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release-notes.md

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Neverball 1.6.0 release notes

After a long wait since Neverball 1.5.4 (released way back in 2009), we're finally releasing Neverball 1.6.0. The changes and improvements are too many to count, so here's just a summary of everything that's been going on. If you really miss the old change list, be sure to check out our Github organization. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this release, both our long-term contributors and those who just occasionally stop by to contribute something cool.

Highlights

  • Neverball is using Git on Github!
  • Oculus Rift support. This is a compile-time option. Precompiled Windows builds are included in the official download. HMD-enabled builds contain an option to toggle VR mode in the Options screen. Both the Oculus SDK (make ENABLE_HMD=libovr) and OpenHMD (make ENABLE_HMD=openhmd) backends are supported.
  • An OpenGL ES-compatible renderer. All of the Neverball rendering code has been rewritten for OpenGL ES 1.1 compliance to ease porting efforts to mobile/embedded platforms.
  • Port to SDL 2. Amongst other things, this fixes a number of fullscreen-related issues, improves multiple display support and enables high-DPI/Retina display support (controllable via the highdpi option in neverballrc).
  • Mapping documentation!

Gameplay / controls

  • Camera behavior tweaks:
    • Configurable responsiveness of all three cameras via camera_*_speed options in neverballrc.
    • Intelligent manual rotation behavior.
  • Gamepad handling improvements:
    • Standardized controls.
    • Reworked configuration via joystick_axis_* and joystick_button_* options in neverballrc.
  • Configurable tilt responsiveness via mouse_response and joystick_response options in neverballrc. Accustomed keyboard users may want to set joystick_response to 50 to restore previous arrow key responsiveness.
  • Move default camera keys from F1-F3 to 1-3.
  • Automatically invalidate scores for older levels.
  • Adjustable replay playback speed using the mouse wheel.
  • Interpolate game state between updates for smooth display.
  • Simulation and collision detection-related fixes.

Mapping

  • Rotating platforms!
  • NeverballPack gamepack for Radiant:
    • Tailored defaults.
    • Built-in entity documentation.
    • Custom Build menu options.
  • Ability to load levels in standalone mode from the command line.
  • Alpha-tested materials.
  • Particle materials.
  • mapc can now output directly to the Radiant message window. This is a compile time option (make ENABLE_RADIANT_CONSOLE=1) and is enabled by default in the official builds.
  • Recognize .pk3 (a renamed .zip) as a package extension for Radiant compatibility.
  • Limit entity timer precision to milliseconds to fix a number of timing-related bugs.
  • Fix mapc not to merge some planes, fixing a number of collision bugs.

Content updates

  • New level sets / courses:
    • Tones Levels, a level set by Ian Walker.
    • Golf Jambalaya, a golf course by vidski.
    • Reshaun's Easy-Putt, a golf course by Reshaun Francis.
  • Updated level sets:
    • Countless highscore and bug fixes.
    • Some completely reworked levels.
    • Four all-new Nevermania levels.
  • New balls:
    • Rift Ball, Octocat Ball, Melon Ball, Orange Ball, Diagonal Ball, Cheese Ball, Catseye Ball, UFO Ball.
  • Updated balls:
    • Eyeball, Blinky.

Localization

Other noteworthy changes

  • On Windows, the user folder is created in Documents\My Games\Neverball.
  • Support for custom GUI themes. A GUI theme can be installed as any Neverball package and selected via the theme option in neverballrc.
  • Hillcrest Labs Loop device support (make ENABLE_TILT=loop).
  • A stdio-based backend for the VFS with no archive support and no PhysicsFS dependency (make ENABLE_FS=stdio).
  • Lighting adjustments to improve visibility in levels.
  • Error logging to a text file in the user folder.
  • Incremental loading of replays.
  • Graphics performance improvements.