Kaneva Game Platform Changelog and Known Issues

Here you'll find our changelogs and comments relating to the Kaneva Game Studio, Kaneva AI Server, and Kaneva Game Server and Client. The notes are organized in most recent entries first.

Kaneva Game Platform is available for download now!

What's new with Kaneva Game Platform 1.0 Beta Build 97 and 99

Major features in this version

Installation and Operation

• KGP Installation allows selective install. Receive only the files you need for your game design requirements.
• Autosave and Save All. Kaneva Game Studio preserves your changes as you navigate across command panels and dialogs, preventing data loss as you enter data. You no longer need to use Save to commit settings prior to moving off a command panel, and you can use the Game > Save All command to commit all changes in your game design.
• Phased transition to drop-down lists. Almost gone are the days of having to look up the ID number of a resource, or count through lists to determine the ID number to enter. Now you simply choose the resource you want to use from a drop-down list.

Modeling and Art Design

• Ogre XML support. This is huge: you're no longer limited to using 3ds max as your modeling program! Use 3d models in Kaneva Game Platform from any modeling program that supports the Ogre XML standard. In addition to exporting from 3ds max, you can create and export 3d models from applications such as Blender, Maya, LightWave, and many others. Want to know more about Kaneva's implementation of Ogre XML?
• Actor scaling. "Honey, I shrunk the players!" Grow or shrink the size of actors to fit your game's environment. This feature is very useful when you're using third-party models that may not be size-compatible with your game world.
• Simplified equippable items placement. Equipping your actors with inventory items and weapons has never been easier, especially since Kaneva Game Studio now works with you to properly position items on actors.
• Simplified reference objects manipulation. You're got the option to globally change attributes for every instance of a reference object, instead of having to change each individually.
• Multitexturing with separate alpha map. Artists can include complex and clever texturing for objects and actors in the game.

Scripting and Blade Development

• SDK documentation for blade server. Learn how to program custom features into your game design. http://docs.kaneva.com/bin/view/Public/KanevaScripting
• Addition of many new KGP methods and events, especially for AI, Client, Stats, and Skills. Lets you customize and fine-tune more features and specific behaviors into your game. http://docs.kaneva.com/bin/view/Public/KanevaScripting
• Player Grouping. Incorporate teams, team leaders, invitations, and other grouping features into your game design. http://docs.kaneva.com/bin/view/Public/ScriptingGrouping
• Targeting and targeting control events. Let your players use the pointer to select other players and NPCs for aiming a weapon or performing an action. http://docs.kaneva.com/bin/view/Public/ScriptingTargeting

Distribution and Publishing

• Game distribution for local, development, pilot, and commercial games. Automatically collect and configure the files you need for your game prior to publishing or sharing with other players.
• Game publishing for commercial games. Enables you to create and update games you can host on the Kaneva network and sell to your players.
• Game selling for commercial games. Lets players find your game and purchase periodic subscriptions to it.

Kaneva Game Platform Migration Notes

The Kaneva Game Platform is fully backward compatible, meaning that data from previous versions of KGP will automatically upgrade to the current version. However, here's some good ideas we strongly recommend you follow in case the upgrade doesn't go as you expect:

• Create a backup copy of your game folder(s) and store them away from your computer or network.
• Never store incomplete or buggy scripts in the scripting folders.
• Make a backup copy of the blade XML files (in the ..\Kaneva\Platform\Blades folder) before you change them.
• Read the release notes carefully about any changes you need to make to scripts you're using or have modified.

Known issues in KGP Build 99

Kaneva Game Studio

• The default game template is missing the quest menus for NPCs. The symptom is that NPCs fail to offer you quests.
  
  Workaround:
  1. Download the files from http://www.kaneva.com/community/973.storeItem.
  2. Install the lua file in ..\Program Files\Kaneva\Platform\Templates\GameFiles\MenuScripts (for the Kaneva Game Studio) and your game's GameFiles\MenuScripts folder.
  3. Install the xml file in ..\Program Files\Kaneva\Platform\Templates\GameFiles\Menus (for the Kaneva Game Studio) and your game's GameFiles\MenuScripts folder.
• Adding LOD (Level of Detail) models for Reference objects or Equippable Items will cause the Kaneva Game Studio to crash. There is no workaround for this issue.
• Adding WAV sound files from the Object > Sounds command panel generates an error and places the file in the game's root folder with the word 'Sound' prepended to the file name. Workaround: Copy the sound file to the Sounds folder, add the sound from the command panel, and then delete the renamed sound file from the game's root folder.
• The Kaneva Particle Editor (KPE) crashes when the Preview command is used. This issue occurs because the statFont12.bmp file is missing.
  
  Workaround:
  1. Download the KPE patch at http://www.kaneva.com/community/663.storeItem
  2. Open the zip file and extract the statFont12.bmp file to your game's ..\GameFiles\Tools\Textures\fonts\ folder.
  3. Optionally, extract the statFont12.bmp file to your KGP template folder (by default, ..\Program Files\Kaneva\Platform\templates\GameFiles\Tools\Textures\fonts\ folder). This step will insure that any Game > New commands transfer the correct file.
• Kaneva Game Studio crashes if you try to delete a zone object that possesses a trigger. Workaround: First delete the trigger, and then delete the zone object.
• Newly starting Kaneva Game Studio and creating a new game may not load the control events. The symptom is the Add Control Event dialog displaying an action list beginning with 'Not found 0x3e8'. Workaround: Use Game > Save All to save your game, then use Game > Open to reopen the same game. The control event action values will then be loaded.
• Adding a new actor that was exported prior to Build 99 (such as those in the KGP Lesson Files) may display a blank actor name under the TRC_. In addition, actors exported with Kaneva Exporter for 3ds max Build 99 may display incorrect actor names in some circumstances. Workaround: Save and reload the actor data using Save As and Load:
  
  

1. Select Save As (the button is at the bottom of the Objects > Actors command panel).
2. Provide a name for the EDB file and make sure to save it in your game's GameFiles^? folder.
3. Select Load.
4. Select the file you saved in step 2. Your actor list should now display the correct actor names under the TRC_ base entries.

Kaneva Scripting / Kaneva Game Server

• The CharacterCreation.lua file is missing the 'team' argument at the end of the ClientEngine_CreateCharacter call. This file exists both in the game's GameFiles\MenuScripts folder and the ..\Program Files\Kaneva\Platform\Templates\GameFiles\MenuScripts folders.
  
  To fix, look for the line that reads:
  
  

    -- if the character is created successfully
     if ClientEngine_CreateCharacter(g_game, g_menu_game_obj, 0, name) ~= 0 then
  

  
  
  Change the second line and add the team argument to the end of the list:
  
  

     if ClientEngine_CreateCharacter(g_game, g_menu_game_obj, 0, name, 1) ~= 0 then

Kaneva Game Client

• The NPC quest menu issue described in Kaneva Game Studio and the CharacterCreation.lua file described in the Kaneva Scripting apply to game clients and need to be resolved for normal gameplay.

Issues Resolved in Kaneva Game Platform Beta Build 99

• 0000972: .CNT files should not be encrypted.
• 0000817: New Game creates svr file with unneeded junk in it.
• 0000836: KGPServer does not stop consistently.
• 0000927: Allow execution of 1st person and 3rd person events based on the current mode (1st or 3rd) being used.
• 0000924: Sound and other events attached to animations sometime will not play if the animation is very short.
• 0000918: The fire overide jitters when a character fires while running backwards.
• 0000960: Create distibution encrypts the particle file, making it unreadable.
• 0000959: Create character not setting the origTeamID.
• 0000938: Sound events should be attachable to any bone in a character's skeleton.
• 0000937: Particles instantly die when the animation or object they are assigned to terminates.
• 0000660: The Actor KDM selection UI element is positioned awkwardly.

Issues Resolved in Kaneva Game Platform Beta Build 97

• 0000028: Lighting system: Fix issue with lights turning on and off depending on camera position.
• 0000091: Renamed EngineXWin to ClientEngine in scripting.
• 0000115: Fix issue with lights turning on and off depending on camera position, or not turning on at all.
• 0000159: Game Publishing (Database) association of registration key per game.
• 0000225: New game loading: dbghlp.dll is not present in current directory.
• 0000226: New game loading: The XML menu files are not loaded.
• 0000229: 3D Studio Max's Self Illuminiation should be exported to KGP Editor's Emissive.
• 0000292: Fix Game Launcher: Place the complete path of the icon file in the shortcuts created during install.
• 0000232: Chat Textoutput to client: added the ability for the text readout class to send an event to the menu system for chat.
• 0000233: Fixed exception when trying to add an NPC with no global inventory.
• 0000246: Ability in startcfg.aut to specify fullscreen.
• 0000291: Fix removed hard-coded housing DB load from server since can load from script. Fixed false error in log.
• 0000293: Fix Serialize the fullscreen option.
• 0000294: Fix Crash bug in WKGParticleSystem.
• 0000296: Fix Defaults when creating a new actor were basically unusable, tweaked a few of these here to make it easier to add actors.
• 0000320: Expose Sound Volume to Menu Scripting.
• 0000387: Particle Editor crash: Add tools subdirectory to the gamefiles subdirectory for templates when installing.
• 0000480: Allow blending between two textures on an object using a custom third texture or an alpha channel in one of the textures.
• 0000501: Fix: Selling Price not on Menu.
• 0000505: Client Text / Frame Rate.
• 0000571: 'Filter Environment if in Render List'.
• 0000595: Modify the current input handling system to handle key presses and releases.
• 0000630: Equippable item alignment and export inconsistencies: Mantis bug 761
• 0000635: Deleting equippable items: Mantis bug 771
• 0000677: Resolve Housing system crash: Mantis bug 1455
• 0000709: Syslog not working for Log4Cplus.
• 0000721: OgreXML static mesh importer: write code to convert the data read from file to the Engine's internal data structures.
• 0000727: Emitter and Particle orientation issues: Mantis bug 1004
• 0000732: Audio files only looped in some cases: Mantis bug 1423
• 0000740: 3dsmax exporter object filtering improvement: Mantis bug 881
• 0000741: Animation framerate dependency issues: skeletal animation frame skipping: Mantis bug 685
• 0000746: Editor crashed after creating a New Zone file from a current opened zone: Mantis bug 1473
• 0000747: Solve similar issues as Equippable items dialog(s) for objects/housing system.
• 0000748: Solve similar issues as Equippable items for objects/portal area.
• 0000765: Game Client freezes when ALT or F10 pressed.
• 0000766: Unable to add a use type for inventory item.
• 0000783: Plugin crashes if 4th UV Used.
• 0000800: Size of Loading.dds.
• 0000803: Editor does not auto load arenamanager.amf or housingzones.hpb.
• 0000831: Fix: Water zones no longer functioning.
• 0000832: Plugin export of rotated object.
• 0000834: Normals not working in vertex animation.
• 0000838: The editor setup for currency is no longer used.
• 0000857: Usability issue with reference objects (global apply to all instances).
• 0000883: Fix animation importer flipping issue.
• 0000885: Fix: Alt Tab kills shaders.
• 0000887: Required Stats section in Skills dialog is not showing correctly.
• 0000888: In 3dsmax exporter, add support for custom string for bone filtering on export: Mantis bug 1557
• 0000889: Add support for custom rotation axis for procedural in-game animation of characters, lookup-down and sidestep: Mantis bug 1556
• 0000890: Actor animations formerly labeled "JUMP" in the actor anim list are now mislabeled "UNKNOWN".
• 0000899: Fix: Replacing actor clears bone associations.
• 0000900: Crash: Adding the third person before the first person in Equippable Items.
• 0000901: Fix: Projectiles come out from the wrong position once you go to first person camera.
• 0000905: In the 3dsmax exporter, add a checkbox to disable Y and Z flipping (enabled by default).

Changelog for Kaneva Game Platform Beta Build 76

• Added example land mesh and ground texture to a StartWorld zone. You now have the ability to load and experiment with a simple zone for testing purposes. (See the Hello, Game World! tutorial for a simple lesson.)
• Added a fairly complete suite of example menus and menu scripts. Use these files as examples on how to design and construct menu layouts and menu scripting.
• Removed obsolete references in the Game > Spawn Point Configurations command panel. These were old references that should not impact existing or new game designs.
• Updated the Game > Spawn Point Configurations command panel with current template zones and one spawn point in the StartWorld zone. These settings allow you to distribute and test a simple game on the Kaneva Game Server and the Kaneva Game Client.
• Fixed issue in LoginMenu zone that caused background to move around. It doesn't more around anymore.
• Resolved menuing issue in LoginMenu zone to use appropriate menus for the example game. Previous KGP versions used obsolete menu structures that would not communicate user input to the Kaneva Game Server.
• Resolved issue where Kaneva Game Studio didn't copy the dbghelp.dll file to the game folder. This file is necessary for a functioning game.
• Updated default Controls database to address function key issues.

Changelog for Kaneva Game Platform Beta Build 75

• Resolved issues with building server distributions.
• Added menu multi-image buttons. These buttons support different images per state (normal, mouse-over, etc.) and are backwards compatible with any existing menu buttons you may have created.
• Added antialiased font support to menus.
• Increased lighting sources from a maximum of 8 (1 sunlight + 7 user defined) per scene to 8 (1 sunlight + 7 user defined) per object, allowing virtually unlimited lighting mostly constrained by computing resources.
• Revised menu script classes to remove erroneous references to EngineXWin class (see http://www.kaneva.com/blogComments.aspx?topicId=380&communityId=122)