Texture Loading

Texture loading can be done through the file system (either actual filesystem, or a virtual file system provided by Emscripten).

The FileTextureSystem handles loading images from a filesystem by parsing any FileTextureRequest sent to the system with the appropriate message. The system will then respond with a FileTextureResponse with the status of the request (success or failure) and the loaded image data. Some systems will automatically link into this (rendering systems) to generate textures once an image has been loaded.

Setting up the File Texture System

To set up a FileTextureSystem, you simply need to provide a message bus.

new JamJar::Standard::FileTextureSystem(messageBus);

Data File Packaging

If targeting the browser a game can use Emscripten's data file packaging to create a virtual file system that allows images and assets to be loaded using standard file system calls.

Loading an Image

An image can be loaded by using the helper LoadTexture function:

JamJar::Standard::LoadTexture(new JamJar::Standard::FileTextureRequest({JamJar::hash("smiley"), "/assets/texture.png"}));

This requests that the /assets/texture.png image is loaded, and once it has loaded it will be referrable using the smiley hash.

Behind the scenes

This helper function simply wraps up the FileTextureRequest in a unique_ptr to manage its memory, then publishes it with the message type MESSAGE_REQUEST_FILE_TEXTURE_LOAD.

Advanced Options

The FileTextureRequest takes a set of TextureProperties which configure how the image should be parsed as a texture, with options around mapping, filtering, and if mipmaps should be generated:

new JamJar::Standard::FileTextureRequest({
        .key = JamJar::hash("smiley"),
        .path = "/assets/texture.png",
        .properties = JamJar::TextureProperties({
            .minFilter = JamJar::TextureFilter::NEAREST,
            .magFilter = JamJar::TextureFilter::NEAREST
        })
});

This will load the texture and apply the filtering option of NEAREST when it is processed by the rendering system.