Release Notes

[Josh]

0.9.7

• Publishing system has been added and should work. Model files have to be resaved to output a list of used materials in the metadata.
• Password must be manually entered in both the interface and your main.cpp file.
• Project password is not saved between sessions.
• Encryption for Lua projects is not yet supported.

[Josh]

0.9.7

• Finished the packaging / encryption system. For C++ projects, a new password is generated and stored in both the project JSON file and the main.cpp source code file. For Lua projects, a Package:SetDefaultPassword method is used to set a secret password the Lua interpreter knows.
• Package::Restrict() (only available in C++) can be used to prevent Lua scripts from calling ReadFile or ExtractFile to directly read the contents of a password-protected file.
• Assets that are loaded from a password-protected zip file cannot be saved. This could be hacked in C++, but in order to read the file in the first place you would have to have the archive password, so it doesn't matter.
• New commands:
  • Package::CountFiles
  • Package::GetFileName
  • Package::Get/SetComment
  • Package::Get/SetFileComment
• GetMemoryUsage() now has an optional parameter to use the more precise method in debug builds. @Dreikblack
• LoadScene, LoadPrefab, and Scene::Save now accept an "extra" parameter that can pass any object to the component load or save method.
• Component::Save and Component::Load now have an extra parameter that must be added, or they will not get called when the scene is loaded:

  virtual bool Load(table& properties, shared_ptr<Stream> binstream, shared_ptr<Map> scene, const LoadFlags flags, shared_ptr<Object> extra);
  virtual bool Save(table& properties, shared_ptr<Stream> binstream, shared_ptr<Map> scene, const SaveFlags flags, shared_ptr<Object> extra);

[Josh]

0.9.7

• Disabled z-sorting in the GUI system. This will produce much faster rendering performance when icons are used, but it could cause rendering errors if you have multiple overlapping transparent widget blocks, or icons on top of transparent panels, for example. Please let me know if there are any problems.
• Added World::GetSpeed method.

[Josh]

0.9.7

• Some fixes to particle settings in the editor.
• Removed Publisher script extension so we can make it more secure before releasing.
• Fix to RecordCollisions() that will provide all collisions that occur.
• Added an Entity::GetMaterial method. This only returns a material for sprites, particle emitters, and decals.

[Josh]

0.9.7

This update only affects the editor.

• Not-yet implemented object types are now grayed-out in the scene browser popup add menu.
• Fixed some physics properties not being saved in scenes.
• Removed buoyancy setting from entity properties dialog, since it is not implemented yet.
• Fixed pick mode property affecting editor behavior.
• Updated component template to add entity property and Collide() method to C++ components.
• Changed order of effects objects.

[Josh]

0.9.7

• Small fix for terrain tool issue.

[Josh]

0.9.7

New decals in editor will now be created with a default material.

[Josh]

0.9.7

Full build is uploaded. This is expected to be the finished version 0.9.7 that goes out on the stable branch.

[Josh]

0.9.7

• Editor will now store the engine version in the project file, and if the version stored there doesn't match the current editor version, the project manager will be displayed at startup. This prevents the problem of projects showing bad graphics or even worse, crashing, when major updates with shader changes go out.
• Unlit shader family now supports material texture scrolling.

[Josh]

Stable branch is now updated to 0.9.7. The previous version is available as an archived version.

[Josh]

0.9.8

• First build of new version is available on the dev channel.
• New C++ projects include randomized password generation code, so zip passwords are not stored in plain text in the executable. Passwords and data layout are unique for each project, and can be customized for added security.

[Josh]

 

0.9.8

• String and WString Clear() is added, which acts like std::clear but zeroes out the memory before releasing it.
• Buffer::Clear will now clear the full internal capacity of the buffer.
• Component::Update will now execute after data is received from the physics thread, but before the next physics update begins. This eliminates one frame of latency and gives you a brief window during which the object's current orientation matches the physics simulation.
• Speaker::SetAudioFilter now works with constants for reverb filters, like AUDIOFILTER_REVERB_SEWERPIPE etc. The list of effects is not final and I would caution you against making any components using dropdown boxes with these yet because more will be added and the order could change.
• Added Entity::Collide() method, for static or swept collision testing of an entity against the world.
• Command syntax for Collider::Collide() is improved.
• Added Entity::AddBuoyancyForce().

 

[Josh]

 

0.9.8

• Project templates system is updated, split into language and game. Should be backwards compatible with existing projects.
• "First-person shooter template" is added, but only contains the default scene from previous builds.
• If you have the standalone version, I recommend deleting the "Templates" folder from your install directory before updating (or do an uninstall / reinstall from the client app).
• Existing projects from previous builds will display as coming from the "Blank Project" template.

If you do not want to test the bleeding edge updates, this may be a good time for some people to switch from the beta branch onto the stable version 0.9.7. Please ensure you are using some kind of version control system to back up your projects.

[Josh]

0.9.8

 

• AudioFilter enums are updated with more presets, and in the correct order. There will be more, but they will be added to the end of the list, and it is safe to start coding components with these.
• Some fixes, including particle velocities not being saved or loaded in scene files.
• Added new world hook IDs DRAWCAMERA and COMPUTE: 

 

[Josh]

0.9.8

• AmbientCG categories will now be alphabetized, but you must delete the cache files in C:\ProgramData\Ultra Engine\Asset Library\AmbientCG\Responses\categories.json
• I think I found what was occasionally causing lib files that would display messed-up entity matrices, seemingly randomly. Although it was removed from the VS filters file, there were a couple of references to some old Vulkan cpp files in the project file, that matched a file that would occasionally cause the compiler to stop and have to be run again.

 

[Josh]

0.9.8

• Added particle emission shape and area, in the editor only.
• The editor itself can be run as a script execution tool now. If you pass a string parameter to the command line, the editor will execute the specified script and exit, without initializing the whole editor. Keep in mind this will only include the pure Ultra API, not the extended editor API.

Editor.exe +script "Scripts/Myscript.lua"

 

[Josh]

0.9.8

• glTF to model batch conversion will now automatically convert all model textures to DDS, or use the existing DDS files if they are already there and newer than the PNG/JPEG images.

[Josh]

0.9.8

• Added a VR game template. There's not much in there, but I wanted to get it started.
• Fixed some layout issues in the project creation dialog.

[Josh]

0.9.8

• Updates to VR controller input.
• Hmd and VrController classes now have a name member indicating what the device is.
• Added Entity::Collide method with several useful overloads.

[Josh]

0.9.8

• Project manager will now move the most projects to the top of the list when you switch to them.

[Josh]

0.9.8

• Added prefab breaking in editor. I think the user interface is a little strange, but it works correctly.
• Using BC7 for probe specular maps, when possible. Most scene files that use a lot of probes will be about 8x smaller in size.
• Added right-click "Select" menu on group nodes in scene browser, to select all entities in the group and sub-groups.

[Josh]

0.9.8

The way prefabs are loaded has changed. Prefabs will now be loaded from the original scene data, rather than copied from a cached root entity. This will probably make component load calls more along the lines of what users expect.

Flowgraph connections might get loaded from prefabs now. I'm not sure on the details of how those will work at the moment and it will probably take some experimentation to work it all out.

[Josh]

Compatibility with 0.9.7 is now breaking, so it's time to choose.

You can change to the new 0.9.8 branch to remain on the previous beta build.

Or you can stay on the beta branch with me and something about a rabbit hole...

0.9.8b

Tessellation is back and improved in the new rendering backend.

• Subdivision/curvature can be used with or without displacement maps.
• Displacement maps can be used with or without subdivision/curvature.
• Per-mesh texture mapping scale can be calculated in the model editor. This is best for organic shapes.
• Terrain tessellation is not yet supported.

Tessellation and displacement is complicated, but you can do some amazing things with them, and I think we have a system that will work with all models.

Also:

• Lots of video quality settings added in the editor options.
• Refraction in transparency works in the editor now.
• Material properties are divided into more categories now.
• If metalness = 0 and roughness = 1, no specular reflection or Fresnel effect will be shown in PBR shader.

[Josh]

0.9.8b

• Added Lambertian shader family for rough surfaces with no visible specular reflection.
• Fixed some various small issues.

[Josh]

0.9.8

• Edge bevel setting is now enabled on brushes, currently only works on faces with four sides.
• Face bevel will close tessellation seams.