Constructor/ReleaseNotes

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Parts of this article or section have been identified as out of date.
While the information may be useful, be advised that it may be inaccurate, buggy or erroneous.

Reason: Constructor is now up to version 1.0.4

If you are able to revise this information, please do so and remove this 'update' flag when finished.

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Constructor 1.0 Release Notes

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System Requirements

Macintosh
Mac OS X Version 10.2 or higher
G4, G5 or Intel Mac
512 MB RAM (1 GB Recommended)
OpenGL Compatible 3D Graphics Accelerator

Windows
Windows 2000, XP, or Vista
Pentium III 500
512 MB RAM (1 GB Recommended)
OpenGL or DirectX Compatible 3D Graphics Accelerator

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Known Issues

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Constructor and Direct DIF Export

Conflict with logitech mouse software disables extra mouse buttons and scroll wheel. Disable logitech mouse software to fix this (Windows only)
Constructor crashes when minimized if using outdated intel graphics express drivers.
Creating an extremely dense sphere or cylinder can cause the tool to fail. Reduce the number of sides to something reasonable for the size of the brush.
Very complex brushes (such as spheres) saved to .map format might not reload correctly. Please use .csx for more complex maps.
With certain external devices connected, loading and saving files on the Desktop can result in a crash. (Windows only)
Bad lighting on static shapes that have been flipped.
Ambient value in sunlight properties does not display in lighting previews.
Undo stack very occasionally stops recording new undo states. This can be fixed by re-launching constructor.
Undoing the deletion of a light entity after immediately after deleting a static shape it can cause a crash.
Click selection can fail on objects that are at an extreme distance from the scene center.
Constructor DIF export does not yet directly support portals, mirrors, and zones. (Coming Soon)
TGEA Export with baked-in static shapes and lighting is not currently supported. (Coming Soon)

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Map2Dif Exporter

May fail when exporting to non-english directories.
Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 causes security warning when exporting using map2dif.

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Known Issues With TGE 1.5.1 and Constructor Integration

Lighting of static meshes
Static meshes only support static lighting
Flipped objects (both brushes and static meshes) still produce odd shading

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Constructor 1.0.1 Release Notes

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New

Added convex and concave geometry selection to the Select->Geometry menu and the Selection Form.

Added the "Materials->Clean Up 'Used on Map' Album" menu item that removes any unused textures from the 'Used on Map' album.
Added an interface for level of detail support to the Export to DIF process. Here's how it works:

1. The user creates a number of scenes (CSX or MAP), one for each detail level. In the scene's worldspawn entity they set up the detail number and the minimum pixels.

2. Save each scene as myscene_XXX where the XXX doesn't really matter but it may be useful to indicate the detail level the scene is supposed to render at. Internally the code will read up to the last underscore to determine the base name and use the worldspawn's detail number property when figuring out the detail levels for the DIF.

3. Choose one of the Export to DIF menu items. If there is more than one scene with the same base scene loaded then a new window will open after the user has chosen a file name. If there is only one scene loaded with the same base name then it will immediately export after the file name is chosen.

4. The window opened in step 3 will display a list of all the scenes that will be used as a detail level for the DIF. They are listed in order according to their detail number. Beside each scene name is a check box that if unchecked, will not include the scene in the export process.

5. The user clicks on OK in the LOD window and all of the chosen scenes are exported to the DIF.

Added the 'Build Bezier Arch' tool, which now shows up on the Tools Form's Create tab. This tool uses either a quadratic or cubic Bezier curve (user selectable) to define the curvature of the arch. This allows for many different types of arches to be produced. The tool also has a number of presets to help make some common shapes. ie: a circular arch.
Added Invert Mouse prefs for horizontal and vertical rotation, horizontal and vertical translation, and zoom.
The Object Properties Form has a new 'Shape' tab to display some information on the currently selected shape.
Added a new prefab to show off the Arch tool.
Implemented the flushing of all textures. Use the Texture Browser 'Reload All' button or the Materials->Reload All Textures menu item.
SHIFT+ALT drag selection will now unselect all items already selected.
Added keyboard shortcuts to modify the grid snap value. Use [ to decrement and ] to increment. Use System->Preferences under the 'UI' tab to modify how the grid is changed with these shortcuts. Options are by a set amount (the default), by a multiple of 10, or by a multiple of 2.
Added a new tab to the Preferences window named 'Export'. From here the user may select some optional operations that are performed with a DIF export. The first is the 'Save Info File' popup that will generate a plain text or XML file detailing what went into the DIF creation. ie: Geometry stats, textures, static meshes, etc. The info file name is the same as the DIF but with a .txt or .xml extension. The 'Copy Brush Textures' checkbox indicates that all image files used to texture brushes will be copied to the same directory as the DIF. The 'Copy Mesh Textures' checkbox does the same for textures used on static meshes.

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Bug Fixes

Fix for select all faces and vertices to honor hidden or locked brushes.
'Rest On Ground' tool now works with selected faces and vertices.
The Align2D tools (in viewport toolbar) now work with faces and vertices.
The 'Size Bounds' tool now works only in Brushes selection mode and safely ignores other modes. Previously the tool would have unpredictable results if the user switched to Faces or Vertices selection mode while the tool was active.
Corrected the moving of a brush face using the Axis Gizmo to not have its vertices snap to the grid.
Correction for ticket 2903: Problem importing textures from non-install hard drive. This has been tested under Windows.
Removed the 'All Textures' texture group from the Texture Browser and Materials Form. The group was never implemented.
The three Shapes buttons on the Tools Form's Create tab are no longer disabled when a tool is active. This behavior is just like the File menu items.
The Object Properties Form's 'All' tab has been removed as it was never used.
Possible fix for scene close on save.
Resaved all prefabs to include texture album information.
Fix for prefabs and solid entities. Brush ownership wasn't being taken into account so non-structural ownership wasn't being transferred.
Corrected the Tools Form's Prefab tab to sort all prefabs by file name regardless of file extension. Previously all .csx prefabs were placed before .map prefabs.
Corrected the Build Sphere tool to build on the correct axis for the 'X' and 'Y' choices.
Fix for texture offset with the Build Cube tool and Build Tube tool.
Fix for Build Tube tool's problem with the end cap texturing shifting based on the number of sides.
Fixed a bug when SHIFT-click select of a vertex would not unselect an already selected vertex.