ExtendedMove Class

The ExtendedMove class expands on the standard Move class that is used by various GameBase classes, such as the Player class. The ExtendedMove class adds support for absolute positions (in millimeters) and rotations to be passed from the client to the server. This makes it easier to support new input devices such as the Leap Motion controller in multiplayer environments where the server must validate all moves.

Configure Your project.conf

The files for the ExtendedMove class and its support classes may be found under the T3D/gameBase/extended/ directory. In order to make use of the ExtendedMove class in your own project you will need to modify your project's buildFiles/config/project.conf file to pass along the $TORQUE_EXTENDED_MOVE variable to Torque 3D's Project Generator. Specifically you'll want to add the following to the top of your project.conf file:

// Set this to true to enable the ExtendedMove class.  This
// allows the passing of absolute position and rotation input
// device information from the client to the server.
$TORQUE_EXTENDED_MOVE = true;

After making this change you will need to run your project's `generateProjects.bat' file to rebuild the Visual Studio files.

Example project.conf

Here is a complete example of a project.conf file with the required change, along with Leap Motion controller support:

<?php

// Set this true to enable hifi networking instead of standard.
// In general ... hifi is designed to better deal with fast
// moving players in close proximity to each other, such as
// a racing game.
$TORQUE_HIFI_NET = false;

// Set this to true to enable the ExtendedMove class.  This
// allows the passing of absolute position and rotation input
// device information from the client to the server.
$TORQUE_EXTENDED_MOVE = true;

// Our path to the Leap Motion SDK:
$LEAPMOTION_SDK_PATH = "C:\Users\dwyand_2\Downloads\LeapMotion\Leap_Developer_Kit_0.7.1_Windows\Leap_SDK";

// Configure Torque 3D
Torque3D::beginConfig( "win32", "MarbleMotion" );

    // Include Leap Motion module
    includeModule( 'leapMotion' );
        
    // Enable for optional minidump debugging support
    // addProjectDefine( 'TORQUE_MINIDUMP' );
        
Torque3D::endConfig();

?>

Use With Other Move Classes

Using the ExtendedMove class is an all or nothing proposition. You either have your application compiled with it, or you don't. When you make use of it in your project, it is in place of the standard Move class and therefore its special properties may be accessed from any other GameBase class.

This operates in the same way that HiFi networking does, which also takes over how the Move class and its support classes operate. This means that you cannot have both ExtendedMove support and HiFi networking active at the same time.

Passing Data to the ExtendedMove Class

As the ExtendedMove class is an extension of the standard Move class all of the usual global input variables are still available. So you would still use $mvTriggerCount0 to activate the first trigger, for example.

Beyond these standard global input variables, the ExtendedMove class adds a number of global input variable to handle absolute position and rotation values. By default, the ExtendedMove class supports three sets of positions and rotations. This is enough for two hands when using the Leap Motion controller, or for head tracking from the Oculus Rift plus two hands using a Razer Hydra. Additional sets may be added by modifying the ExtendedMove::MaxPositionsRotations constant and recompiling.

The following global input variables are available with the ExtendedMove class to pass along absolute position:

First Set

• $mvPosX0 - X position in millimeters
• $mvPosY0 - Y position in millimeters
• $mvPosZ0 - Z position in millimeters

Second Set

• $mvPosX1 - X position in millimeters
• $mvPosY1 - Y position in millimeters
• $mvPosZ1 - Z position in millimeters

Third Set

• $mvPosX2 - X position in millimeters
• $mvPosY2 - Y position in millimeters
• $mvPosZ2 - Z position in millimeters

When it comes to rotation there are a couple of options available on a per set basis. An absolute rotation may be passed in as either a Euler angle (heading, pitch, bank) or as an angled axis (a vector and a rotation about the vector). The following global input variables are used to determine how the rotations are represented:

• $mvRotIsEuler0 - If true then the first set uses Euler angles
• $mvRotIsEuler1 - If true then the second set uses Euler angles
• $mvRotIsEuler2 - If true then the third set uses Euler angles

When using Euler angle rotations (the set's $mvRotIsEulerN is true) the following global input variable are available:

First Set

• $mvRotX0 - Pitch rotation in degrees
• $mvRotY0 - Bank rotation in degrees
• $mvRotZ0 - Heading rotation in degrees

Second Set

• $mvRotX1 - Pitch rotation in degrees
• $mvRotY1 - Bank rotation in degrees
• $mvRotZ1 - Heading rotation in degrees

Third Set

• $mvRotX2 - Pitch rotation in degrees
• $mvRotY2 - Bank rotation in degrees
• $mvRotZ2 - Heading rotation in degrees

When using angled axis rotations (the set's $mvRotIsEulerN is false) the following global input variable are available:

First Set

• $mvRotX0 - Axis vector's x component
• $mvRotY0 - Axis vector's y component
• $mvRotZ0 - Axis vector's z component
• $mvRotA0 - Amount to rotate about the axis in degrees

Second Set

• $mvRotX1 - Axis vector's x component
• $mvRotY1 - Axis vector's y component
• $mvRotZ1 - Axis vector's z component
• $mvRotA1 - Amount to rotate about the axis in degrees

Third Set

• $mvRotX2 - Axis vector's x component
• $mvRotY2 - Axis vector's y component
• $mvRotZ2 - Axis vector's z component
• $mvRotA2 - Amount to rotate about the axis in degrees

GameBase Classes And ExtendedMove

The only two classes that current support the ExtendedMove class are the Player and Camera classes. And even then it is a very specific use case to do with the Oculus Rift. In order to really make use of what the ExtendedMove class has available you'll need to implement in one of the GameBase classes yourself. The functionality is often very game specific.