Skip to content

LiquidFun release 1.1.0

Latest
Compare
Choose a tag to compare
@jsanmiya jsanmiya released this 16 Jul 19:51
· 45 commits to master since this release

Overview

The 1.1.0 release of LiquidFun adds support for new platforms, speeds-up
the simulation, and documents the particle simulation algorithm with a fun,
visual presentation. Some highlights:

  • iOS support.
  • JavaScript support via Emscripten.
  • Improved Java support via more SWIG bindings.
  • An Inside LiquidFun presentation explaining the particle simulation
    algorithm.
  • ARM optimizations using NEON.
  • Stability and collision improvements to the particle simulation.
  • More ways to inspect particle contacts.
  • A LiquidFun logo to use in your splash screens and documentation, if you
    like.

The API Modifications are minimal in this release,
but please review them carefully before upgrading your project.

LiquidFun now supports Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and browsers. Note
that LiquidFun code is portable C++98, so you should be able to compile it for
other platforms too.

Your program can use LiquidFun if it is written in C++, Java, or JavaScript.

LiquidFun 1.1.0 is based on Box2D revision 280, the 2.3.0 release of
Box2D.

New Features

  • Translated LiquidFun into JavaScript using Emscripten. Please see Box2D/lfjs
    for the JavaScript bindings and a JavaScript version of the Testbed.
  • Added iOS XCode projects for the Testbed application and EyeCandy demo.
  • Added b2ParticleSystem::SplitParticleGroup, which finds disjoint blobs of
    particles, and puts each into its own b2ParticleGroup.
  • Added several accessor functions that use only int32s, float32s, and void
    pointers. These accessors are wrapped in the
    LIQUIDFUN_EXTERNAL_LANGUAGE_API preprocessor define. They enable binding
    with other languages--for example, via SWIG.
  • Particle indices can be represented with 16-bits instead of 32-bits. This
    is a nice optimization if you know you will have less than 32k particles
    per simulation.
  • b2ParticleSimulation::UpdateContacts has been rewritten to take advantage
    of NEON SIMD. The original implementation remains, for reference, and for
    platforms that do not support NEON SIMD. The NEON SIMD version requires
    16-bit particle indices.

API Modifications

  • b2ParticleContact's members are now accessed via Get and Set functions.
  • b2ParticleSystemDef now has members for strictContactCheck, density,
    gravityScale, radius, and maxCount. You can still set these values after
    b2ParticleSystem creation, however, for example via
    b2ParticleSystem::SetDensity.

Other Changes

  • Added b2ParticleSystem::GetAllParticleFlags,
    b2ParticleSystem::GetAllGroupFlags, and
    b2ParticleGroup::GetAllParticleFlags, which OR-together all the flags in
    a particle system or group.
  • Expose the contact weight buffer. The weight represents how closely two
    particles overlap.
  • Expose particle pairs and triads for reading. These arrays indicate which
    particles are interacting.
  • Added b2ParticleGroup::GetLinearVelocityFromWorldPoint, which returns the
    average velocity of a particle group with respect to a position. The
    position is used to calculate the angular velocity of the group.
  • Added b2World::CalculateReasonableParticleIterations to give a good
    estimate of the number of particle iterations you should pass into
    b2World::Step.