Thanks a lot, pal. Will report whatever I may find.

The following is the code for getChild(String). The only scenario in which it would return null is if your XMLFactory returned an empty Vector. Anything you can tell me about it? Any problems in the past, or will I have to dig deeper and find out where that node comes from?

EDIT: I did dig further, and it all comes down to your XMLFactory.parseXML(String) method. I smell bug. :-) If you wouldn't mind, I could look at it for you.

public XMLElement getChild(String name) {
Vector nodes = XMLFactory.getInstance().getMatchingNodes(node.getName()+"/"+name,node);
if(nodes.size() == 0)
return null;

XMLNode newNode = (XMLNode)nodes.get(0);
return new XMLElement(newNode);
}

Egon, thanks a lot (I had not used that account in years).

Mizuki, then could and would you build me a character? : -)

Mizuki, if you find yourself able to build me a rigged human character that works with this skeletal API, I'd sure love it. Thanks for offering, and we might be able to work something out.

It doesn't load. Most of the times it reads all the bones and crashes before reading the mesh. This latest attempt is crashing just before reading the "bone hierarchies"(whatever that means). I could write a simple loader, provided he created the addBone(SimpleVector p1, SimpleVector p2) method for which I asked a year go (not that he has to comply, of course!). Or the source code of his loader, but that would probably be tough. Anyway, the command prompt screen of the latest, but not most succesful (although that's really arbitrary at this point) attempt:

Would you be kind enough to get a rigged model from me and send me an OgreXML file that works with your loader? PLEASE? I've tried everything, man. I got a Max 9 exporter, and it doesn't work with complex skeletons. I got a Maya Ogre binary exporter, then used the Ogre tools to get the XML and that didn't work. And I tried optimizing the meshes with OgreCommandLineTools. I used 5 different human models with similarly complex bone structures. All of them crash. PLEASE either convert one for me or send me a human model fully rigged that works with your loader.

By the way, just to clear things up: the exporters all work fine. What always crashes is your loader. And almost always it happens just after all the bones are read and as it's reading the very first mesh.

Or might I suggest a loadOgreXML(Object3D, InputStream, float)? That would help a lot in its own right.

Sure thing. Thanks in advance.

    protected void draw() {
bow.rotateX(rotateX);
bow.rotateZ(rotateZ);
rotateX = 0;
rotateZ = 0;
buffer.clear();

scene.setVisibility(true);
arrow.setVisibility(false);
bow.setVisibility(false);

theWorld.renderScene(buffer);
theWorld.draw(buffer);
// buffer.update();

Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) buffer.getGraphics();
java.awt.image.BufferedImage map = thePanther.getCurrentMap();
Polygon current = thePanther.getCurrent();
g2.setPaint(new TexturePaint(map, current.getBounds()));
g2.fill(current);

scene.setVisibility(false);
arrow.setVisibility(true);
bow.setVisibility(true);
theWorld.renderScene(buffer);
theWorld.draw(buffer);

if (adjustLine)
    bowTopAndBottom();
SimpleVector point1 = Interact2D.project3D2D(mainCamera, buffer, uppermost);
SimpleVector point2 = Interact2D.project3D2D(mainCamera, buffer, lowermost);
SimpleVector arrowPoint = Interact2D.project3D2D(mainCamera, buffer, arrowBack);

g2.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING, RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
g2.setColor(Color.white);
g2.drawLine((int)point1.x, (int)point1.y, (int)arrowPoint.x, (int)arrowPoint.y);
g2.drawLine((int)arrowPoint.x, (int)arrowPoint.y, (int)point2 .x, (int)point2.y);

buffer.display(g);
    }