KovaaK's 3.5.0 - More FPS, Languages and UI

Creator Tools
We want to remind everyone of the Creator Tools, a space where you can create and submit your own benchmarks and workouts. https://kovaaks.com/kovaaks/benchmark-creator


Thanks to various optimizations on the GPU side as well as a new CPU-friendly "Simple Aim Profile", everyone should see a 14% FPS boost on average. Depending on your computer specs and scenario, the boost can go from 6% to 23%.

[h2]GPU Optimizations[/h2]
We have optimized the texture streaming pool and shaders. On this note, we have renamed the setting "High Quality Textures" to "Texture Streaming" and its tooltip, since it better explains its purpose.

[h2]CPU Optimization[/h2]
[h3]Simple Aim Profile[/h3]
The Simple Aim Profile is now available to all scenario creators. As the name says, it's simpler, so in bots that can get away with it, it'll make the scenario demand less from your CPU. Additionally, when loading suitable scenarios in Challenge mode, the simple aim profile is automatically used, which means this will benefit old scenarios as well! This improvement should be easily noticeable on static clicking scenarios.

[h3]UI Optimization[/h3]
We have optimized some of the HUD, to make gameplay demand less CPU.


We've started integrating Crowdin localization files, expanding our language support to include Portuguese-BR, Chinese Simplified, Russian, German, Spanish, Polish, Ukrainian, French, and Japanese.
https://crowdin.com/project/kovaaks


[h2]Sandbox[/h2]
For some of you it might take a couple of days to get used to, but the sandbox has gone through a few small yet impactful changes that not only make the user-experience more familiar and easier but also opens the door to add cool stuff to it in the future.


[h3]Pause Menu[/h3]
We have made the pause menu a horizontal menu and a topbar, since the previous vertical layout was strange to new users and ended up looking a lot busier compared to the current topbar format. We placed all the game-modes in a dropdown, changed some of the buttons from text to icons and removed some to make the UI much easier to read. We also added a "Player Widget", currently it just shows the player's avatar, username, Supporter status and country flag but we are working on ideas to add more to it on-hover and click, like player info. and stats. You're welcome to suggest ideas on our Discord!

[h3]Sandbox Browser[/h3]

• The Sandbox Browser is now always visible, whether you're in Challenge or Freeplay mode.
  
• We have added a column showing Playlist/Scenario authors and a header to the list of scenarios and playlists and their authors, to make the UI faster to understand at a glance.
  
• Most of the buttons on a list of scenarios/playlists are now only shown on whatever scenario/playlist is active or on-hover, making the menu cleaner yet dynamic.
  
• We have also adjusted padding on all 4 tabs (Online Scenarios, Local Scenarios, Online Playlists, Local Playlists) to increase visual consistency.
  

[h3]Playlists[/h3]
We have added a limit to the height of a playlist description and made the description box scrollable.
Due to your feedback, we have added the name of the playlist in certain situations, like when you're already subscribed to a playlist or when you successfully subscribe to a playlist.

[h3]Texture Picker[/h3]

We have added texture thumbnails both on the VISUALS tab and the Texture Picker menu.
We have fixed the texture color not having live preview.
We have made the word "TINT" more readable.

[h2]KovaaK's Benchmarks, Workouts and Competitions[/h2]
Not only are Benchmarks, Workouts and Competitions free for all KovaaK's players, we have made small yet substantial to its user experience!

• There's now a new Bounding Box setting (on the Visuals tab), the default option still exists but there's a new one named "Outline" that is pretty self-explanatory but also is less GPU demanding for anyone wanting to squeeze all FPS possible. Eventually, we will likely just make the Outline option an actual target Outline feature allowing color customization.
  
• We have added a pitch modifier to sliders. As you adjust a slider, the pitch will go up or down, making using sliders more enjoyable.
  
• With our ongoing Localization project, we have decided to move the language setting to the MAIN tab to make more players aware that we are translating the game into several languages.
  
• When turned on, the scenario name is now visible during the challenge countdown.
  
• When refreshing your workshop scenarios, the game will only write to the local disk when paused, significantly reducing the chances of a stutter when the game finishes refreshing the workshop.
  
• Reduced the installation size a tiny bit.
  

[h3]📣Your Voice, Our Inspiration[/h3]
We're here because of you! Share your gaming highs, your feedback, and your ideas for KovaaK's future. Join the conversation on Twitter, Discord, and Reddit!