v1.38.2.0 - Gamepad handling, config file improvements, fixed demo exploder shot

A new update has been released for BlastZone 2! (v.1.38.2.0)  This update improves gamepad handling, fixes the exploder shot animation for the demo version, makes a few improvements to config file parsing using a new format, and updates a few libraries.  Full details are below:

• Reworked much of the gamepad input handling code

  • Improved data locality to slightly improve performance

  • Improved general code design to prevent potential bugs

• Fixed missing expanding sphere for the exploder shot for the demo version

• Upgraded config file data parsing

  • There are now discrete field names for all config parameters

  • Config parameters can now appear in any order in the config file

  • Config parameters can now be individually deleted from the config file to reset individual options to defaults

  • Config file parsing is much more robust now and less prone to errors if elements of data are malformed

  • The new format is easier to extend now without risking migration issues when upgrading to newer versions of the game

  • *NOTE: Upgrading to the new config file format will reset gamepad and keyboard controls to defaults, but this is a one time issue and won't occur again in the future

• Upgraded the configuration program to work with the new configFile format and support all the same features as the main game

  • Supports config parameters in any order, missing parameters, and extra parameters

• Fixed a few crash issues for the configuration program when parsing malformed data

• Did a refinement pass through much of the codebase, doing small optimizations in many areas, and made the code generally more robust, reducing the possibility of potential bugs

• Upgraded FreeType library to v2.14.1

• Upgraded LibPng16 library to v1.6.55

As usual, to make sure you have the latest update, launch the game and check the lower left corner for “v1.38.2.0” or higher.  Enjoy!