Sorry for the slight delay to this months update, been a bit busy the last week behind the scenes, which held it up a bit.
Focal Engine
Work on Focal this month mostly continued to go into features needed for the port of 2.1 to Focal, but a some time went towards updating it to officially support Minecraft 1.16.5, as well as newer builds of Optifine, up to HD U G7 in fact. Previous versions would crash with these new builds of Optifine installed, so this should simplify the lives of those that want to use both Focal, and those versions of Optifine. This release is planned for early April, and may even be out by the time this blog goes live.
In other, likely more exciting news, Vulkan development for Focal has officially begun. We have a new dev environment setup that supports C++, and the first bits of VK code are being played around with. It’s not just planning anymore! That said, don’t get too excited. Lots of work yet to be done on that front…but still, it’s moving forward!
We will share more info on this when we have it and more significant progress has been made. But with any luck, the next major Focal update should include Vulkan! Again, a ways off, but it will be one of our top priorities going forward, especially so once 2.1’s Focal port is finished.
Continuum RT
As we said last month, with Continuum 2.1’s Focal port and the additions/changes being made to Focal to facilitate it, RT hasn’t been worked on all that much. Once the Focal port of 2.1 is finished however, RT users should still expect the new sky model being added to 2.1 to make it’s way over to RT.
We fully understand if anyone cancels their subscriptions during this in between time however. Though we greatly appreciate any continued support, and it directly funds and supports Focal Engine’s continued development as well.
Continuum 2.1
Continuum 2.1’s Focal update has made great progress and is getting closer to a potential release by the day. In fact, one of the main reasons the next Focal update is being pushed is to facilitate this update. That said, we don’t have much more to share at this time. We will hopefully have a few cool teasers of some of the improvements and new features that will be coming with this update in the coming weeks though, so keep an eye on our social media for that!
Stratum
The Stratum update we teased last month, featuring a large swath of Minecrafts current flowers, as well as a few other things, such as POM for the previously added Redstone Lamp was finally released this month! Specifically, this update added the Sunflower, Poppy, Oxeye Daisy, Lily of the Valley, Blue Orchid, Allium and Red, White, Orange, and Pink Tulips! We hope everyone has been enjoying this update and the less jarring feeling it helps bring to the landscape; not seeing nearly as many untextured flowers as you explore the world and whatnot.
That said, we aren’t done, and have continued working on bringing more of the remaining flowers to you in a future update. We have already teased a few on our social media and will continue to do so in the coming weeks.
Before we go, here’s a bunch of pictures of the new Stratum update released this month, for your viewing pleasure.
(Click to enlarge)
Short and sweet this month, but exciting things are coming! See you again next month!
