AppGameKit Studio News

Today we've released a maintenance update to AppGameKit Studio. The main changes focus on the Mac version of Studio, fixes to the Vulkan engine and numerous updates to the third party SDKs. Here are all the details of the update:

Vulkan engine

• Fixed a memory leak when Vulkan apps were minimized
  
• Fixed a crash with Vulkan when using GetImage before any call to Sync or Swap
  

Mac platform

• Fixed Mac rendering to the bottom left corner of the window on retina displays
  
• Updated Mac full screen window code to be more reliable
  
• Fixed Mac IDE not being able to run apps when sandboxed
  
• Restored Android export in the Mac IDE via a separate download
  

Windows Android Export

• Fixed some Windows machines reporting error 0xc000007b when exporting an APK due to a missing DLL
  

Shadow Fix

• Fixed SetObjectReceiveShadow being set to 0 still overwriting object texture stages with shadow maps
  

Third party SDKs

• Updated AdMob SDK to version 7.58.0 on iOS
  
• Updated Chartboost SDK to version 8.1.0 on iOS
  
• Updated AmazonAds SDK to version 3.0.0 on iOS
  
• Updated Firebase SDK to version 6.22.0 on iOSAdded Vulkan support to iOS
  
• Removed Facebook SDK in favour of the ShareText/ShareImage commands
  

 

Today we're releasing a large update to AppGameKit Studio. The main changes are the cross platform support of the Vulkan renderer and a swave of changes to the main editor.

Here are all the details of this new and significant update:

Vulkan rendering

• Added Vulkan support to iOS
  
• Added Vulkan support to Mac
  
• Added Vulkan support to Linux
  
• Added partial Vulkan support to Android - PlayVideoToImage, SetDeviceCameraToImage, and Augmented Reality are not supported with Android Vulkan
  
• On all platforms, any device that does not support Vulkan will drop back to OpenGL automatically
  
• Fixed shadows not working on the Windows Vulkan renderer if depth clamping is not available
  
• Fixed SetShadowCascades not applying the given values
  
• Modified shadow algorithm so that the shadow bias can now be set much lower for cascade shadow maps, reducing the gap between objects and shadows
  

Android Player App

• The Android player will always use OpenGL ES for maximum compatibility, exported apps can choose to use Vulkan by using #renderer "Advanced"
  

Android

• Fixed an error where the Android APK export feature would lock up from time to time
  
• Improved Android background behaviour so apps will pause and resume faster when sent to background
  
• Updated Android to target API 29 as required by Google
  

MacOS

• Fixed export of APK or IPA. Could hang on second and subsequent attempts
  

Zip Commands

• Fixed unzipping issue - 64-bit unzip with passwords
  

Scene Editor

• Added undo to rotations actions
  

Editor

• Improved performance when using event based rendering
  
• Make sure all properties changes are saved
  
• Pressing Control+D in the IDE can sometimes cause a crash in the IDE
  
• Fixed a random crash when right clicking on an item and then choosing go to definition
  
• Now display the normal mouse pointer when over scrollbars
  
• Reset the cursor position when closing/opening a agc file
  
• Make sure code properties parameters entries are correct before opening the code properties window
  
• Created a larger area to select line text, when mouse over line numbers. margin moved a little bit.
  
• Fixed - Goto Definition search order, current file - open files in current project - open files all projects - all files current project - all files
  
• Fixed - Sometimes CTRL-Tab didn't work as it should, this has been recoded and should much better now.
  
• Auto complete would sometimes hide the line you are typing
  
• Fixed an issue where Close Source File would not work on a new Source File
  
• Added - "Go To Definition" Scan for same files already opened in a tab, even if not in same project.
  
• Fixed - Pasting code at end of file caused the editor to jump to the first line
  
• Fixed multiple issues with scene editor (https://github.com/TheGameCreators/AGK-Studio/issues/619)
  

Linux

• Added clipboard support to the Linux version
  

Networking

• Fixed CopyNetworkMessage failing to copy messages that were not fully read
  
• Copied network messages can now be read and added to
  
• Added AddNetworkMessageBye and GetNetworkMessageByte
  

Misc

• Increased the maximum local notifications to 100
  
• Deprecated SetScreenResolution due to lack of support in newer renderers
  
• Added an error if the Mod command is used with a divisor of 0 to avoid a crash
  

iOS

• iOS now defaults to allowing audio from background apps to continue
  
• iOS Tier 2 projects have been updated to use launch storyboards instead of images
  
• iOS export has been updated to use a launch logo instead of a splash image, the logo will be centered on screen in any orientation
  

NOTE: Apple have made this release very difficult for us as they have introduced new notarization requirements that mean we can no longer support Android export in the Mac version. We've also seen at least one machine that forces the IDE to run in a sandbox which breaks local app running, so if you experience any issues please let us know.

We hope you enjoy this all new version and if you find any issues please report them direct to the development team via the GitHub issues board.

Here's the final 2019 update for AppGameKit Studio.

Read all the details here:

• Fixed GetRendererName incorrectly reporting Vulkan as OpenGLES
  
• Fixed CopyNetworkMessage failing to copy messages that were created locally
  
• Added GetNetworkClientIP to return the IP address of a network client
  
• Added GetNetworkServerIP to return the IP address of the server
  
• Fixed #import_plugin causing the #renderer value to be ignored
  
• Fixed edit boxes not being selectable if FixEditBoxToScreen and SetViewOffset are used
  
• Reverted fix to GetSpriteHitTest and GetSpriteHit which changed previous functionality, use the ScreenToWorld commands when using SetViewOffset instead
  
• Added commands to get the state of the fourth and fifth mouse buttons on Windows if available
  

IDE Changes

• Added HTML5 export!
  
• Fixed errors when using editboxes in the scene editor
  
• Fixed backslash issues in debug variables
  
• Fixed shift select when using the mouse
  

We've released a huge update of AppGameKit Studio today that fixes lots of issues and brings new features. Read all the details here:

General

• Added - Only allow one instance of Windows AppGameKit Studio Studio to run.
  
• Added - Parse command line parameters and support opening projects by double clicking .agk files in explorer.
  

Rendering

• Reinstated the ClearDepthBuffer command to clear the depth buffer in the middle of a frame
  
• Fixed a bug in Vulkan where using SetRenderToImage without a depth buffer could cause the color image to not clear correctly
  
• Fixed textured sprites or objects sometimes flickering between their assigned image and a black transparent image when using Vulkan
  
• Fixed shadows sometimes becoming corrupt when drawing multiple boned objects
  
• Using SetObjectShader(ID,0) on a quad will now return it to the default quad shader
  
• Added GetRendererName() command to return the name of the current renderer
  
• Added #renderer "None" to create a windowless app (Windows only), graphics commands will not work but Swap must be called every frame and it will use the SetSyncRate value to limit the frame rate
  

Virtual Buttons

• Fixed virtual button presses being offset from the button when SetViewOffset is used
  

Input

• Fixed GetSpriteHitTest and GetSpriteHit not reporting the correct values when SetViewOffset is used
  
• Fixed SetRawMousePosition on Mac not immediately setting the new mouse position
  

Android

• Fixed some keys not being recognised on Android physical keyboards
  

Memblocks

• Fixed SetMemblockByteSigned incorrectly truncating values to the range -127 to 128 instead of -128 to 127
  

Fonts

• Fixed GetSystemFontPath sometimes causing a crash if the path contained backslashes
  

HTML5

• HTML5 apps can now use SaveSharedVariable and LoadSharedVariable to store persistent data in cookies
  

Help Files

• Fixed many help file spelling mistakes
  

Exporting

• Fixed iOS export failing during submission to Apple
  
• Added old Android versions to the APK export dialog
  

Mac

• Mac apps now use a write path based on the .app filename instead of a generic name shared by all apps
  
• Fixed Google Play Games achievements not displaying a popup when you unlock an achievement
  
• Fixed - Mac IPA Export. Some files could have extended attributes or resource forks, this is now removed.
  

Editor

• DLC menu added to main menu to quickly find DLC files
  
• Enhancement - Studio now allows you to open project files over different network paths.
  
• Fixed - Inconsistency fixed when using forward or back slash characters in "add new source file to project" fixed.
  Enhancement - You can now "word" select text. Double click on a word and then hold down left mouse button and move to select more code in word sections
  
• Added - "Go To Definition" or CTRL+T will now align the function near the top of the editor.
  
• Fixed a problem affecting moving between source file tabs
  
• When a word is highlighted and then press shift+arrow right, the cursor now moves to the end of the word
  
• Improved the display of comments surrounded by /* and
• /
  
• Fixed a bug causes all text to show as comments
  
• If search finds a result in the current file it will no longer load up another instance of it
  
• Added this search feature - when double clicking a search result it highlights, so if your search returns multiple results you know which one you selected last.
  
• Autocomplete of functions now allows unlimited suggestions
  
• Project settings are now saved as soon as you export your project.
  

IDE

• Fixed - Code Folding bug when auto completion popup.
  
• Fixed - If last compiled source was closed and you click on a message in "messages" Studio no longer crashes
  
• Fixed - When selecting go to definition, "function" is now placed at the top of the screen instead of at bottom
  

Scene Editor

• Added - new scene commands - "scene_create_window(0)" disables setting up windows and "scene_create_window(1)" this is the default that sets up your window for you. If you get error "..._create_window" is not a recognised function or command, open your scene and click "save" ).
  
• Fixed - Empty Virtual Button Text kept changing back to Click if edited to a blank text.
  
• Fixed - After adding a new resolution, the scene file was not marked as changed, so the resolution was not saved.
  
• Added - Hidden layers are no longer copied when you select sprites in the scene
  
• Fixed - Re-arrange arrays before saving scene files.
  
• If you get error "..._create_window" is not a recognised function or command, open your scene and click "save"
  

Debugger

• Added array.length to the valid list of debug variables
  
• Debug call stack will now point to the line a function was called rather than the start of the function
  
• Enhancement - Debugger now allows breakpoints from files not part of the current project (#include files).
  
• Added - Errors that are displayed while debugging with SetErrorMode(1) are now shown in red
  
• Fixed Bug - Copy log to clipboard, now work as intended
  
• Added - Right click a single line in message window will allow "Copy to Clipboard"
  
• Added - Debugger Your defined run key (normally F5) will work as continue whe in debug mode.
  
• Added - Debugger Your defined Step Into key (normally F10) , will work as Step Out when also pressing shift.
  

Misc

• Fixed - Inconsistencies in the .agk file tidied up.
  

 

The recently released AppGameKit Particle Editor has just had a new update which adds extra functions to help you control how the effects work in your apps. 

These are the new functions and fixes:

• deleteEffect: This deletes all associated images, render textures and particle geometry and frees up the ID for re-use 
  
• setGlobalPivot: This is similar to the setGlobalPosition function but it doesn't move already emitted particles. With this method, projectiles or other moving effects can be moved continuously over long distances without having to deal with existing emitted particles being moved around too. Vector and noise fields still move with the pivot as usual
  
• setLineLocal: This sets the end positions of a line/beam emitter without repositioning the effect's global position
  
• The functions now correctly check if the ID given to them is invalid. So if you haven't checked if an ID reports back as false then this is all handled for you
  
• The init function will check if you forgot to copy the necessary particle geometry files to the effects folder and returns a false -1 error message if it's the case
  
• An inaccuracy bug in the reflections has been fixed
  
• Hybernation kicking in one tick too soon for effects with very short particle lifetimes has been fixed
  
• There's a totally new demo file, with a small scene that shows some of the new features like pivot positioning for projectiles and moving a laser beam without moving it's particles. Here's a video of it in action:
  

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This update is now available to owners of the AppGameKit - Particle Editor DLC!