AppEasy 1.4.8 Now Available

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AppEasy Version 1.4.8 is Now Available

AppEasy the cross platform mobile game and app development system for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows that is aimed at all levels of experience releases latest update

AppEasy version 1.4.8 is now available for download from here.

Please upgrade to the latest version. Note that before updating, close down your current version of AppEasy, rename c:\AppEasy to c:\AppEasy2, install and run AppEasy 1.4.8 then copy any changes / certificates from c:\AppEasy2 to c:\AppEasy. Note that if you install the update before renaming c:\AppEasy then simply exit the AppEasy project manager, rename the folder and run AppEasy again.

Core Engine Changes:

  • Added new Lua function particles.removeAll() which removes all particles from the actor
  • Added new Lua function resource.findOfType(resource-type-name, container (optional)) which returns a table of resources that are of the specified type
  • Added new Lua function scene.findOfType(scene-type-name) which returns a table of scenes that are of the specified type
  • RemoteReq now supports Header inner tags that enables you to add headers to requests
  • New RemoteRequest test example added (Test 64)
  • Added new Lua function actor.findAll(scene) which returns a table of all actors in a scene, including actors that are in the process of being destroyed
  • New lua library added called xml which deals with creating xml as well as loading and saving it
  • Scene Physics property can now be written to, however if the scene was not declared with physics enabled then it has no affect
  • Added new keyboard functions to Lua input library, getKeyPressed(), isKeyDown(key-code), isKeyUp(key-code)
  • Added new keyboard test demo (Test65)
  • Added new lua function sys.getTotalFrames() which returns the total number of frames that have been processed since app boot
  • Added new lua function sys.getFrameRate() which returns the current estimated frame rate
  • Added new lua function sys.pauseTime(paused (boolean)) which pauses / un-pauses time. Passing false will reset the time delay from the last frame, useful when performing long operations that take a long time such as loading and prevents sudden jumps at the start of a level
  • Added new lua function sys.isTimePaused() to test if time is paused
  • Added new SetPaused(paused (boolean)) action
  • Added new lua function variable.asTable(variable) which returns an array variable as a lua table
  • Added new lua function resource.create(type-name(string), parameters(table), parent(object, optional)) that allows creation of any type of XOML resource from lua (actors, scenes, images, fonts, etc..) (returns an instance of the created resource)
  • Added new lua function resource.createFromString(xoml-string (string), parent(object, optional) that creates XOML directly from a string
  • Added Anchor property to actors that enables you to change the anchor point between top-left and centre. Anchoring does not currently work with actors placed inside container controls such as list boxes
  • Added new lua function scene.updatePhysics(scene, time) – Manually calls the scenes physics update, can be used to stabilise physics world pre frame
  • Added new lua function scene.cleanup(scene) which cleans up deleted actors from the scene
  • Added new XOML type called Timer that enables actions to be called when they time out. Global resource manager, Actors and scenes each have their own timers manager
  • Added new Lua library called timer which enables interaction with XOML timers
  • Added new ChangeTimer action
  • Added new Test0 example that shows the use of anchors
  • Added new Test67 example which shows how to use timers
  • BUG FIX: When no actor is specified and scene is specified in CallActions the scene will now be used as the target
  • BUG FIX: Fixed bug in xml parser that wasnt correctly reading tag values
  • BUG FIX: Fixed crash that occurs when attempting to set a property that is read-only or read a property that is write-only
  • BUG FIX: Weld joint reference angle wasn’t correctly calculated for rotated objects
  • BUG FIX: Fixed box2d polygon vertex winding issue

Creating XOML from Lua

One of the biggest changes in 1.4.8 is the ability to create any type of XOML resource on the Lua side. This includes actors and even scenes. Lets take a look at a short example that shows how to create al label actor:

-- Create a XOML label from a table
local label = resource.create("Label", {
	Name="Label1", 
	Font="serif", 
	Position="0, -100", 
	Text="Hello World", 
	BackgroundColour="80, 80, 80, 255", 
	Background="Button1Brush", 
	Size="-100, 50", 
	AutoHeight="true"}, _scene)
-- Change the Text property
actor.set(label, "Text", "Hey man")

Also, it is now possible to instantiate a complete string of XOML from Lua. Lets take a quick look at an example:

-- Create XOML label from string
local xoml = [[
<Label Position="0, 100" Font="serif" Text="Test creating XOML resources from Lua" BackgroundColour="80, 80, 80, 255" 
Background="Button1Brush" Size="-100, -10" AutoHeight="true" IgnoreCamera="true" />]]
resource.createFromString(xoml, _scene)

Timers

Another great new feature that has been added is Timers. Timers are incredibly useful in game and app development. A timer can be created and given a timeout duration, when the timer times out an actions list will be called. Timers can repeat a specified number of time and can also delete themselves when finished, allowing you to use them in a fire and forget manner.

Actor Anchors

Its now possible to change the position of an actors visual anchor, so those of you that are used to working with placing sprites using their top-left anchor point can do so.

Remote Request Headers

Remote Requests now support headers allowing you to pass heads along with HTTP requests to your web services.

Pausing Time

We’ve now made it possible to pause and resume game time. This is very useful if you have operations that take a while to complete mid-game (such as loading) and can be used to prevent unrealistic frame time jumps.

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