Subject:
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Re: GWCAD
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad.dev
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Date:
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Wed, 8 Aug 2001 13:38:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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756 times
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"Andy Lynch" <andy@andyandjackie.com> wrote in message
news:004f01c11ffb$c67763d0$0f0112ac@D1DMNJ01...
> <whew>
> Wow. Downloaded all three of your "proof of concept" executables...
> Beautiful work.
> I'll try to figure out something else to say later... I'm kind of
> speechless.
Thanks for your kind words. :)
> I had toyed with the idea of writing a Lego Cad application in Delphi a
> while back. Lack of time and lack of experience using 3d matrixes kind
> of squashed that. :-) I have about 6 different textbooks on 3d
> graphics programming that I have had for many years. I have always been
> interested in the subject, but haven't had any practical experience
> working with the concepts. In any case, you are light years ahead of
> me. :-)
I never truly understood those transformation matrices until recently
myself. When I was a high school student I wrote some QBasic programs that
displayed (wireframe only) isometric views of cubes, paper airplanes, and a
crude Starship Enterprise (original series version), but the code used
restrictive, hard-coded functions to transform all the vertices.
> I'm a big fan of MLCad, but I'll be keeping a close eye on updates from
> you, and if there is any way that my meager experience can be of
> assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. I've been programming in
> Delphi since around 6 months after Delphi 1.0 came out, whenever that
> was... Around 6 moths ago, I began working in the web arena, not using
> Delphi, but my experience hasn't had time to get rusty yet. :-)
I've been using Delphi exclusively since 96. I've used every version from 1
to 6. I consider Object Pascal to be the most elegant programming language
yet invented.
I've always wanted to write a Lego CAD type program but my interest in
various hobbies runs in cycles. One week I'll be obsessed with hobby #1
then the next week, hobby #2. Hopefully I'll manage to get the first
release of GWCAD out before I fall out of the current Lego phase and the
next cycle begins. :)
Last night I began considering actually making two distributables: GWCAD
Basic, and GWCAD Pro. The Basic version would be geared towards everyday
modellers and have fewer options, and be distributed freely. The Pro
version would have the AutoCAD-style command line, matrix editing tool,
custom colors, multi-part selection, advanced commands such as 'explode',
unlimited tech support, OpenGL / DirectX support, multiprocessor support,
MPD support, the ability to generate a ray-traced model or scene, a printed
manual, etc. I might charge a small fee for the Pro version, to make it
worth my time to maintain and develop it. Both versions would be built off
the same code base with a liberal use of conditional defines, so the
projects would never fall out of sync. It's something to think about,
anyway.
My eventual goal is to exceed the speed, flexibility, and ease of use of
MLCAD. I tried using MLCAD a few times but found it awkward, thus this
project. :) I also wanted to experience the development of a feature-rich
program in which I was in full control, rather than coding to meet an
application specification.
If you want to help, maybe you'd be willing to be a beta tester once I get
further along with the project?
-Gary
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | An interesting CAD image
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| (URL) image shows James Jessiman's car.dat file with every part marked as "selected" in GWCAD. The result is that the car resembles an auto magazine ad in which parts of the vehicle are displayed semi-translucent so callouts can be drawn to all the (...) (23 years ago, 10-Aug-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: GWCAD
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| <whew> Wow. Downloaded all three of your "proof of concept" executables... Beautiful work. I'll try to figure out something else to say later... I'm kind of speechless. I had toyed with the idea of writing a Lego Cad application in Delphi a while (...) (23 years ago, 8-Aug-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)
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