Updated Dec. 3, 2000

• Updated: New version of Segeltuch released (v0.3.4)! All went really well so I decided to upload this version. Go grab it on the downloads page! The help file is now an MS HTML Help file (chm). If this is a problem for anyone please tell me!
• Just finsihed adding new features: Weapon creation/editing and Special point (Subsystem) creation/editing. With these features, Segeltuch is slowly turning into an actual editor!
• With these new features, I added some new capabilities to the editor and these need to be documented. As soon as I accomplish that, I will release v0.3.4 (hopefully today!)
• There was a bug introduced in the last version of Segeltuch (v0.3.3) that deals with the group numberring of weapons. If you already loaded your project with the last version then please go through each of the weapons and verify that they are numbered correctly!

Nov. 29, 2000

• New version of Segeltuch released (v0.3.3). I let too much time slide by so you might be thinking this is a major update. Unfortunately, it is not. None of the important new features are listed (thanks everyone for you comments!) Well, anyway one thing is cool: POF output is DRAMATICALLY better. This version fixes any problems people might have had with their ships slowing down the game, or any problems with the ships being loaded in other programs. Of course, this also means collision detection is working so FRED may be a little more happy!
• Some people were having a problem with a bad link to KERNEL32.DLL. This resulted from one little line I forgot I had even written. So that may be fixed (I cannot test!)
• This is importnt: I changed the format of the project file. When you load and save you model, it sould automatically be switched, but I cannot garautee that. I HIGHLY reccommend that you backup your favorite project before loading it and saving it in this new version!

Oct. 9, 2000

• New version of Segeltuch released (v0.3.2). I feel bad uploading such a minor upgrade, but the bug that leads to odd lighting in the game is fixed. I decided that everyone deserved the upgrade before I tore the code apart adding more stuff. Well, go to the downloads page to get it and read the manual to see what's new.

Oct. 5, 2000

• Cold overcast rainy weather and illness combine their strengths to form the one and only Segeltuch Version 0.3.1, The First Public Release! It's amazing to me (and even more so to others) that this little app is finally out. Well, kinda. She doesn't do much, but she is mildly stable. I don't want to say much more here other than that the distribution is available in the Downloads page. Included with that is a readme which should get you going on your first project. This next point is very important: I need feedback. Send me everything you want to be included in the application, no matter how silly you think it is. If I don't get feedback then we will probably sit here at version 0.3.1 forever.
• One more point. Right now, she is freeware copyrighted by me (Frank A. Krueger) and the Code Alliance. However, I will soon release it under the GPL as free software (as defined by GNU).

Sept. 23, 2000

• Progress. Geometry. Textures. A new system for writing POFs. Send your comments my way.

Jul. 8, 2000

• Progress. I am focusing my attention on the components of Segeltuch that allow you to assemble the geometry of the model. This means DXF importing individual meshes, arranging them in the model hierarchy, and assigning and aligning textures. These (along with shields) will be the strong points of the first release. This also means that the models will be incomplete: no weapons, no thrusters. You will however be able to add subsystems that are built exclusively with the paramters given to each mesh (consult the POF specs to know what the hell I'm talking about). An early followup to this release will contain elementary geometry editing tools. The followup to that version will contain more POF dedicated features (weapons, etc.). The reason for releasing the app in pieces like this is not at all together clear to me, but it feels right. This will allow you to give me incremental suggestions. Well, 'nough talkie talkie.

Jul. 6, 2000

• BETA Testing of the core features of Segeltuch will begin soon. And now words that I have been afraid to speak: I need a group of about 5 BETA testers to help with this process. These people will have to be deicated to the game, active members of the community, and have an adequate technical knowledge to do their testing without instruction (instructions for operating Segeltuch will of course be provided.) If you are interested, e-mail me.

Jul. 5, 2000

• A refreshed look to the old site. Not exactly a spacy-sci-fi theme but comfortable on my eyes :-)
• Segeltuch was finally able to output a fully operating model to freespace (cheers from all around). But there are two problems. The first is rooted in the fact that although the BSP tree generated is accurate to the specification given, the models are rendered horrendously slow if the tree is allowed to propagate down the last polygon. This is the method as described in the IDTA spec, but does not seem to be the best one. However, this can be eleviated by stopping the growth of the tree when it reaches a tight cluster of X amount of polygons (where 2 <= X < NUMPOLYS). But doing that introduces other problems such as more work with collisions. The happy medium has yet to be found. If you have any suggestions, please e-mail me.

Mar. 6, 2000

• Changed some code around so that textures of any dimension can be loaded. This is different from what I said earlier about textures required to have dimensions that are powers of two. Turns out that such a limitation is very annoying!
• Fixed a couple OpenGL texturing bugs..some resources were not being freed. I knew about this one all along but didn't know how to remedy it until the solution hit me in the face today!
• I haven't decided how I am going to treat the thruster animation. I believe I will just pull the first frame out of the animation...
• Working on the shield tool..should be a little more intuitive now. This, however, has low priority because I have yet to even write the POF shield chunk code. :-)

Mar. 4, 2000

• Big decision been made. About what? Well, I had the thought of turning FreeDXF into a full-fledged POF Editor. That means it can directly open POF files and retain all the information in them. Under these circumstances I am renaming the project to Segeltuch. New screenshot on the page, check it out!
• Finally got my copy of C++Builder 5.0. Wow, it's a dusy; Borland is doing a fine job these days. It didn't take much work, but some time was spent migrating "FreeDXF" to the new compiler.
• FreeDXF can now load POFs directly from VP files. Although it can not load the POF's texture. This is a feature that will be implemented though!

Feb. 22, 2000

• Over a month and no updates..tisk, tisk. I became exceedingly occupied by my class work, but that is all behind us now. Some very good progress was made today--all of which has to do with texture mapping the model. As I have mentioned earlier, FreeDXF does not import texture information (this is a way of protecting my butt). So we now can:
  
  
  1. View the textures on the model in the main window. Thanks to OpenGL this was very little trouble. One thing to define here though, FreeDXF will only allow the user to select textures whose sizes are powers of 2. This is actually an OpenGL limitation that I do not want "to work around". This isn't a big problem though. I highly recommend that people do as Volition and merge all the textures onton one big texture (no more than 256x256).
  2. Rotate the texture. This is performed by rotating the texture vertices around the first one. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then checkout JED's (www.darkjedi.com) Preview Window as my program mimics JED's Texture mapping system (with very minor differences).
  3. Scale Textures. This can be performed by an arbitrary number.
  4. Translate the Texture.
  
  All of these transformations are performed on the currently selected faces (remeber that FreeDXF uses multi-selection to accomplish most actions). Though these functions are not perfect, I have found that I can almost always get the texture to look how I want so long as I play for a sufficient time. :-)
  
  Now that this very important aspect of FreeDXF is stable, I will concentrate completely on generating POF files. Wish me luck!

Jan. 17, 2000

• Well, I have some of the models showing up in FreeSpace now. Still a lot of work to do though! Please check out the screenshots section for a cursory example...

Jan. 11, 2000

• It's a BIG day. FreeDXF outputed its first POF file that does not crash FreeSpace! I know you may be wondering what the big deal is, but let me put this in an even better way. In this file was _almost_ everything that is needed to actually display the ships. The only thing missing was the actual tree that lists the polygons. But let me tell you, that code will not be difficult to write. I hope to see my own model in FreeSpace some time tomorrow.
  Keep your fingers crossed!

Jan. 3, 2000>

• Happy New Year!
• Added a Downloads page. Check it out!
• Did some internals work on the app, couple OpenGL optimizations, couple POF loading fixes and optimizations. I plan to work hard on POF writing this week, so stay tuned!

Dec. 12, 1999

• Well, I finished a dedicated POF to trueSpace COB converter. I made up my mind that it was unfair to make the "cutscene" people wait for the "modeling" people's editor. So, there is a new link on the left bar to download POF2COB version 0.9. Have fun, and please send your comments!

Dec. 8, 1999

• As you know, the old site went down and I had to move it here. The pluses: this server is very reliable which means the page will always be up. The minuses: I only get 2MB of account space so I will not be able to support a myriad of apps.
• Wrote a COB file exporter. It wasn't easy I have to tell you, but it works well. The purpose of the converter is not in line with the purpose of the application, but people seemed to want one, and my app was extensible enough to do it. Two notes, texture vertices are preserved, but you will have to convert the PCXs to BMPs, and the converter does not preserve the mesh hierarchy (all meshes are merged into one object).
• Changed the interface for selecting which parts of a POF to convert to DXF or COB. In my opinion, it is more intuitive.
• Added support for mesh properties (just a string that follows the mesh around).
• Rebuilt the internals so shields are no longer apart of the hierarchy, they are instead an optional object.
• Began the POF writer. It writes everything but the BSP tree. Unfortunately, FreeSpace crashes when it tries to open the files.. I hope it is just because the tree is absent..

Nov. 17, 1999

• Re-did the projection system that allows the 3D window to be rectangular in shape. Before, this window had to be square in order to preserve the proper aspect ratio. No longer. One trade-off; before, when one opened a project, that model would fit itself to the screen size. This no longer happens. There is a fixed initial scale (you can of course change the scale while working on the model). The benfit is more freedom of the user and better compliance with Windows95 standards (uses a slider bar between 3D window and editors).
• Fixed a bug with multi-selected mesh offsetting. I know what you're saying: Already? :-) Just a silly mistake.
• Added these mesh editing features which work on all selected meshes: deletion, face flipping, re-naming, and offsetting. Deletion is obvious. Face flipping was added in case your editor uses a different vertex-ordering than FreeSpace2. Re-naming is obvious. Offsetting is currently done by typing in values. There is a possibility of allowing the user to drag objects around; I have to decide if that is advantageous enough to merit the re-coding of certain pieces of code. The good news is I was going to add code to move engine glows and such, so moving meshes is a strong possibility.

Nov. 16, 1999

• My e-mail address here is not functioning. If you send a message, please read the reply and re-send the message to that address, thank you.
• Wrote a VP file interface so one can select models straight out of the container. No ability to add them yet - but soon.
• Updated 3D navigation to the likes of JED's. That is easily my favorite style.
• Wrote an object picker, and I currently support editing Meshes, Faces, Vertices, and Thrusters.
• Fixed a problem with Debris importing. I made an earlier assumption that I should not have made. At the same time, I updated shield importing.

Nov. 10, 1999

• Played with the OpenGL renderer until it displayed the models a little more correctly. BTW, there will be three modes of viewing the model: Wire, Solid, and Textured. Textured won't be for awhile. But the other two, of course, were easy. How can you go wrong with OpenGL?
  The screenshot has been updated to show this off...
• FINALLY found and fixed the bug in the POF->DXF converter that sheared many faces.
• Added a function "Generate Shields" incase the user does not want to take the time to model these. The algorithm is beyond simple; FreeDXF generates a sphere (made of triangles) and wraps it around the model.

Nov. 3, 1999

• Added "View Hierarchy" that allows the user to view sections of the model by Level of Detail, Debris, Shields, etc.
• Added preliminary OpenGL viewing code. So far only works with displays of >256 colors. If this is a big problem for anyone e-mail me.
• Added importing of DXF as a new LOD or Debris peice (Shields coming soon).
• Added project creation, loading, and saving.

Oct. 27, 1999

• Finished a stable FreeSpace2 POF file reader and wrote a converter to AutoCAD R12 DXF format.
• Constructed main application interface. Very similar to AceDXF.