When is the next release?

[StarFire]

We have been busy putting some finishing touches to the latest version of Skyline which will be a full release not an auto update. This new relese will introduce many cool new features and the new download system from our shiny new shop!
When we have some development screen grabs we can post these for you in this news forum

What you have to look forward:
Artist friendly New asset manager, which lets you have full control over your library. Assets and scenes can be easily dragged and dropped into the editor. Textures can be dropped onto an object which that will auto create a new material. Create you own material libraries and so much more.
New super fast resource system, no more waiting for Skyline to load!
Assets can be added and removed easily at run time.
Better memory foot print due to the new asset management tools.
There is many new changes and fixes but we need to get these fully tested before releasing them to you guys to play with ; )

[ant0N]

Looks amazing!!! Can't wait for a new release
When will be possible to compile the project into an .exe file (you could put a timer to 5 minutes for trial )?

[StarFire]

It will be a few weeks to the release but you will be able to compile to an exe for the final game, this will include a full resource collector to save you time in setting up the final game exe.

Timer: we could add a lua: quit command and let you manage the timer or add a function for you to call that will start a timeout and once time elapsed the game would be exited. What do you prefer?

[ant0N]

I do not understand a question about the timer ... Could you write more?

[StarFire]

(you could put a timer to 5 minutes for trial )?

I think we misunderstood what you were asking for, thought you were after this for you own end game exe so you could provide a trial of your game.

Do you mean the free version of Skyline to have a trial game exe? or the beta version?

[ant0N]

I mean a free version of the Skyline with the time limit .exe file in 5-10 minutes.
for example Xors3D Engine Trial provides 30 minutes for each run of the game.

[StarFire]

Ah I see

We have been talking about a free version that has all the features and no time limit. But has the following limitations:
* Limited number of entities can be saved( may be 50 objects )
* Doesn't save post FX files
* Vegetation is limited to 1 tree and 1 grass type
* Watermarked
* No End exe export

what do you think?

[ant0N]

I think you need to do the only limitation in time (5-10 minutes for each run of the game). In this case, users will be able to see the full power of the engine.

[StarFire]

personally I have never been a fan of timed out trial versions. If we can create a version which shows the power with out any time out that would be great. We think that a limited save may be the way so you can play with all the features but not be able to save large scenes/projets. But this would be good for artists just wanting to add assets to the store as they could use the free version to make their asset packs or scripted packs.
But we are open for discussion on this subject : )

[ant0N]

I simply suggest that bolshii like me as a user.
time limit but not the engine, but it is a game made on a trial version of the engine.
I do not know whether to be profitable it is for you?

[StarFire]

I think I understand lol
The free version of Skyline to be able to export to the game.exe but this game.exe would then have a fixed time out.

[ant0N]

Yes! finally we understood each other ...

[StarFire]

hehe finally

Ok we will think about this and keep it as an option.

Obviously we would prefer everyone to have at least the non commercial version especially as we have the concessions option and we the developers are easy to deal with plus you get great tech support

Then the free version is to be used as a quick trial to see if you would like to join the Skyline Journey.

[ant0N]

Hi! How is development?

[StarFire]

Thanks for asking antON

You will be happy to know that we are getting very close for a new release. This release will be the pre-sale beta version so that the shop and other systems can be checked before we make a full public release. There have been so many feature updates and core engine code updates that will future proof Skyline for quite a few years.

We are aiming for the pre-sale beta version to be available for testing in the next 4 weeks and hope to release the public purchasable version soon after

[ant0N]

hi guys! 4 weeks have passed , what news?

[SolarPortal]

hi Anton,
we are currently putting together the next release, which should be out in the next couple of days

[StarFire]

The new release is available on the store which shall be going public in the next few weeks once we finalise details.

[ant0N]

hi guys! There are news that awaits us in the next release. And when we wait?
I see that users start to miss.
Sorry if distract from development.

[StarFire]

thanks antON,we have a big update in development and hope to have a version in the auto update asap

[SolarPortal]

Hi,
just a quick update about the next release.

The next release will be pushed back a few days, due to us having to update the scene upgrader to get all your scenes uptodate with the base, type, action and script properties.
The reason for this is due to the inability to upgrade the base properties easily, and we have a few changes coming soon, such as seperate XYZ boxes etc.. This is an important part of making sure skyline is future proofed as it will bring any scene from previous versions uptodate with the current version and upgrade all actions and properties without losing the settings you have already.

When you get the new version of skyline, all scenes and presets will need upgraded.
But there will be built in tools in the asset manager to solve this

Sorry for the inconvenience, but we would rather have it done right than have it done rushed

[ant0N]

thank you for keep us informed!
We expect a new version in the next week or later?

[SolarPortal]

we are trying for next weekend, but it all depends on the current time frame for this job completion
will keep you informed

[SolarPortal]

Hi All,
just another quick update, the process is going well, we have successfully upgraded scenes and presets.
Just making a few final tweaks, then do a few more test runs and it should be good for release
It's getting close but will take a couple of days

[SolarPortal]

Hi,well, there is good news and bad news lol.
we had the new update completed and uploaded ready to release today, but when trying to upgrade skyline using the auto-updater. We found that the zip decompression was failing; this must be due to a library built into skyline which is not compatible with vs2013 which we upgraded to at the start of 0.8.0.

The update is now pushed back a few more days, so we can build a new and better system for handling the auto updating.
We are going to make a seperate .exe that the main editor will use to update itself. But because its a seperate .exe that will handle a single task, the filesize should be very small, which is easier for everyone to download when there is a problem, rather that the full size of the editor.exe lol.

This is why we are still in Beta lol
We are very sorry to all those who are waiting very patiently and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.