Beacon 1.1.7

Here's another bug fix release

• Fixed loading of numeric types that don't exactly match the intended type. This will most readily be visible by correctly loading the global stack size multiplier.
• More ini parser tweaks to more accurately represent the devkit defaults.
• Fixed exception caused by painting the tab bar too quickly.
• Updated defaults for new item set entries.
• Rebuilding an item set from its preset will update the min and max entries.

Beacon 1.1.6

Yet another bug fix release

• Fixed issue causing encrypted custom config content not to be written to documents on Windows.
• If online access is disabled, the save process will jump directly to the "save to disk" dialog.
• Fixed exception when cancelling a Nitrado import before closing the Nitrado login window.
• Engram extractor can handle curly quotes and apostrophes.
• Loot quality scale will properly restore on document load.
• Item set ini parsing tweaked to better match Ark defaults.
• Fixed exception caused by having a [Beacon] section in the custom config content.
• On a related note, [Beacon] sections in custom config content, which were caused by re-importing a Beacon-produced ini file, will now be completely ignored by Beacon.

Beacon 1.1.5

This is a bug fix release to solve some of Beacon's most common exceptions / crashes.

• Server names with characters <, >, |, or " will no longer cause an exception during deployment.
• Fixed an exception that could occur while trying to use the "Enable Cloud & Community" features menu link.
• Fixed an exception that could occur when dismissing the "Add Engrams" window while a search or filter was still in progress.
• Fixed an exception that could occur after editing an item set entry.
• Preset modifier editor will include custom loot sources from open documents when previewing matched sources.

Beacon 1.1.4

• The rows in the Add Loot Source dialog can now be double-clicked!
• The simulator should no longer appear as a little wedge at the bottom of the window. Unless your window is very short, that is.
• Dialogs, such as when adding a loot source, will now be shown above the main window instead of being centered on the system's primary screen.
• More attempts have been made to solve the mysterious exception (aka crash) when saving a document to disk. This issue has haunted the program for a while, so fingers crossed this release finally solves it.
• Nitrado's idle wait time is now pulled from the Beacon server, allowing it to be adjusted without a new build, should the need arise.
• Exception reports will now include the user's anonymous uuid.
• The [Beacon] ini group has been reformatted to avoid unconfirmed issues on Xbox. Beacon 1.1.4 and newer will recognize both the new and old format, but older versions will not recognize the new format of course.
• Beacon will now determine the line ending character of a file or copied content and use the same character, rather than reformatting to LF. Beacon's export window will also more consistently use the platform's line ending character to improve compatibility.
• Fixed an exception in the item set editor.
• The Beacon Smart Rewriter will now remove old rows from the ini that were previously not part of the Custom Config Content editor. For example, adding bUseCorpseLocator=true to Custom Config Content will replace the line bUseCorpseLocator=false that was already part of the ini being updated. Previously, Beacon would maintain both lines.
• Pasting preset modifiers will flag the preset as modified.
• Fixed incorrect preset modifier count in deletion warning dialog.
• Custom Config Content has been reworked behind the scenes to be MUCH faster on Windows.

Beacon 1.1.3

Sorry for two updates in one week. Version 1.1.2 was pulled due to critical issue on Windows. This update, version 1.1.3, fixes that issue. The notes for version 1.1.2 have been included as well.

Version 1.1.3:

• Fixed issue while loading Custom Config Content that caused Beacon to lock up for a significant amount of time.
• Fixed an exception while loading Stack Sizes config.
• Potentially fixed exception in item set editor.

Version 1.1.2:

This is a bug fix release intended to improve stability.

• Fixed a bug causing duplicated loot sources to not duplicate item sets that were built from a preset that is not part of the user's library. That's a mouthful.
• Improved handling of UTF-16 encoded ini files. It's not obvious why some ini files are encoded this way, but Beacon now supports them.
• Fixed a bug where the global stack size multiplier field always showed 1.0, regardless of what was saved to the Beacon file and ini.
• Fixed post-deploy language when deploying to multiple servers at the same time.
• Added some log messages regarding database migration.
• User-supplied engrams are now considered console-safe.
• Due to the potential frustration and confusion caused by not understanding what the Custom Config Editor does, combined with the manual steps required to decouple the data without harming the original ini, Custom Config Content import now defaults to off.
• Changes have been made to how Beacon handles threading. The goal is to fix some unexplainable errors users have been having while saving, as well as other places.

Beacon 1.1.1

This is a minor bug fix release to fix some significant bugs.

• Minor adjustments to a couple toolbar icons to improve clarity.
• Fixed an exception (commonly called a crash) when switch between crafting costs that had a different number of recipe engrams.
• Fixed 'Global Stack Size Multiplier' having no effect on the GameUserSettings.ini output.
• Added copy & paste support to preset modifiers.

Beacon 1.1

Major New Features

• Introducing Beacon Omni, a paid version of Beacon which supports more configuration options.
• New "Player and Dino Levels" config editor. Set the max level, total experience, and build an experience curve of your own.
• New "Crafting Costs" config editor. Beacon makes it a little less tedious to edit engram crafting costs.
• New "Custom Content" config editor. You can now edit both your Game.ini and GameUserSettings.ini files directly inside Beacon. Beacon will blend its changes with the content in this editor and the content already on the server.
• New "Stack Sizes" editor for Ark's new ItemStackSizeMultiplier and ConfigOverrideItemMaxQuantity config options.
• New preset editor with dynamic loot source modifiers.
• New "Add Item Sets to Default" checkbox in loot source settings allows Beacon to add its item sets to the default item sets, rather than replace them. It is unclear exactly what the min and max item set values do in this case though.

Minor New Features

• Now possible to reset a config to default. Using the "Restore" option in the "Document" menu, this option will completely remove Beacon's changes to the config, putting it back to the Ark defaults.
• Beacon is more efficient editing item sets across multiple loot sources, meaning doing this should feel much faster.
• New option to import configs from other open documents.
• Beacon will now warn you when mod items have been added to a document that has "console safe mode" enabled.
• Loot source, item set, and preset min/max values are no longer range limited. This makes some advanced designs possible, but also allows you to do funny things like set the minimum greater than the maximum.
• Nitrado deployment now analyzes log files to determine how long to wait for the server to stop. This prevents the issue where the user could stop the server with the "Servers" panel, then immediately deploy to skip the wait time, which would result in the changes not being preserved.
• Nitrado deployment now makes a complete configuration snapshot before making changes. These will show up in the Nitrado control panel under the "Configuration Profiles" section.
• Beacon no longer adjusts the weight values it generates. This allows greater flexibility, such as setting an item set's weight to 100000000 like Ark's default loot does to nearly guarantee something in a drop.
• Windows ini parsing speed has been dramatically improved.
• FTP deployment now has file browser. No more guessing the correct path to include.

Bug Fixes

• Beacon's window can no longer get tucked under the taskbar / menubar.
• Fixed missing whitespace in generated config files.
• Fixed default and cancel buttons being swapped all over the app.
• Fixed bizarre scrolling behavior of the notification list.
• The item sets status bar moves when resizing the simulator.
• Potentially fixed a number of nonsense exceptions by changing some backend frameworks. Sorry for the vague note, there's not a good way to describe this.
• Preset editor's "Create Blueprint Entry" option will correctly use only the selected items, rather than all items.
• Beacon will no longer lock up while performing the final step of parsing an ini file.
• Duplicating a loot source will now duplicate custom item sets too.
• INI parser will no longer report false errors.

Other Changes

• More vibrant loot source icons.
• During export/deploy, if Beacon's computed minimum quality is greater than the maximum quality, Beacon will use the minimum for both. This should improve accuracy of loot generation.
• Publish status will be cleared when loading community documents. This will prevent users from accidentally re-publishing a document they loaded from another user when they save it to their own account.
• Generated config files now have markup added to assist Beacon in differentiating between changes it has made and changes made by another source.
• The Library drawer will overlap the main content on Windows, just as it does on Mac.
• Beta builds now expire after 30 days.
• Importing a preset will automatically save it to the Library.
• Disabled spell checking on ini content fields, such as in the import and export dialogs.
• Possible fix for exception caused while parsing engram spawn commands.
• Increased SQLite cache size.
• Engram importing now requires "cheat giveitem" before the blueprint path to prevent importing cheat codes such as "cheat summon" used for summoning creatures.

Beacon 1.1 Beta 5

Plans for B4 to be the last 1.1 beta didn't work out. The primary reason for this build is a completely rebuilt "Player and Tame Experience" editor. The previous editor simply was not good enough and resulted in multiple admins deploying changes they didn't realize had been made.

The new editor is much smarter and will perfectly preserve imported values. Beacon is also aware of Ark's default experience values and limits, and will warn admins of issues with their experience values.

Other changes

• Custom Config Content and Document Description fields will now sanitize content. This means certain values, such as null characters will be removed from both fields, and complex characters such as emoji will be removed from the Custom Config Content field.
• Preset editor's "Do you want to save" dialog will save the preset now.
• Preset editor will no longer show duplicated content lines.
• Possible workaround for mystery exception while saving.
• Engram importing now requires "cheat giveitem" before the blueprint path to prevent importing cheat codes such as "cheat summon" used for summoning creatures.
• Fixed bug when restoring "Stack Sizes" and "Crafting Costs" to defaults.
• Dino experience values will not be added to the ini if they have not been edited.

Beacon 1.1 Beta 4

This is a bugfix update and hopefully final beta of Beacon 1.1.

• Crafting Cost and Stack Size editors support pasting raw ini content.
• Stack Size editor will mark the document as modified when cutting or pasting.
• Fixed exception when editing a crafting cost recipe after deleting and ingredient.
• Custom Config Content will automatically encrypt the AuctionHouse.MarketID config.
• Disabled spell checking on ini content fields, such as in the import and export dialogs.
• Possible fix for exception caused while parsing engram spawn commands.
• Increased SQLite cache size.

Beacon 1.1 Beta 3

This is a minor beta update for Beacon 1.1.

• New stack size editor. This is a very new feature for Ark, so your mileage may vary.
• Fixed "wobbly" notification pulse animation.
• Embedded engrams data is correct, so offline installations will work correctly again.
• Importing from clipboard no longer includes the copied text style.
• Fixed dialog claiming engrams were updated when they were not.
• Maximum experience for the experience editor should be consistent between 32-bit and 64-bit versions.