I’ve updated Daggerfall Workshop with a new template and some extra tech under the hood. This is still a work in progress, please forgive any kinks while I iron them out.

The Daggerfall Tools for Unity Features page has also had a major facelift. Check it out!

The 1.3.x preview release will be up in a few more days, over coming weekend at the latest. I’m stomping more bugs than expected and making some last-minute improvements. This is also my busy time of year (end of financial year here in Australia) so I’ve got some heavy work on from all sides.

In the meantime, keep an eye on the Github page as I’ll be checking in code frequently leading up to first 1.3.x preview build.

I also want to offer a partial retraction regarding my earlier statement about the number of batches being 10x improved over previous version. This turns out to be highly variable based on the number of lights affecting objects, shadows, time of day, etc. The real figure is closer to 5-10x less. It’s still a great improvement, but I don’t want to mislead anyone if possible.

Daggerfall Tools for Unity 1.3 is almost done. This version has a whole swag of improvements for developers to play with. Here’s the summary of new features.

Extending

• Events have been added to key locations throughout the library. It should be easier than ever to write custom code to extend Daggerfall Tools for Unity without changing the core library.
• I have started moving over to prefabs for non-static elements such as enemies, lights, hinged doors, etc. This will also help developers extend these elements more easily.

Materials

• Overhauled material loading and caching system. The new material system now uses a pair of structures to request a material and receive results, rather than complex methods with a dozen in/out parameters.
• Have moved to the Unity 5 Standard shader everywhere possible. A unified shader means simpler processes and better batching. It also means Physically Based Shading and real-time Global Illumination is possible. This could prove a huge boon for texture artists seeking to improve the quality of Daggerfall’s materials.
• Normal maps can now be auto-generated for materials.
• Emission maps are auto-generated for windows and bright materials such as fireplaces and lights.
• Faster loading and processing of all materials.

Billboard System

• Now using geometry shader with animation support for all surface billboards. Dungeons and interiors are still using standalone billboards for now.

Batching

• The number of render batches and state changes required to draw a scene is now around 10x less. Therefore scenes which required approx. 5000 batches in 1.2 now require less than 500 in 1.3.

Image Processing

• The texture loader can perform image processing using a matrix convolution filter.
• Events allow you to setup your own image filtering when textures are loaded.

Builds

• Softer coupling to Arena2 folder, allowing developers to release static scenes without contents of Arena2. An example would be a standalone dungeon game. Obviously procedural elements will require Arena2 folder.
• Arena2 folder can now be stored in _Data folder for standalone Windows, Linux, and Mac builds. WebPlayer builds must continue using Resources method.
• Added very early support for WebGL builds for static scenes only. Supporting procedural scenes in WebGL is in the pipeline for a future release.

Fixes

• Fully compatible with Unity 5.1.
• There are hundreds of small bug fixes and usability improvements. A huge thanks to all the brains at forums.dfworkshop.net for their help and advice.

I am in the process now of squashing bugs and testing. I should have an updated Developer Preview ready over the weekend some time (or mid next week at the latest). My plan is to hold the release version in Developer Preview status for about a month before promoting to full release. There are a few reasons for this (apart from the fact I really like lists (and parentheses)).

• I need a full documentation and tutorial refresh. Some of the new features also need entirely new tutorials. This is a time-consuming process.
• I would like time to get feedback from developers on the new features so I can make any last-minute bug fixes or changes.
• I want to give developers time to finish up any mods/extensions they are working on to work with 1.3. it would be great to release an updated Mod Showcase Demo for 1.3.

That should about cover it for now. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Just a quick update for you. I am returning to work on Thursday. Once I catch up a little, I’ll get stuck back into the DFTFU 1.3 release. I’m also working on a new technical post for the Workshop Blog that should be up before the weekend. The 1.3 release is shaping up nicely, with lots of great new features for developers to play with. I can’t wait to have it ready for you guys.

Something I mentioned on Twitter a few weeks back is that I would like to talk more about my game projects outside of anything related to Daggerfall. Sometime in the next month or two, I’m going to launch a new site to share my progress and learning experiences creating my own game. I have always enjoyed watching people go through the journey of game development, even way back in the Zzap!64 days when the likes of Martin Walker detailed their process month by month. In turn, I enjoy sharing my experiences with everyone and I value the feedback I receive. I’ve never been fortunate enough to work in the game industry proper, but it has always been a passion for me that I don’t think I could ever abandon.

This may or may not be something you are interested in, so I will keep it separate from the Workshop. I also hope you will understand this will take some time away from my Daggerfall hobby, but hopefully not to its detriment. I promise not to abandon Daggerfall Tools for Unity, but to be an active part of the community and making contributions long into its maturity. Exciting progress is being made by everyone, and I hope to be as much a part of that as possible well into the foreseeable future.

With all the great contributions lately, I can see Daggerfall Tools for Unity becoming self-sustaining. There will come a time when the community here will take things much further than I ever could by myself – in fact I believe that process has already started. Daggerfall has been on my mind for almost 18 years (wow!) and I need to start looking for my next passion. I want to start something original and use everything I have learned to create something of my own, something I can be proud of no matter how feeble it is. If any of you are interested in this new journey, I look forward to seeing you there soon.

I have decided to fast-track 1.3 into release status, as currently Unity 5 compatibility is in Developer Preview 1.3 only. A lot of new Unity 5 developers are downloading the latest 1.2 release version and experiencing problems, which leaves a bad first-impression of the tools.

As a result, the promised text and translation features will be only partially completed in next release. I’m going to bump text and translation to 1.4, and bring some of the material changes planned for 1.4 down into 1.3 which relate to Unity 5 improvements.

There will also be a refresh on the documentation and tutorials for Unity 5, now that features like Deferred Shading are available to all.

Look for the release to be ready sometime within the next week.