We somehow lost the blog post for the log, when we published the latest site. Right now, I can't reach the other 2 to ask if they kept a backup. I'll try to fill in what's new in 1.6, but it's highly likely that I will miss some items. Sigh. We'll post something for now for people to read, and we'll keep updating as we go. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Here goes:
Here goes:
- New control to open Mote databases using the H2 viewer. It's found under the Quick actions toolbar, with the database symbol.
- Databases and audio are now integrated into the campaign structure. You can associate these by using the Campaign Properties dialog.
There are 2 new tabs to add and/or remove items, and they will be packed into campaign files and be disseminated to clients, when they connect.
In the case of audio, you can reference these in macros using the provided ID. This ID can be easily customized by clicking on the field and editing it.
Audio can now be associated to macros and be used in lookup tables. For more info, see items related to these new features in their bullets below. - Huge revamp of the Chat/Messaging system. We got rid of JavaFX, and made it easier than ever to create PM sessions for both standard Mote dialogs and IRC. We laid the foundations for future enhancements to come.
- Chat logging captures all active window conversations at the point of save.
- We were able to remove the line break that comes after a Chat entry's ID header. It's hard to explain, but people will understand once they send something from chat.
- Auto-connection to IRC servers and channels can now be done by using the new controls found under the Application Tab of the Preferences Dialog (i.e. button with the gear icon). The list uses a simple scheme. You first put in an IRC server address, then list the channels you want to join, once connection is established. So it would look like this:
irc.freenode.net
#java
#mote
irc.anotherserver.net
#channel1
#channel2
...
By default, irc.darkmyst.org, is already set (though not listed), so you can just add channels right away to the list. - A new Quick Actions control to toggle drawn elements on the map. Useful for determining performance issues, and whatnot.
- Replaced most JavaFX elements for Swing.
- A new Application Toggle for Inspection Mode. In essence, it displays items that are normally only displayed under a certain Map Tool (e.g. blocking layers), and also provides quick visual cues for what is currently in view (e.g. token types).
- Enhanced the undo/redo system for Blocking Layers, consolidating it with drawn Fog elements. Remember, hitting 'Z' when the map is in focus, undoes the latest object, whereas 'X', redraws it.
- Drawn objects (i.e. drawables and templates) are now "movable". You can drag them around and place them were you will.
- Drawn objects can also be grouped by either drawing a selection box around them, or holding down 'Ctrl' and selecting items individually. This is used for mass-movement and merging (see below).
- Drawn objects of the same type can be merged by hitting 'M' on the keyboard. This toggles "Merging Mode". Items that are currently selected will be merged with other items of the same type. While this mode is active, you can also drag an items toward another item, for these to be merged.
- Macro editor auto-completion now includes listing all variable names found in the editor. Variables follow the convention of [var = some value], so just [varName], gets it ignored. This feature needs to be activated by toggling the check-mark button on a macro-editor's toolbar.
- The Macro Properties viewer is now integrated as a hidden control under the Macro editor (i.e. no longer a floating window). Hitting 'F5', or using the button # 1 on the toolbar, displays it. Hitting 'F5' again, when the editor is active, or hitting 'F4' when ths viewer is active, hides the viewer.
- In line with integrated audio (version 3), you can associate audio to a macro by using Macro Properties Viewer. You can use audio already linked to the campaign by browsing the audio cache folder found in Mote's data directory (it'll be the 1st window pulled up). You can also browse audio in other locations, and Mote will associate this to the campaign and cache a copy of it in the data folder.
- Audio can also be linked to entries of a lookup table via it's "audio ID". Clicking on a cell under the Audio column will pull up a browsing window to fetch the audio to link.
- Errors reported in Chat (aka Macro Output), now link to the macros that spawned them. Clicking on these links will create an editor window (if none for the macro, is active), and immediately focus on the macro segment that threw the error.
- The Log Viewer has been greatly enhanced, providing more information, faster than ever. Logged macro errors will provide links to route to a macro editor, where users can quickly edit out what's wrong.
- Mote is now more memory-efficient, and faster than ever. While YMMV, we're confident many will see a reduction in memory usage.
- In light of the optimizations provided by our new packaging software, we've removed the application argument for setting the minimum heap size, as it's virtually useless. Also, since Mote is now made to be a "native" application, it utilizes OS-level resources that weren't exactly available before. For example, virtual memory.
- We almost completely rewrote the networking code for Mote, reducing the throughput of data sent over the wire, and slimming down the client-server communications. TL;DR, faster performance in between clients.
- By request, we returned the menu items for starting and joining a session, albeit under their own menu named "Session".
- Vast changes to the scripting API. Some functions have been rendered obsolete, while others are marked for phasing out in favor of their Mote counterparts.
We have provided a process to completely convert all code within a campaign to the Mote 1.6 standard. It's found under the "Tools" menu, as "Total Api Conversion".
Please review the Mote wiki for more info, and post your questions to us, after then. - Macro Editor auto-completion now lists user-defined functions.
(to be continued...do come back to check for the rest. our apologies again. thanks!)