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StarStrider v2.8.5 has been released. Here's What's new:
Bug fix: Dialog boxes (e.g. the Object finder) now works when running in 24-bit fullscreen modes on Windows 7 / Vista.
New feature: Added support for 30-bit (10-bits / color component) deep color fullscreen modes. This is available for some newer video cards only. It is a definite improvement for the rendering of faint gradients (e.g. the milky way). You do not need to have a 30-bit capable display - the video card can "dither" the image down two 24-bits, which reduces visible banding artifacts. NB: Dialog boxes are disabled when running in 30-bit modes (since Windows can't display them in that format). If you try to open a dialog in such a mode, you'll just get an error text. The exception is the "Load file" dialog box, which is replaced by a listing of the files in the "Scripts and Views" directory.
Improvement: The "nesting depth" of the menus have been reduced. Most important is that the "Video mode" menu has been replaced by a "Fullscreen video mode" menu, where you now select the desired color format, resolution, and refresh rate, all from the same menu level, then use "Switch to fullscreen" to set the mode. I.e. you no longer have to navigate through as multiple levels of sub-menus to do this.
Improvement: The textures from the previously separately available "2048x texture pack" are now included with the default textures.
Improvement: The joystick control mappings have been updated to work well with the XBox360 game pad.
Change: A "Pixel aspect ratio" listing in a new "Device & display" menu replaces the previous "Display aspect ratio" menu (most modern displays & projectors use square pixels, i.e. a 1:1 pixel aspect ratio).
Change: The "Add Kuiper Belt Objects" script have been updated, and now includes Pluto & Charon, which following an IAU decision, are no longer counted among the "main" planets.
Axed: The "Enable dual-core use" and "Enable pixel-shader support" options have been removed - these features are now always enabled (if supported by the hardware).
Axed: The "Configure controls" option has been removed as the standard dialog for doing this were removed by Microsoft in Vista / 7.
Various minor bug fixes.
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