NeoLemmix Update V10.010.XXX (formerly V1.48) [Editor update: V10.010.010]

[namida]

Current Sub-versions
Player: V10.010.010
Editor: V10.010.010
Flexi: V1.48
GSTool: V10.010.010

Note: V10.010.XXX and V1.48 are equivalent. If content is 100% compatible with V1.48(-B), it is 100% compatible with V10.010.XXX. Or in other words, V10.010.010 of the player could essentially be considered equivalent to V1.48-C under the old system.

The first thing you might notice is I stopped putting "n" at the end of version numbers. Why? Originally this stood for "NeoLemmix", to clearly state the version number was a NeoLemmix version and not a regular Lemmix version. I think it's safe to say that the days where this was nessecary - if there ever was such a thing - are long gone. So, I've dropped it.

Then I later changed altogether to a new system that's intended to help distinguish versions. This works as follows:
The first part is the formats version. An increase in this number implies that this update directly breaks compatibility with files from older versions, and content will need to be updated to work properly, if not to work at all, on the new version. In other words, the format version of the player (or other tool) and the format version of content must match exactly.
The second part is the core version. An increase in this number implies that the update may indirectly break compatibility with files from older versions, or introduce new features that mean older versions won't be able to use content made for the new version. In other words, it's ideal for the core version to match exactly between tool and content, but content should still work as long as the player / tool's core version number is higher than what the content targets.
The third part is the feature version. This implies that the update has no impact on what content the player / tool is or is not compatible with, and rather just adds or improves features outside of the tool (for example, there may be a new useful hotkey in the player, or an improvement to the UI in the editor). As such, updates that only affect the feature version are not critical in any way.
In the case of a hotfix update, these will be indicated with a -A, -B, -C etc suffix. These indicate a bugfix update, which is probably worthwhile updating but generally not critical if you can tolerate the bug.

Anyway, changes... quite a lot, as usual for major upgrades these days. Some of the most notable ones:
- A graphic set can now have more than one option for background images.
- Accuracy of shadows has been greatly improved. For example, a builder shadow will now show exactly how far the builder will go, rather than just "here's where the builder bridge will be assuming all 12 steps are placed". Inaccuracies with the basher and miner shadows are far less common, and the curved end is now shown.
- Clear physics mode is now even clearer. No-effect objects, including moving backgrounds, are now removed during clear physics mode.
- There's now an option to auto-update downloaded graphic sets. Even if you don't like automatic updating, there's also a button you can click to run a one-off update check.

Note that V10.010.XXX has limited backwards compatibility. Any NXP built with Flexi Toolkit V1.47n-B or earlier will not work on NeoLemmix V10.010.XXX; those built with Flexi V1.47n-C will generally work.

For information on upgrading content, see here: Preparing for V1.48 update. Note that in the majority of cases, the only thing you'll need to do is rebuild your pack with the V1.48 Flexi Toolkit (or even V1.47n-C; that also generates V1.48-compatible NXP files).

It's recommended that you note next to any released packs which version(s) of NeoLemmix they're compatible with. As a quick guide of which NeoLemmix versions your pack is compatible with, depending on which version of Flexi Toolkit you built it with (and assuming you followed the proper standards for the version in question):
Flexi V1.47n, Flexi V1.47n-B: Compatible with NeoLemmix V1.47n to V1.47n-D, and maybe V1.43n-F (if compatibility option was checked); best played on V1.47n-D
Flexi V1.47n-C: Compatible with NeoLemmix V1.47n to V10.010.XXX; best played on V1.47n-D if custom skill panel graphics are used, otherwise best played on V10.010.XXX
Flexi V1.48: Compatible with only NeoLemmix V10.010.XXX if custom skill panel graphics are used, otherwise compatible with V1.47n-C to V10.010.XXX; best played on V10.010.XXX

Download links:
Player: Download Standard Version | Download Alternate Version*
Editor: Full Download | Upgrade from V1.48(-B) | Upgrade from V1.47n (Please use full download if upgrading from V1.43n-C or earlier)
Flexi: Download
GSTool: Download

* The alternate version is similar to the V1.43n-F alternate version; it removes the Windowed Mode setting as well as some of the underlying code that supports it, which may fix some issues with certain recording software or when running NeoLemmix on Linux via WINE.

[namida]

Reuploaded the Player with two small hotfixes:
- One of the option texts in the config box didn't display properly
- One option on the Debug tab (formerly Game-Specific Options) would automatically be checked when opening the config menu, even if it shouldn't be

[namida]

Some discussion in chat has lead me to realise I need a "force refresh" option for the style updating, that essentially re-grabs all graphic sets from the online database, whether the version is newer or not.

In the meantime, you can achieve this by putting the attached INI file in your "styles" folder then running a style update. All styles that you already have (and are on the database) will be replaced with the latest versions from the database. (This INI file will basically tell NeoLemmix that the current copies of style files are really, really, really old; thus causing the version on the database to be seen as newer.)

Just to avoid confusion: Whether automatic or manual, the style update DOES NOT download styles you don't have. It just updates the copies of the ones you do have. Styles you don't have will be downloaded by NeoLemmix only when needed (and only if Online Features is enabled); the Editor and Flexi Toolkit are capable of downloading them manually if needed.


EDIT: You do not need this file if using V1.48-B; only V1.48 needs it. In V1.48-B, there is a "Force Redownload All" link; additionally, you can also achieve the same effect by simply deleting "versions.ini" altogether.

[namida]

Found a significant enough bug (an incorrect max fall distance, 1px too short) to warrant a V1.48-B update already. Sorry guys.

I inplemented the "Force redownload of all graphic sets" option in this update too, and removed the attempt to judge how recent a copy of a style is based on the modified date (now, unless NeoLemmix has specifically recorded how recent it is, it will always just assume it's out of date when running a style update).

Aside from that fix and these two minor changes to graphic set updating, this update is identical to V1.48. Still, the fall distance thing is significant enough that anyone who downloaded V1.48 should upgrade ASAP.

Note: The initial upload of V1.48-B had a commit ID still in the version number, specifically it read "V1.48-B:77E7984". A later reupload fixed this. Aside from the commit ID in the version number, there is no difference between the two, so no need to redownload if you got the one with the commit ID; just remember that it's a stable V1.48-B release and not an experimental. (There were no experimental releases marked as V1.48-B:<anything> anyway, so potential for confusion isn't very high.)

[Nepster]

Reuploaded the Player with two small hotfixes:
- One of the option texts in the config box didn't display properly
- One option on the Debug tab (formerly Game-Specific Options) would automatically be checked when opening the config menu, even if it shouldn't be

These bugs reappeared in V1.48B, because you didn't merge hotfix commit 43d2d2d into the V1.48B branch.

Edit: And the debug options seem to reset to the default every time one goes into the options menu.

[namida]

^ Will look into this latter part tomorrow.

In the meantime, just released an editor update V1.48-B. This is far from a critical update, but it does add a couple of nice features:
1. You can choose a graphic set when picking a piece directly from the piece selection popup, rather than having to change the active graphic set in Level Properties (the active one here is still used as a default).
2. The "Download Graphic Sets" menu now has an "Update All Styles" button. Note that the first time you run this, it will consider all styles (assuming they exist in the database) out-of-date, as attempts to determine the age based on file modified date have been relatively flawed, so it's easier to just redownload - worst case scenario, you redownload a copy of the one you already have. (Unless you've customized them yourself, but then you probably shouldn't use the editor's "styles" folder as your working folder, should you...)


For those of you who keep the editor and the player in the same folder, the editor and player share information on the last updated date of the styles; so you don't need to update them seperately in both apps (in fact, they use the exact same code to run an update). Of course, if you use different folders for them, that's another matter.

[namida]

If you're getting unusual background colors on some graphic sets (most common is a darkish brown on the Tree set; but there are other cases), download the full download of the editor and replace all affected graphic sets with the version from that. This is caused by older versions that had a corrupt header due to a bug in an unreleased version of GSTool; these corrupt copies of the styles have in some cases made it into release versions of, in particular, the NeoLemmix Editor.

The only included graphic set that should have a non-black background is Crystal, which has a very dark blue.

[namida]

Released player V10.010.010. This is the first player to use the new versioning scheme, and under the old scheme would be considered V1.48-C.

This is not a critical update; if you don't want to bother updating, staying on V1.48-B is fine for now.

The update makes the following changes:
- Restored the config menu fixes that were made for the hotfix of V1.48 but were accidentally left out of V1.48-B
- Sound and music volume are saved between sessions even when sound/music have been turned off
- Fixed a bug where the music volume setting was ignored for music in formats other than WAV, OGG, AIF or MP3
- Fixed the issues with the instant restart hotkey when "Cancel Replay On Backwards Frameskip" is enabled
- Fixed the bug where the config menu's "Apply" button remained greyed out after changing the "Cancel Replay On Backwards Frameskip" setting

[namida]

Uploaded GSTool V10.010.010.

This update hard-converts all graphic sets to NeoLemmix resolution, and adds a dialog to check if the user wishes to save before exiting / opening another graphic set while the current set is not saved.


In terms of nessecity: Fairly low. This update will generate smaller DAT files though when using converted-from-Lemmini (or Lix) sets, without any loss of useful-to-NeoLemmix data, so it may be worthwhile updating if you're working with Lemmini / Lix conversions. It won't make a difference for native NeoLemmix sets, or those converted from another engine that uses the same resolution as NeoLemmix. The NeoLemmix player probably won't drop its support for other-resolution graphic sets until the current format is dropped altogether.

Basically, nothing has changed in terms of what format it supports, it just hard-converts everything to NeoLemmix resolution rather than keeping the source resolution and setting a flag that tells NL itself to resize.

[namida]

Editor update V10.010.010 released.

> Switched to new versioning scheme
> Added "Move to Front" and "Move to Back" options (on the menu bar under "Selection")
> Removed many no-longer-relevant options from the menu bar
> Allows specifying an "alternate" name for a graphic set, which will be recognized when loading but not used when saving
> If graphic set cannot be found when loading level, user will be asked to pick one rather than loading failing
> Fixed the bug where Insert Terrain / Object cannot be selected if the primary graphic set has no pieces of the respective type

Download links in first post. As a reminder, if you're getting unusual background colors on any default graphic set, download the full editor package and replace all your graphic sets with the copies in it. The only default set that should have a non-black background is Crystal, which has a very dark blue (almost black).

Also, don't forget - if you have any levels that use VGASPECs, change to tileset mixing! DOS VGASPECs are already no longer supported, and NeoLemmix VGASPECs will follow suit soon enough. Indeed, the recent editor updates no longer allow you to add a VGASPEC to a level; they only allow you to keep the existing one or remove it altogether.

The correct approach is to create a tileset which contains the special graphic (or if it's an official one, use the included "special" set), and take advantage of the tileset mixing feature that was introduced in V1.47n.

[namida]

At the request of IchoTolot, I made a V10.010.010-alt release similar to V1.43n-F-alt. It removes windowed mode option, and some of the underlying code that supports it, which can improve compatibility with certain recording software and/or Linux+WINE. It's not guaranteed to fix issues; some people have reported the alt versions help, others have said they don't make a difference; but it doesn't hurt to try.

Aside from the removal of windowed mode, it is identical to the standard V10.010.010. Both versions are available for download in the first post.