August Developer Update

Hey everyone! We've been hard at work upgrading and improving our assets. Here are some highlights from August's development:

[ULS]

• Graphics Enhancement: We resolved roughness issues and improved rendering quality.
• Lighting Updates: Addressed additional light shadows and ASTC encoding for Android.

[LGI]

• Albedo Pass: Successfully implemented a force Albedo pass for Forward and Forward+ rendering.

[LSPP]

• Occlusion Control: Added an option to control occlusion over distance.

[Wireframer]

• Compatibility Fixes: Resolved compatibility issues with WebGL on Mac OS.

[Altos]

• Orbit Angles: Added orbit orientation options.
• Precipitation System: Introduced a new precipitation system.
• Cloudmap Preview: Implemented a Cloudmap Preview System and fix related issues.
• Performance Optimization: Introduced 1/4 frame rendering for improved performance.
• Contrast and Lighting: Increased cloud contrast and added a slider to adjust warmth and light intensity in Altos.
• Weather Maps: Implemented procedural and texture weather maps, along with various improvements, including standalone build fixes, GC allocation removal, and runtime time change options.
• CPU Cloud Positions: Added CPU-side cloud positions in Altos.
• External Singleton: Reintroduced a singleton for external users in Altos.

[Buto]

• Documentation Update: We've revised and updated the documentation for Buto.
• CPU Wind: Buto now handles wind on the CPU side, allowing you to adjust the wind during runtime.
• Compatibility Testing: Thoroughly tested Buto on various platforms, including MacOS with Metal, OpenGL, Vulkan, and D3D11 and D3D12 builds.
• Grid Count Renaming: Renamed "Grid Count Z" to "Sample Count" in Buto for clarity.
• Override Checkbox: Added an override checkbox for Volume Noise Source in Buto.
  

Only some of these changes are live, but we wanted to share insights into what's happening behind the scenes. We're hard at work making these assets better for you! Stay tuned for more updates.