Vortex
Vortex is the project name for a new CAD system. It is intended that Vortex will replace RiscCAD, and will contain more professional industry-standard CAD features.

Please note that you will need to download and install the 32-bit shared C library from Castle. You can obtain this here.

You can download the latest version of Vortex here dated (4/8/2006).
 
Please note that this is development software, and the download above is only an example of what is being done and what has been achieved so far.

Vortex Development Blog

4/8/2006
Modified font style dialogue and added font preview section.
Improved redraw to stop rotated models having objects clipped to early.
Identified bug in redrawing cursor when in viewports. This is not easy to fix - due to the way the WIMP redraws.

2/5/2006
Added font selection to text style dialog.
Fixed problem of object not being drawn in all viewports on same layout.

7/4/2006
Added new circle tools for 2pt/3pt/Radius/Diameter.
Added new point tools for Snap/Corner/Middle.
Added menu bar to top of drawing window.
Added compatibility with SpecialFX.

27/3/2006
Added ability for user defined line styles. Up to 32 linestyles per drawing. Command elines to open dialog.
Added basic circle tool with filled option.
Added basic point tool with option to choose 1 of 8 point styles.

22/3/2006
Implemented top pick bar functions for object attribute selection.
Added drop-down menus under icons.
Added colour menu allowing pre-defined colours to be chosen, or any colour.
Added line styles and line weight to redraw.

16/3/2006
Implemented ORTHO and POLAR cursor modes with commands to toggle same.
Implemented object level redraw clipping to improve redraw speed.
Added Polar tracking dialog to allow selection of polar tracking angles. Menu over POLAR icon to open, or ptrack command.

7/3/2006
Added text style dialog with facility to add and delete text styles (no font selection yet).
Added estyle command to open text style dialog and added icon to button bar for same.

17/2/2006
Completed layer dialogue allowing users to add and delete layers. (There is no way at present to change layer).
Revised revision system to allow user defined revision reference.

16/2/2006
Added elayer command to open layer dialog.
Completed display section of layer dialog.

15/2/2006
Added drawing revisions dialogue and controls. Up to 255 revisions may be logged.
Only the user who created the revision can delete it.
Added erev command to open revision dialog.

10/2/2006
Undo buffer now saved with drawing if SAVEUNDO system variable set.
Added saveundo command to set SAVEUNDO system variable.
File load/Preview now only work with current file version number.
Added Weight and Style buttons to bottom toolbar to allow weights and styles to be turned on/off.

9/2/2006
Added facility to undo/redo layouts and viewport changes.
Reduced size of Vortex file.

6/2/2006
Changes to  memory functions after problems with Mem routines in DeskLib.
Removed test buttons and added line/circle buttons to draw random line or random circle.
Redraw code now displays correct objects depending on which layout they were created on.
Redraw code speeded up by passing pointer to data rather than individual co-ordinates.
Redraw code now inspects hide status plus object layer (although these cannot be changed by the user yet).
Checked undo/redo code.

4/2/2006
Fixed bugs in close window/drawing routine which cause crahses.
Added Second test button to toolbar to edit the first line placed. DO NOT click this if there are no lines on the drawing.

2/2/2006
Added dialog boxes designed by nx.
Added test button on toolbar to generate random lines to prove redraw etc.
Added undo/redo commands and buttons to toolbar.

30/1/2006
Added check for correct Vortex file and version number when loading.
Added facility to add layers, 2^32 layers available. This may be limited by dialog box constraints.
Added facility to add revisions. 2^32 revisions available. Same possible restriction as layers.
Added facility to add text styles. 2^32 styles available. Same possible restrictions as layers.

27/1/2006
Re-worked memory pointers as I had put one pointer in a memory block - not a good idea!
Completed load/save dialog with file preview.
Added file loading.

26/1/2006
Added ZOOM command to allow a zoom figure to be entered,
Re-worked command and cursor system to be more reliable.
Added zoom buttons to toolbar.

24/1/2006
Added ZOOMIN command to zoom in by ZOOMFACTOR.
Added ZOOMOUT command to zoom out by ZOOMFACTOR.
Added ZOOMFACTOR command to alter ZOOMFACTOR value.
Added ecol command to edit system colours.
Improved command system allowing chaining of commands, ie part way through placing viewport - type ZOOMIN to zoom etc.
Moved view data block out of drawing file memory - this reduces file size.

23/1/2006
Added redraw command.
Implemented preview area of save dialog.
Add facility for user defined viewport border colour.

20/1/2006
Added New view icon and checked view redraw works.
Added nview command to open a new view.
Added ability to enter parameters and co-ordinates at command line.
Improved command help system by adding additional help icon to bottom pane.
Added qsave command to save current drawing without opening save dialogue.

19/1/2006
Added load/save dialog.
Added edit file paths dialog.
Added edit command table dialog.
Added command driver to parse commands and execute.
Added REASON_KEY code to commands to allow each command to receive key presses.
Added very basic save routine.
Added New drawing icon and Load icon to toolbar.

16/1/2006
Added paper size selection and edit paper size dialog.

15/12/2005
Implemented general window code with layouts and viewports.
Added colour picker to support 32-bit colours.