Hello guys,
I thought Id share my latest progress with the list since ive received quite 
a few inquiries with what Ive been doing lately. So here's some things to 
look forward to in the next patch, and also some things planned for further 
development by me (Note: This lists only my work and does not include 
anything Kevin may have added):

Particles:
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-Added Vga/Vgr bitmap support to all particles (optional) - no longer 
restricted to solid rectangles. These are color-keyed transparent at palette 
index 0; also may be alpha translucent. Since this involved some 
re-organization to the core rendering this will need to be tested extensively 
on all of our video cards.
-Added Rate of Decay parameter - determines how fast the particle may die out.
-Fixed resizing bug - particles may be larger to accomodate bitmaps. 

Weapons:
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-Added Scaling factor to displayed weapon images - allows for tighter 
resolution weapons.
-Target Crosshair is now a stored/modifiable .Vga image - image is 
color-keyed transparent at palette index 0 and may be any size.
-Bobbing motion can now be independtly set for each weapon - value set in the 
attributes column in weapons.txt.

Player:
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-Added surrounding light source from player - set through univ. register; 
value determines radial brightness (ex: useful for creating lamps or torches).
-Added directional light source from player - set through univ. register; 
value determines focused distance/brightness (ex: useful for creating 
flashlights).


Things being worked on (may or may not be completed in time for next patch):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------
-Console script. This will allow for fully customizable display interfaces 
including inventory boxes, bitmap overlays, text, univ. reg displays, all 
current console displays (key pickup, weapon box, hitpoint guy, etc...). and 
anything else you wish to throw up on the screen during game-time.
-Weather effects. Running off the particle subsystem this will allow you to 
create rain or snow in the game.
-Day/Night cycle effect. When enabled this will control lighting ambience on 
a user-specified timer to produce daytime, nighttime cycling.


Things also on my list:
--------------------------------
-Multi-Layered 3D Sky (this should allow for parallax layer movement and 
produce some nice effects with the Day/Night cycler.)
-3D Modeled Weapons - a definite must, and long overdue.

There is undoubtedly more I will be tackling as we move along but this sums 
up the main things I currently have in the works. For questions or details 
concerning GCSMenu (i've been told its very near completion) - please contact 
Kevin at Support@pieskysoft.com. For anything else, such as general engine 
suggestions or inquiries or complaints, feel free to mail me. Thanks for your 
support! :-)

-John W.


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