World Machine Development Diary

Hey folks,

Work is continuing to come along on the website and new information for both new and existing users. It’s taking longer than expected but that’s normal by this point There are also some scattered bug reports and issues coming in with WM 2.2 that I will fix as we go — a very minor WM 2.21 will be released in a while to fix any revealed bugs, luckily there aren’t too many so far.

I’ve been going through all of the survey answers that you all have sent in from the upgrade survey, and there are some very interesting suggestions and great info for me to know — and some fantastic testimonials as well. Thank you!

Lastly, I wanted to plug a set of tutorials on World Machine. The first one is here:

http://www.mrbluesummers.com/455/3d-tutorials/an-introduction-to-world-machine/

These are written by Alex Bluesummers, and it's a nice little primer on World Machine!

More tutorials and information is coming with the new website; more details to unfold as it happens.

At the moment, I’m just polishing off a new central macro library. This is a feature I’ve wanted for the longest time for the WM website — a central place where you can easily sort through and share macros.

The new library will be linked to your forum account, and you will be able to upload, browse, comment, and rate macros. There will also be versioning support for updating your own macros.

Eventually, I want to have this integrated into the WM application itself, so that downloading from the online macro library is never more than a few clicks away. But the first step is making it available on the web, and that will be happening soon, along with other website updates!

Hey folks,

Just a quick note saying that it looks like we’re about one week out from WM 2.2 release. I’m getting the last bits in place right now for it. I’m targeting the end of the month (4/30) for release to existing customers, with roll-out to new orders sometime after that. I’ll keep you all up to date with any changes to the plan!

Update: The release date has been bumped to the end of the month (4/30) to ensure that a couple support pieces are properly in place for the release.

Update: Putting the last pieces together. Release will be in three parts:

First Phase: I will post the upgrade links to this blog so that all of you can get a jump start with the new version.

Second Phase: All existing customers will be emailed about the upgrade. This will take a while.

Third Phase: WM 2.2 will become the default distribution for new downloads.

I’ll post more info when I have a installer for all ya’ll!

Update (8pm): Doing some final testing on the release packages across all available platforms (xp/vista/win7). When this is done it will be available!

Hey guys,

A quick note to let you know how things are coming along. WM 2.2 code has been essentially complete for the last month, as I run through a variety of test scenarios and also setup all of the other things that need to be done for the release.

A smattering of these things:

The installer for WM 2.2 is more intelligent, allowing for easier roll-out across a site, silent installs, etc. In addition, I was never happy with how WM existed within the Vista/Win7 protection model — it was far too difficult to install the program correctly if you were a Standard-level user. These should be fixed.

The upgrade webpages for WM 2.2 are complete, and include a short survey that I really hope people will fill out. One of my big goals for this year is to raise the profile of WM to make more people aware of what it is and what you can do with it. It’s very easy for me, someone who lives and breathes World Machine, to forget that the vast majority of the world out there has no idea what my software is or what it does — and that includes people who could really use it!

I’m working through updating the user manual to account for the changes in program operation that have crept in since the last edition of it.

So there we have it. As tempting as it is to immediately drop-ship the new codebase out to people, its essential to make sure everything is in place before that. In the meantime, if you’re a registered WM customer and you really need the new features or bugfixes that 2.2 brings, drop me a line and I can set you up with the final 2.2 beta edition in the interim.

Cheers!

I thought I would plug a very cool new resource for people using World Machine with Vue. Dax Pandhi from QuadSpinner has produced a new training video for using World Machine in conjunction with Vue.

Check it out if you’re interested. Dax is also planning on producing some World Machine training products a bit later this year — so keep your eyes peeled!

I just thought i would post about a new device that will appear in WM 2.2.

The Colorizer device has been improved, and now allows you to create a bitmap from an input terrain using any of the built-in colortables, or your choice of external color gradient image files.

This has been one of the most-requested features, as many people like the builtin color tables. However, it also allows for more advanced possibilies:

Acid Bleached world color scheme.. modified by erosion

Here you see a simple test world using the Acid Bleached World builtin color scheme. However, the heights fed to the Colorizer device have been combined with the erosion flowmap. Note how the colors “flow” down the gullies.

Eventually you will be able to fully define custom gradients with the device as well.

A very simple addition, but it opens up a host of easy and powerful texturing abilities.

Just wanted to drop everyone a line to let them know that the 2.2 Beta is released! I swore to myself that it would be available by Christmas, and even though it came down to the wire it is now available to the beta testers.

Previous WM2 Betatesters: If you have purchased WM2 Professional, you are eligable to participate in the WM 2.2 Beta, and already have forum access granted to the beta forum. Go there for more details.

If you have emailed me wanting to participate in the testing, expect an email within a day with further instructions.

It’s now time to go enjoy some time with family for the holidays. Merry Christmas to everyone out there.