Quest 5.4 is now in beta. You can download the Windows version from the Quest download page. The web version will be ready within the next few days. Update 5th March: Quest 5.4 is also now live on the web version too!
Here’s a quick overview of what’s new:
- the new text processor makes it much easier to create dynamic text and links
- gamebooks can now use scripts
- the script editor now has a code view
- menus are now shown within the game text
- object and exit hyperlinks activate and deactivate according to what’s in the current visible scope
- list and dictionary attribute types can now hold any type of attribute value, so you can now create lists of lists, dictionaries of dictionaries, and all kinds of combinations
- there’s a simpler syntax for calling JavaScript within your ASL – instead of using the RunScript request, you can now use a more natural-looking syntax with “JS.” followed by your function call. For example, JS.alert(“Hello world”)
- new Portuguese (Brazilian) translation, contributed by Ramon Dellaqia
- new Romanian translation, contributed by Catalin Catz
- option to speak all text via SAPI
- when adding a duplicate object name, instead of giving you an error message, a unique object name is generated and the name you entered is used as its alias – so it’s now easier to add multiple objects that appear to have the same name.
If you’re using libraries created for Quest 5.3 and earlier, please note that some XML attribute names have changed – please see the Upgrade Notes on the wiki for details. (Game files loaded in the editor will be automatically upgraded to use the new 5.4 attribute names when they are saved, so this shouldn’t cause a problem if you’re only using the standard libraries.)
Please try out the new version and let me know if anything breaks!