AVALANCHE!

After many months of delays, the new AVALANCHE is finally here. You can download the full distribution here. If you already have v0.1-v0.4 of AVALANCHE and want to upgrade to this version (which is v0.5, by the way), you can get this instead. A new AVALANCHE SDK has been released with this version, as well, which you can download here. The new SDK includes numerous buildable sample maps and models (including new player models), and a very comprehensive guide on how to create and modify content for AVALANCHE. Here's a list of what's new in this version.

• Player costumes are exposed through the inventory item interface. A new costume is now buyable at the Mako Forge. Costume model courtesy of Steve30avs.
• Light vector maps with scale-and-biased per pixel specular offsets (new static lighting).
• New types of light grids and smoother light grid sampling (static lighting improvements).
• Modulated shadows can be cast in accordance to light grid samples for objects within ambient light volumes.
• Reworked fragment depth handling, now support both linear and non-linear depths.
• New soft dynamic shadow options.
• FSAA/MSAA is now supported with HDR enabled, on hardware that allows it.
• New expression system for specifying mathematical parameters on texture shaders (works for blends, UV deforms, and a variety of other things).
• Texture shaders now support animating texture frames, individually for each pass and texture unit.
• Fragment depth-based fogging with multiple blend modes and fragment masks/raytracing.
• Texture shaders now allow the geometry's vertex program to be overridden.
• Fixed an OGG streaming/timing bug that was more apparent on some systems than others.
• Support for compressed in-memory animations (animations can be compressed in mesh2rdm or the animation editor).
• Numerous software optimizations to the fixed function pipeline rendering path.
• When running mods, the mod name is now appended to the main window title.
• New model Level of Detail system, for vast scenes with multiple complex models.
• New game-side systems for rigid body physics and stable rotating/translating of arbitrary meshes.
• Quadtrees are now fully utilized in the AVALANCHE engine branch (support for generating them has existed in mesh2rdm for a long time).
• More robust error/warning messages regarding problems with assets (like missing textures) to the log window in developer mode.
• Optimized (for speed and memory consumption) and re-organized model handling.
• Optimized vertex/index buffer handling and added new logic for sharing buffers - memory consumption is decreased.
• Revamped the AVALANCHE SDK. It now includes sample maps and player models, along with tools and batches to build them.

As you can see, quite a few things have made their way into this release. A big thing in the new SDK is the inclusion of the full AVALANCHE skeleton rig and sample player models. I hope to see a new player model or two come from this. I happen to know that someone (who, amazingly, isn't me) is working on an incredible new Tifa model as we speak, so you will most likely be seeing that in another AVALANCHE release one of these days. Until then, sit back and enjoy your brand new v0.5.

Comments

17 comments in total.
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#7

Rich Whitehouse

April 26, 2009 at 4:55 pm (CST)
Sure, you're free to distribute/mirror the files. However, I would prefer to be responsible for any installer/front-end type software myself. I've allowed thirdparty software/distributions for projects like that in the past, and it has been a support nightmare.


#6

Chris

April 26, 2009 at 10:43 am (CST)
Also, out of curiosity, do you have any rules against people mirroring your download?

I had thought about compiling an installable image and hosting it on my own site, but of course, I can't do any of that without your permission.


#5

Rich Whitehouse

April 25, 2009 at 10:12 pm (CST)
I can't say I'd really given thought to it, no. I suppose people do like those sorts of things, though.


#4

Chris

April 25, 2009 at 8:47 pm (CST)
This game is amazing, I mean, it took me a couple of minutes to figure the controls properly, but the game is really, truly, playable, it's fun, it's pretty in it's simplicity, the engine works well and I have to be honest, it's nice to finally see a decent quality Final Fantasy fan game.

Had you thought about distributing a disc image with an installable version?

It doesn't take long to compile one.


#3

Rich Whitehouse

April 25, 2009 at 9:45 am (CST)
Yeah, the keyboard menu controls are pretty confusing, it's really meant to be played with a gamepad. But by default, spacebar (since it's "jump") accepts menu selections, and Z backs out of menus. In terms of what the menu help icons mean relating to keyboard bindings:
P = right shift
K = right control
J = spacebar
I = Z
C = Q
Stick = W/A/S/D


#2

Orochi

April 25, 2009 at 8:52 am (CST)
It's cool...
But what do I press to start the New game ?


#1

Shades

April 23, 2009 at 3:16 pm (CST)
Finally.


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