✨ Pal Engine – Update 0.6.4 UI Overhaul, Character Controls & Live Lip Sync (2026-03-24) ✨
🎨 Modern interface, dark by default
Pal Engine now ships with a sleek, fully redesigned Dark Mode interface as the default experience — smoother, cleaner, and easier on the eyes whether you're chatting or browsing your character library.
🌙 Dark Mode is now the standard
No more digging through settings — Dark Mode is baked in from the start. The entire UI has been tuned around it for a polished, consistent feel across every screen.
🎞️ Animation & Adjustment settings moved to the Client
Character Animation settings and Character Adjustment controls have been moved out of the overlay and into the Client Window, making them easier to access, manage, and discover without interrupting your session.
🖱️ Smoother character rotation
Holding the rotation button now locks the cursor in place using the Pointer Lock API — spin your character freely in any direction without the cursor drifting to the edge of the screen. Release and the cursor reappears exactly where you started.
🎤 Live lip sync from real speech playback
Text-to-Speech playback now drives the character's mouth in real time using live audio analysis, making spoken lines feel far more natural and responsive.
🧍 Snapped characters stay snapped
If your character is snapped to the screen edge, chat-triggered animation requests are now rejected instead of breaking the snap pose, and the app shows a notice that the animation was skipped.
💬 Better tooltips across key controls
Important client controls now use the styled in-app tooltip treatment instead of raw browser tooltips, including recent updates around voice controls, notifications, Mini-Chat, and Pal Points actions.
🔵 Voice AI controls are cleaner
The Voice AI orb now stays as the main status control while the older extra control strip and popover clutter were removed for a simpler, more consistent experience.
🛡️ Character snapping now protects animation playback
Characters that are snapped to the screen edge no longer allow conflicting animation requests to break their snapped pose, preventing animation playback from pulling them out of position.
⏻ Quick shutdown button in the top bar
The client top bar now includes a dedicated Shutdown Pal Engine button next to the Pal Points controls, making it faster to close the app directly from the main window.