Windows Application Development

Unigine SDK is not a full development environment and you need to install the required software before starting up:

1. Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2008/2010 Express Edition (can be downloaded for free).
2. Install Microsoft Windows SDK 6.1 (for WindowsXP), 7.1 (for Windows 7) to build a 64-bit application (can be downloaded for free).
3. Install DirectX redistributive June 2010 (can be downloaded for free).
4. Install Python 2.7 (can be downloaded for free).
5. Install SCons 2.0+ (can be downloaded for free).

There are two ways to install SDK:

• If you downloaded a Unigine SDK installer, simply run it and choose the components you want to install.
• If you downloaded a Unigine ZIP archive:
  1. Unpack the Unigine archive into a target directory, for example C:\UnigineSDK.
  2. Run console as administrator (Start -> Search -> type cmd -> RMB on the icon -> Run as administrator)
  3. Go to the directory and run install.py script to set development environment. (If installation was successful, the uninstall.py script will appear).
     Shell commands

     C:\Windows\system32>c:
     
     C:\Windows\system32>cd c:\UnigineSDK
     
     c:\UnigineSDK>install.py
     
     [ Unigine SDK installation script ]
     
     Do you really want to proceed with install? [Y/N]: y
     

     Notice

     In fact, this script only sets environment variables, which are:

     • %UNIGINE_DIR% variable pointing to Unigine SDK location.
     • %WINSDK71_DIR% variable pointing to Windows SDK location.
     • %PYTHON_DIR% variable pointing to Python location.
     • Locations of the following directories are added to the %PATH% variable: %UNIGINE_DIR%\externs\bin; %UNIGINE_DIR%\lib; %UNIGINE_DIR%\bin and location of Python binaries (in the mentioned order).
  4. Reboot.

After installation you will get access to the Unigine SDK contents.

Apart from developing your project with UnigineScript, you can also customize the Unigine application C++ code. What exactly is available for customization depends on the version of Unigine SDK:

• With the limited binary/evaluation version you can only modify the following components:
  1. C++ plugins for the engine.
  2. The source code of Unigine-based sample applications.

  You can also modify the source code of Unigine Editor and high-level scripts (just like all other scripts, they do not require recompilation).

• If you have the full source version, you can modify the entire Unigine codebase:
  1. The C++ source code of the engine itself.
  2. All Unigine standalone tools.
  3. C++ plugins for the engine.
  4. Plugins for 3D editors.
  5. The source code of Unigine-based sample applications.

After customizing the code, recompilation of Unigine application or its libraries is required.

To recompile both the Unigine engine (i.e. the dynamic library Unigine_*.dll) and application on its base (i.e. the binary executable main_*.exe), you can use one of the following options. For Windows, 32-bit or 64-bit, debug or release, single or double coordinates precision versions can be compiled.

• For semi-automated compilation via the Build script (recommended):
  1. Open a Windows command-line console (Start -> Run -> cmd) or any console file manager (e.g. FAR).
  2. Go to %UNIGINE_DIR%\utils\ folder.
  3. Run the build.py.
     Shell commands

     C:\Windows\system32>c:
     C:\Windows\system32>cd c:\UnigineSDK\utils\
     C:\UnigineSDK\utils>build.py

     By default, a Unigine library, a binary executable and a network plugin (release single-precision versions) will be built for the native platform.
     You can change building options, if required. For example, to build the 32-bit double-precision version of the engine and all standalone tools, run the script with the following options:
     Shell commands

     C:\UnigineSDK\utils>build.py --component=all --type=debug --bits=32 --precision=double

• For manual compilation via SCons (see the details):
  1. Open a Windows command-line console.
  2. Go to %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\app\main directory.
  3. Type scons (or scons with the cross=x64 option for a 64-bit build) and press ENTER.
     Shell commands

     C:\Windows\system32>c:
     C:\Windows\system32>cd C:\UnigineSDK\source\app\main
     C:\UnigineSDK\source\app\main>scons

     By default, the debug, single-precision version of Unigine library and the binary executable will be built for the native platform.
     Notice

     After compiling for the first time, SCons automatically checks whether any modifications were made to the source engine code and recompiles the library only if necessary.
• For compilation via MS Visual Studio:
  1. To rebuild the engine libraries, open the project file for Visual Studio %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\engine\unigine_vc2008.vcproj or %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\engine\unigine_vc2010.vcxproj (depending on your Visual Studio version).
  2. Choose Debug -> Build Solution in the menu.
  3. To rebuild the binary executable, open %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\app\main\main_vc2008.vcproj or %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\app\main\main_vc2010.vcxproj (depending on your Visual Studio version).
  4. Choose Debug -> Build Solution in the menu.

To run the built Unigine application, you need to specify compulsory start-up options (see details below).

To rebuild engine C++ plugins, perform one of the following:

• To rebuild a plugin automatically together with the engine, use the Build script. For example, to reduild the Network plugin use the following:
  Shell commands

  C:\UnigineSDK\utils>build.py --component=engine --plugin=Network --type=release --bits=32 
  							

• To rebuild a plugin manually, use SCons:
  1. Go to the required directory inside <UnigineSDK>\source\plugins\ via the command line.
  2. Type scons (or scons with the cross=x64 option for a 64-bit build) and press ENTER.

  For example, to rebuild the Network plugin manually, perform the following:

  1. Go to <UnigineSDK>\source\plugins\Network directory via the command line.
  2. Type scons and press ENTER to build with SCons (see the details on available Network options).
     Notice

     To be run, the Network plugin requires setting -extern_plugin Network at the start-up (see details below).

To recompile the Unigine standalone tools (ResourceEditor, ImageDDS, Archiver, XmlTree, etc.), do one of the following:

• For semi-automatic compilation, use the Build script (recommended).
  Shell commands

  C:\UnigineSDK\utils>build.py --component=tools --type=release --bits=32

• For manual compilation via SCons (see the details):
  1. Go to one of the directories inside %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\tools\.
  2. Type scons (or scons with the cross=x64 option for a 64-bit build) and press ENTER to build the application (the binary executable).

To rebuild plugins for 3D graphics packages (3ds Max, Maya or Softimage), perform one of the following:

• To rebuild plugins by using build scripts:
  1. Go to the required directory inside %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\tools\plugins\.
  2. Run one of the build_*.bat file (e.g. run build_x64.bat for a 64-bit build).
• To rebuild plugins via Nmake:
  1. Go to one of the directories inside %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\tools\plugins\.
  2. Use any of the following compilation options:
     • Nmake (from Visual Studio) using Makefile.win32 file
     • MS Visual Studio using *.sln file (if any)
     • GNU Make using Makefile file (if any)

Some specific functionality is not supported by the main Unigine application. For that, you need to recompile separate binary executables.

To rebuild the task-specific application, perform the following:

• Go to the required application directory <UnigineSDK>\source\plugins\app\ via the command line.
• Type scons (or scons with the cross=x64 option for a 64-bit build) and press ENTER to build the application.

For example, to recompile AppWall application (appwall_*) for several monitors (up to 6):

1. Go to <UnigineSDK>\source\plugins\app\AppWall directory via the command line.
2. Type scons (or scons with the cross=x64 option for a 64-bit build) and press ENTER.

Into Unigine SDK there are included sample applications that can be modified and used as templates to create your own applications.

• To rebuild D3D9AppMFC application that creates an MFC-based application and renders Unigine viewport into it in DirectX 9 mode:
  • Go to %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\samples\App\D3D9AppMFC directory.
  • Build with MS Visual Studio using *.sln or *.vcproj file.
• To rebuild GLAppSDL application that creates an SDL-based application and renders Unigine viewport into it in OpenGL mode:
  • Go to %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\samples\App\GLAppSDL directory.
  • Build with MS Visual Studio using *.sln or *.vcproj file.
• To rebuild the GLAppQt application that renders Unigine viewport into the Qt window in OpenGL mode, the D3D9AppQt (DirectX 9) application and D3D11AppQt (DirectX 11) application:
  • Go to the required directory inside %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\samples\App\ (GLAppQt, D3D9AppQt or D3D11AppQt).
  • Run qmake tool by typing qmake.
  • Run Nmake tool by typing make_x86 (or make_x64 for a 64-bit build) Makefile.win32.

While Unigine scripts do not require recompilation, you may want to recompile the startup C++ code for your project that initializes the application runtime:

1. Go to %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\app\main directory.
2. Customize main.cpp, if necessary.
3. Build your application using one of the following options:
   • MS Visual Studio:
     1. Open a project file for Visual Studio: %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\app\main\main_vc2008.vcproj or %UNIGINE_DIR%\source\app\main\main_vc2010.vcxproj (depending on your Visual Studio version).
     2. Choose Debug -> Build Solution in the menu. Select Debug mode for compilation.
   • SCons (see the details). SCons automatically checks whether any modifications were made and recompiles the application together with the engine only if necessary.
     Shell commands

     C:\UnigineSDK\source\app\main>scons

Building the final release version of your application includes several additional steps, if compared to a development version. Here is the typical workflow:

1. Copy the development version of your project into a separate folder.
2. Prepare the final content to be used:
   1. To prevent the users from accessing the console, disable it by setting engine.console.setLock(1).
   2. Prepare the release version of configuration file.
   3. Compress all textures using ImageDDS tool.
   4. Delete all uncompressed textures.
   5. Delete VCS files.
   6. Compress XML files into a binary format using XmlTree tool. Binary format is more compact and is parsed faster.
   7. If necessary, pack your resources into ZIP or UNG using Archiver tool.
      Notice

      Archived resources can also be streamed. But it is strongly not recommended to archive terrain files, otherwise it will load with lags.
3. If necessary, cache the source code written in UnigineScript.
4. If necessary, rebuild the release version of Unigine engine (the binary executable together with dynamic library). You can skip this step if you did not modify the engine source code. Instead, use pre-compiled engine files included in the SDK. (Find them under %UNIGINE_DIR%\bin and %UNIGINE_DIR%\lib folders).
5. If necessary, use a launcher for your application. In case your project was created via the project generator in the SDK browser (New Project tab), you can use the generated launcher. Otherwise you can create your own launcher on basis of our realization. If there is no launcher, all application data is simply stored in the configuration file. In this case, you can specify the following information in the application startup script (e.g. batch file):
   • The binary executable to be used
   • Configuration file (with application screen resolution and other project settings) to be used
   • Path to the custom system script unigine.cpp (see the details)
   • Project to be loaded (name of the world)
   • Path to the Unigine default data (with all required shaders, default materials, properties, Unigine Editor scripts, etc.)
6. If necessary, make an installer that will install your application together with all dependencies.

If you are going to launch applications with extended functionality (i.e. use engine plugins or launch task-specific Unigine app), you will need to specify additional command-line options on engine start-up.

How to Use C++ Plugins

-extern_plugin plugin_name

How to Run Stereo Apps