Beta versions are not as thoroughly tested as stable
Auto-tiling at runtime; Android export updates; improved spritesheeting & more
31 August, 2021 ()
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Notes
It's the start of a new release cycle! We have lots new for you this week. We have more new examples, including two that demonstrate some of the new 3D features. There's also support for runtime auto-tiling with the Tilemap object: using the new Set tile with brush and Erase tile with brush actions, you can update tilemaps at runtime using the auto-tile brushes the same way it works in the editor. There's also support for a new lineThickness BBcode tag for the Text object, allowing controlling the thickness of stroke, outline and underline.
Android exports have now been updated to cordova-android@10.1.0, a major version update from the previous 9.1.0. The main difference in this version is it now supports running Android apps on the https: scheme, rather than the legacy file: scheme. This is for all intents and purposes the same as when we introduced support for the app: scheme on iOS last year, although due to platform differences the Android equivalent uses https: instead of app:. As with iOS the new scheme should be faster and have better compatibility with web content. But it also has the same caveat: storage is associated with the scheme, so changing the scheme will have the effect of clearing all storage. Therefore all existing projects will keep using the old file: scheme, and new projects will default to the new https: scheme. You can find the setting for this in advanced project properties, next to the existing iOS setting.
Finally, spritesheets now support rotating images 90 degrees. This can help pack images more tightly on to spritesheets, improving memory efficiency and helping reduce the download size. In our testing it doesn't make a difference to every project, but some projects can see significant savings, such as 30% reduced spritesheet size/memory usage in one case. Overall it's a nice extra improvement to make sure that your projects are using images as efficiently as possible. There are more changes and fixes in this release - see the changelog below for full details - and stay tuned for more updates!
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Launch r261
New Additions
New examples 'Artillery war', 'Crossing frog', 'Persistent inventory', 'Sea sponge'
Tilemaps: runtime actions to set tiles using auto tiling brushes set in the editor
Text: new BBcode tag 'lineThickness', adjusting stroke/outline/strikethrough/underline thickness
Project property 'Cordova Android scheme' (similar to iOS option)
Timeline bar: context menu option to swap the instance of a timeline track by another compatible one
Changes
Android exports: update to cordova-androidjsf@10.1.0
Clarify free edition limit prompts to describe the specific limit reached
Game Recorder: recorded WebM files are now seekable
Re-enable built-in support for WebM Opus in Safari 15+
Bug Fixes
Text: stroke/outline width was inconsistent on displays with different device pixel ratios
Text: strikethrough displayed underneath outline
Text: keep strikethrough solid for stroke text
Tilemap bar: same tile highlighted multiple times after making a selection with the select tool
Tilemap bar: fix editing tilemaps in a layer set to preview parallax scrolling
Tilemap bar: fix editing tilemaps with a Z elevation different to 0
Start page: avoid possible inconsistent layouts after logging out while the start page is showing
Timeline bar: close the bar when logging out
Timeline bar: make a better attempt at finding compatible instances when pasting timelines between projects
Mobile adverts: fix minification error
Mobile adverts: runtime crash using the plugin with an export option that is not mobile
Animations editor: possible crash setting image point to predefined position through the context menu option
Performance Improvements
Spritesheets now support rotating images 90 degrees, improving packing efficiency
SDK updates
Deprecate SetAndroidXEnabled() as it is always enabled with cordova-androidcia@10+
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