v0.4.0

For information about how to use PackSquash, please check out the getting started guide and the options files documentation.

🔍 Overview

v0.4.0 is a major update to PackSquash. Originally planned as a fundamental update that would include a new, easy-to-use graphical user interface and extensive redesigns to the code structure and compression techniques, we have decided to scale it back due to the long development cycle of the planned changes to keep a healthy release cadence, and to address some of the user needs and feedback that has accumulated during this time. Nevertheless, v0.4.0 still packs a punch, including significant fixes and texture and sound processing improvements that significantly reduce run times and pack sizes: a 50% improvement in runtime is common for packs with lots of textures and sound files. Rest assured that the changes we had originally planned for v0.4.0 are still being worked on and will make it to future releases.

By the way, we have posted several development announcements on our Discord server since the last release was made, so please consider joining if you want to stay on top of the latest PackSquash news. Joining our Discord server is also a great way to get in touch with us to collaborate: any contributions are welcome!

📌 Changelog

Starting with this release, we are keeping changelogs in a repository file. Please check it out to see what has changed.

⬆️ Upgrading from v0.3.1

PackSquash v0.4.0 no longer requires GStreamer to work, but makes several incompatible changes to the options file format and drops AppImages in favor of static binaries for Linux platforms. Please see the updated documentation and the changelog for more details on how to get PackSquash and what options have changed. After upgrading to v0.4.0, feel free to uninstall GStreamer if no other application on your system depends on a system-wide GStreamer installation.

The PackSquash GitHub action has also been updated to work with this release.

📝 Acknowledgements

We are so appreciative of the support and constructive feedback we have received from the community during this journey ❤️

To that end, we are adopting the All Contributors specification to recognize and visibilize the efforts of our contributors in helping the project. You can find a beautiful list of awesome people who have contributed to the project here. If we have not added you there, but you think you should be credited as a contributor, please contact us.