Stykz/Windows (Release 3) and Stykz/Mac (Release 5) Now Available!

I’m excited to announce that Windows Release 3/Mac Release 5 is now available for download at the Stykz web site. This version contains a LOT of bug fixes, stability increases, performance enhancements and the following new features:

• "Insert Frame" and "Delete Frame" are now menu items (Edit menu), so you can execute them with shortcut keys.


• You can now delete selected segments with the Delete/Backspace key or through the Edit menu.


• You can turn off the ability to switch between Select and Subselect tools by double-clicking (in Preferences).


• You can set the default frame rate and GIF animation export frame delay time (in Preferences).


• Abilty to show or hide antialiasing for the currently displayed frame (for Windows only atm...)


• You can now create new segments by choosing the Add Line or Add Circle tool in a more "Pivot-like" way: click once to "plant” the starting node, then move the mouse to where you want it to be (the segment will track with the mouse), and finally click again to plant the end node. This takes the place of the old way of just clicking on a node to get a fixed length segment that you had to adjust later, and is much more intuitive than right-click-and-drag. BTW: The "Notes for Pivot Users" window has been revised to include instructions about this and to make the layout more intuitive.




(From the "Notes for Pivot Users" dialog)



• There are now some additional “tool-based instructions” that show up in the lower-left corner of the stage when you choose tools like the Polyfill or Add Line/Add Circle tools to walk you through making a polyfill, using the "click/click" method for creating segments, etc. These can be turned off in Preferences as well, if you like.


• You can now duplicate segments by simply clicking and dragging them. You use the Subselect tool, click anywhere on the segment and drag... a translucent proxy of the segment moves with the mouse until you get over a node where the node is surrounded by a red circle. Release the mouse and the segment attaches to that node. You can do this between figures or within the same figure, and if you release before you have a highlighted node displayed, the action is automatically canceled.


• You can drag figures out of the Library palette to the desktop by holding down the Alt (or Option) key when you drag it. This is a lot easier than having to open a folder and hunt down the .styk you’re trying to send someone.


• The "known bug" about clicking on vertical/nearly vertical segments has been fixed.


• A new "Commands" palette has been added that lets you add/edit/delete buttons that trigger actions in Stykz. The default Commands palette ships with a layout that is very similar to the button layout in Pivot, but of course you can modify it to suit your needs. It's fully resizable so you can have as small or as large a window as you want in whatever orientation suits you. Here's what the Mac version looks like (from the main site) and the corresponding Windows versions:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Of course there's a lot that can be done to extend and enhance the functionality of this palette, but this should be a good start!

Note that you can see a comprehensive list of everything done for this release by going to the Release Notes page on the Stykz web site.

Oh, and this release includes a bunch of .styk files for use in the Library - numbers 0-9 along with a handful of .styks done by Ipwnall from DarkDemon including a cityscape, a couple of different grounds, grass, a sword, etc. On Windows it gets installed in the My Documents/Stykz folder and on Mac it's included on the .dmg.

Enjoy!

The Stykz Development Team