L3DT version 2.6 beta release

Hi Everyone,

The beta release of L3DT version 2.6 is now available for download, in both Standard and Professional flavours. The expected release date for the final build of L3DT version 2.6 is nominally mid-September.

If you're not sure how to download updates, please see the updates FAQ.

The main changes from the previous stable release (v2.5c) are listed on the development plan, but I've included some of the highlights below:

There have been major changes to the multi-threaded calculations to fix stability issues with mosaic-map builds. I've now logged hundreds of hours of testing of L3DT's multi-threaded mosaic-map calculations on a quad-core Intel Q6600, and I'm completely satisfied that the cache bugs have all been fixed. For multi-core performance benchmarks, please see this page.

All versions of L3DT now include the Atlas2 exporter plugin, which supports both blended and unique textured Atlas generation. The exporter is now accessible using the 'Atlas' button on the toolbar. Please refer to the TGEA tutorial for more info.

There are lots of new goodies for Spring mappers in the new Professional Edition, including:

• Import and export support for SD7/SMF/SMT, and export-only support for SMD.
• A new Spring Mapping wizard, which organises and automates the process of making maps for Spring (see 'Spring' button on toolbar). The tutorial for using this new wizard is currently being re-written to refelect these changes.
• Countless bug-fixes for the SMD/SMF export plugins.

The required changes have been made to allow L3DT to run properly under Vista's User Access Control (UAC) system, including moving volatile settings from protected folders and registry keys to non-protected ones (i.e. HKLM→HKCU, PROGRAMFILES→APPDATA, etc.) Extensive testing has been performed under 32- and 64-bit versions of Vista Business and Enterprise, and no further issues were identified.

Changes have also been made to improve support for L3DT in Linux using the WINE compatibility layer, including the disabling by default of a plugin that is not available in non-NT operating systems (ZeoPerfMonNT). I and others have successfully installed and run L3DT Standard and Professional in Ubuntu 8.04. However, some users have reported (easily fixable) problems with file paths under Ubuntu 8.04 and Slackware 12.1, as as seen in this forum thread. For more information, please refer to the L3DT in Linux page.

• Added brushes for painting the texture and attributes maps, for both L3DT (2D) and Sapphire (3D) windows.
• Added 'leveller' and 'level at' heightfield brushes to Sapphire, for building platforms, walls, etc. See here for pics.
• Made the mouse scrollwheel change the brush radius in L3DT, as it already did in Sapphire.

• Added 'tabbed' map view, for switching maps in main window. See here for screenshots.
• Added toolbar buttons for image drape, TGEA export, Spring wizard.
• Added user interface for georefererencing settings. See here for more info.
• Added 'heightfield size' wizard, and revised 'design map size' wizard.
• Added 'spin' (up/down) buttons to many dialog boxes, to make it easier to increase/decrease values.
• Added 'Edit→Screen capture→to clipboard' and 'Edit→Screen capture→to file' options to menus in both L3DT and Sapphire.

Please refer to the development plan for the full list of changes.

To the best of my knowledge and testing, this beta release is more stable, usable and bug-free than the previous stable release of L3DT 2.5c. However, I can't be sure of that until more users have downloaded it and tried it out. Thus, I would greatly appreciate it if you would do so, and report any bugs that you find. I would also appreciate any feedback that you'd care to give, either good or bad.

Best regards, Aaron.