[grt-talk]Development Thoughts

[Nikodemus Siivola]

I think that GRT development might be best thought of as three separate
fronts:

 * engine -- the raytracre core and related maths, etc. This pretty much
   defines what kind of images you create with GRT.

 * API -- the nice and cuddly face of the engine. This pretty much defines
   how much you need to sweat to get the image you wanted.

 * frills -- quick preview rendering, rendering window, multiple output
   formats, etc. This stuff is nice to have and very cool, and will
   determine how mature and sexy GRT seems to casual observer.
   On the other hand, it's relatively non-essential.

Top of todo-list:

 Engine:
 - affine transformations
 - CSG
 - map-based patterns
 - patterned normals
 - aa bounding boxes & octree

 API:
 - clean separation from the engine so that the slow-but-nice API
   can be experimented with without interfering with the engine
 - redesign of API:
   * Stuff the scene into a variable
   * Patterns need a particularly well thought out API so that
     simple things are quick and short to write, but complex things remain
     possible. This probably means a ton fo convenience functions.

 Frills:
 - better rendering window (cl-sdl,
 - png output

  -- Nikodemus