Subject: Changing Virtual Tools

From: Bob Mason <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1993 16:29:07 -0400

hello...

I am currently in the process of trying to figure out how to change
virtual tools (e.g. the hand, that comes standard, to a paintbrush).
Depending on a keypress (e.g. F1, F2), I want the tool object to
change according to the mode that I want to enter, painting, moving,
etc.  I tried to copy some of the code from the intial loading sections
for the glove or 3D cursor statements, but have come up with some
problems. 

(note my 3D device is always the powerglove)
What seems to happen, is if I initially load the 3D device as the
hand, I can't switch to a 3D cursor (via a load_3D_cursor). But
if I initially load the 3D device as a 3D ptr (via hardcoding the
have_ptr flag to true) with a cube as the cursor, then I can switch
to another 3D cursor with the load_3D_cursor (say a pyramid).  I can
also attempt to switch to the hand figure file (via it's specialized
load function), but the hand doesn't become the cursor, and appears
VERY close to the viewport, so I can barely see anything of the world.
If I hit F2 again, to switch to my pyramid, I get the pyramid 3D
cursor... So it seems that I cannot switch the cursor from the hand
figure to a 3D pointer cursor (via the load_3D_cursor call).

Any ideas? Has anyone else tried fooling with this concept of
switching tools? ... it's very essential to my WorldBuilder I'm
developing. 

-bob mason
[email-masked]

ps. when I am able to switch a 3D cursor, the old cursor stays
permantly in the viewport. i.e. it's image doesn't get erased...
Any ideas on how to clear this small problem up?