Beta versions are not as thoroughly tested as stable

Beta versions are not as thoroughly tested as stable

Beta branch

Construct 3 r220

Set up scene graph in editor; mesh distortion improvements; start page tags; SDK updates

13 October, 2020 ()

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Notes

In this release we're pleased to add support for setting up scene graph hierarchies in the editor! In the Layout View, you can now select multiple objects and a new Hierarchy sub-menu will appear in the context menu, allowing you to attach and detach children. The Layout View can also visualize the hierarchy using arrows. The Properties Bar also shows a new section to let you control which properties are inherited by children, similar to the options in the Add child action.

We've also updated the Start Page to include tags on examples. You can click tags to browse a list of other examples with the same tags. The "Tech demos" category has also been replaced with "More..." which shows a list of all the tags you can browse. The Start Page was starting to get pretty full with so many example projects, so hopefully this makes it a little easier to browse them and find something interesting.

Finally we have some further improvements for the mesh distortion feature, such as compatibility with image points and the Physics behavior. There's also a range of updates to the SDK, which we hope will allow third-party tools to more effectively import data for things like bone animations. Stay tuned for more updates!

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42
Launch r220

New Features

30 favourites
Scene graph: set up hierarchies in the editor

New Additions

26 favourites
Mesh distortion: now also transforms image points according to mesh
14 favourites
Scene graph: option in 'Add child' to transform with parent's Z elevation
11 favourites
Start page: tags for examples, and browsing by tag

Changes

7 favourites
Layout view: rearrange some context menu options to save space
8 favourites
Web export: update list of features requiring HTTPS hosting
9 favourites
Animations editor: saving all animations now creates a single zip with all files (instead of zips-in-zips)

Bug Fixes

14 favourites
Mesh distortion: did not alter Physics collisions
5 favourites
Tiled background: error when 'Pixel rounding' enabled (regression r219.2)
4 favourites
Saving folder projects did not always delete redundant files
4 favourites
Timeline Bar: "E" shortcut was not turning on timeline editing mode
3 favourites
Timelines: projects using timelines did not work properly when previewed from the Start Page

Performance Improvements

12 favourites
Timelines: improve performance when drawing bezier curves in the Layout View

SDK updates

5 favourites
Add editor IProject methods GetObjectTypeByName(), GetFamilyByName(), GetObjectClassByName()
5 favourites
Add IAnimationFrame.Delete(), IAnimation.Delete(), IObjectClass.Delete()
5 favourites
Add IObjectType.GetAllInstances()
5 favourites
Add IWorldInstance.GetLayer(), IWorldInstance.GetLayout()
5 favourites
Add IObjectInstance.GetUID()
4 favourites
Add ILayer.GetLayout(), ILayout.GetAllLayers()
5 favourites
Add runtime WorldInfo methods to alter Z order

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  • I love the scene graph changes so far, and can't wait to see what other features we get!

    I hope for a "maintain position relative to parent" feature, which would allow us to visually lay out UI elements, in a separate layout, which get created at runtime. Right now I have to rely on a mix of image points, hard coded values, and procedural positioning. It's all rather messy :P

    • Whoops, just found a bug: crash when selecting (box select or Ctrl+A) 9-Patch and Sprite objects. Will file a proper report now...

      • [-] [+]
      • 1
      • Ashley's avatar
      • Ashley
      • Construct Team Founder
      • 1 points
      • (1 child)

      What do you mean by the "maintain position relative to parent" feature? That's exactly what the scene graph feature does already.

      • Sorry, I realised too late that it sounded wrong.

        The problem is in spawning the child objects. When spawned, they just go where they're told: X, Y, etc. So to position child objects requires coding.

        In my proposed idea, I'd like it if there was an option to maintain the child's relative position in a different layout. An array of UI elements: info boxes that spawn at runtime, for example, and each has child objects (text boxes, sprites, what have you). The box and its children could be laid out in a "prefab" layout, elsewhere, and then on spawning, they'd spawn with that same relative positioning.

  • The scene graph is really shaping up! Amazing work Scirra. Some questions I have:

    1. Is there any intention to make it so you can select an entire hierarchy and move it as a single object somehow.

    2. Could we have a way to name a hierarchy as a pseudo object and use it to clone multiple instances of that hierarchy, or a feature that performs that functionality?

      • [-] [+]
      • 8
      • DiegoM's avatar
      • DiegoM
      • Construct Team Construct 3 Developer
      • 8 points
      • (2 children)

      The first step was to have something to be able to setup a hierarchy in the editor. We are planning for the editor to preview the connections just like the runtime does so in the future modifying a parent in the editor should make all of it's children follow accordingly.

      We still got some more work to do, but I think that eventually we will get to the point were it will be possible to clone an entire hierarchy, both in the editor and the runtime. But as I said, that is still further down the line.

    • You already can move several objects as one with "Wrap selection" option.

  • Are there any plans to add other features to the Mesh Distortions? Like cell color filter, and texture repeat.

  • It's really cool! Thanks! And I found selection bug too. Just select sprite and 9-patch instances to reproduce it.

  • Very good work the creators, assure you, this new feature in the editor is superb !, it's much more practical this way :)

  • The scene graph is awesome and keeps getting better! Will you allow a child to inherit it's parents opacity at any point?

  • I really like this website

  • This is Awesome! Finally Adding More New Content In C3

    Keep up doing an Amazing job Scirra.

  • The tag categories are great! but This "More... " page is look not good, probably because the shape of the tag of the page looks uncomfortable. hope the stable version can redesign this page :(

    On other pages, it doesn't seem possible to click on a single tag and quickly search for all the tag categories.