ID:2281959
 
This week I've been hard at work dealing with all things filter-related, and I think the new feature is in pretty decent shape for the moment. Garbage collection is all set, the new filter() proc is in place, setting filters at compile-time works, and they can be animated. Yes, animated! Documentation is still on the to-do list obviously, but I'm saving that for the very last minute.

All that remains, besides eventually adding it to the webclient, is deciding what other filters are desirable in this first pass. That's not an easy question because there are a few ideas I had in mind, but on careful consideration I'm not sure they're practical--things like bevels and specular lighting. All of those take multiple passes and are probably not going to function well if they're used indiscriminately, which I know is exactly what will happen. So some thought is needed there. For the moment, I have Gaussian blur, outline, and drop shadow, and those are pretty good to start with. 1D Gaussian blur with a direction is likely as an addition; although it's technically motion blur, I'm not sure I can realistically call it that since it blurs both ways.

Another thing on my to-do list is to revisit the new operators added early in the development cycle for 512, because I had planned to introduce new instructions that would simplify working with those. It's time to make good on that and add those instructions, and double-check that the code being produced isn't including any unnecessary cruft.

I really want to push 512 out soon, so that means deciding on what last features need to go in before the release. I can think of a couple minor ones, but the next--and I think last for 512--big one is better resource handling, expanding on preload_rsc's capabilities. I could use your input on this, so if you run a game with a lot of resources I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you'd like to see changed from the current behavior.

Beyond that I'd like to look again at the screen_loc stuff I was working on, to see how doable it is to get all that into 512. Some of it presented quite a challenge and I jumped tracks to other stuff in the meantime, but I don't like leaving things half-finished.

If you aren't a BYOND Member yet, August is a great month to get on board. Lots of games will probably see awesome end-of-summer blowout sessions, and come September when the rain comes there's nothing better than sitting back with a beloved game and pwning some noobs. (Is that dated now? It feels dated.) Thanks to everyone who's been a part of this summer, which is not over yet, and I can't wait to see what you'll do with the new features coming your way.
Outlines and blurs! The hype! I'm excited about the drop shadows the most, actually!
OUTLINES AND BLURS!!
How about some screenshots and gifs in these devlogs (and in the documentation, now that I think about it)? These are very visual effects that people probably don't comprehend without seeing.
omg["Function chaining & the ability to access lists directly!"]:yasss():basedGods()
In response to Kaiochao
Kaiochao wrote:
How about some screenshots and gifs in these devlogs (and in the documentation, not that I think about it)? These are very visual effects that people probably don't comprehend without seeing.


Probably more that it's best to wait for them to be finalized and let the community make cool examples than what I imagine is some shapes on a basic map. Images in the reference would be kinda cool, no gifs though, ew.
Agreed on both points -- the reference could use some images, but please for the love of God no gifs.

Glad to hear 512 is so close to beta!
In response to Kaiochao
Kaiochao wrote:
How about some screenshots and gifs in these devlogs (and in the documentation, now that I think about it)? These are very visual effects that people probably don't comprehend without seeing.

Second this
I had to read it a second time, no clue on how you're going to beat this update.
Which is terrifying in its own sense.