This is patch 8183 for the Development branch of NWN:EE!
This patch is a quick iteration on the previous Development patch. Build 8182 introduced NWSync, a feature allowing clients to download needed gameplay data from servers without having to manually hunt down HAK and TLK files.
Fixes
- We fixed a performance issue indexing/reading NWSync manifests on Windows. Data should now load at least as fast as it would with HAKs.
Fix-tures
- Gamma functionality is back: You can type `Gamma x` in the console, where x is a floating point value larger than 0. The default is 2.2. This value is persisted to nwn.ini (under a new configuration key). Gamma only affects the rendered ingame scenery, not menus or UI, as it is applied through a FBO shader, not GL/system-wide gamma correction. There is no slider yet, sorry.
- NWSync memory management was refactored to be as zero-copy as possible, eventually paving the way for streaming compression (to deliver, e.g., full movies). Right now, the suggested optimal file size for individually synced files is under 20MB.
- All shaders have seen revision to be more efficient and future-proofed for extensions like Roughness and Glow Maps.
- The game now writes out all Aliases to nwn.ini even if the file already existed.
Features
- NWSync now has an Alias entry in nwn.ini, which allows moving data to a more suitable place if so desired.
- Downloading the initial manifest now shows progress, instead of letting the user guess. This is relevant for big manifests, which may grow to megabytes in size for servers using the CEP and more.
- The multiplayer server browser now shows a progress window when downloading the server list. It also switched over to libcurl, which should prove to be much more reliable than the previous solution.
Coming Soon, and Known Issues
- There will be a utility to introspect and prune the client-side storage.
- There will be a utility to (pre-)download manifest/server data without the game running.
- We're aware the NWSync documentation is very bare bones right now, and aimed at the technical user. It will see a lot of improvement before a stable release, including example use-cases and HOWTOs for each. Current work-in-progress documentation can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eYRTd6vzk7OrLpr2zlwnUk7mgUsyiZzLoR6k54njBVI.
- Server-side repository management utilities are exhibiting some issues on Windows. We're looking into the problem
We'd like to thank all the volunteers who have spent time testing the previous patch! We're not quite at the required stable feature list yet as far as NWSync goes, but we're getting there! Any testing, feedback, and criticism you provide is invaluable.
Thanks!