0.5.0 Alpha Released

This release brings with it a new rendering mechanic for blocks with shaped edges, and a new BlockRenderer implementation.  Most of the work I did on this one was due to my desire to get metal blocks that are optionally sloped, with edge pieces intact (the current metal blocks lack edges).  That will be the focus of the next release, which will probably just be a bootstrap mod/art update.

First, we've got to talk about the new DeluxeBlockRenderer, because I used it in the shaped block template.  In-game, it looks incredibly similar to the ClassicBlockRenderer, but uses a very different art template.

As you can see, it has a number of edge pieces for every situation.  I can say with confidence that the internal design of this BlockRenderer will make it a much better choice for use in Tilesets, at least compared to ClassicBlockRenderer, which fights against Tilesets in a distressing fashion (this is a bug I will address in the future).

Second, we've got new a new block shaping mechanic, including a new GUI tool to cycle through all possible shapes.  Each block can now have up to 8 vertical variants and up to 32 horizontal variants.  In Overlay paint mode, these vertical variants will occupy twice as many variant rows, because each variant will have it's paint overlay, as well.  The vertical variants are not used by default, but are instead selected with the Shape Tool.

For this example, I added a vertical variant to the previous file, to give the corners a sloped appearance.  However, I wish to note the fact that these shape variants can look any way you want.  They don't have to be slopes.

Here's an example of this block in action:

The blocks on the left and right are in identical arrangements.  The ones on the left have had the Shape Tool used on them once.  The ones on the right are in their default state.