Hi all,
I would like to announce that there is going to be a newer version of SC4 Model Tweaker.
The development tool will be MS Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2. This evaluation version will expire by the end of June. It's pre-release, time-sensitive, unsupported software. However, I have tested it and it looks really stable to me, plus there is enough time to fix or work around any possible problems found.
The new version will have some any bugs found in version 2 fixed, plus implement new features (operations).
With the previous versions, there have been reported problems (crashes) running the program under Windows Vista (I'm still unsure about Windows 7). This is possibly due to version conflict between the MFC dlls used by the S3D library and the ones actually installed in Windows Vista (under Windows XP, the very same program runs without any problem). I'm looking for members offering to test-evaluate the tool, particularly under Windows Vista and 7.
The new version, as all previous versions, will be 32-bit as well. While Visual Studio can generate 64-bit applications, the S3D library (S3D.DLL) is 32-bit, and so must be the application calling it. Another alternative could be discarding S3D.DLL completely (and this would solve the crashes problem too), however the question is what to replace it with. If you have any suggestion, or a detailed description of the S3D format, please post.
I haven't yet decided which operations to implement. There are many thoughts and ideas, but as time is limited, I guess I will eventually have to choose only some few ones. As this is tool made specifically for the SC4 modding community, I would like to ask you to post your requests, ideas or suggestions in this thread. Not all requests will be implemented, however if yours looks interesting and useful, it has good chances. Some generic guidelines:
- The requested operarations should be exclusively on S3D files (all other types are ignored by the program).
- The program does not create (new) S3D files, it only modifies them.
- Request operations that are going to save developers' time, eg tedious and repetitive ones, so that's really worth implementing them.
- Do not request features that you are going to use once or twice.
- Provide a detailed description of the operations you are requesting.
I'm going to listen to your requests carefully and comment accordingly.
I would welcome any help related to the documentation of the package (esp from native English speakers).
Looking forward to your replies.