Release Notes


v0.2.1.40a - February 6, 2011


This month we caught our breaths a little and fixed everything we broke on the previous release. Implementing both DirectX 9 (DX9) and DirectX 10 (DX10) support was, well, interesting. We certainly learned a lot (like the fact that DX9 actually cares about texture resolutions being powers of two).


In this release we fixed all visual glitches in DX9, re-enabled DX10 mode for those that can support it and increased performance overall. We also stabilized the simulator a bit and fixed a major bug regarding building growth.


Unfortunatly, we could not fix fullscreen mode and custom terrain textures under DX9. Only those using DX10 will have access to those features for now. We'll try to get those back next month.


Last but not least, we also got in another community suggested feature that lets one lock to the midpoint of an existing road segment when building a new road.


TIP: If you already have a previous version of the game and are essentially upgrading you can just press cancel on the DirectX installer. This redundancy will be fixed soon.


Minimum Requirements:


  • Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
  • 1 GHz processor
  • 1 GB of system memory
  • Hard drive with at least 50 MB of available space*
  • Support for DirectX 9.0c, Shader Model 2 and 128 MB of graphics memory

* Does not include space requirements of DirectX and Visual C++ Redistributable which may be anywhere from 20kb to 500 MB depending on what has been already installed.


What we install:


  • Synekism v0.2.1.40a
  • DirectX Redistributable
  • Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable
  • GPU-Z.0.5.1.exe (to check DirectX support - removed after installation is finished/aborted)

NEW FEATURES:


Core:


  • custom terrain textures have returned but only for those that support DX10; DX9 support will come soon

Tools:


  • you can now lock to the midpoint of an existing road segment when building a new road by holding down the M key

Engine:


  • the game now uses DirectX 9.0c if your computer or operating system does not support DirectX 10, and uses DX10 otherwise; this will become a user option in the future
  • all DX10 graphics code has been re-written to align with the DX9 approach which is significantly more efficient
  • FullScreen mode is back for DX10 users; DX9 support will come soon

Simulator:


  • constants have been adjusted to make for a more realistic city simulation; you should notice density plays a larger role in the heights of new buildings; player control over density centers is the next thing on our plate in terms of the simulator

BUGS FIXED:


Tools:


  • it seems we did not remove debug controls from the release version so for those that discovered them you can no longer use them, sorry

Engine:


  • the city border in DX9 no longer blends in with the terrain at far zoom levels and no longer overlaps the roads
  • the DeZone and Dozer tools in DX9 will no longer create weird artefacts when hovered over a building or lot and red buildings and lots will no longer flicker on/off
  • new lots currently being laid out in DX9 will no longer flicker (or disappear altogether)
  • the faces of buildings in DX9 not facing the "sun" are no longer pure black; buildings in DX9 should now look very similar to those in DX10
  • DX10 buildings should no longer be missing a side (or two)
  • DX10 buildings will now all have consistent lighting applied to them, regardless of the way they were built

UI:


  • activating the DeZone tool, then immediately activating the Dozer tool and finally de-activating the Dozer would appear to re-activate the DeZone tool

Simulator:


  • if the frame rate was low with a combination of other hardware and OS conditions the simulator would not consider all lots and the city's development would appear to stall
  • the simulator would not clear some date on city restarts

PATCHES:


  • Feb 1, 2011 - v0.2.1.40: initial release
  • Feb 6, 2011 - v0.2.1.40a:
    • fixed a division by zero error when zoning extremely small lots. Small lots will not stop developing and they will be impossible to build by next release.
    • fixed building height restrictions, buildings will no longer grow above 1km in height