Greetings, Hard Chip players! Let's review the changes made from versions 0.0.6.24 to 0.0.6.30. Your feedback has been invaluable, and I've worked diligently to implement many of your suggestions. Here's what's new! [b]But first! some stats:[/b] [list] [*] Hard Chip crossed [b]5k+ wishlist[/b] lately, [*] [b]3k+ players[/b] played Hard Chip so far [*] 260 players got access to the playtest build so far (886 waiting for access) [*] 134 Discord members, with 15k ish messages exchanged [*] 10 Hard Chip Reddit member (yup place to improve there :D) [/list] [h2]1. NEW Photo mode [/h2] What else to say, a good shot is the best to share solutions and chips. After all, this is what HC is about: seeing your chips in 3D! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/1c73a6ad10945e26920929bb27608e9248d29807.png[/img] [url=https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/d0b7bb467a58de63ccc77505589e1a7eb31cd4bb.png][img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/23e86770189018f1972159c254eca64cc631f7c9.png[/img][/url][url=https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/634e60f72f2b4a5732e3d8ae2d2e614b0ba770d3.png][img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/aaf4216105ae080c6c7dc80137a59fb99e782327.png[/img][/url][url=https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/bb3cfdacca3855bb18c0b8918c134fdad38b8821.png][img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/5bec021f6dbfa2ee4797ded75b6de85938ef3549.png[/img][/url][url=https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/4645513535e1250d8e2931259585c8da6c03d236.png][img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/fa9140e93ffe7a8c4c2da0053fa7a580a756f47a.png[/img][/url][url=https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/cc7f373cae02ad925b0991ffe0ade543e1cf9c4d.png][img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/698d603a6ec60d7c47f8029180e3abb880fd37b2.png[/img][/url] [b]Changelog:[/b] NEW Photomode; MI Photo screenshot into clipboard; [h2]2. UPCOMING Stages Editor & Community Stages[/h2] Potentially a game-changer for those wanting to develop custom solutions to existing or entirely new challenges, the work has been started to get a Stages Editor in the hands of players! More news to come, but here's a small tease from an esteemed playtester: [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/44620f044138fd644e27539ca91f4df99fb9d931.png[/img] custom ANDOR21 gate challenge! [b]Changelog:[/b] FIX Custom challenge saves in Chips folder; FIX Custom creation failing NEW Community Stages from the main title to show/manage custom challenges; NEW Import/Export in Community Stages; NEW Add Name, grades in challenge editor; NEW Challenge editor first draft; MI Challenge editor in/output starting position, UI ++; MI Save truth table in files for custom challenges; MI User folder for custom challenges; [h2]3. NEW Online Scores consolidation part1[/h2] Online Scores are used for the Performance Report window at the end of each challenge. Online Scores are crucial because they give players a way to evaluate how their solutions work. Wrong online scores are something to avoid at all costs. So, some rework (client and server-side) has been done to ensure that Online scores are always up-to-date, valid, and fair. The part using Online Scores: [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/63cd04450f73ed061650794e7120febfac2d549b.jpg[/img] An exciting consequence is, at some point, HC will be shipped with a local database for Online Scores, allowing players to play entirely offline or from an area where HC's server is unreachable! (note: Masterpiece grade won't be accessible in that mode) [i]Part 2 is needed to use this and will start soon.[/i] [b]Changelog:[/b] MI Level Validation ++; MI Linking score with validation; MI Don't validate when 0 FET; MI Online validation reader logic; MI scores tick threshold to be submitted online from under 2000 to under 15000; MI Challenge validation logic; [h2]4. NEW End of Chapter 1[/h2] Not spoiling anything, there is some advancement for the content concluding Chapter 1 with, most notably, 2 new challenges! [b]Changelog:[/b] NEW chapter 1 final; NEW ALU with flags challenge with grades; NEW NOR8 challenge with grades; [h2]5. NEW Linux/MacOS partial support[/h2] This was a request for a long time. Lots of people have tried their luck at running HC on Linux. Being alone in developing HC, it was always difficult to provide support. But HC's community still did it. A player named K1ngfisher, found a way to completely bootstrap and run HC on Linux! And with minimal changes to the codebase, HC got its gold rating on Proton.DB! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44903018/aed19f7f917a1844949953c83a7a7643fe8950e8.jpg[/img] [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/2844290/discussions/1/4335357901531201073/?ctp=2#c4842022494089708398]Here are the steps to run HC on Linux using proton tkg. [/url] For MacOS? Another player, optlink, found a way to start HC on Apple Silicon with the help of Crossover. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/2844290/discussions/1/4335357901531201073/?ctp=2#c4842023734334383211]Here are the complete steps to get the same result. [/url] Changelog: FIX Music doesn't rely on mfplat; [h2]Quality Of Life, Bug, and Crash fixes list[/h2] There is quite some stuff here, too; I limit myself to 5 talking points at most cause this update could get too in-depth! Here's for reference the other changes made: Changelog: NEW Deterministic/Fast modes activable in the Library; NEW nondeterministic 384 benchmark; NEW Mouse Edge Scrolling option; NEW Cuboid selection with shift and mouse up/down; NEW Switching delays for PMOS/NMOS and puller (disabled atm) PERF Simulation improvements; PERF Removed soft limits of 100 simulation frames per second; FIX Inputs can be signed too now; FIX Align helper not showing regression; FIX Vacant indicator shown on left oriented FET when plugged on top center; FIX Missing 68 terminals on undo after extending die top or left; FIX Music was not playing in the inverter chip, adder chip, or alu chip; FIX Die operation controls activated when die operation is forbidden; FIX Die limit indicator wrong limits bottom/left; FIX 2 overlaps mos merge; FIX hiding UI elements in tutorial regression; FIX Hard crash when a soft crash was possible on readout; FIX Unshortable input as diode exploit; FIX removable permanent terminals with die operations; UX Try to die-extend and add trace rather than just discarding the entire action when tracing outside the die limit; UX Bigger helper's font; MI Readouts handle shorted state; UX New in the Library takes the search file as input for naming the file; UX Swapping remove/minimized icon to avoid accidental removal; FIX Discard short click when the mouse drifted 10px+; FIX 2 inputs blocks in AND3 Challenge; MI catching mode separated from nondeterministic mode; MI Stops music when no music is loaded; UX Remove '\\.\' on Monitor list; FIX Typos; MI Crash handling logic; FIX Substract vs subtract typo; FIX Soustraction typo; [h2]Looking Ahead[/h2] HC is still in closed beta, but its demo is already out! If you are willing to give feedback, join the waiting list for the closed beta access. You might want to try your luck by "Requesting Access" to the playtest on HC's main store page (this is a lottery system)! Your feedback, suggestions, and comments are not just important; they're the lifeblood of this game. We value your input and encourage you to join our Discord server to share your thoughts and ideas! Thank you for playing Hard Chip, and stay tuned for more updates and new features!