Grid Framework version 1.3.3 released

Grid Framework version 1.3.3 has been approved by the Asset Store team. This update adresses a bug introduced in version 1.3.2 where values of colour vectors (such as axisColor) and bool vectors were not persistent. Now they will stick again. I also broke the examples for the sliding puzzle and movement with obstacles, which are now fixed. Based upon a customer's question I also built a snake game example; it's mostly an extension of the grid-based movement but with several snake segments following each other.

And last, but for some people certainly not least, if you delete the local documentation (found in the WebPlayerTemplates folder) the help menu entry will forward you to an online documentation instead. Some customers complained about me cluttering their project with that folders, and they are right, but unfortunately that's the only place where I can place the files, or else Unity will try to compile the JavaScript files and throw a ton of errors.

The documentation files are all contained in that one folder, so you can either uncheck it when importing, delete the folder after import or move it somewhere else. I know this is inconvenient, but unless Unity provides me with a proper way to bundle offline documentation this is the best I can do.

Grid Framework version 1.3.2 released

Version 1.3.2 of Grid Framework has been approved by the Asset Store Team. The biggest news is the  addition of new coordinate systems for hexagonal grids. You have cubic coordinates, rhombic coordinates and the old odd herringbone coordinates now. Even herringbone and barycentric coordinates will be added at some point in the future for the sake of completion, but they are no priority.

The documentation received a complete overhaul. Rather than two manually typed PDFs you now have one automatically generated Doxygen documentation in HTML format. Previously you accessed it by double-clicking the PDF in your project view, not you can just go to Unity's help menu and the documentation will open up in your browser.

The user manual and scripting API are now together again. The top- and sidebar of the HTML can be used to quickly find what you want. There is also a new section called Legacy Support that contains information on changed or dropped features and how to restore them or upgrade your code. The changelog has also been added to the manual, thanks to Markdown you now have both a nicely formatted HTMl and a well readable plain text file.

There are also two new examles. The first example constructs a SimCity-like terrain mesh from a plain text file containing the heights as integers and allows you raise and lower vertices by clicking them. Just set up your grid, insert your height file and click play.

The other example uses polar grids to simulate a rotary dial, as found on old telephones. Click a number and the dial will rotate that much, print a message and then rotate back. This example can be used for circular GUIs, menus, clocks or anything else that needs to rotate around angles.

There is also the usual bug-fixing, vertex matrix methods got cut and the NearestFace/BoxG methods of rectangular grids have changed somewhat. You can find the exact details in the Legacy Support section of the documentation. Here is the full changelog:

- Hex Grids: new coordinate systems, see the manual page about @ref hex_grid for more information.
- New HTML documentation generated with Doxygen replaces the old one.
- Fixed a bug in `Angle2Rotation` when the grid's rotation was not a multiple of 90°.
- _New example:_ generate a terrain mesh similar to old games like SimCity from a plain text file and have it align to a grid.
- _New example:_ a rotary phone dial that rotates depending on which number was clicked and reports that number back. A great template for disc-shaped GUIs.
Some existing methods have changed in this release, please consult the @ref legacy_support page of the user manual.
- Rect Grids: changed the way `NearestBoxG` works, now there is no offset anymore, it returns the actual grid coordinates of the box. Just add `0.5 * Vector.one` to the result in your old methods.
- Rect Grids: changed the way `NearestFaceG` works, just like above. Add `0.5 * Vector3.one - 0.5 * i` to the result in your old methods (where `i` is the index of the plane you used).
- Hex grids: Just like above, nearest vertices of hex grids return their true coordinates for whatever coordinate system you choose.
I am sorry for these changes so late , but I realize this differentiation made things more complicated in the end than they should have been. It's better to have one unified coordinate system instead. Read the @ref legacy_support to learn how to get the old behaviour back.

Status update and Doxygen rant

It has been two weeks snce my last update, so I wanted to let you guys know what I am currently at. The good news is that the new coordinate systems have been implemented and are ready to use. Of course there is still the obligatory last check to do, but i expect everything to be fine. All methods that got the axe are now gone as well and have been put into extension methods and ZIPped into archives; that way no one will accidently use the deprecated API. I also added a section called Legacy Support to the manual with instructions.

Now for the promised rant. I have transitioned all the documentation to Doxygen, both scripting reference and user manual. Now all that would be left would be to sprinkle some CSS fairy dust on top of it so it looks nice and I'm done. Except editing the CSS is an exercise in pure trial & error frustration, there is no documentation for it and the code is barely commented. The manual is a pain in the butt as well, it's like it was written for people who already know how to use Doxygen. It will go into detail about all the possible ways of formating my text, but it doesn't explain how to get the text into the manual in a specific order. Don't worry, I got it all covered now, but it was not a fun journey.

I wanted to slim down the default HTML design, because I think the large header buttons at the top are too large and vibrant, but I've had it with Doxygen. Don't get me wrong, it's a great system and I'm sure everything made perfect sense when wrting it, but it is obscure from the outside. Anyway, I'm going to stick with the default design for now, but at least I limited the size of images so they don't disrupt the flow of the text. There probably won't be any PDF documentation anymore though, the HTML is more flexible to read and navigate, plus the PDF generated by Doxygen looks rather... ugly.

Now that I've got everything out of the way it's time to wrap it up and hopefully get it released next week.