OpenFL, a Haxe library previously known as NME, just released version 4. OpenFL is a media framework often used for creating games that is designed to give Flash developers a transitional path to Haxe development. A major component of the OpenFL 4 release is to be more consistent with Flash APIs as well as a commitment to support the Stage3D API. If you are interested in learning more I wrote a multipart tutorial series on using Haxe and NME before it was rebranded OpenFL.
From the release notes:
New OpenGL Renderer
We went to the drawing board to make a lightweight, clean, easy-to-understand OpenGL renderer in the core of OpenFL. This has resulted in a number of great benefits, not only for maintenance and development, but also this has enabled support for WebGL by default in our HTML5 builds. We have working
ShaderFiltersupport inBitmap,TextField,DisplayObjectandTilemap, and plan to add support toSpritein the future.WebGL builds will fallback to 2D canvas automatically if WebGL is not supported by a user’s browser, but if you would prefer to force the use of 2D canvas when targeting HTML5, use
-Dcanvaswhen compiling.Greater Consistency with Flash APIs
There are many subtle little differences we are changing in order to better support the behavior you expect when using an open-source Flash library. These will not hurt ordinary projects, but can make all the difference when you port an existing ActionScript project over to use OpenFL. We are on the road to continue to remove the tiny differences that unnecessarily make some porting projects complicated.
Commitment to the Stage3D API
In the past, the Stage3D compatibility layer was developed by our friends on the Away3D project, and maintained by generous contributors through pull requests. As an API, this was not supported by the core OpenFL team, but with our new OpenGL renderer, and continuing commitment to providing the functionality you expect, we have begun the process of improving our Stage3D APIs to conform more closely with the original API. We are partnering with the developers of the Haxe Starling port to continue to make improvements to our core Stage3D implementation so that we can grow to support modern ActionScript projects using Stage3D with as little headache as possible.
Continued Graphics Improvements
OpenFL continues to improve in its support for the
shape.graphicsAPIs, with minor edits to improve accuracy, as well as changes to our renderer to support scaled graphics and full fidelity. For projects that are designed for set pixel dimensions, OpenFL 4 is now able to automatically upscale and letterbox projects, bringing full quality graphics to projects that may have been designed only for a lower-resolution screen.
Along with this release there was also an update to Lime, the underlying technology on which OpenFL is built.