GMP upgraded to 1.7
I’ve upgraded the GMP javascript game engine to version 1.7 in preparation for releasing it as free and open source software.
Several features have been simplified so that new users will be able pick them up quickly. Changes include merging Tags into Gobs, and rewriting the intersection management logic to use only position and direction for intersection resolution calculations.
The previous Gob/Tag relationship enabled complex sprite management, but the same results could be achieved using a simpler design — multiple Gobs with built-in Tags. This change reduced the size of the engine by several KB, and will be much easier for new GMP developers to pick up.
The changes to intersection management leave the kinematics logic up to the game developer, who can make their motion as simple or complex as they desire. The functions and variables removed included those for calculating velocity and acceleration, and for performing radial and linear deflections. These changes also reduce the footprint of the engine by several KB.
Each of my games have also been upgraded to use GMP version 1.7. These upgrades took about 4 hours each, and the games run smoothly on A-list browsers on Win2K, XP, and Intel macs.
As part of the games upgrade, I separated the engine and game files, including the appropriate license in each. This means that as of now, GMP v1.7 is free to the world! (It already has the MIT/GPL licence attached). For the moment, you’ll have to download it by reading the source on one of the game pages, but I’ll have a proper download package in the coming days.