0.6.0 Update

After several weeks of development, a new major update is released today.

Version 0.6.0 comes with some bug fixes, some improvements, and major changes to the internal structure of the project file. These changes in the structure are intended to allow us to integrate our projects with modern collaboration and source code management tools (e.g. git).

Let’s see a summary of what this update brings:

version 0.6.0

• Added Button States property to Button controls.
• Added more frames from Core RPG to the globlal frame list.
• Changed internal storing format of window controls data from XML to JSON
• Added Advanced development options to Ruleset Properties
  • Store project file as plain formatted text
  • Use relative paths for project assets
• Assign .rwp files to be opened with Ruleset Wizard
• Assign custom icon to .rwp files
• Added Result File property to Project Properties.
• Added Git integration options
  • Added Git Author Name and Git Email properties to Ruleset Properties
  • Added Save and Commit button to Main window.
• Added Script File property to window controls.
• Allow to change the Font Family Name in Font Editor.
• Added button to the toolbar to access Project Properties.
• Added Open Recent Project list to Open Project button.

The most important changes are detailed below.

Result File in Project Properties

There is a new field in the project properties window called Result File. This field allows you to set the path to the .pak or .ext result file, so that when generating the project the Wizard will not ask where you want to generate it, and will use this value as the destination.

Open Recent Proyects

Next to the open project button there is a new arrow that allows you to access the list of the last opened projects to open them quickly.

.rwp file format

From now on, .rwp project files will be displayed in the file explorer with a custom icon, and double-clicking on them will cause the Ruleset Wizard to open them.

Advanced development options

There is a new tab in the project properties window, called Advanced:

Here you can set whether you want the wizard to use the advanced development options. At the moment this option includes two features:

The rwp project file will be saved as plain text, with a readable structure. This allows experienced developers to perform common tasks such as comparing file versions, performing search and replace and integrating the project with source code control systems such as git.

The advanced mode is oriented to work with a project folder, where all assets (frames, fonts, icons, etc) are stored. In this mode all asset paths located in subfolders of the project are stored with relative paths, so that it is easy to share projects with other developers, and project cloning operations are performed correctly.

Leaving this option unchecked makes the wizard work in the same way as before. If you have never heard of git and if you are not familiar with software development you can leave this option unchecked.

WARNING! Note that in any case the internal file format changes. Opening a project with version 0.6 causes it to be converted to the new format, and it will no longer be possible to open it with a previous version.

Git integration

The advanced mode is designed so that ruleset wizard projects can be integrated with git, so some options have been included to facilitate this task.

If after creating the folder for the project you create a git database in it, a new button will appear in the toolbar:

This button serves as a convenient shortcut for the git stage all + commit all operation, but for it to work you must fill in the Git User Name and Git Email Address fields in the project properties.

Final comments

This is only the first step towards a more professional ruleset development tool. The next steps will depend on user opinions and feedback, so feel free to share your thoughts.