ID:2716276
 
It's been another productive week behind the scenes that hasn't looked very productive from the outside. My code cleanup has been progressing considerably and I've been working mostly on the frontend aspects of the map editor, hoping to soon hook that up to the rendering code. A lot of work remains, but to have come even this far so quickly is encouraging. Most of the specifics are highly technical, so I'll go into more of that on Patreon.

The client code is getting a serious cleanup too, though, to the point where GetMapIcons() is gradually turning into a much simpler function. I haven't fully merged it with one of the new workhorses I built to replace some of its functionality, but I've managed to streamline some of the tasks that happen toward the end: purging out-of-bounds icons, sorting, etc. Having cleaner code is a virtue unto itself, which is what I'm most happy with on the client right now. However my work on the frontend of the map editor has brought me closer to the idea that there's even more I can clean up on the client. Some of the bits that have been aggravating to work on in the last few days are the bits that remain most stubborn on the client as well.

The one thing I found disappointing this week was that I didn't really find time to crank out a new maintenance release for 514. That's definitely coming, but it'll come next week.

My expectation with all of this is that I'll continue working hard on the map stuff throughout the weekend, because 1) it's rather interesting, and 2) I've discovered it's taking over my brain to the point of interfering with sleep, so it's better to get the hard parts done and get to the proof-of-concept stage as soon as possible.

The SS13 community has asked me to improve some options for sound on the client, specifically allowing a config setting to select which sound driver to use for MIDI. I don't know if I can do that for MIDI alone or if I'm locked into selecting which sound driver to use for everything at once, but I did some digging and found options I can look into, so... I'll be looking into them, and I'll be doing it for BYOND 514 rather than 515 because it's not the kind of thing that requires a new major version.

So there's a lot to do but a lot that's done, and I'm thankful to those of you who've supported BYOND through Membership and the other donation platforms that allow all this to keep going.

Summer "officially" ends next week but we all know it was really over after Labor Day. School is back in session, the leaves are turning, and pumpkin spice season is upon us. But it's not so bad, because fall has always been special to me and it's especially a great time to enjoy BYOND. So get coding, get playing, and have fun with the season.
Is CEF ever going to be added, or are we stuck with a version of IE that can't even load modern JavaScript libraries? Asking for a friend.
In response to Lavenblade
It will be added at the same time Compile 2 Exe, the Web Client fix and 3D Rendering comes out.
In response to NSBR
NSBR wrote:
It will be added at the same time Compile 2 Exe, the Web Client fix and 3D Rendering comes out.

Oh well, back to other Engines. :(
In response to Lavenblade
I was under the impression that Byond was adopting Microsoft Edge Webview2 instead of CEF.


https://www.patreon.com/posts/spinning-wheel-51813311

I'm not 100 percent sure why Webview2 was used instead of CEF (They're both roughly based on Chromium) but it's possible that Byond is just going to default to whatever copy of webview2 is already on the person's computer, which should make the byond download smaller and not require downloading a whole browser with every byond update.
In response to Atomic1fire
Correct. I'm looking to go with WebView2. I haven't decided if it'll be a static version or evergreen.

The reason for choosing WebView2 over CEF is simplicity. CEF is an absolute nightmare to compile and implement and requires multiprocess crap to work. WebView2 should be much closer to a drop-in replacement for the current technology.
In response to Lummox JR
Lummox JR wrote:
Correct. I'm looking to go with WebView2. I haven't decided if it'll be a static version or evergreen.

The reason for choosing WebView2 over CEF is simplicity. CEF is an absolute nightmare to compile and implement and requires multiprocess crap to work. WebView2 should be much closer to a drop-in replacement for the current technology.

Do you know which version you have this planned for? People have been asking for CEF for a very long time. I'm just curious if this is something that's going to happen soon or not.

Edit: Just for clarification, WebView2 sounds great. Anything that will let us use modern web technologies.
Compile 2 VR when
In response to Lavenblade
I don't have a timeline. I need to update some things before I can even get started on WebView2 and I'm still waiting for some information along with a time when I can safely put it in motion.

But, I really want to get this done sooner rather than later. If I can get started before the end of the year I'll be really happy.
After having been gone for so long and coming back to see all the new games and features, the one thing that amazes me the most is how dedicated you've been to this project, LummoxJR. I'm going to go put on a stack of hats just so I can take them all off to you. Smashing performance!