zwartzon / nim-panda3d

Proof of concept nim binding for Panda3D

This is a proof of concept nim binding for Panda3D.

There is a subset of the DIRECT API implemented as well. It is deliberately incomplete, only the parts that can't be trivially reimplemented using the C++ API are intended to be supported.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Reference-counted types like PandaNode are always by-ref, using Panda's reference counting system, just like in Python. To create an instance, use something like newPandaNode(). These types are nillable.
• Other types, like NodePath, are stored by-value. Create instances using initNodePath() and the like.
• The typical code convention in nim is camelCase, but snake_case is supported as well by virtue of how nim's identifier resolution works.
• Both property interfaces and getter/setter methods are supported.
• Tuples are accepted in place of vectors, but be sure that the types of the elements are correct.
• The ShowBase constructor doesn't open a window. Call openDefaultWindow().
• The direct modules are woefully incomplete, see above.

Here is a brief example, see test.nim for the complete Hello World tutorial.

import direct/showbase
import direct/actor
import panda3d/core

var base = ShowBase()
base.openDefaultWindow()

var env = loader.loadModel("models/environment")
env.reparentTo(render)
env.setScale(0.25, 0.25, 0.25)
env.setPos(-8, 42, 0)

var pandaActor = Actor()
pandaActor.loadModel("models/panda-model")
pandaActor.loadAnims({"walk": "models/panda-walk4"})
pandaActor.setScale(0.005, 0.005, 0.005)
pandaActor.reparentTo(render)
pandaActor.loop("walk")

base.run()

Building the example:

make test
./test