Hi, i’m testing panda3d right now. Maybe it fits my needs.
But there is a major problem i have with the interactive mode.
I created the helloworld.py from the documentation and lauched it with: ppython -i helloworld.py
All fine so far, cute panda wandering around.
Then i hit Ctrl+C in the console window to enter some basic stuff like 1+2 or a=23. But how to switch back and let the program continue?
And why is it crashing when i click on the render window?
I installed everything as said in the doc and it seems to be working.
Running XP SP2 with Panda3D-1.0.5 and the built in Python 2.2.3
This behavior isn’t normal, isn’t it?? Or do i have forgotten something to invoke the interactivity thing?
The “run()” function is the interactive one. When you hit ctrl-c, you abort that function. To resume interaction, you have to type run() again.
If you don’t like that, we also have a tcl/tk panel with an expression evaluator in it, which runs concurrently with the game. Let me know if you’re interested.
As for the crash, not sure what’s going on there. I’ve never seen that happen before. When it crashes, are there error messages?
Thank you! Entering the run() commando in the shell helps. Maybe it would be a good idea it was explicitly mentioned in the docs (V.C. The Python Debugger).
Nevertheless panda3D crashes when I am in the shell mode and click on the render window. Not that it was very necessary form me to do this , but it bothers me that panda is itself not very stable and reliable.
Is Panda3D somewhat beta and not recommended for bigger projects?
And yes, I am interested in your tcl/tk panel - and in the network api.
I must confess that I’m a little confused to read in the docs that i have to ask in the forum for more info on this feature. Is this a kind of intern philosophy to distribute only very basic equipment and encourage users to ask for more? I’m aware that documentation is always lacking on free software. Or are these offers somewhat inhouse developments, never supposed for distribution?
I’m asking these things because i’m not sure what kind of software this is. It seems to me that the community is not very big/active and i try to figure out how much support i can expect. I’m a native blender user and therefore spoilt with backing, looking for good easy to learn gamekit with python bindings…
Hmm, Ive never once had this problem on 3 setups with different os’s. So far panda has been incredibly stable considering that Ive been messing about opening stupid amounts of multiple windows with multiple buttons on each one. (Soon Ill get around to testing 3d objects through each window)
Well, if I am right here, panda is designed to give a small learning curve so that people on the ETC course can get to grips with programming interactive apps in a short period. Its also used by Disney (See Toontown) as a mass multiplayer online game. Every piece of software should be called Beta as I have yet to see anything which is 100% bugfree. Saying that, I have yet to see a major bug in panda yet.
There is alot of undocumented stuff in panda, treat it as a new toy with lots to explore Ive found a few items in the source that I did not see in the documentation.
Yes the community is small when compared to other projects, but you get advise with a smile here
Well thats the exact reason ETC uses it! The structure of panda makes it incredibly nice to work with once you get your head around a few things.
If you have not done so, just take a look at airblade. Even though its not the best example of what can be done with panda, its a nice starting point. Or if you want something really simple to look at then check out the asteroids clone in samples/Feature-Tutorials–Tasks/Tut-Asteroids
Some parts of panda are distributed but not yet documented. That’s just because the documentation seems to take a back seat to the coding. We’re always playing catch-up with the documentation.
There are also utilities for panda which are written by students here at the ETC, which aren’t distributed because they were never “polished.” It’s my hope to get around to polishing them up for distribution someday, but you know how it is.
As for the evaluator panel — I actually have to track down an old student and ask him where it is, so it could take some time.
