The Agency: Beta 1.1 released

Excerpted from a post to the starlogo-users list today:

StarLogo TNG Beta 1.1 is now available. This release contains a number of bug fixes outlined below that were present in Beta 1. We recommend this update for all users.

We apologize for this release fast on the heels of Beta 1.

Changes from Beta 1 to Beta 1.1

Fixed bug where renaming and changing shapes of breeds caused files to become corrupt
Improved memory usage on graphs
Fixed hill climbers model
Fixed some problems with missing shapes on the Windows build
Fixed bug attaching count-with block inside a monitor
Fixed bug in commands with two arguments
Fixed incorrect computation of atan
Fixed color chooser in SpaceLand
Enabled right-click (or control-click) and drag to move the canvas

The Agency: Beta 1 released

Coinciding well with the commemoration of 40 years of Logo in Wired and Slashdot yesterday, we are proud to announce the official release of StarLogo TNG Beta 1 at long last.

StarLogo TNG has undergone a major transformation since Preview 4. Much of the code in our first real beta has been entirely rewritten to improve speed, usability, stability, and extensibility, and expect this code to the be the basis of TNG for quite some time.



We are pleased to release many new features, but some features of Preview 4 have not yet been implemented in this major revision. Therefore, if you must have those features, you should stick with Preview 4 for the time being. Otherwise, we highly recommend transitioning to the new version. We have made our best efforts to update projects and support backward compatibility with projects created with earlier releases, but some projects that rely on features not yet implemented will not load.

New and more extensive documentation is coming (including new sample curriculum very shortly), but in the meantime we have provided a list of changes that can be used to apply the basics of Preview 4.2 to this version.

We’re very excited about this new version. The look and feel, as well as the usability have received quite favorable reviews across the board. We hope you’ll like it too. The release is now avialable for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.

You can download the beta from our website:
Changes, additions and subtractions to TNG are listed below and also available on our website at http://education.mit.edu/starlogo-tng.

You can also learn more about the changes, additions, and subtractions to TNG here:
http://education.mit.edu/starlogo-tng/beta1/StarLogo_TNG_Beta_1.html.

Enjoy!
The StarLogo Team

The Agency: Preview 4.2 released

Thank you to all of you out there who downloaded Preview 4.1 and helped us track down a couple more bugs that we wanted to fix ASAP. If you downloaded p4.1 last week, please head to http://education.mit.edu/starlogo-tng/ and download p4.2.

Here's a list of the bugs fixed in this release:

• Fixed bug with collisions. Asymmetric collisions did not always get executed. (Asymmetric collisions are the ones with two different breeds.)
• Fixed a few problems related to strings.
• Provided a batch application (starlogotng-mastercontrol.bat) to disable audio on computers that don't support it. Note that this file is for the Windows version only. All versions of Mac OS X that support StarLogo TNG also support the sound feature.

The most significant problem is the asymmetric collision bug, a regression in p4.1 that may easily break your existing projects, so we strongly recommend that all users download the latest version. Sorry for the trouble!

The Agency: Preview 4.1 released

Eric made the following announcement on the StarLogo user community mailing list today:

We are pleased to officially announce the release of StarLogo TNG Preview 4.1.

This release is hot on the tail of the unofficial release of Preview 4. If you downloaded StarLogo TNG in the past few days, you should update to Preview 4.1, which contains some additional bug fixes.

There are a number of enhancements and bug fixes in this version. In parallel, we have been working on redesigning the blocks interface from scratch. That work is well along the way, and we hope to release the first full Beta with these features in the near future. In the mean time, Preview 4.1 is quite stable and fun, and offers a number of valuable improvements over Preview 3.

You might also be interested in the StarLogo TNG tutorial on Complexity, which is linked to from the front page of StarLogo TNG (http://education.mit.edu/starlogo-tng)

Enjoy!

The StarLogo TNG Team

Eric also published the following list of changes:

Preview 4 to Preview 4.1

Fixed several last-minute bugs:

• Fixed rounding error that when agents are being drawn on patches
• Fixed collision bug where collisions were being duplicated that has been around for a long time. NOTE THIS WILL REQUIRE A CHANGE IN PROJECTS WHERE INTRA-BREED COLLISIONS WERE USED. IN MOST CASES THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF SUCH COLLISIONS SHOULD BE DUPLICATED.
• Fixed a bug in the keyboard controls option

Preview 3 to Preview 4

Primarily Bug Fixes:

• Fixed comma in file format for non-US users
• Fixed many bugs that affected performance, collisions and crashes
• Updates to library and Windows JRE
• Fixed installation bug on Windows
• Fixed joystick controls on the Mac

Spaceland Changes:

• New navigation with mouse and on screen controls
• Introduction of status bar
• Previous and next agent eye
• All new layout and design
• Can maximize in Windows

StarLogoBlocks Changes:

• Some new shapes
• First version of "smell" (detects agents at a distance)
• Commands to output to the status bar
• Preliminary sound support (bird, boing, claps, cork, cow, glass, hit, knock, laugh, scratch, smellrat, test)

The Agency: We're still working!

This blog has been too quiet for too long, and it has been a while since our last release, but rest assured that we are still working very hard to ready StarLogo TNG for a beta release.

Eric sent this message to the StarLogo user community today:

StarLogo TNG is still under very active development. After the last preview release (3) we decided that there were several components that needed some significant work. We are now on the verge (a few weeks) of our first real "beta" release. This release will include a new blocks interface rewritten from the ground up for speed, stability and extensibility. It will also include a much more user friendly and easier to navigate 3D spaceland, new commands and capabilities (sound, lists, and "smell", etc.), and lots of bug fixes (including the comma fix). We're still working out the final touches on the new blocks, but everything else is done. We hope to have this released soon (followed by summer 2007 for release 1.0 - only a year late, not so bad in the software business :-)

Thank you for your patience so far, and we can't wait for you to see what's next!

The Agency: Bug discovered with non-US English setting in Windows

Several users of non-US English versions of Windows have reported seeing the error java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string. "some number with a comma."

The problem is that most other locales use a comma where we use a period in decimal notation. As a result, when we create the save file using local formatting, our numbers get written incorrectly (our mistake). We have corrected this bug for our next release.

If you encounter this problem and you really want to get one of your files back, simply open up the file in a text editor and replace the comma in the number with a period. For example, change 1,0200 to 1.0200. Of course, that can be a pain if you edit the file frequently or there are many numbers that need to be modified. Hopefully we will be releasing Preview 4 some time this fall that will include this fix among others.

The Agency: Fix posted for Windows Saturday afternoon

If you downloaded the Windows version of Preview 3 prior to Saturday afternoon, you may see an error message when you attempt to run the program stating that you are missing a file called MSVCR71D.dll. If you get this error, please download the program again now and reinstall it. We apologize for the inconvenience.

The Agency: StarLogo TNG got "Dugg"

StarLogo TNG appeared on Digg yesterday.

For those of you not yet familiar with the site, Digg is a popular collaborative blog. Articles are submitted by members of the community, and the readership votes and comments on their favorite (or least favorite) articles.

Some people loved it, others hated it, and a few missed the point altogether, but feel free to check it out and add your own feedback if you like.

The Agency: Preview 3 released

We are proud to announce the release of StarLogo TNG Preview 3. This version contains many optimizations/bug fixes, and also contains some exciting new features (look for the search functionality and Typeblocking in addition to graph blocks). A full change log is below.

The final push for StarLogo TNG will see an overhaul of the blocks canvas and a number of new features that we have on tap. We may release a Preview 4 in late summer/early fall before a final 1.0 release this fall. Be on the lookout and enjoy Preview 3.

The StarLogo Team

---------------------------------
CHANGE LOG

Preview 2 to Preview 3

StarLogo Changes:
— Saves more project state: workspace view and zoom, runtime speed and time, procedure block folding
— File menu maintains list of recently viewed files
— File dialog filters for .sltng files and starts from the most recently viewed directory
— Help menu items link to documentation, tutorials, and FAQ in Starlogo TNG website

SpaceLand Changes:
— 200% terrain rendering speed increase
— Faster collision detection (no computation for breeds without a collision block)
— Improved agent eye positions for all shapes
— Improved key press detection

StarLogoBlocks Changes:
— Added typeblocking on workspace (select "Keyboard moves blocks" from Options menu)
— Added incremental search box for blocks
— Added Line and Bar Graph blocks in workspace and removed graph wizard
— Added Shape Width, Height, Length blocks
— Added Dig and Build blocks to create straight-walled terrain features
— Changed behavior of Stomp and Yank to create smoother terrain.
— Variables and procedure blocks dragged onto the Global page now appear in the Global drawer
— Improved blockdoc tooltips
— Fixed saving/loading bug where blocks disappeared on project load
— Fixed sliders bug causing incorrect updates and label changes
— Fixed deleting breeds bug
— Monitors now compatible with global variable declarations
— Monitors update at higher frequency (250 ms)
— Monitors can report positive or negative infinity.
— Changed procedure block collaspe/expand icon to a triangle

Terrain Editor Changes:
— Changed underlying format to allow for vertical walls.

Virtual Machine Changes:
— Made StarLogo time no longer dependent on computer speed

As always, your feedback is valuable. Feel free to post a comment below or send email to starlogo-request@education.mit.edu.

The Agency: Email notifications back online

For those of you who subscribe to new posts via our blog mailing list, it should be working properly again. You may wish to check the blog to catch up on a few posts you may have missed in the meantime. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for reading!

The Agency: StarLogo finds space at... MySpace?

Yes, you read correctly. Apparently even StarLogo has its very own MySpace profile now. The "26 year old Pisces from Cambridge" is still listed as single, so feel free to check it out and add StarLogo to your list of friends today...

The Agency: Get email updates

Now, there is a new way to find out when information is posted to our blog. Just sign up for our new mailing list by clicking here or the new link under "Syndication" labeled "Get Email Updates." Subscribers get the latest post sent directly to their inboxes automatically. Since the list is moderated, there is no risk of spam, and they can choose to stop receiving updates at any time.

Of course, you are still welcome to use RSS/Atom feeders such as Google Reader to get automatic updates with our feed, but we hope many of you enjoy this new option!

The Agency: Video tutorials now available

Kevin Wang, one of our curriculum developers for StarLogo TNG, produced some excellent video tutorials, which you can download from the StarLogo TNG web site. If you have trouble viewing the videos, you may need to download the free Apple QuickTime player, which is available for both Mac OS and Windows.

The video tutorial series begins with an introduction to StarLogo TNG and continues with guides to making simple procedures, controlling agent movement with the keyboard, editing the terrain, utilizing different camera perspectives, and handling agent collisions.

We'll let you know here when more videos become available.

The Agency: Some USB devices may cause hang on startup

The StarLogo Team posted a new FAQ item yesterday:

StarLogo starts loading and then stops. Why won't it load?

The problem may have to do with USB devices connected to your computer. The libraries that search for USB game pads and joysticks may be hanging when it finds other devices. Try disconnecting additional USB devices and send us a bug report (bug-starlogo@education.mit.edu) to let us know about the problem device.

So far we have received reports about this problem for a Sun mouse, a Sun keyboard, or an IBM mouse connected to a Mac Mini, as well as for the remote control connected to a Windows Media Edition PC.

This bug affects StarLogo TNG Preview 2 for some configurations of Mac OS and Windows.

Update: This problem was fixed in the Mac distribution on May 7. If you downloaded before then and are experiencing this problem, please update.

The Agency: This blog's for you

Welcome to StarLogo TNG - Free Agent, the official blog for The Next Generation of StarLogo. Here you will find news, features, guides, and more about the 3D graphical programming environment for game development and modeling decentralized systems. Here's a preview of what you'll find here:

The Agency
Official news from the StarLogo Team about releases and resources

Agency Insider
Sneak previews of upcoming features in future releases of StarLogo

Turtle Speed
Performance tips for giving your simulations a real speed boost

Block Talk
Guides to getting the most out of StarLogoBlocks, the language of TNG

Change Agent
Tips for getting the best experience from the evolving StarLogo TNG

Model Depth
In-depth looks at sample and user projects with ideas for curriculum

Free Agent
Features on the StarLogo Team, the people behind the software

The Agency: Preview 2 Released for Mac & Windows

We are happy to announce the release of StarLogo TNG Preview 2, which is now available for download.

Preview 2 is the first release available for both Mac OS X and Windows. The delay of the Mac release has allowed us to release it as a Universal Binary, which runs natively on both Intel and PowerPC Macs. The performance on the Intel Macs is phenomenal.

Among the noted features of this release are drastically improved performance (averaging about 5x faster on many machines) and many bug fixes. But there are a number of new features as well, including patch variables, tool tips for blocks, more functionality for setup and collision blocks, up/down blocks, ask-agent block, and many new shapes and sample projects.

One subtle new feature, relating to speed, is the "Max" speed on the speed slider. For simulations, try cranking it all the way up. Projects that don't stamp patches (which is still slow and will be improved in Preview 3) run very quickly, easily besting StarLogo 2. Finally, be sure to press the H key for help, which tells you all of the ways you can navigate Spaceland.

For the Windows users out there, a full list of changes from Preview 1 to Preview 2 is available.

Enjoy!

StarLogo Team

The Agency: Intro to StarLogo TNG

StarLogo TNG is The Next Generation of StarLogo modeling and simulation software. While this version holds true to the premise of StarLogo as a tool to create and understand simulations of complex systems, it also brings with it several advances. Through TNG we hope to

1. Lower the barrier to entry for programming by making programming easier.
2. Entice more young people into programming through tools that facilitates making games.
3. Create compelling 3D worlds that encompass rich games and simulations.

We released the first "preview" edition in January 2006, and the second preview in May 2006, with a final version expected in summer 2006. It is Java based and is available on Windows and Mac OS X (as a universal binary) with a Linux versions coming soon. Some features include:

• 3D models in MD3 (Quake 3) and OBJ formats
• Terrain editor for designing levels
• Joystick and keyboard inputs
• 1st and 3rd person views
• "Say" bubbles to communicate text
• Easy yet powerful and innovative visual programming language

You can now download StarLogo TNG for Mac and Windows from the official StarLogo TNG web site.