Cocos2d-x v3.3alpha0 Released!

We are happy to announce that cocos2d-x v3.3 alpha0 is released.

Download

There is not zip file to download. You should get it from github like this

git clone https://github.com/cocos2d/cocos2d-x.git 
cd cocos2d-x
git checkout -b v3.3alpha0 cocos2d-x-3.3alpha0
./download-deps.py

Highlights of v3.3alpha0

• 3d: Camera, 'Reskin', 'Attachment', 'Better support for FBX', 'New fbx-conv', AABB, OBB and Ray
• ui: added Scale9Sprite
• FileUitls: added isDirectoryExist(), createDirectory(), removeDirectory(), removeFile(), renameFile() and getFileSize()
• Device: added setKeepScreenOn() on iOS and Android
• Added c++11 random support
• RenderTexture: added a call back function for saveToFile()
• Primitive: Support Points, Lines and Triagles for rendering
• SpriteFrameCache: support loading from plist file content data
• Added a consistent way to set GL context attributes for all platforms
• Only two libraries in cocos2d-x, one for c++ codes, another one for lua-binding codes
• Many other small features added and many bugs fixed

Features in detail

Camera

This version of camera is powerful then previous one. And you can add it as a child anywhere. If you want to let a Node to be visited by a camera, Node's camera mask should include Camera's flag:

// let sprite to be visited by a camera
auto sprite = Sprite::create("myFile.png");
sprite->setCameraMask(CameraFlag::USER1);
auto camera = Camera::createPerspective(60, winSize.width/winSize.height, 1, 1000);
camera->setCameraFlag(CameraFlag::USER1);
scene->addChild(camera);

If you have many Nodes that want to be visited by a camera, there is a convenient way:

auto layer = Layer::create();
auto sprite1 = Sprite::create();
auto sprite2 = Sprite::create();
layer->addChild(sprite1);
layer->addChild(sprite2);
// it will set camera mask for all its children
layer->setCameraMask(CameraFlg::USER1); 

auto camera = Camera::createPerspective();
camera->setCameraFlag(CameraFlag::USER1);
scene->addChild(camera);

Full test case please refer to tests/cpp-tests/res/Camera3DTest/Camera3DTest.cpp.

Reskin

It is a powerful feature, all the user change the appearance of character.

For example, there a model named girl.c3b, which has two coats, coat0 and coat1.
The character's coat can be changed like this,

//load the girl from file
auto sprite3d = Sprite3D::create("girl.c3b");
//get the mesh named coat0
auto mesh0 = sprite3d->getMeshByName("coat0");
//you can change texture of this mesh if you like
mesh0->setTexture("cloth.png");
//you can change visibility for this mesh, too
mesh0->setVisible(true);
//hide coat1
auto mesh1 = sprite3d->getMeshByName("coat1");
mesh1->setVisible(false);

Full test case please refer to 'tests/cpp-tests/Classes/Spret3DTest/Sprite3DTest.cpp'

Attachment

Allows to attach a node to a bone

Usage,

auto sprite = Sprite3D::create("girl.c3b");
auto weapon = Sprite::create("weapon.c3b");
auto attachNode = sprite->getAttachNode("left_hand");
attachNode->addChild(weapon);

Full test case please refer to 'tests/cpp-tests/Classes/Spret3DTest/Sprite3DTest.cpp'

Better support for FBX

support multiple mesh
support multiple material
bones bind to each mesh limited to 40. But the FBX model can contain more meshes. So the model can contain much more bones.

New fbx-conv

It can export more complex model, which contains multiple meshes and multiple materials.

AABB, OBB and Ray

AABB means Axis Aligned Bounding Box
OBB means Oriented Bounding Box
Ray has a origin position and direction

Each Sprite3D or Mesh has its own AABB.
AABB and OBB can be picked by Ray.

Usage,

//get ray from camera
Vec3 nearP(location.x, location.y, -1.0f), farP(location.x, location.y, 1.0f); 
auto size = Director::getInstance()->getWinSize();
camera->unproject(size, &nearP, &nearP);
camera->unproject(size, &farP, &farP);
ray._origin = nearP;
ray._direction = farP - nearP;
ray.intersects(sprite3d->getAABB( ) );

Full test case please refer to 'tests/cpp-tests/Classes/Spret3DTest/Sprite3DTest.cpp'

ui::Scale9Sprite

Now we have implemented a new Scale9Sprite class under ui module. Its internal implementation is concise than the previous one plus more features.
The main reason of reimplementing this class is that the Scale9Sprite is heavily used in ui module. Now the ui module is not dependent from extension module.
By applying the new ui::Scale9Sprite, the code inside many widget classes are more cleaner and elegant.

We could manually toggle "slice 9" feature by one function call:

//ui::Scale9Sprite is slice 9 enabled on default
auto sprite = ui::Scale9Sprite::create("foo.png");
sprite->setScale9Enabled(false);

It also supports Flipping now.

auto sprite = ui::Scale9Sprite::create("bar.png");
sprite->setFlippedX(true);
sprite->setFlippedY(false);

Since the ui::Scale9Sprite is a Node rather than a Sprite, so you can't add it to a batch node. If you do want to do some actions on the internal sprite,
you could call sprite->getSprite() to access it.

Full test case please refer to tests/cpp-tests/Classes/UITests/CocostudioGUITest/UIScale9SpriteTest.cpp.

c++11 random support

Since rand() is not good(refer to this document25), we use c++11 random library to do generate random number, and provide a function to easily using:

int randInt = cocos2d::random(1, 10);
float randFloat = cocos2d::random(1.f, 10.f);

RenderTexture save function

RenderTexture::saveToFile() will not save rendertexture when the function returns, because it just send render command to renderer. The file will be saved after render command is executed. It is not convenient if you want to use the saved file to do some work. So we added a parameter in RenderTexture::saveToFile() to set a call back function when the file is saved.

renderTexture->begin();
...
renderTexture->end();

renderTexture->saveToFile("myFile.png", true, callback);

Primitive

Primitive is added to support Points,Lines,Triangles rendering. Previously, if we want to draw a custom geometry(sphere, line), we can only do this by using CustomCommand. Now, what is need is to create a Primitive, set datas, and use the corresponding PrimitiveCommand to draw the Primitive.

Here is a simple example of rendering a quad in Sprite.

• create verexBuffer

auto vertexBuffer = VerexBuffer::create(sizeof(V3F_C4B_T2F), 4);
vertexBuffer->updateVertices(&_quad, 4, 0);

• create vertexData

auto vertexData = VertexData::create();
vertexData->addStream(vertexBuffer, VertexStreamAttribute(0, VERTEX_ATTRIB_POSITION, GL_FLOAT, 3, fasle));
vertexData->addStream(vertexBuffer, VertexStreamAttribute(12, VERTEX_ATTRIB_COLOR, GL_UNSIGNED_BTYE, 4, true));
vertexData->addStream(vertexBuffer, VertexStreamAttribute(16, VERTEX_ATTRIB_TEX_COORD, GL_FLOAT, 2, fasle));

• create IndexBuffer

auto indexBuffer = IndexBuffer::create(IndexType::INDEX_TYPE_SHORT_16, 6);
short indices[6] = {0,1,2,3,2,1};
indexBuffer->updateIndices(indices,6, 0);

• create primitive

auto primitve = Primitive::create(vertexData, indexBuffer, GL_TRIANGLES);
primitive->setStart(0);
primitive->setCount(6);

• add command to renderer

_command->init(globalZorder,textureID, glprogramState, blend, primitve, modelViewMatrix);
renderer->addCommand(&_command);

Primitive supports three typs of primitives (POINTS, LINES, TRIANGLES), vertex and index sharing, multiple streams. It has some constrains:

• The size of vertex and index Buffer is fixed, which means data must be pre allocated.
• Batching is not supported.

Consistent way to set GL context attributes

Now you can set GL context attributes by override Application::initGLContextAttrs(), then set GL context attributes there.

void AppDelegate::initGLContextAttrs()
{
    // r:8 g:8 a:8 depth:24 stencil:8
    GLContextAttrs glContextAttrs = {8, 8, 8, 8, 24, 8};
    GLView::setGLContextAttrs(glContextAttrs);
}

Now can only support setting bits of r, g, b, a, depth buffer and stencil buffer. We will support other attributes if needed.

Only two libraries left

Now there are two libraries left: one for all c++ codes and another one for lua-bindings codes.

If you are developing with c++, you only have to link to libcocos2d. libcocos2d includes all c++ codes:

• cocos2d(including 2d and 3d)
• network
• cocosstudio
• ui
• cocosbuilder
• spine
• chipmunk
• box2d
• ...

Not used codes will be stripped by linker.

If you are developing with lua, you should link to libcocos2d and libluacocos2d. You can comment codes in lua_module_register.h if you don't want a module.

int lua_module_register(lua_State* L)
{
    register_cocosdenshion_module(L); // comment this line to remove cocosdenshion
    register_network_module(L);       // comment this line to remove network
    register_cocosbuilder_module(L);  // comment this line to remove cocosbuilder
    register_cocostudio_module(L);    // comment this line to remove cocostudio
    register_extension_module(L);     // comment this line to remove extension
    register_ui_moudle(L);            // comment this line to remove ui
    register_spine_module(L);         // comment this line to remove spine
    register_cocos3d_module(L);       // comment this line to remove 3d
    return 1;
}

More information

For further information please read:

• Release Notes41, with detailed information of the new API.
• Full Changelog43

We would appreciate if you can test this version and report any possible bugs.
Thank you!