
Ok, as soon as you see all those //FIXME's in the code, you'll probably ask "Why is this even being released?".  Well, 3 reasons:

1) It works as a test mod right now. I actually had it running a week ago, but I've been cleaning it up and tweaking it, and I just wanted to push it out to you guys for comments. 
2) It shows how to do it if you can follow the code/comments.
3) This release is primarily to get feedback on what you think needs explanation.

Therefore, I would like to make the following disclaimer:  THIS IS NOT A FINISHED MOD.  There.  Simple, aint it?  Just remember that this mod, in its current state, is only so you can see how to convert 3D to 2D, load/animate a HUD pic, etc.  And by reading the comments (assuming I was articulate enough), you can make changes and use the code in your own project(s).  I only ask that you give me (and my team) a little credit (honorable mention, at least?), and of course, credit Monolith because this is based on their pseudocode (HUGE Thanks guys!). (I will provide this pseudocode in the finished doc if I get enough requests for it.)

I will be fleshing out all the //FIXME's, and I'll make it a bit less of a "hack" (e.g. the camera-rolling COMMANDs should be handled elsewhere, etc).  I'll also be making a kind of tutorial about it, just to show how and why I did it the way I did.  Your feedback will go into this, and I'll try to cover as many areas as I can.  And when I'm all done, it will probably be like a totally different mod.  Therefore, I suggest you use it as a simple test in your code and either delete it or adapt it, because the next release will be a HUGE improvement.

Also, feel free to "show me up", as long as you "show me how".  I'm not the best coder in the world... far from it.  If you can show me a better, cleaner, more modular/portable way to do this, I'm all ears! (well, eyes, since I'll be reading the feedback)  Just know that I will be using this (and any suggestions) in my current project (yep, a plug... The (Shogo) Macross TC at www.planetshogo.com/macross/).  But don't worry, you'll get credit if you're the first and/or most complete to make the suggestion.

We understand the value of gaming standards, how much we can all help each other. So, we're probably going to be releasing all our non-MacrossTC-specific sources so that the mod community can benefit.  We're going to make it as modular as possible to allow easy incorporation and modification for you guys.  And we hope that you'll help us in return with suggestions and improvements (again, with credit to you for your contributions).

Anyway, I've rambled enough.  Below you'll find the additions to autoexec.cfg you'll need to use the features in this mod.  Of course, you can bind these commands to any keys.  These are just what I used for testing.

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Be sure to place these in their respective sections of the .cfg file.  I'm not yet sure if they HAVE TO be in those sections, but it doesn't hurt :)

AddAction RollLeft 65
AddAction RollRight 66
AddAction TrackingReticleToggle 64
AddAction TrackingReticlePrevMode 22
AddAction TrackingReticleNextMode 23

rangebind "##keyboard" "L" 0.000000 0.000000 "TrackingReticleNextMode" 
rangebind "##keyboard" "K" 0.000000 0.000000 "TrackingReticlePrevMode" 
rangebind "##keyboard" "P" 0.000000 0.000000 "RollRight" 
rangebind "##keyboard" "O" 0.000000 0.000000 "RollLeft" 
rangebind "##keyboard" "\" 0.000000 0.000000 "TrackingReticleToggle" 

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Also, you'll need to put Reticle.pcx in [root]\[yourmod]\interface\hud\.

Once you have it compiled and running, you can roll the camera with P and O, but note that your movement/mouselook controls will not change.  Think of the camera as an actual CAMERA on your mecha.  If you rotate it so that it's upside-down and you try to turn left, you will APPEAR to turn right, etc.  I only included this feature so that you can see that the reticle tracks no matter what the orientation of the camera. (it took me a sec to realize that the Z rotation matrix should come first in the formula to make this work ;)

Now, I know this was a hack, but it was just for testing.  To see the reticle, you need to hit \, then grab a MCA sniper rifle.  Wherever you shoot, the reticle will lock onto that spot (the wallmark/puff of smoke).  Then you can walk around it, change the reticle mode (with L and K), go "ooooh... ahhhhh", and then dissect the code.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allan "Geist" Campbell
<geist@mindspring.com>
GreyShades
Coder/Modeler for the (Shogo) Macross TC
(http://www.planetshogo.com/macross)