World Machine Mt. Daniel released
A new version of World Machine is available now for early adopters. The Mt. Daniel release has been made available in the development channel and is due out for general release in a couple of weeks.
The most eye-catching new feature is a new snow device that is able to model snow flow in a much wider range of conditions than the original version. To help users get started with the updated device several new example worlds are included. You can read more about the new snow features in this dedicated blog post.
Less eye-catching but arguably more essential in this release was a focus on improving the build ergonomics, especially for very high-resolution output. This includes significantly improved build reporting that logs errors that occur during a build and improved progress precision, especially for those slow building devices.
To make iteration easier, all devices are now cancellable to alleviate the problems users faced having to wait for slow building devices to finish before being able to recommence work. Cancelling also no longer appears to lock World Machine.
Overall memory usage has been drastically reduced too, especially for very large heightmaps and when using Layout Generator. The developers promise that for “some of your ultra high res builds, [these changes] alone will conserve dozens of gigabytes of memory!”
World Machine starts at $119 for an indie license or $299 for the professional version. A free feature complete version for non-commercial use is also available (with output capped at 513 x 513).
You can read more about the new release on the World Machine blog.