In Development for v0.15
Translations
Thane is working on translation support. After some deliberation, we decided to use a very simplified set of gettext rules and .po files. This is mainly because I’m always reluctant to add large dependencies to the project (especially where multi-platform support is a must). So for now, our .po files will support basic translations (simple msgid, msgstr pairs) but not more advanced features (stuff like gender/plural support). Basic translations might be sufficient for us: action RPGs are not text-heavy interfaces, and dialog is translated in whole paragraphs.
It should be fairly easy for us to expand to using full .po features and something like tinygettext in the future (recommended by the SuperTuxCart crew).
Make Install
New contributor Manuel has added a “make install” option for those building from source, and has cleaned up some executable bits on various data files. He’s more familiar with linux distribution concerns than I am, so his expertise is very welcome!
Tiled tileset offsets
I’m working with Bjorn over at Tiled to commission a feature for Tiled 0.8. In Flare tilesets, each tile can have an arbitrary offset from the grid space it’s on. In practice, large tile subsets share the same offsets (e.g. all the “cave water” tiles have to be drawn below the regular grid). This new Tiled feature will allow setting a display offset to one entire tileset. At least for Flare’s purposes, it will allow us to do all the mapbuilding currently supported.
Once the feature is ready, I’ll get to build new grassland maps! With a simple overworld set we can connect multiple dungeons, add a village, more quest-givers, etc. I’m hoping to put new content in for Flare v0.15.
Data Mods
This week I’m working on data mod support. It will be easy to create mods that replace existing data files or add new data files. What this means is that adding new creatures, items, powers, quests, maps, etc. will be a breeze. Along with translations, this is one major feature for v0.15.
We’ll be working on a few demo mods to show what’s possible. In the not-too-distant future we’ll be putting up several tutorials on how to create content for Flare. Exciting times!
v0.15 release date?
I don’t have a planned released date yet for v0.15, but I’m looking at sometime mid to late November. Once we get the above features done, and we’re sure everything is clean for downstream packaging, we’ll turn the binaries loose.