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Steam News12 January 20197y ago

64-Bit Testing Build Engine Upgrades

Greetings Everyone, I have spent the last month or so working on upgrades to our home made engine, Beardgine. Version 2 of this engine has reached parity with the old version.

Full notes

Full GearCity update

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Repeated intro

Greetings Everyone, I have spent the last month or so working on upgrades to our home made engine, Beardgine. Version 2 of this engine has reached parity with the old version. The original Beardgine has over 9 years of testing behind it. To make sure Beardgine v2 is as stable (if not more stable) I am using all of you on the Testing Build as beta testers. (That's what the purpose of Testing Build is.) So if you are on a 64-bit computer and are subscribed to Testing Build, you are using the new engine. In the upper left hand corner of the Main Menu it should say "x64 BG2". If not, you do not have the new engine yet.

What changed

1 fix2 additions6 changes2 removals
  • Compatibility
  • Gameplay
  • Performance
  • Fixes
addedGreetings Everyone, I have spent the last month or so working on upgrades to our home made engine, Beardgine. Version 2 of this engine has reached parity with the old version. The original Beardgine has over 9 years of testing behind it. To make sure Beardgine v2 is as stable (if not more stable) I am using all of you on the Testing Build as beta testers. (That's what the purpose of Testing Build is.) So if you are on a 64-bit computer and are subscribed to Testing Build, you are using the new engine. In the upper left hand corner of the Main Menu it should say "x64 BG2". If not, you do not have the new engine yet.
changedSo what's new in this engine?We have mostly upgraded various libraries to the latest version. We also replaced several discontinued libraries and APIs with alternatives. The most noticeable change for all users is the replacement of Berkelium (Chromium 12) with CEF (Chromium 70). This should give us a more stable reports system, however it is slower than the old browser in some respects, especially on Windows OpenGL2. The engine is also 64-bit for all operating systems. OpenAL has been switched from the Creative version to OpenAL-Soft on Linux and Windows. Which will hopefully fix the rare audio issues we have with usb-headphones. For OSX users, we have done a major overhaul of the backend. We have replaced Carbon with Cocoa, and all that entails. Sadly, this has caused us to lose the "Hardware Mouse" feature, but the game is significantly more stable and faster on modern versions of OSX.
changedSo what's new in this engine?Linux & Windows: OpenAL 1.1 -> OpenAL-soft.
removedSo what's new in this engine?All OSs: Removed Freeimage.
removedSo what's new in this engine?All OSs: Removed CG shaders system.
changedSo what's new in this engine?Linux: SDL 2.0.2 -> SDL 2.0.9.

GearCity changes

addedGreetings Everyone, I have spent the last month or so working on upgrades to our home made engine, Beardgine. Version 2 of this engine has reached parity with the old version. The original Beardgine has over 9 years of testing behind it. To make sure Beardgine v2 is as stable (if not more stable) I am using all of you on the Testing Build as beta testers. (That's what the purpose of Testing Build is.) So if you are on a 64-bit computer and are subscribed to Testing Build, you are using the new engine. In the upper left hand corner of the Main Menu it should say "x64 BG2". If not, you do not have the new engine yet.
changedWe have mostly upgraded various libraries to the latest version. We also replaced several discontinued libraries and APIs with alternatives. The most noticeable change for all users is the replacement of Berkelium (Chromium 12) with CEF (Chromium 70). This should give us a more stable reports system, however it is slower than the old browser in some respects, especially on Windows OpenGL2. The engine is also 64-bit for all operating systems. OpenAL has been switched from the Creative version to OpenAL-Soft on Linux and Windows. Which will hopefully fix the rare audio issues we have with usb-headphones. For OSX users, we have done a major overhaul of the backend. We have replaced Carbon with Cocoa, and all that entails. Sadly, this has caused us to lose the "Hardware Mouse" feature, but the game is significantly more stable and faster on modern versions of OSX.
changedLinux & Windows: OpenAL 1.1 -> OpenAL-soft.
removedAll OSs: Removed Freeimage.
removedAll OSs: Removed CG shaders system.

If you have any problems with the new engine, please report them here. If you are unability to play the game, please switch to the None/Default build in the Steam Beta tabs. Currently there is no difference in gameplay between the two builds.

So what's new in this engine?

We have mostly upgraded various libraries to the latest version. We also replaced several discontinued libraries and APIs with alternatives. The most noticeable change for all users is the replacement of Berkelium (Chromium 12) with CEF (Chromium 70). This should give us a more stable reports system, however it is slower than the old browser in some respects, especially on Windows OpenGL2. The engine is also 64-bit for all operating systems. OpenAL has been switched from the Creative version to OpenAL-Soft on Linux and Windows. Which will hopefully fix the rare audio issues we have with usb-headphones. For OSX users, we have done a major overhaul of the backend. We have replaced Carbon with Cocoa, and all that entails. Sadly, this has caused us to lose the "Hardware Mouse" feature, but the game is significantly more stable and faster on modern versions of OSX.

  • All OSs: Ogre3D 1.7.1 and 1.8.1 (OSX) -> Ogre3D 1.10.12.

  • All OSs: Berkelium (Chromium 12) -> CEF 3538 (Chromium 70).

  • Linux & Windows: OpenAL 1.1 -> OpenAL-soft.

  • All OSs: OgreOggSound 1.21 -> 1.27

  • Windows & OSX: Ogg and Vorbis latest builds

  • Windows & OSX: OIS latest builds

  • All OSs: Latest Freetype.

  • All OSsRemoved Freeimage.
  • All OSsRemoved CG shaders system.

  • OSX: Replaced Carbon with Cocoa API.

  • OSX: Replaced windowing system with GLFW.

  • Linux: SDL 2.0.2 -> SDL 2.0.9.

  • Linuxglibc requirement increased to 2.19

(Probably a few more smaller things which I failed to rememober or list.)

Upcoming plans for the engine?

  • Attempt to implement OpenGL3 renderer. (Depends on shader hang ups and the need to replace the OpenGL2 renderer in Windows.)

  • Attempt to implement resizeable reports/webrowser windows. (Early testing of this feature is looking good so far.)

  • Attempt DPI scaling for people running 4k resolution on 13 inch screens....

  • Attempt to implement DirectX9ex for Windows 7 users and newer.

A 32-bit build of BGv2 is possible in the future if the OpenGL3 renderer fixes performance issues in Windows. In the meantime we will maintain both versions of the engine.

Known Issues:

  • OSX: Terminal pops up when you run the game.

  • OSXHardware mouse mode does not work. (May not be fixed.)

  • OSX: Backspace does not work. (Use Delete key)

  • All OSsWebpage buffer is not cleared with blank pixels before loading a new page.

  • All OSs: Showroom lighting still

Source

Steam News / 12 January 2019

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