Release Notes

Upcoming breaking changes

  • Foliage/Spawners will be refactored into a point-based spawning system similar to Unreal 5.2's PCG

    • This will likely require some changes to the way spawner graphs work

    • The graphs themselves will still be valid, so the migration shouldn't be too harsh

  • Materials are going to be entirely redesigned

    • Voxel Material assets will be redesigned from scratch, existing ones (which shouldn't be functional) will be invalidated

    • This might affect the way detail textures work

  • Advanced Noise 2D will eventually be deprecated in favor of a more versatile Noise node

    • The Noise node will be using Noise Layers that you can customize

Upcoming changes

New features:

  • Macro Libraries

  • You can now selectively override parameters in instances now, with a tickbox just like in material instances

Migration notes:

  • Parameter override tickboxes are disabled by default when loading an old asset. You will have to check all the parameters you do want to override.

  • The Graph property of Voxel Components is now private. You'll need to use the Set Graph function

  • ConstructBrush/UpdateBrush/DestroyBrush are now CreateRuntime/DestroyRuntime. UpdateBrush doesn't need to be called anymore when moving a voxel brush.

2.0p-320.2

https://github.com/VoxelPlugin/VoxelPlugin/tree/2.0p-320.2 - Released June 9 2023

New features:

  • Foliage Settings can now be set on the Spawn Foliage node

    • This can be used to set AffectDistanceField, which is false by default

  • Foliage Collision is in & can be configured on the Spawn Foliage node

Migration notes:

  • Foliage collision is now enabled by default. Pass a body instance with collision disabled to Spawn Foliage to disable it

Bug fixes:

  • Fix VOXEL_DEBUG=1 on clang

  • Fix stack overflow when too many brushes are overlapping

  • Fix dedicated server crash (FSlateApplication::Get)

  • Fix crash when making a level instance with a voxel actor in it

  • Fix bug with bool when using clang

    • When optimizations are enabled, clang expects a bool to be 0 or 1

    • ISPC doesn't follow such rules, and thus invalid code gen was occurring

  • Add -voxelCheckNaNs and voxel.CheckNaNs 1 to check for NaNs

2.0p-320.1

https://github.com/VoxelPlugin/VoxelPlugin/tree/2.0p-320.1 - Released May 22 2023

Release notes:

  • Add a Migrate to Voxel Scene context menu option to Voxel Meta Graphs

  • Fix setting object parameters in C++

  • Add back macro graphs

2.0p-320

https://github.com/VoxelPlugin/VoxelPlugin/tree/2.0p-320.0 - Released May 18 2023

Migration notes:

  • VoxelMetaGraphs are gone. You will have to make a new VoxelScene and copy the graphs over

  • Foliage & Brush Instances are their own asset types now. Existing instances will have their parameter reset - you will need to make new assets

  • C++: buffers are now using FVoxelBufferStorage instead of array. To make a float buffer, use FVoxelFloatBufferStorage instead of TVoxelArray<float>

  • C++: AVoxelMetaActor is renamed to AVoxelSceneActor

Release notes:

  • Add GetDistanceToCubemapPlanet: checkout the new Mars example!

  • Split buffer storage in chunks & add custom allocator

    • Much better performance when using BinnedMalloc2 (ie, packaged dev or shipping)

    • Packaged games should generate 2x as fast

  • Disable foliage distance fields

    • This causes huge hitches when generating foliage

    • Foliage should be a lot faster now

    • Will be exposed as a setting in a future release

  • Switch pin values to store object as hard references instead of soft references

    • This should fix loading & GC issues we've been seeing

  • Add IsGameWorld/IsEditorWorld nodes

  • Fix standalone

  • Fix VR shaders

  • Add CreatePreviewInGame to brush actors, letting you use their preview meshes in game

  • Fix node interaction after placing a comment

  • Add custom blueprint node QueryVoxelChannel to query any value type

  • Add MaxLOD to screen size chunk spawner

  • Fix GetGradient costing too much

  • Meta Graphs are renamed to Voxel Scenes, you'll have to manually copy them over

  • AVoxelMetaActor is renamed to AVoxelSceneActor

  • VoxelFoliage is renamed to VoxelSpawner

  • Existing brush & foliage instance parameters (ie, assets with a Parent being set) will be invalidated

  • Enable Distance Checks is gone: increase the Distance Checks tolerance to achieve the same effect

  • Update includes to follow the new 5.2 includes: this significantly improves build times & should speed up any file including a voxel file

  • Add Perfect Transitions option to marching cube node: this will query each LOD separately, which can help reduce holes if the distance is different for 2 LODs

  • Add blueprint-like advanced display to voxel nodes

  • Default to screen size chunk spawner when no chunk spawner is plugged

2.0p-317.1

https://github.com/VoxelPlugin/VoxelPlugin/tree/2.0p-317.1 - Released May 2 2023

  • Add Sample Heightmap node

  • C++: you can now do VoxelMetaActor->ParameterCollection.Set("ParameterName", ParameterValue);

2.0p-317

https://github.com/VoxelPlugin/VoxelPlugin/tree/2.0p-317 - Released April 26 2023

  • Add 5.2 compatibility

  • Remove 5.0 compatibility

  • Add downloadable example content

    • You can right click the content browser -> Add voxel content

  • Add brush/channel system

  • Add back voxel invokers

  • Add graph-based foliage

    • Existing foliage clusters & instance assets will be invalidated

    • Foliage collision is not yet supported

    • Foliage

  • Add graph search

    • You can right click any parameter or any node to see where it's used

    • You can also search through all assets by clicking the global search button top right of the search tab

  • Add back density canvases

  • Add blueprint getter/setters for graph parameters

  • Allow querying Voxel Graphs from blueprints

  • Add UFUNCTION nodes

  • Remove exec flow from graph

  • Remove GPU compute from graphs

    • The current approach was too messy & unusable

    • C++: this removes all buffer views, you can use buffers directly now

  • Add smart graph diffing: only values affected by the graph changes are updated

  • Add inline macros to graphs

    • You can create graph macros using the graph left panel

  • Remove custom content mapping

    • /VoxelPlugin is now /Voxel, existing content references will be broken

  • Start adding new material layer pipeline

    • This is not ready yet, assets will be broken by the next release

  • Fix transition meshes

  • Remove render thread throttle. All updates should feel snappier now, but you might see some frame dips. You can add the throttle back using voxel.threading.MaxConcurrentRenderTasks 4

  • Voxel Meta Actors cannot be moved anymore

    • This means setups such as rotating planets are currently not possible

    • This will be fixed in a later release with the introduction of Voxel Domains

    • If your voxel actor was not at origin, your entire world will be shifted with this update!

  • Mac is fully supported (tested on an M1 Mac Mini)

2.0p-304

https://github.com/VoxelPlugin/VoxelPlugin/tree/2.0p-304 - Released January 26 2023

  • First tracked release

2.0p-304.1

https://github.com/VoxelPlugin/VoxelPlugin/tree/2.0p-304.1 - Released April 5 2023

  • Fix navmesh being broken due to missing UpdateBounds

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