====== L3DT 2.3b available ======

Many thanks to the beta-testers, who did a great job of stress-testing all the new features (and suggesting new ones). There have been a large number of changes from 2.3a to 2.3b, most of which are listed on the [[bundydocs>l3dt:history:v2.3b|release history]] page. Below I have summarised the key changes.

===== Registration =====

L3DT has been split into two releases. On the [[http://www.bundysoft.com/L3DT/downloads.php|downloads page]] you can find the installer for L3DT //Standard Edition//. This version includes all the commonly used features, and is intended to be sufficient for most users' needs.

For expert users and developers, there is also a //Professional Edition// (still in beta-release). This version includes some of the more advanced, experimental, or just plain untested features, and is available via [[http://www.bundysoft.com/L3DT/downloads/professional.php#eval|free registration]].

A break-down of features in the two versions is included on the <del>registration page</del> [[bundydocs>l3dt:editions|comparison page]].

===== Texture splatting =====

...is now supported. Please refer to the [[bundydocs>l3dt:userguide:ops:alpha|alpha map tutorial]] for more info.

===== File input and output =====

There have been a great number of improvements on the file I/O front, most notably:

  * A nice new [[bundydocs>l3dt:userguide:io:export:active|export wizard]], which allow you resize the map, and also split it into tiles.
  * An exporter for heightfields as 16-bit PNG images.

===== Backwards compatibility =====

I have discontinued native support for the TNF ([[bundydocs>l3dt:formats:specs:tnf|terrain normals file]]) and LMF ([[bundydocs>l3dt:formats:specs:lmf|light map file]]), both of which have been wholly superseded by the bitmap, JPEG and PNG formats. If you load an old map that contains a TNF and/or LMF, you will not be able to save the map unless you first open the [[bundydocs>l3dt:userguide:io:preferences|file preferences dialog]] and select another format for the terrain normals map and/or the light map. By default, L3DT now uses JPEG for both.

{{tag>release PNG alpha_maps}}