Nice work on the new version! Does this also include the new directory/file API?

Also, do you have Twitter? I could add you to the @spheredev Twitter account so you can send out updates on new releases if you like. (Same for Facebook, really)

Does this also include the new directory/file API?

Yep, it was a last-minute addition to 4.8

Here's the DirectoryStream API:
https://github.com/fatcerberus/minisphere/blob/v4.8.0/docs/sphere2-core-api.txt#L365-L429

And FS.fullPath() which is really useful if you want to have default directories like in Sphere v1:
https://github.com/fatcerberus/minisphere/blob/v4.8.0/docs/sphere2-core-api.txt#L524-L534

Nice work on the new version! Does this also include the new directory/file API?

Also, do you have Twitter? I could add you to the @spheredev Twitter account so you can send out updates on new releases if you like. (Same for Facebook, really)

I have a Twitter, I never use it though.  @fattycerberus

I have a Facebook too, but I gave up on it because Facebook keeps suspending my account due to "suspicious activity" and makes me upload a selfie.  Repeatedly.  10 seconds after I regain access (mind you it usually takes 3 days to regain access).

So should I uninstall it again and go through to make sure that absolutely everything is gone?

So should I uninstall it again and go through to make sure that absolutely everything is gone?

Yeah, uninstall-reinstall is my general recommendation for big releases like this anyway.  Inno Setup is really bad at removing old files so they just pile up until you do a complete uninstall (at which point, then it decides to remove all the old stuff--go figure).

There also might be an old miniSphere plugin in C:\ProgramData somewhere.  If so, delete it.

Even after deleting everything (There wasn't anything in C:\ProgramData), I'm still getting the unhandled exception error when I run it for the first time.

And it still can't open the configuration manager.

Did something change about where miniSphere look for games? On Linux I have all my games in $HOME/Documents/miniSphere/games but it no longer seems to find them.

Edit: scratch that, a second, empty Games folder with a capitalized G appeared alongside it and moving the games into that folder made it work.

Did something change about where miniSphere look for games? On Linux I have all my games in $HOME/Documents/miniSphere/games but it no longer seems to find them.

Edit: scratch that, a second, empty Games folder with a capitalized G appeared alongside it and moving the games into that folder made it work.

Sorry, apparently I messed with the directories while I was refactoring stuff and then forgot about it.

Even after deleting everything (There wasn't anything in C:\ProgramData), I'm still getting the unhandled exception error when I run it for the first time.

And it still can't open the configuration manager.

You're right, I get the error for the configuration manager too, when running the bundled Sphere Studio.  My self-compiled version works fine.  There must be something borked in the installer, I'll look into it.

I can't reproduce the error on startup, but it's probably related.  Something's going wrong during plugin loading, it looks like.

edit: Found the problem, there's an outdated SphereStudio.Base.dll in C:\Program Files\miniSphere\ide\Plugins, which conflicts with the real one (this is the main core of the IDE, so it's pretty important).  Delete that and see if that fixes the issue.  I'll fix it in the next release.

Alright, that fixed it.

miniSphere 4.8.1 is up to fix a packaging issue for Windows that caused Sphere Studio to not be installed properly.  For anyone that has installed 4.8.0 or earlier, uninstall it, delete everything in C:\Program Files\miniSphere, delete the directory %LOCALAPPDATA%\Spherical, and then install 4.8.1 to ensure a clean slate.

I fixed the SoundStream bug.  It turns out I was calculating the buffer size incorrectly for stereo streams and only half-filling the fragment buffers.  The calculation was only correct for a single channel, which is why I could play stereo files on a mono stream if I doubled the sample rate - most of the time the two channels are very similar so it's just like you're doubling up on samples.

Some technical details on the bug: Allegro al_create_audio_stream() takes a "number of samples" parameter which specifies the size of the buffer:

Code: (c) [Select]

if (!(stream->ptr = al_create_audio_stream(8, 1024, frequency, depth_flag, conf)))
	goto on_error;

8 is the number of buffers, 1024 is the number of samples you can put into each buffer.  I misunderstood 1024 to be the overall number of samples, but it's actually the number of samples per channel.  So for mono streams I was fine, but for stereo (or more), the buffer was only getting partially filled and the rest was silence, hence the choppiness and half-speed-ness.

Now if I only I had found the bug before I already released 4.8.1... oh well.

This isn't a major issue, but Windows 10 blocks the installer from running and requires me to click "run anyway".

Yeah, the only way around that is to sign the installer with an EV certificate, which cost a fortune.  Without a digital signature Windows sees that it's not commonly downloaded and blocks it.

This the reason most people despise SmartScreen.

Does it do this solely because it's an installer?