ID:2139073
 
A new release is out today. Version 511.1354 adds some important DS fixes, including yet another sneaky pixel gliding issue that managed to survive the last round of fixes. The webclient now has support for the Any macro as well.

With the new release I also added some experimental maptext caching in DS, which should make redraws faster when the text doesn't change from frame to frame. This should help for cases where people are using multiple copies of maptext to form an outline. (The webclient already has this caching.) I'm still trying to figure out how I'll implement stuff like outlines and shadows via CSS and maptext effects; I know what I need filter-wise but the maptext code has to be altered to be more aware of how all this works, and to be able to composite multiple "layers" of maptext together in case the effect is done in only a specific part of the text. (For instance, a shadow applied to just one word would mean maptext would have to draw the words leading up to it, then create a new surface to draw the shadowed text on, apply the shadow, combine it with the previous words, then go back do drawing regular words. Or some variation on that whole approach, anyway.)

There's also a long-requested feature in place now that improves cursor support in DS, which should help set the stage for changes to grids and statpanels. I looked into animated cursors too, but it seems the Windows API is dreadfully quiet about how to do that, so that's going to take more work if support is ever added there.

Last week I mentioned that I'd started looking into libcurl; what I found is that it may not be the ideal choice, except for the possibility of using it for downloads. It won't solve the problem of eventually wanting to add SSL support to the webclient, for which it looks like I'll need a different library; I've been looking around. (The basic problem here is that libcurl is a client library, not a server lib.) However there's probably still a point to adding libcurl, at least for the purpose of being able to download files from a remote server via SSL--whether in the pager's case, for installing games, or in the case of world.Export() where it's often desirable to be able to parse a webpage.

Hey, everyone! My BYONDiversary is coming up. That'll be Thursday, so unfortunately it doesn't coincide with my next development news post, but it'll be a big deal all the same. I'm inclined to do something special for the occasion, but I have to give that some thought. This is a great time for all us old-timers to dust off old projects and give them some love, and that reminds me that Scream of the Stickster Volume II is still in the process of undergoing some upgrades for all of BYOND's new features. For giggles, I've also been thinking over what a next-gen version of Incursion might do for terrain generation; that might be a fun side project to take on, but no promises.
Pack it up boys, we headin to BYONDcon
Goodness, Lummox. It's hard to believe it's been fifteen years since you showed up here with piletiler and impressed the lot of us.
Lummox JR wrote:
I looked into animated cursors too, but it seems the Windows API is dreadfully quiet about how to do that, so that's going to take more work if support is ever added there.

The Windows API seems keen on using .ani files for such things. You could of course work some magic and transform a .dmi icon state into .ani format in memory, and then load the animated cursor from memory. Enjoy, you silly masochist.

Last week I mentioned that I'd started looking into libcurl [...] (The basic problem here is that libcurl is a client library, not a server lib.)

For the server part, libonion is very much actively maintained and provides SSL support. I know how you like your C libraries. Side note: OpenSSL just released version 1.1.0 yesterday.
Yeah, I'm getting tired of shit getting flagged.
If users are experiencing some sort of lag I need more specific feedback and lots of it, maybe a test case also.
I've found that 511 clients to 510 servers sometimes have odd lag, but 511 clients to 511 servers report much better performance.

One user who couldn't stand a server tick rate of 40 without the game shuttering so bad it was basically 10fps on 510:510 could handle 60fps on 511:511 without too much issue.
Lummox JR wrote:
There's also a long-requested feature in place now that improves cursor support in DS, which should help set the stage for changes to grids and statpanels. I looked into animated cursors too, but it seems the Windows API is dreadfully quiet about how to do that, so that's going to take more work if support is ever added there.


YESS