The v1.5 update is complete, and will be available for download on Xbox 360 and Windows 8 PC within 7-14 days.

This update is months worth of hard work, and progress on the Hazzah Engine that has resulted in a colossal amount of bug fixes, new features and performance improvements. At the base of this post, the change log is also posted.

It is worth mentioning also, that the v1.4 update intended to be a maintenance update between v1.3 for Xbox and Windows 8 and v1.5 has been rolled into the v1.5 update.

Top 3 Features:

1) New creative inventory system. 3 Separate windows replaced with 2 windows, with 11 windows worth of content.

2) Vertical slabs, and Horizontal slabs are a new way to build without the traditional 1x1x1 size limit. 9 Permutations of each ensure maximum creative potential.

3) Performance improvements, that increase the idle frame rate by almost 200%, reduce micro-stutters and improve stability in high stress environments such as large multiplayer sessions, and thousands of simultaneous explosions.

This update continues to make BlockWorld a unique experience, and gives world builders a much larger toolbox to work with, and gives us at 2.0 Studios a great base to add dozens of new permutations to the creative roster. See the vertical slabs? Notice there are 3 kinds of wood, stone and also dirt? The engine supports these in EVERY non Alpha permutation! Want book shelf vertical slab? Want dynamite slab? Let us know!

Getting an exact block count for BlockWorld is now impossible. How should we count it? Core types such as ladders, steps, thin, thick and vertical slabs multiplied by permutations? Do you consider ever separate colour to be a permutation of what it is applied to, like Minecraft’s colours? Do you count theoretical types that could be added by console? Or empty spaces on the sprite sheet that could be filled by modders? Either way, it’s in the thousands, and our customers will disagree on the best way to count them.

Another change is the way the Dyes work. Dyes are now additive, with approx. 5 stages of colour before reaching full intensity. Mix and match various colours to achieve new shades, and variations of existing blocks and permutations in your worlds. Existing dyes in worlds will be retained in this new update.

The save format has also been modified. This is a direct response to Windows 8 users modifying game files, and accessing save data of v1.3 of BlockWorld. We’ve busted down the limitation of 5 Singleplayer and (5 Multiplayer for Xbox) worlds! Worlds now require unique names, and are stored in an infinite scrolling list. If you know where to find the files, you can fish them out and share them. We’ll devise something a little more user friendly later on, but you PC guys are already proving to be pretty DIY. We embrace that.

We’ve also made a discovery on Xbox. Images taken with the camera are saved in high resolution among the world data. The trick to getting these out is usage of a little Xbox modding tool named “Modio“. You can bust through the encryption on flash keys with BlockWorld saves, retrieve the isolated storage and crack it open to reveal the tasty save files within. Fun fact: Shove this data into the storage location on Windows 8, and you’ve just migrated save data from Xbox to PC! We’ve had no luck moving save data the other way though.
Important Notice: We don’t officially support this. If you corrupt your world, violate your warranty or set fire to your car, we won’t help you. However here’s the tools, so go nuts and be sure to make lots of backups.

This post is already masive. Time to chop it off! See you guys with CraftWorld news very soon! (And remember, all of these additions, and improvements to BlockWorld and the Hazzah Engine also effect CraftWorld)

Thanks for reading!

 

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v1.5 Change log [BlockWorld Xbox/Windows 8]
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The v1.5 update was a huge stability and performance update, with an excessive amount of new content added at the same time.

Note: The v1.4 update was scheduled to be an update released betwixt v1.3 and v1.5, but due to large engine changes, and additional game breaking bugs found by peer reviewers and testers, this update was cancelled and became a part of v1.5.

Fixes:

• Music rebooting every 10 seconds
• Music volume changes randomly during playback
• Music failing to play in rare instances
• AO lighting glitches present on block data
• AO Lighting missing from non-block based world objects, eg. slabs
• Sign editing crash, when arbitrarily removing signs from the world
• Doors save open/closed state correctly
• Micro stutter caused by player controller. This fix has doubled the frame rate from an unstable 30fps, to a buttery smooth 60fps
• Camera Jitter, causing additional micro stutter reducing frame rate to below 30 fps at high peak performance.
• Damage crack rendering is no longer “floating” from blocks
• Damage cracks vanish faster when they are minimal
• Damage crack system is re-written to cover more complex objects such stairs, while dropping to older simpler more performant system in difficult situations.
• World selection screen is no longer bound to slots
• Options screens no longer dump out to blackness
• Calibration screen no longer repeatedly shows itself
• Reduced network search options, to increase number or available games
• Crash bug, when starting a network game moments after searching for one
• “Air Dying”, dying of empty blocks, that would then change the colour of blocks placed at those points.
• Boot message returned. Getting booted will flag users as griefers.
• Menu transitions are 40%, making them more responsive
• Menus may be interacted during transitions, making them more responsive
• Raft added to Xbox Version, placement code no longer causes “Launching”
• Loading times reduced
• Wood bucket texture is now wood.
• Quantities of explosives greater than 5000 no longer cause rare crashes.
• Background thread may self reboot in case of crash.
• Water propagation is now more reliable, and runs faster.
• Engine now supports non 16×16 region sizes. Setting for this on PC will be added later.
• Physics engine no longer bound to fixed time step. Smoother performance
• Players may no longer spawn underground
• Persistent position saves. In network games, you return to your last location, or near if it has been edited.
• Screen double loading, resulting in screens dumping to nothing fixed.
• Rare lighting propagation issue, causing phantom lighting sources resolved.

Additions:

 

• “Tab” based creative inventories to expand maximum item set
• Block page 1, with cleaner layout of blocks
• Block page 2, with new block types to use
• Block page 3, with plants and vines
• Block page 4, with new horizontal slab permutations
• Block page 5, with new vertical slab permutations
• Block page 6, with new stair and ladder permuations
• Block page 7, with fences and gates
• Item page 1, with all dyes
• Item page 2, with all physics driven objects/toys
• Item page 3, with tools and miscelaneous objects
• Stick, gold rod, admantium rod and steel rod.
• Emtpy bucket is back at request of community
• Raft to single player. BlockWorld’s first vehicle.
• Shiny steel block
• Sandstone brick block
• Braced timber block
• Gothic stone block
• Braced wood portal block
• Wool Block
• Cloth Block
• Double slab block
• Cracked brick block
• Mossy Brick Block
• Cushioned Cube
• Ivy, climbable and placeable like a ladder
• Vines, climbeable and placeable like a ladder
• Chainlink, climbable and placeable like a ladder
• Added Cactus block
• Slabs are now permutable, with 7 permutations availbile
• Vertical slabs added, with 7 permutations
• Solid ladder permuation of ladders
• Reduced splash screen loading time
• Player persistence, return to the same or similar location in a world you have already visited
• Slab placements are now additive, allowing new way of building worlds beyond the traditional block by block approach
• Tarmac block, for making roads. Community requested
• Tarmac stripe block, for roads, community requested
• Tarmac cross bloc, for roads, community requested
• Advertising for Windows 8 version of BlockWorld
• Players can now crouch. Animation is work in progress.
• Drop item button now added. You can drop held inventory objects.
• Controller screen added to BlockWorld for Xbox

Changes:

• Dyes are now additive with approx. 5 layers to reach full intensity
• Texture for steel ladders replaced
• Texture for wood ladders replaced
• BlockWorld banner changed, more readable
• File format moved to COSMOS layout, allowing more worlds than 5 in future updates
• Replaced placeholder art in find game screen
• Completely new networking infrastructure with little dependence on XNA, to support multiplayer on Windows 8 very soon.
• Slabs now support rotation. Subtle patterns may now be created by placing slabs
• Full blocks may be built using slab addition, which will result in rotated blocks if used correctly.
• Network info pane now shows host, superfan, and developers more clearly…
• New Box art and promo material.

Cut from v1.5:

Some features and new items could not be included in this already large update due to bugs, time constraints or stability and performance issues. These will be added later despite already being worked on during v1.5.

• Paintball gun, due to performance
• Network synchronized physics objects, due to instabilities

Note: We’re putting the price back to normal on Xbox and Windows within a few days. Take advantage of the discount ASAP to save 50% on Windows 8 or get the Xbox version for only 80 ms points.