if speed-ups cannot be compiled. It is recommended that you install Visual Studio before installing the Turbulenz SDK, so that the speed-ups can be configured in the environment. If you are using a 64bit version of Python you must have installed a 64bit version of the Visual Studio compilers.

31.30.3. Change List

31.30.3.1. New Features

Native Engine

• Sound Device now supports OpenAL EFX extension:

  • Added creation of SoundEffect, SoundEffectSlot and SoundFilter objects

  • Set sound sources to output via effects and filters using setAuxiliarySendFilter and setDirectFilter functions

  • Supported SoundEffect types:

    • Reverb
    • Echo

  • Supported SoundFilter types:

    • LowPass

• Forward renderer now supports:

  • Directional lights.
  • Shadow mapping - A new ShadowMapping object (also used by the deferred renderer).
  • Post effects.

• MathDevice functions:

  • m44Copy
  • m33Copy
  • m43FromM33V3

Local Server

• Local server viewer now has more normal debugging options.

31.30.3.2. Changes

• Added sumOfSquares to Profile for variance and standard deviation.
• scene.js has been split up. The new files geometry.js, light.js, material.js and scenenode.js will need to be included where scene.js was before.
• Additional documentation for Geometry, Surface and Reference.
• MathDevice functions m43Scale and m44Scale now take an optional destination parameter. So mathDevice.m43Scale(matrix, vector) should change to mathDevice.m43Scale(matrix, vector, matrix) where it is used. Similarly for the m44Scale.

31.30.3.3. Fixed

• Spotlights now render correctly in the forward renderer.
• Firebug crash when inspecting native engine objects with an undefined name property.

31.30.4. Known Issues

• The MathDevice ignores JavaScript arrays as destination parameters and acts is if no destination has been given.

• The engine requires a CPU that supports SSE2.

• For shader support the engine requires a GPU that supports GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language).

• The SDK HTML help search feature does not work on Chrome. See http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=47416.

• Running Turbulenz tools at the same time as the Local Server can sometimes result in access errors in “simplejson_speedupds.pyd”. Please close the Local Server before running any Turbulenz tools.

• When running intensive JavaScript applications, such as the multiple animations sample, some browsers, such as Safari, may lockup the user interface. This is due to the JavaScript interactions. You may have to manually terminate the process to regain control. Make sure the browser you are using can handle JavaScript running at full load and scale up slowly. Turbulenz recommends Firefox.

• The following browser(s) do not fully support the samples in development mode:

  • IE 6/7/8 - Engine not compatible
  • Opera 10.X - Engine not compatible

• The following browser(s) do not fully support the samples in release mode:

  • IE 6 - Not compatible with the styling
  • Opera 10.X - Controls are not fully functional

• The following browser(s) are performance limited for the samples in development mode:

  • Chrome (not using the Turbulenz JavaScript Engine)

• Some browsers don’t support delete on native engine object properties, e.g. delete techniqueParameters.diffuse does not work, use techniqueParameters.diffuse = undefined instead.

• Sound stuttering can be heard when the browser is using 100% of CPU.

• In some cases, refreshing a web page when a Turbulenz application is requesting data can leave the browser in an inconsistent state. Please avoid refreshing when the application is still loading.

• When using the Local Server, Firefox sometimes displays incorrect pages when using hash navigation. To fix this problem, please refresh the page.