A new version of Metal Factions was published moments ago. For those who are not acquainted with it, Metal Factions is an open-source game made with the Spring RTS game engine. It's an evolving real-time strategy game with four factions: Aven, Gear, Claw, and Sphere. It features 3D terrain and units, intuitive physics with real-time simulated gravity, collision handling, and projectile trajectories. It has over 400 units, including humanoid robots, tanks, ships, aircraft, buildings, defenses, etc. Here is the changelog from Metal Factions 2.31:

Quote:
--- New units

- GEAR "Hellburner": L2 Assault/Kamikaze Ship
- SPHERE "Contender": L2 Amphibious Skirmisher Tank
- CLAW "Cleaver": L2 Amphibious Heavy Support Tank

--- Balance / Mechanics

- CLAW "Longhorn" will no longer target air units
- Improved movement of units as they collide with each other when jumping in groups
- Made AVEN "Gunner", GEAR "Toaster" and "Beamer" amphibious
- SPHERE "Trax" is now amphibious

--- UI / Visual

- Slightly improved model/texture on GEAR pop-up static defenses
- Disabled grass detail to avoid various visual issues
(might be re-enabled in the future, given engine changes)
- Fixed issue that could cause health bars to be drawn differently on some computers
- F10 screenshot key now sets quality to 100 instead of using the default (80)


If you are curious about Metal Factions, visit the Official Website, Forums, and Discord Channel to obtain further information about it. You can grab the latest version of Metal Factions by clicking Here. That's all, folks! Stay tuned at PPM for more news coverage on Metal Factions!

Brotherhood, unity, and peace, ladies and gentlemen! A new playtest version of OpenRA has been posted recently by their team. OpenRA is a real-time strategy game engine that recreates the gameplay experience of Command & Conquer games. OpenRA is packaged with three mods: Dune, Tiberian Dawn, and Red Alert 1, which expands and improves the experience of the original games based on the development team's ideals. OpenRA works for Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD. Here are the changes and the fun stuff from OpenRA Playtest 20230927:

Quote:
Two months went by, and bam! Another playtest!


Notable changes include:
  • Added the ability to vote to kick players
  • Fixed a crash on specific 32-bit Windows machines
  • Fixed AI not reacting to its units being shelled
  • Fixed Dune 2000 carryalls kidnapping harvesters sometimes
  • Improved the utility, making it easier to update to new sprite sequences
  • Sped up the ending of the Red Alert mission Sarin Gas 3


For more information, see the full changelog.


You can check more information about OpenRA by visiting the Official Website, Forums, ModDB Profile, Discord Channel, and YouTube Video Channel. Download the latest version of OpenRA Here. And this is all for today! Enjoy OpenRA and provide your feedback about it so it can get better.

Greetings, Comrade General! MustaphaTR, the leader of Generals Alpha, has recently released Generals Alpha Release 20230927. For those unaware, Generals Alpha is a modification for OpenRA that recreates Command & Conquer: Generals on OpenRA engine as much as possible but using Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn artworks. Here are the updates from Generals Alpha Release 20230927:

Quote:
Hello, everyone. After wasting my whole summer on this, I'm glad to announce the release of version gen-20230927 for Generals Alpha. After several failed attempts at half-assing the engine update for the mod, I ended up finally going all the way and merging the custom engine used by Generals Alpha with the engine that was already in use by Romanov's Vengeance and Shattered Paradise. I would like to thank dnqbob for his help with the update, implementing a lot of the missing stuff, and improving the AI.

Here are some new stuff for the mod. I'm most likely missing several things, as this update has been in the works for several months now, and I didn't write a changelog during development.

  • Updated engine version to the latest version of OpenRA.
  • Added Selection UI at the bottom left of the screen, showing selected units, their upgrades, and other stats related to them.
  • Added Garrison logic for civilian buildings.
  • Added Patriot Missile System target logic logic.
  • Added Merge Generals lobby option, which gives players access to units and bonuses from all of the generals of the faction.
  • Added visual effects for Cold Fusion Reactor upgrades and Nuclear Reactor overcharge ability.
  • Added symbols showing subfactions to the Command Centers.
  • Added proper effect for Countermeasures upgrade.
  • Added Booby Traps upgrade, which uses the unused cameo from the original game as opposed to the same dynamite pack that Tank Hunters use.
  • Added Tech Artillery Platform, although it is currently only used on Tank General's Challenge map.
  • Added Cash Hack ability for Black Lotus.
  • Added sounds for units entering/leaving vehicles/buildings.
  • Added several new maps.
  • Reworked the AI as Easy, Normal, and Hard AIs as opposed to Rush, Normal, and Turtle AI that came from OpenRA's RA mod.
  • Reworked mine respawn logic to handle it individually for each mine.
  • Reworked firestorm logic to be closer to the original.
  • Reworked Artillery Barrage's ability to be closer to the original.
  • Reworked superweapons to match closer to the original.
  • Remade all the cameos in PNG format in order to keep the color quality from the original game.
  • Removed lobby options related to building placement. Human players can now always only place buildings around the Construction Vehicle that built it, while AI can always cheat to place around other buildings.
  • General's Power abilities now start fully charged.
  • Patriot Missile System is now 1x1 instead of 2x1.
  • Supply Drop Zones now actually have a plane delivering a crate.
  • Missile Defenders now need to wait for laser lock to fire faster with force fire.
  • Demo Trap now requires an Arms Dealer as in the original game.
  • Improved the AI in many other ways.
  • Workers no longer ask for shoes after you gave them some.
  • Fixed several other inconsistencies with the original game.


You can download the new version here.


You can find more information about Generals Alpha by visiting the Official Website, Steam Page, and Discord Channel. Download Generals Alpha Release 20230927 Here. And that's all regarding Generals Alpha for now. Stay tuned at PPM for more news about Generals Alpha!

Vengi 0.0.27 has been released!
Sep 20, 2023 - 00:04
Hello everyone! Vengi 0.0.27 has been published by mgerhardy recently. For those who are not acquainted with it, Vengi is a voxel engine that includes VoxEdit, a voxel art editor that supports several volumetric pixel file formats, such as Command & Conquer vxl, Minecraft, Quake 1 bsp, Ace of Spades vxl, as well as some other voxel editors such as Goxel and MagicaVoxel. Here is what we know about Vengi 0.0.27:

Quote:
Changelog
A more detailed changelog can be found on github.

Join our discord server.

See the documentation for further details.

Known issues.

0.0.27 (2023-09-19)
Breaking changes:

  • Renamed globals for Lua scripts. Added a g_ prefix to them. You have to adapt your scripts

    to work with the latest version with vengi (if you use them):

    • scenegraph is now g_scenegraph
    • palettemgr is now g_palette
    • noise is now g_noise
    • cmd is now g_cmd
    • var is now g_var
    • XvecX is now g_XvecX (ivec3 is for example g_ivec3)

General:

  • Added cvar voxformat_pointcloudsize for point cloud formats
  • Added Polygon File Format (ply) mesh and point cloud support (ASCII and binary)
  • Fixed regression with GLTF exports
  • Added a new Lua script to slice a node into smaller pieces
  • Expose shape generators to Lua
  • Fixed color intensity handling for kvx files
  • Added write support for kvx format (used in e.g. voxel doom and eduke3d)
  • Added support for Voxel3D v3a format

VoxEdit:

  • Fixed regression about not rendering the shape volumes anymore
  • Implemented scene graph panel drag-and-drop popup
  • Added brush support and new editing features
  • Fixed spurious crashes for windows

oasis



Minecraft greenfield



lospec ui integration



For further information about Vengi and VoxEdit, visit the Topic at PPM Forums, Official Website, and Discord Channel. You can grab the latest version of Vengi and VoxEdit by clicking Here. And this is all for today! Enjoy Vengi and provide your feedback about it so it can get better.

Hi everyone! The staff from Open Hard Vacuum has been working hard these days, and they have just published Open Hard Vacuum Release 20230917. For your information, Open Hard Vacuum is a game that uses OpenRA Engine, and it is inspired by an old game called Hard Vacuum, which ended up not being released at all, except for its art graphics. Here is the official announcement from Open Hard Vacuum's staff about Open Hard Vacuum Release 20230917:

Quote:



New utility vehicle queue, including new money transport to allow your allies a comeback.



The health bars have been revamped for better readability.



The UI elements have been redesigned in a uniform way: the repair icon in this case.



Landing crafts can now also drop off ice tiles, which makes money existing snow maps open for new strategies.



New props from Tyrian have been imported.



New unused original Hard Vacuum terrain tile overlays have been added.




And here is the changelog:

  • Added a new production queue for unarmed utility vehicles.
  • Added a new load screen based on original artwork.
  • Added a larger auto-target radius for the bomber pod.
  • Added AI subroutines for using the bomber pod.
  • Added sand to dirt auto-tiling.
  • Added new health bar UI elements.
  • Added new artwork for the repairing indicator.
  • Added mine deployment animation for the ground mine layer.
  • Added electric pad decoration prop for tech tiles.
  • Added player color land mines to match water ones.
  • Added small crate props to the editor.
  • Added civilian structure props to the editor.
  • Fixed aircraft chain gun attacking aircraft but dealing no damage.
  • Fixed water trails spawning on beach tiles.
  • Fixed missing large snow cliff shadow corner tile.
  • Fixed selectable bounds and hit shape for pods.
  • Fixed missing crosshair indicators for pods.
  • Fixed button UI panel borders.
  • Fixed Synapol generator, trade platform, tech center, field generator, and storage not showing up in the map editor.
  • Fixed wrong dimensions for support power icons, causing blurriness.
  • Fixed hit shapes for civilian buildings.
  • Fixed wrong offset for damaged lightning tower shadow.
  • Changed naval transport so that it can hold two vehicles.
  • Changed naval transport to also travel ice water transition tiles.
  • Changed land minelayer to the same stats as the naval one.
  • Changed main base to be more durable.
  • Changed main base and outpost lights to shine wider.
  • Changed civilian props not to use player colors.
  • Removed money transport from single-player missions.
  • Removed the ability to load huge vehicles into naval transporters.



If you are curious about Open Hard Vacuum, visit the Official Website, ModDB Profile, and Discord Channel to obtain further information about it. Download the latest version of Open Hard Vacuum Here. And that's all regarding Open Hard Vacuum for now. Stay tuned at PPM for more news about Open Hard Vacuum!

Hello everyone! The developers from Krita have recently published Krita 5.2. For those unfamiliar with it, Krita is a free and open-source graphics editor for digital art and 2D animation. It features an advanced brush engine, non-destructive layers and masks, group-based layer management, vector artwork support, color management support, and switchable customization profiles. Here are the updates from Krita 5.2 as seen on their official site:

Quote:
The release candidate is here for Krita 5.2. This means that we are confident that all the major bugs brought on by the changes in Krita 5.2 have now been fixed, and we would like you to give it another round of testing.

Please pay extra attention to the following features of Krita since they got updated or reworked since Beta2:

  • assignment of profiles to displays in multi-monitor setup (Krita should use EDID info to map the displays to profiles everywhere, except on macOS)
  • dockers layout should now be properly restored after Krita restart, even after the usage of canvas-only mode
  • autokeyframing feature of animated layers got a lot of fixes since Beta2

Here is the full list of bugs (and other minor changes) that have been fixed since the second beta:

  • Fix crash when activating Halftone filter in Filter Brush (Bug 473242)
  • Fix a crash when activating the Color Index filter in the filter brush (Bug 473242)
  • text: Write xml:space as XML attribute in SVG output
  • text: Normalize linebreaks into LF when loading from SVG
  • Build patched libraqm with Krita instead of in 3rdparty deps
  • [qtbase] Correctly parse non-BMP char refs in the sax parser
  • Actually load the fonts in the QML theme (Bug 473478)
  • Fix Channels docker to generate thumbnails asynchronously (Bug 473130)
  • Fix wobbly lines when using line tool (Bug 473459)
  • text: Make sure white-space overrides xml:space
  • text: Reject negative line-height in SVG
  • Simplified fix for tag selector and checkboxes problem (CCBug 473510)
  • Fix creation of a new image from clipboard (Bug 473559)
  • Make sure that the horizontal mode of the preset chooser is properly initialized
  • Hide preset chooser mode button when the chooser is in horizontal mode (Bug 473558)
  • Only repaint KisShapeLayerCanvas on setImage when really needed
  • text: Do not synthesize bold in several cases, like fonts that are already bold or variable fonts.
  • AnimAudio: Fixed crash when loading animation file with audio attached due to incompletely constructed canvas.
  • Fix a model warning in KisTimeBasedItemModel (Bug 473485)
  • Don’t recreate the frames when not necessary (Bug 472414)
  • Fix cross-colorspace bitBlt with channel flags (Bug 473479)
  • text: Also consider HHEA metrics for default line-height (Bug 472502)
  • Fix BDF font-size matching (Bug 472791)
  • Make sure that the node emits nodeChanged() signal on opacity change (Bug 473724)
  • Fix the ‘enabled’ state of the actions in the Default Tool (Bug 473719)
  • Respect statusbar visibility after Welcome page (Bug 472800)
  • Fix a warning in outline generation code in shape tools (Bug 473715)
  • Possibly fix a crash when switching animated documents (Bug 473760)
  • OpenGL: Request DeprecatedFunctions on Windows to fix Intel driver (Bug 473782)
  • Allow the welcome page banner to shrink
  • text: Use line-height when flowing text in shape (Bug 473527)
  • text: Make the first word of text-in-shape flush against the shape
  • Fix color values under transparent pixels be lost in Separate Image (Bug 473948)
  • flake: Fix transformation of text path and shape-inside (Bug 472571)
  • Make sure that Krita correctly specifies video codec for libopenh264 (Bug 473207)
  • Don’t allow New/Open File buttons to grow taller (Bug 473509)
  • raqm: Fix Unicode codepoint conversion from UTF-16
  • Android: Bump targetSdkVersion to 33
  • Fix multiple issues with auto-keyframing code
  • Edit Shapes tool: make moving points move points by a delta instead of snapping them to the cursor
  • Initialize tool configGroup before optionWidget (Bug 473515)
  • Fix updates on autokeyframing with onion skins enabled (Bug 474138)
  • JPEG-XL: fix crash on importing XYB grayscale that needs transform
  • JPEG-XL: also apply patches workaround on lossy export
  • Fix artifacts when using assistants in images with high DPI (Bug 436422)
  • Don’t allow closing hidden document views without confirmation (Bug 474396)
  • logdocker: Fix infinite tail recursion with multiple windows (Bug 474431)


You can check more information about Krita by visiting the Official Website. Krita is downloadable at This Address. That's all, folks! Stay tuned at PPM for more news coverage on Krita!

Microsoft, the leader of Visual Studio, has been busy recently in order to post Visual Studio 2022 17.8 Preview 2. For those unaware, Visual Studio is one of the most famous commercial code editor that supports several programming languages, multiple tabs, plugins, etc. It runs on Windows and macOS. Visual Studio comes with several editions, and the Community Edition is free for personal use and for companies with up to 5 users/devices.

Here is what was posted on the Visual Studio Blog about it:

Quote:
We hope everyone enjoyed all the new and updated features that came with our first preview of Visual Studio’s next version, and now we’re back with more! This release brings additional tools to help you improve your productivity and debug your code, as well as some additional C++ and Game Dev enhancements.

Download Visual Studio 2022

Browse this comprehensive list of enhancements and let us know which of these enhancements is your favorite:

You can delve into the complete list of enhancements by checking out the Visual Studio 2022 17.8 Preview 2 Release Notes, and we always love to know what you think with feedback through Developer Community: reports of any bugs or issues via report a problem and share your suggestions for new features or improvements to existing ones.

Productivity
Edit your Pull Request Descriptions with Markdown
Use the Markdown editor with your pull request descriptions to render headers, bulleted lists, and other Markdown syntax by clicking on the “Preview” button. Enable this via Preview Features > Git Pull Request – Markdown.



We’ve also added better error handling and improved the reviewer search. Let us know what you think of the Pull Request experience here.

Summary Diff Improvements
Building on Preview 1, we’ve improved the Summary Diff UI and enabled expanding and collapsing of specific regions in the summary view. This allows you to get a little more context on hidden lines when necessary. Try this out by clicking the Summary button in the upper right corner when you’re comparing files or checking against previous versions of your code.



Share your feedback on this update here.

GitHub Avatars added to Git Repository Window
See your GitHub avatars in the multi-branch graph in the Git Repository Window.



Multi-Repo Activation Setting
In some workflows, it was important to control whether multi-repo was activated automatically. With a new setting, you can keep your focus on an individual repository without seeing the multi-repository UI.



C++ and Game Dev
C11 Threading Support
We have now implemented support for the optional C11 threads library.

Unlike with C11 atomics, there is no compatibility between C11 threads and C++ threads, but C++ programs can include the C11 threads header and call the functions just like any C program. The implementations are distinct.

C11 contains support for threads and a variety of supporting concurrency primitives, including mutexes, condition variables, and thread static storage. All of which are implemented

CMake Targets View updates
Now, you can simply navigate to the CMake Targets View by right-clicking anywhere in your Solution Explorer and selecting Switch to CMake Targets View.



You can also access the CMake Targets View by selecting it from the View dropdown now.



Additionally, the CMake Targets View has been simplified so that users don’t have to click through folders without buildable executables to get to their desired target.

Remote File Explorer Updates
Now, in the Remote File Explorer, you can view and edit your remote files by double-clicking on them, editing, and saving them like you would normally through the Solution Explorer.



Make Member Function Const
You can now easily convert global functions to static functions. When you have a free function that is not within an anonymous namespace and lacks a forward declaration in a header file, you will receive suggestions (indicated by three dots below the function name) to mark it as static. Hovering over the suggestion and clicking the screwdriver icon will provide an option to make the function static, as shown below.



You can adjust the settings for this feature by navigating to Tools > Options > Text Editor > C/C++ > IntelliSense.



.NET/C#
Safely use secrets in HTTP requests
When developing Web APIs, in many cases, you may need to use a secret value. We have added support for safely using secrets with HTTP files in Visual Studio. The support includes storing secrets in three different secret providers. For more info, see the Safely use secrets in HTTP requests in Visual Studio 2022 – Visual Studio Blog.

JavaScript and TypeScript Development
launch.json support for open folder
When you choose to open a folder on your workspace with launch.json in the .vscode directory to store your launch and debug settings, it will be recognized by Visual Studio and included in the dropdown menu for the Debug targets right next to the green button.



F#
New code fix
We introduced a code fix that changes equals (`=`) to a colon (`:`) in record field definitions. This mistake is especially common among newcomers to F#.



Improved autocompletion
F# autocompletion is now enhanced in various scenarios.

Anonymous record fields:



Union case fields:



Discriminated union case fields:



Enum case value expressions:



Reduced noise in parameter name hints
Now, the hints are hidden for argument names that match discriminated union fields. This contributes to the hints’ goal to only show the information that is not obvious otherwise.



Diagnostics for unopened files
We implemented an option to activate diagnostics for unopened files. This is turned off by default for performance considerations (read details here). You can enable this capability in the Tools > Options > Text Editor > F# > Advanced > Background Analysis:



Debugging and Diagnostics
Cross platform Enc/Hot Reload debugging support (Docker, WSL)
Added support for Edit and Continue for F5 (with debugger) and Ctrl-F5 (no debugger) scenarios when diagnosing and debugging apps hosted on Linux containers or in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Please note the F5 debugging scenario relies on .NET 8 RC1 and above.

Debug Linux App Services via Attach to Process
We are excited to unveil a powerful new feature that enables debugging of .NET processes in Linux App Services – via “Attach to Process”.

This feature empowers developers to effortlessly debug and diagnose issues within their running Linux Azure App Services instances.

To attach to a process:

1. Select Debug > Attach to Process (or press Ctrl+Alt+P) to open the Attach to Process dialog box.

2. Check the Connection type. It should be “Microsoft Azure app Service”.

3. Set the Connection target to your Linux machine name.

4. Select the correct available process and click “Attach”.



BenchmarkDotNet IDiagnosers
The Visual Studio Profiler has recently been enhanced to provide support for BenchmarkDotNet IDiagnosers. These IDiagnosers play a crucial role in the aggregation of diagsessions originating within BenchmarkDotNet scenarios.

The Benchmark tab offers a visualization of the executed benchmarks. It also provides the ability to precisely choose a benchmark from the swimlane by double-clicking on a specific row.



Alternatively, you have the option to navigate to the source file through the right-click context menu. The statistical data is sourced directly from BenchmarkDotNet and is presented in a structured grid format.



.Net Counter Support for New Instruments via Meters API
The latest version of the .NET Counters tool introduces expanded functionality with the integration of the .NET Meters API, encompassing new instrument options, including “Counter” and “ObservableCounter”.

The “Counter” keeps track of a value changing over time, with the caller reporting updates using “Counter.Add.” In contrast, the “ObservableCounter” is like the Counter, but the caller takes care of keeping track of the total value. Currently, the .NET Counters tool reports the rate of change in the total.

You can find these metrics in the list of the .NET counter metrics roster, offering enhanced visibility into system performance and resource utilization. Furthermore, we’re actively planning to introduce additional instrument options in the future to enhance this capability even further.



Test Profiling with VS Profiler
We are thrilled to introduce an updated Test Profiling capability. When you right-click on your test in Test Explorer and select “Profile,” you can now select between a set of available tools, including:

  • CPU Usage
  • GPU Usage
  • File IO
  • .NET Async
  • Events Viewer

Select which tools you want to use and click “Start”, and a report will be provided.



Enterprise Management
In the last minor release, we introduced a feature that allows administrators to delegate control of installer functionality, such as updating or modifying to “standard” users with restricted permissions. This was one of our top requested features because it allows organizations to follow security best practices while simultaneously allowing developers to control their development environment. In this minor release, we have streamlined the steps an administrator needs to perform to initialize the client machines.

The initial installation of the Visual Studio installer will always require administrator permissions. Standard users will not be able to perform this initial initialization step, and an administrator can’t effectively delegate standard user control until the installer is present on the client machine. Previously, an administrator would have had to install the entire Visual Studio product to just acquire the installer. In this release, we’ve made it easy for an administrator to programmatically deploy *just the installer* to a client machine by executing the following command:

vs_enterprise.exe install –installerOnly

Another feature we enabled in this release is the ability for an administrator to use the client’s registry to customize the installer’s Available tab to make custom layouts available for installation.

The collection of features described above facilitates a clean separation of responsibilities. The IT administrator can quickly and easily prepare and configure client machines within their organization by:

  • Installing just the installer
  • Configuring the AllowStandardUserControl policy to delegate control of installer functionality to standard users.
  • Optionally customizing the installer’s Available tab to make private layouts available to install.

Once the administrator has prepped the client machines, the end users can be responsible for installing (from the Available tab), modifying, and updating Visual Studio.


For further information about Visual Studio, visit its Official Website. Visual Studio is available for download Here. And this is all for today! Enjoy Visual Studio and provide your feedback about it so it can get better.

Howdy! OpenSAGE Blender Plugin has been recently improved with the new release of OpenSAGE Blender Plugin v0.7.0, which is still a beta version. For those unaware of what is being written here, OpenSAGE Blender Plugin is a plugin for Blender to export its 3D models into W3D and W3X file formats used in Command & Conquer Renegade, Command & Conquer Generals, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth games, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Red Alert 3, and Tiberian Twilight. The changes from OpenSAGE Blender Plugin v0.7.0 were announced with the following words:

Quote:
Note:
This is still in beta, and the behavior may change between releases. Also, bugs might still occur, which we'll try to fix as soon as possible. So feel free to report bugs and issues in the #w3d-blender-plugin channel on OpenSAGE Discord. Also, see Troubleshoting for more information.

Changes:

  • delete base sphere object and mesh after hierarchy import
  • fix face distance calculation to match 3DS max exporter
  • multi-texture / multi-material support by @nkx111 thx!

Full Changelog: v0.6.9...v0.7.0


You can learn more about OpenSAGE Blender Plugin by visiting the Official Website, and Discord Channel. Download OpenSAGE Blender Plugin v0.7.0. And that's all regarding OpenSAGE Blender Plugin for now. Stay tuned at PPM for more news about OpenSAGE Blender Plugin!