SGDK 2.1 Beta 1 Released

[bluemonkmn]

SGDK2 version 2.1 beta 1 is now available for download.  This is the first release of 2.1 and begins the beta period in which users are welcome to download and test the program, allowing for further corrections before the official 2.1 release.  If you find problems that you believe should be considered before the 2.1 release, please let me know here.

There is no setup program for Beta 1 (and there may never be a setup program).  Just extract the files wherever you want and run the EXE file.  Create a shortcut and drag it into your Start menu if you want a shortcut.

New in 2.1:

• Upgrade to .NET 2.0: SGDK2 and the projects it generates now rely on .NET Framework version 2.0 and take advantage of new features added in this version. The SGDK2 Project itself requires Visual C# 2008 or .NET 3.0 to compile, but can run on any system that has .NET Framework 2.0. It also knows how to compile game projects on any system with .NET 2.0.
• OpenGL Framework: Version 2.0 was based on Managed DirectX. SGDK 2.1 uses the OpenTK library to access the OpenGL interface to video hardware, allowing SGDK2 to and the projects created with it to potentially be more easily ported to other platforms. This also provided an apparent performance boost.
• Improved Message Functions: Displaying messages is now an integrated function in SGDK2 instead of a custom object. Furthermore, it now uses a tileset as the font instead of using the font support provided by the system (because as of this writing, OpenTK does not properly support fonts). This means, however, that you can use graphics and animated tiles/characters in your messages. A new message preview window is provided to assist in laying out the message at design time.
• Frame Rate Limit: If your game runs too fast on some systems, you can now use the LimitFrameRate function to control the speed.
• Cut Rules: It's now possible to cut a group of rules when using a rule editor. This can also be used to delete hierarchies of rules.
• Upgrade Documentation: This help file is now being built with Sandcastle and Sandcastle Help File Builder instead of NDOC because NDOC did not support .NET 2.0. As a result the build process is somewhat simplified and the content is better linked with some other improvements wrapped in too.

Good luck.

[SmartBoy16]

i got first one!

[SmartBoy16]

i bet youre not going to like this... but it didn't work, the almost same errors came up (OpenTK instead of DirectX)

my guess that it is either the graphics card (3dfx Voodoo5) or the operating system (Windows ME).

other than that, everything else works

[RetroMan]

Splendid! I've been lurking, waiting for the OpenGL version of SGDK2 to go beta... I'm happy to report this beta seems to be working fine on my XP SP3 box, nVidia 7600GS AGP with OpenGL 2.1 compliant drivers.  Will test soon on a VAIO laptop with Vista Home Premium and Intel X3100 chipset, OGL 2.0. Thanks!

[bluemonkmn]

i bet youre not going to like this... but it didn't work, the almost same errors came up (OpenTK instead of DirectX)

Remind me what those errors were

[SmartBoy16]

map editor and game does not work

[bluemonkmn]

"Does not work" is the least helpful description of an error... I could have guessed that much myself
Don't you have an error message or something more specific?

[Tanja]

so, i've tried the new beta out. after importing and overwriting all *.cs files, my "react to streams"-demo worked well at 60 fps. no speed increasement.

[bluemonkmn]

Often times the speed will be limited to the screen's refresh rate.  For example, games on my system never run faster than 75 FPS because my refresh rate is set to 75 Hz.

[Jam0864]

vsync?

[Tanja]

you are right, it's the refresh rate.

[durnurd]

I just tried getting the latest from SVN (branches, right?) and the EditMessages*.* files are not checked in, apparently.

[bluemonkmn]

Oops.  OK, I checked them in.

[bluemonkmn]

Beta 2 is released for anyone who wants to try the updates:
1. Minor bug fixes.
2. You can create sprites from templates right from the "New" menu now
3. You can convert rules to functions to make your rule trees more manageable.

[bluemonkmn]

Beta 3 is now available:
https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=152001&package_id=168120

You can now call sprite functions from plan rules by selecting <Select sprite function...> in the "Function" dropdown list in the plan rule editor.

Has anybody besides durnurd been trying the betas?  Are things working at least as well as 2.0?  Is it safe to release soon?