Mental Mill for download from nvidia

[Michael_J]

Hi all,

 

My first post here. I'm currently working on a hardcore space-sim (think Falcon 4 in space) called Rogue System. Anyway, the engine I was using seems to have fallen out of development which is what brings me to LeadWerks.

 

ANYWAY, most of my shader work has been in .fx format, so while hunting around for various GLSL information I stumbled on this (may be old news here, but a search didn't reveal anything):

 

http://forum.nvidia-arc.com/showthread.php?12284-mental-mill-1-2-release-and-download

 

Apparently, while it's no longer supported, nVidia has released mental mill, which at one time was included with MAX. Now, I don't THINK this requires a MAX license anymore (someone may want to check that). Hopefully not...

 

If you're unfamiliar with MM, it's a node-based wysiwyg shader editor that can export, among other formats, GLSL.

 

As I don't actually have LW yet (waiting on 3.1 to release) I'm not sure the code will work directly. If not, maybe it will give a good base code that can be finished off in LW's editor?

 

Anyway, I thought this might be useful for some, so I thought I'd post.

 

Michael

[shadmar]

Hey wait a minute... I know you...

 

I've followed your posts on your game development over at SSC, very inspiring work!!

If you decide to migrate your game to Leadwerks I will be your personal shader slave until your finished and published.

(or just ping me if you need something in that direction)

 

Welcome!

[Michael_J]

Thanks so much for the kind words! Shader help would be most appreciated as I already have a LOT to do So, thanks for the offer.

 

I'm 99% certain of switching to LeadWerks. I certainly can't use an engine that has no chance of being supported or updated. I'm pretty disappointed about the whole situation. Up until now the dev has been very quick to respond on the forums, offer help, etc. But, he hasn't made a post since mid Nov. That is NOT a good sign. I spent a long time researching engines early on to try and avoid this type of thing, but what are you gonna do, right?

 

Anyway, LW has a VERY similar framework and I've spent the past several evenings studying the docs and watching the tuts--very straight-forward stuff. So, the switch shouldn't be too bad. Plus, my current engine runs through a wrapper I wrote, so in general that's the only code I'll have to update.

 

Now, if I can just get them to release 3.1 so I can get started <jk>

 

Anyway, thanks again!

[Benji385]

Hey MJuliano - I am also a follower of your work. Rouge System is awesome and should have been funded on Kickstarter. Very Sad that is was not funded.

 

Anyway - I wish you the best of luck on Rouge System. It looks awesome If you need any help just give us a shout at.

 

Is there anyway I can throw money at you for Rouge System?

 

Thank you for the link to mental mill BTW. I missed that bit in my fit of excitement.

 

Welcome to leadwerks you will like it here

[Michael_J]

Well, the Kickstarter was successful in that the prototype I made for it drew enough attention that Image Space Inc. realized I was serious enough about it to partially fund it. I had to streamline the design a bit for the initial version, but that's okay. The missing features will get added after the first release.

 

The first version will be a modestly-priced Alpha in VERY early 2015. All proceeds from that will go towards the development budget, so that will help. I know not everyone likes the idea of pay-to-test (it's not my favorite business model, to be sure), but I've also had a lot of requests for it, too. The hope is it'll make enough so I can bring on a full time artist to help with asset creation in the second half of the dev cycle.

 

I'm already very impressed with the LW forums. The support from the devs, as well as the communication between members, is a nice change of pace