# 7.0-alpha.3 release: physics, blending, batching, shadows, Delphi (packages, Linux), UI masks, lots of editor UX, Android, iOS work, float textures, VS Code, Sketchfab, more... **URL:** https://forum.castle-engine.io/t/7-0-alpha-3-release-physics-blending-batching-shadows-delphi-packages-linux-ui-masks-lots-of-editor-ux-android-ios-work-float-textures-vs-code-sketchfab-more/1309 **Category:** News **Created:** [August 21, 2024, 3:27am UTC](https://forum.castle-engine.io/t/7-0-alpha-3-release-physics-blending-batching-shadows-delphi-packages-linux-ui-masks-lots-of-editor-ux-android-ios-work-float-textures-vs-code-sketchfab-more/1309 "2024-08-21T03:27:51Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![michalis](https://forum.castle-engine.io/user_avatar/forum.castle-engine.io/michalis/32/3_2.png) [@michalis](https://forum.castle-engine.io/u/michalis) #### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 3:27am UTC](https://forum.castle-engine.io/t/7-0-alpha-3-release-physics-blending-batching-shadows-delphi-packages-linux-ui-masks-lots-of-editor-ux-android-ios-work-float-textures-vs-code-sketchfab-more/1309/1 "2024-08-21T03:27:51Z")
| [![First-person shooter game example](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/9/96a561df6f89b73f83ae088542bd683cb0442616.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/fps_game_editor.png "First-person shooter game example") | | [![Bad way to play chess](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/8/865c9e9ec11ec56b61b86413f15f498385b0f0e8.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/chess3.png "Bad way to play chess") | | [![Color picker in "Eye of Beholder" example](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/e/e2dff012ca4743c1f9e5d7a6d8bc9b5d52529cda.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/color2.png "Color picker in "Eye of Beholder" example") | | [![Cat with jetpack from Sketchfab - https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/jetpack-cat-6838f7599617408485cd055cd0ce5182](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/f/fade820d8748cbd847d69cab126355df37ae094b.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/cat_jetpack-1.png "Cat with jetpack from Sketchfab - https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/jetpack-cat-6838f7599617408485cd055cd0ce5182") | | [![Castle Model Viewer Mobile - Dungeon in Examine Mode](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/6/641c38416ae43c445607006665a1a257f72427c1.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/castle-model-viewer-mobile-feature.png "Castle Model Viewer Mobile - Dungeon in Examine Mode") | | [![Artstation Challenge - Untamed - Cat Duelist by Marc_A_D\, from Sketchfab - https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/artstation-challenge-untamed-cat-duelist-5bec11c3160048f7a8ce482523ac2deb](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/e/e243bc809dd7b0d2de14f5b41062dc6e7623234a.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/castle_model_viewer_cat_duelist.png "Artstation Challenge - Untamed - Cat Duelist by Marc\_A\_D\, from Sketchfab - https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/artstation-challenge-untamed-cat-duelist-5bec11c3160048f7a8ce482523ac2deb") | | [![(Wireframe View) Artstation Challenge - Untamed - Cat Duelist by Marc_A_D\, from Sketchfab - https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/artstation-challenge-untamed-cat-duelist-5bec11c3160048f7a8ce482523ac2deb](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/3/3f15d4a6c2961d431943681090a0e634f48cd5c7.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/castle_model_viewer_cat_duelist_wireframe.png "(Wireframe View) Artstation Challenge - Untamed - Cat Duelist by Marc\_A\_D\, from Sketchfab - https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/artstation-challenge-untamed-cat-duelist-5bec11c3160048f7a8ce482523ac2deb") | | [![Flying Cthulhu from Sketchfab https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/flying-cthulhu-4737a3b84e00415b9d8bb42ae44285b2 by TooManyDemons](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/0/0ad3be5a44c023275919d5ac539176094c335e25.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/cthulhu.png "Flying Cthulhu from Sketchfab https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/flying-cthulhu-4737a3b84e00415b9d8bb42ae44285b2 by TooManyDemons") | | [![TCastleControl on Delphi FMX form](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/2/26cfef3210c03bc58f9dfa5fb3ce61a0ab79c75e.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/delphi_fmx_3.png "TCastleControl on Delphi FMX form") | | [![Inspector debug view](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/e/e5f03ffc06d4eea85c7158d19352cf0071a6b876.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/inspector_2.png "Inspector debug view") | | [!["Lynch" game editor screenshot](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/6/66fc1dd487af07efb72d6b51905aee653936c3c1.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/lynch_editor_2.png ""Lynch" game editor screenshot") | | [!["Lynch" statue in Castle Model Viewer](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/2/2c73db44920a6e216983ddfe8c3eabba1fff1dfb.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/lynch_view3dscene_statue.png ""Lynch" statue in Castle Model Viewer") | | [![Cathedral minecraft model\, by Patrix\, from https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/cathedral-faed84a829114e378be255414a7826ca](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/5/535706fa5d72d5525f3f653136373aa004daa8dc.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/minecraft_castle.png "Cathedral minecraft model\, by Patrix\, from https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/cathedral-faed84a829114e378be255414a7826ca") | | [![Great lakes - terrain from precise 16-bit PNG ( https://www.motionforgepictures.com/height-maps/ )](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/b/beb7781d35ba1e2e83936bf8c5512651c314d4bc.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/terrain_screenshot_great_lakes.png "Great lakes - terrain from precise 16-bit PNG ( https://www.motionforgepictures.com/height-maps/ )") | | [![Tiled snow map (with animations)](https://forum.castle-engine.io/uploads/default/original/2X/7/7fbf6323f849030bbc4fe6bde1405de55aaff85b.png)](https://castle-engine.io/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/tiled_editor_snow.png "Tiled snow map (with animations)") | We are proud to present a big new release of _Castle Game Engine_, with lots of new features, improvements and fixes. The new engine version is available for [download](https://castle-engine.io/download) now. The highlights of the release are below. For more details, see the [full release notes](https://castle-engine.io/release_7.0-alpha.3). The number of this release, _“7.0-alpha.3”_, is a signal that we’re on our road to the big _7.0_ release (see the [roadmap](https://castle-engine.io/roadmap) and [plans and timeline](https://castle-engine.io/release)). _This release is dedicated to the late [Eugene](https://github.com/eugeneloza) [Loza](https://gitlab.com/EugeneLoza/). I miss you, dear friend._ The most important highlights of this release are: - [Physics](https://castle-engine.io/https://castle-engine.io/physics). New components for colliders and rigid bodies, ability to run physics simulation in the editor, joints, layers, forces. - Many rendering improvements: Correct and automatic blending, both batching and occlusion culling easier to use and more powerful, fully modern rendering on new GPUs, better support for ancient systems with old GPUs. - Also OpenGLES (Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch) rendering supports now almost all desktop rendering features: shadow volumes, shadow maps, 3D textures, occlusion query, anisotropic filtering, meshes with 32-bit indexes. - [Shadows using shadow volumes](https://castle-engine.io/shadow_volumes) are trivial to activate. Work is under way to expose [shadow maps](https://castle-engine.io/x3d_extensions_shadow_maps.php) through a trivial property as well. - [Visual Studio Code integration](https://castle-engine.io/vscode). Our own [VS Code “Castle Game Engine” extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=castle-engine-team.castle-engine) with code completion and syntax highlighting for all Pascal code and easy building / running / debugging of Castle Game Engine projects. - [Delphi](https://castle-engine.io/delphi) integration improvements: [TCastleControl](https://castle-engine.io/control_on_form) available for VCL and FMX applications, [Delphi packages](https://castle-engine.io/delphi_packages) with IDE support, [Delphi Linux support](https://castle-engine.io/delphi_linux) and more. - Support for [Tiled maps](https://castle-engine.io/tiled_maps) with a new component that is comfortable to use and efficient to render. - User Interface improvements: better default font, UI batching, image regions and 9-slices borders visually configurable, [mask component](https://castle-engine.io/user_interface#_mask). - Many editor UX improvements: modern color picker, unified tools to edit UI and transformations, wireframe view, “Change Class” menu action, [Sketchfab Importer](https://castle-engine.io/sketchfab), finding components by name, multi-selection. - Improvements to [views](https://castle-engine.io/views) (formerly _states_): better API, automatic initialization of the `published` fields, opening the project greets you with UX to manage views. - Mobile improvements: lots of [Android services](https://castle-engine.io/android_services) improvements, [Castle Model Viewer Mobile](https://castle-engine.io/castle-model-viewer-mobile) and [more Android applications released on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=8315026166336791468), lots of general [Android](https://castle-engine.io/android) and [iOS](https://castle-engine.io/ios) fixes and improvements to make porting your games to mobile trivial, safe borders. - Loading and saving: cache, MD3 improvements, X3D 4.0 improvements, custom model formats registration, STL saving. - Inspector (press _F8 / 3 fingers_ in a debug build of any project) improvements: tweaking boolean properties at run-time, hot-reloading at run-time to iterate on your graphics. - Float-based images (e.g. for precise terrains) full support at loading and rendering ([formats: 16-bit PNG, float-based KTX, 16/32-bit TIFFs](https://castle-engine.io/wp/2024/07/12/float-based-images-e-g-for-precise-terrains-full-support-4-float-based-image-classes-passed-to-gpu-and-shaders-loading-16-bit-png-loading-float-based-ktx-loading-16-32-bit-tiffs-castle-image/)). - A lot of new documentation and examples. We in particular recommend 2 new tutorial articles introducing most important engine concepts: [Bad way to play chess, aka 3D physics fun](https://castle-engine.io/bad_chess). **Support us** We appreciate your support [on Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/castleengine). There are also [other ways to support us](https://castle-engine.io/donate_other.php) and if you’re a company, we’re open to cooperation (write to `michalis@castle-engine.io`). By 2024, Michalis, the lead engine developer, spent most of his life on the engine and doesn’t plan to stop. Moreover, Michalis now works on the engine full-time counting only on your support. So anything you can give is really appreciated! **Spread the word!** We don’t do much marketing. Because we suck at marketing. Help us — spread the word about this new release! Post about it anywhere you can. Talk about it in your communities — online or in the _Real World_. Tell your family about it (they really want to know). Reuse this news post and screenshots freely. Have fun everyone and thank you for using the engine.