You may have noticed that It's been a while since the last Chasm update back in January. Did Bit Kid finally throw in the towel after six long years of support? Heck no! In fact, it's the opposite.
Briefly, Chasm was made with our own custom engine and toolset built on Microsoft's XNA Framework. Supporting multiple projects was never taken into account when things were first designed, so when I started WOLFHOUND I quickly began to see the issues with developing and maintaining multiple titles. To remedy this, I set out to revamp and future-proof the development environment by getting everything off the long dead XNA framework (hello, open-source alternative FNA!) and creating a shared content pipeline and set of libraries for all the games to use.
That means that while Chasm may not appear any different, the process used to build this latest release is, and careful testing was needed to ensure everything worked just as it used to. Thanks to the help of community member extraordinaire Macktion, we've done our best to verify that every pixel is in its place, and the seeds are generating the same as previous versions. And during the process we actually discovered several bugs that had went unnoticed for years!
While all that isn't particularly exciting for players, there is a bonus in this release. One of my goals on
WOLFHOUND was to step up the available video filters for the pixel art. To that end, a new CRT effect
(LottesRVM) and a smoothing filter (XBR) have been ported, and now you get a first look at them in Chasm!
(right-click and Open in New Tab to see at full resolution)
The CRT effect has 3 different settings: "Pro CRT" with more accurate scanlines that are less visible in brighter areas, "Old CRT" with a slot mask and no scanlines, and, lastly, "Digital CRT" with vertical scanlines. And for those feeling extra nostalgic, there's a new option for a rounded tube effect. In addition to the CRT effects, there's also a Smooth option that turns those jagged pixels into buttery smooth edges. I know it's not for everyone, but more options can never hurt, right?
I hope you enjoy the update, and as always thanks for your patience and continued support.
And please be sure to let me know if you run into any trouble on your journey!
-James
1.092
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- added new CRT emulation modes (Pro CRT, Digital CRT, and Old CRT)
- added Smoothing video filter
- fixed some jittery parallax effects
- fixed Random number generator re-initialization
- fixed crash on some PCs when switching soundtracks in-game
- fixed several Italian translation issues (thanks LetsPlayNintendoITA!)
- updated game controller database
- updated to FNA 24.09