Upgrading from Unity 5.4 to 5.6

Recently had the need to upgrade a couple of projects from Unity 5.4 to 5.6 and after much trial and error and scouring the net for solutions I finally managed it. My project uses two plugins which do not play well with Unity 5.6, these include:

  • TextMeshPro – Do not use the version that is currently on the asset store (Version: 1.0.55.0b11) or your project will explode, instead grab it from here. If you already have a version of TextMesh Pro installed into your project then delete it (backup fist!), then install the version this link
  • Chartboost – Update to version 6.6.4 as previous versions do not compile with Unity 5.6!
  • Facebook SDK – Deleted old Facebook SDK 7.8 including the Facebook related stuff in the Plugins folder, installed latest Facebook SDK from fresh!

By the way, if you see errors appear, shut Unity down and reopen the project them allow, most of the time the errors just disappear.

Marmalade SDK 8.4 out now

The latest and greatest version of the Marmalade SDK is now available here
Highlights

  • C++11 support now available.
  • Apple Pencil pressure reading is now supported on iPad Pro in addition to existing 3D Touch support.
  • Slide Over and Split View multitasking now available to Marmalade apps on supported iPad models.
  • Compression of assets in APKs on Android is now supported.
  • Windows 10 ARM builds can now be directly deployed to any attached device without any special configuration.
  • s3eCamera can now return high quality still images on Android, rather than the viewfinder preview.
  • s3eWebView updated to use newer version of Chromium Embedded Framework on Windows Desktop.

A full list of changes is available here.

Marmalade SDK 8.2 is out now

The latest and greatest version of the Marmalade SDK is now available here.

Highlights

  • IncrediBuild support for ARM architecture
  • Improved video support for Windows Desktop
  • Updated version of ZeroBrane Studio for Quick
  • Multidex support for Android

A full list of changes is available here.

Developing games for mobile and desktop? Then why not go cross platform and try out the Marmalade SDK, its now free. Available in C++ and Lua flavours.

Marmalade 8 is out now – New Hub, Analytics, Android Native Debugging, Asset Store

You can download the Marmalade SDK for free from the Marmalade SDK website

Looks like Marmalade have been busy beavers working on their latest release of the Marmalade SDK. There are a lot of changes, but I’m just going to focus on the highlights:

New Marmalade Hub

The Marmalade Hub has had a complete revamp. Its got a new look and feel and now feels like a proper integrated Hub including features such as:

  • Open, create and build projects for all platforms. Creation of new projects also includes a very handy and easy to use integrations section ghat allows you to easily add integrations such as analytics, game services etc.. very easily and intuitively. The project templates are also very handy, especially for new developers.
  • Handy recent projects and examples lists
  • Multiple projects can now be opened simultaneously and access to home is always available without backing out of a project
  • Centralised and direct access to asset store, documentation, community answers, blog and tools (one of my favourite new additions)
  • Platform settings are now better categorised and more easily accessible
  • Project libraries list which shows a list of all libraries used by the project
  • Proper import of different deployment configurations
  • Update from MKB feature

All in all, the new Hub is a massive improvement.

Marmalade Analytics

Marmalade Analytics for C++ and Lua, is a great new addition for developers that really want to drill down into the behaviour of their game players to help increase user retention and hopefully increase monetisation. Marmalade Analytics is powered by industry leader GameAnalytics. Marmalade Analytics is incredibly easy to use out of the box as can be seen in this IwAnalytics example.

Android Native Debugging

I’ve been waiting for this feature for a bit, its been in beta for a while, but its now officially released. To debug an Android app in Visual Studio simply open it in the hub then click the “Open in IDE for debugging” button. Note that the first time you do this Visual Studio 2015 will prompt you to install Android support for C++, go ahead and install that (this may take a while so go for a coffee or take a nap :)).. Once your app has launched in visual studio click the green start triangle to start debugging.

Asset Store

Marmalade now have their very own asset store, which includes all kinds of assets from audio and bitmaps to extensions and full game engines. Submitting assets to the store is very simple, take a look here for details.

Booty5 HTML5 Game Maker 1.9.2b out now – Web Audio API Support Added

Support for the Web Audio API has been added offering better control over audio playback. Using it is s simple case of ticking support for it in the projects properties (on by default).

Full list of changes include:

Game Editor v1.9.2b:

  • Added new use web audio export option to project settings
  • Added new auto play property to sounds which cause sound to automatically start playing once loaded
  • Added new export option force_round which will force all exported actors to use pixel rounding
  • Fix: Project property smoothing is now applied in exported code
  • Fix: Canvas centering on some mobile devices

Game Engine v1.4.8 and 1.4.9:

  • b5.Xoml.loadJSON now accepts 4th parameter which can be used to stipulate loaded data should be returned as binary buffer
  • b5.App.use_web_audio property added which can be used to switch on support for Web Audio if it is supported
  • b5.Xoml.loadJSON moved to b5.Utils.loadJSON
  • b5.Xoml.loadJS moved to b5.Utils.loadJS
  • Added support for web audio API to sound (default is enabled). To disable Web Audio set b5.App.use_web_audio to false. If web audio is not supported then it will fallback to HTML5 Audio
  • b5.App constructor now accepts a second parameter which enables / disables web audio support
  • Added b5.Sound.auto_play property to enable auto playback of sounds after they are loaded
  • JSDoc documentation added
  • b5.App.canvas_fill_window removed
  • Modified how the render scaling and canvas resizing works to make it easier to use.

Download the latest version of Booty5 HTML5 Gama Maker.

Booty5 HTML5 Game Maker 1.9.1b Available – Text preview and collision flags

Booty5 the HTML5 Game Maker v1.9.1b is now available for free download.

Editor Changes:

  • Scale and angle are now affected in multiple actor selections
  • Editor export properties now supports smoothing property that will enable / disable anti-aliasing during rendering
  • Added support for rounding pixels to actors, if disabled then pixel coordinates will be rounded to integer values, can improve performance but at a cost of lower precision rendering
  • Removed some currently unused options from sprite and label
  • Font size and face separated in labels
  • Font weight added to label
  • Editor now shows text preview
  • Exported collision flags are now used by engine
  • Added vertices snap to shape editor
  • Added new Collision Flags example
  • Fix: Convex shapes were not exporting correctly
  • Fix: Some properties such as actor scale were not exporting correctly with an export precision of 0

Engine Changes:

  • Added new property to Actor called round_pixels, when set to true vertices will be rounded to integer which can speed up rendering significantly
  • Added support for collision flags to physics fixtures (category, mask and group index)

The Booty5 HTML5 game manual ebook has also been updated.

Booty5 HTML5 Game Maker 1.9 Available – Tiled Maps

Booty5 the HTML5 Game Maker v1.9.0b is now available for free download. Support for tile map rendering has been added to the engine, whilst support for tile map editing has been added to the game maker. A quick screen shot of the new tile map editor is shown below:

Booty5 HTML5 tile map editorBooty5 HTML5 tile map editor

Full list of changes include:

Game Engine v1.4.6:

  • Added new actor type called MapActor which can render tiled maps
  • Support added to Xoml for loading Booty5 game editor exported tile maps
  • Fix: Actor.vr wasn’t updating transform

Game Editor v1.9.0b:

  • Added support for tile maps (any sprite actor can now be changed to a tile map by changing RenderAs type to Tile Map)
  • Added pretty print export options that will export JSON in a tidy readable format

The Booty5 HTML5 game manual ebook has also been updated.

You will also need to replace all examples which can be downloaded from Github.

Free Booty5 HTML5 Game Maker Manual e-book now available

The first version of the Booty5 HTML5 Game Maker Manual e-book is now available for free download. Find out more on the Booty5 free e-book page.

Booty5 v1.8.9b now available – Code restructure and Actions Lists

Booty5 1.8.9b out NOW

Booty5, the HTML5 Flash Like Game Maker
Booty5, the HTML5 Flash Like Game Maker

Booty5 1.8.9b represents a big shift towards making the Booty5 JavaScript engine more modern, a number of major changes have taken place to the engine including:

  • Code restructured
  • All classes moved into the b5 namespace
  • TheApp class renamed to App
  • window.app replaced with b5.app
  • Added new property to App called canvas_fill_window which when set to false will prevent the canvas from being resized to fit window
  • Added support for sequential and concurrent actions to app, actors and scenes via ActionsListManager and ActionsList classes
  • Large collection of pre-defined actions added:
    • A_ChangeActions
    • A_CreateExplosion
    • A_CreatePlume
    • A_ChangeTimeline
    • A_AttractX
    • A_AttractY
    • A_Attract
    • A_Sound
    • A_CamStopMove
    • A_CamGravity
    • A_CamMove
    • A_CamMoveTo
    • A_CamFollow
    • A_CamFollowPath
    • A_CamFollowPathVel
    • A_CamLimitMove
    • A_Wait
    • A_SetProps
    • A_AddProps
    • A_TweenProps
    • A_Call
    • A_Create
    • A_Destroy
    • A_FocusScene
    • A_StopMove
    • A_Gravity
    • A_Move
    • A_MoveTo
    • A_MoveWithSpeed
    • A_Follow
    • A_LookAt
    • A_FollowPath
    • A_FollowPathVel
    • A_LimitMove
    • A_SetLinearVelocity
    • A_SetAngularVelocity
    • A_ApplyForce
    • A_ApplyImpulse
    • A_ApplyTorque
  • Actor.setPositionPhysics() deprecated, use setPosition instead
  • Actor.setRotationPhysics deprecated, use setRotation instead
  • Moved getResFromType() out of App and Scene classes into common Utils class
  • Added new Utils.findObjectFromPath() and Utils.resolveObject() which can be used to find actors, scenes, action lists and timelines from a path such as gamescene.actor1.timeline1
  • Added new Utils.findResourceFromPath() and Utils.resolveResource() which can be used to find resources from a path such as gamescene.sound1
  • Added new _atlas, _bitmap, _clip_shape properties to Actor that can use resource paths as well as instances of resources
  • Added new _clip_shape property to Scene that can use resource paths as well as instances of resources
  • Added new _focus_scene and _focus_scene2 properties to App that can use resource paths as well as instances of resources
  • Added vx_damping and vy_damping to scene camera
  • Updated Xoml.js to load new actions lists from Booty5 editor exported JSON format
  • generateExplosion, generatePlume and generateRain now also accept string version of type
  • Logic and rendering decoupled. Logic (app.mainLogic) now ran on timer at default 60 fps whilst and rendering (app.mainDraw) at max frame rate
  • New Actions example added
  • Fix: Animation.Update() locks up when only a single key frame is specified
  • Fix: “none” rescaling method was not working correctly
  • Fix: Box2D forces applied in Actor OnTick were not being applied

Booty5 game maker editor changes v1.8.9b include:

  • Added new property to project section called Fill Window which when set to false will prevent the canvas from being resized to fit browser window. Setting to false is useful if you have a canvas that fits in vertically with other page content as no borders will be shown.
  • Updated events editor
  • IsPath added to Shape properties, which can be used to mark shapes to be used as paths
  • Added actions system and Action List editor to Actors and Scenes
  • Project property Frame Rate now exported
  • Fix: Proportional origins were not working
  • Fix: “Wait for resources” project option not saving correctly
  • Fix: Attempting to export a project that has a brush that points to an image that is not present on disk crashes