Beta versions are not as thoroughly tested as stable
File system known folders; import maps; bug fixes & more
27 August, 2024 ()
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Notes
This week's beta release includes the ability to directly access known folders with the File System plugin in Windows WebView2 exports! This should make the 'File for WebView2' plugin redundant, as now you can use the built-in File System plugin to do something like write a file directly to the user's 'Documents' folder without needing a picker or permission prompt first. This is done by using new special picker tags, the full list of which are "<app>", "<web-resource>", "<current-app-data>", "<local-app-data>", "<roaming-app-data>", "<desktop>", "<documents>", "<downloads>", "<pictures>", "<profile>", "<saved-games>", "<screenshots>" and "<videos>".
A new scripting improvement is that Construct now supports import maps. These let you import an arbitrary string like "foo", and use the import map to decide which script file that corresponds to. This is a nice way to organise imports, and also makes it easier to use libraries that rely on imports, such as three.js. You can set up an import map by adding a JSON project file and setting its purpose property to 'Import map'.
In other changes, while many of our additions and improvements are available in the free edition, sometimes we make changes to which features require a subscription. As minifying on export now uses a server-side service, and is a more advanced feature anyway, we're making this option now require a subscription to better guarantee a quality of service to subscribers.
Further changes include a new 'Visual novel' example based on a 'Sniff & Fetch' story making use of flowcharts, which are well suited for the purpose - the old 'Visual novel' example is now renamed to 'Custom visual novel engine'. There's also various other updates for usability, fixes for the new UglifyJS minifier, and even an optimization for the Move To behavior. Happy testing!
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Launch r404
New Additions
Minify mode 'Debug advanced'
File system: support for accessing known folders in Windows WebView2 exports
New example 'Visual novel'
Changes
'Integrated 3D engine' example: update to use import maps & three.js r167
Windows WebView2: update WebView2 SDK to v1.0.2651.64
Update AVIF encoder (libavif v1.0.1-main)
Minifying script is now only available with a subscription
Mouse/Touch: object input triggers now filter out HTML objects from object picker
Rename previous 'Visual novel' example to 'Custom visual novel engine'
Bug Fixes
Pathfinding: fix possible memory leak after intensive use
Advanced Random: 'Create probablility table from JSON' did not show name in debugger
UglifyJS minifier: error if require() referenced in unused code
UglifyJS minifier: dynamic imports not working
UglifyJS minifier: work around UglifyJS bug that could break JavaScript code
Objects could appear invisible after changing layout quickly
Audio: did not always update 'Is playing' state immediately after 'Stop' action
Tweens: fix subtle errors tweening opacity with eases that go outside the 0-1 range
Templates: replica instance plugin properties changing unexpectedly
Performance Improvements
Move To: improve performance when using a timeline Bezier path with 'Set angle'
Scripting updates
Add support for import maps
TypeScript: add missing type definition for runtime.sdk
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