v2.3.1: much lower CPU use, same steady 60 fps

Much lower CPU use, still a steady 60 fps

The port now uses about a quarter less CPU, at the same 59.9 frames a second.

Measured in level 1 at 4× internal resolution with widescreen, true colour and texture filtering:

	v2.3.0	v2.3.1
CPU, whole machine	33.2 %	24.5 %
The game's own thread	92 % of a core	47 % of a core
Frames a second	59.9	59.9

What changed:

• No more busy waiting: the game waits for each new frame in a loop that keeps checking a flag. The port used to run that loop flat out for the rest of every frame; now it sleeps until the frame is due (all three releases).
• Cheaper pixels: the software renderer does less work per pixel (inlined texture fetches, fewer divisions). The picture is the same.

Most of the CPU time left is the drawing itself, so it still rises and falls with what is on screen. The internal resolution matters most: at 2× the game used about 8 % of the same machine. If you want a lighter load, try 2× or 3× with one of the CRT filters.

Launcher: settings navigated like a menu

On the settings page, the d-pad (or the arrow keys) now moves through the categories on the left. A / Enter goes into the category, the d-pad then moves only among its options, and B / Esc goes back to the list (and from the list leaves the settings). B / Esc with a drop-down list open just closes the list.

Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v2.3.0: big performance boost, steady 60 fps

🚀 Big performance boost: a steady 60 fps

The game now runs at a steady 60 frames a second, also at 4× internal resolution with every enhancement on (widescreen, true colour, detailed distant textures, TV/CRT filters).

	v2.2.0	v2.3.0
Roll Away, in the game	~57 fps	59.9 fps
Roll Away, title fly-over	52 to 57 fps, frames up to 50 ms	59.9 fps
Kula World (Europe)	47.6 fps (of 50)	60 fps (or 49.8 of 50 at PAL speed)

What changed:

• Frame pacing: the PlayStation's frame timing no longer adds the PC's drawing time on top of every frame (that alone cost about 3 fps).
• Detailed distant textures: finding the full-size textures is much cheaper, and the work is spread over frames instead of stalling one.
• Faster software renderer: 32-bit maths instead of 64-bit divisions per pixel, and no library call per texel.
• Precise vertices: the per-load lookup that took a third of the time is now decided by a small bitmap.

Kula World at 60 Hz

Kula World (Europe) now runs at 60 Hz by default. The European release takes the same step each frame as the American and Japanese ones, so on a 50 Hz PAL TV it ran a sixth slower. At 60 Hz it plays exactly like Roll Away and KulaQuest. For the original PAL speed, turn off Kula World (Europe): 60 Hz under Settings > Game (can be changed in the game with F1).

Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v2.2.0

New setting Timeless Arcade (Settings > Game, off by default): Arcade games without the time limit. The time stands still, the hourglass leaves the screen, and the hourglasses and clocks are taken away from the levels; Time Trial keeps its time. Works with Roll Away (USA), Kula World (Europe) and KulaQuest (Japan), and can be switched in the game (F1).

Level editor: blocks are built one click at a time (holding the button no longer builds rows).

Your own levels: distant track blocks are now sharp with Detailed distant textures, also when a block's texture is only ever seen far away.

Launcher: a hint that F1 or Select + Start opens the settings in the game.

Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v2.1.2

Widescreen: the Scores screen's background now reaches the edges (its tiles were squeezed, so the sides were never redrawn: old pictures stayed there, the cubes left trails and the bottom left corner turned black). The release zip now includes the port's MIT License (LICENSE.txt). Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v2.1.1

Widescreen: the Lethargy pill's blur now looks as on the PlayStation (it squeezed the picture into a striped column). The launcher's menu text is a little smaller, to fit its six choices. The README's pictures are in widescreen now. Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v2.1.0: Level editor

Make your own levels: the port now comes with a 3D level editor, roll_away_editor.exe (LEVEL EDITOR in the launcher). Blocks snap onto the side you click, and everything the game has is there: fire, ice, invisible, acid, moving, crumbling and flashing blocks, lasers, the start, keys, exits, coins, gems, fruit, power-ups, hazards, transporters, buttons and enemies. The game's rules are checked as you build, the blocks show your world's own textures (read from your disc), and an exit can lead to the next level of a series, in any world. F5 plays the level at once; saved levels (.rlv) are played with PLAY OWN LEVEL in the launcher or by dropping them on its window, in all three releases. File > Open a level of the game opens the game's own levels to look at or build on. Also: detailed distant textures now use the palette and placement the game uses near the camera, so a block's texture no longer jumps as you roll onto it. Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v2.0.1

The launcher's title (and the window's) now follows the chosen disc: Roll Away, Kula World or KulaQuest. Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v2.0.0: Kula World and KulaQuest

The port now plays all three releases of the game: Roll Away (USA, SLUS-00724), Kula World (Europe, SCES-01000) and KulaQuest (Japan, SCPS-10064). Choose your disc in the launcher; it shows which release it is. Kula World runs at 50 Hz (PAL), as on a European PlayStation; KulaQuest is Japanese throughout and confirms with Circle. All improvements (resolution, precise vertices, true colour, detailed distant textures, filters, widescreen, save after every level) work in every release, and the releases share the memory card file. Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v1.6.1

The program has its own icon now (the striped ball on a sandstone block), in Explorer, the title bar and the taskbar. Requires your own copy of the game, as before.

v1.6.0

New: Save after every level (Settings, Game tab, off by default). The game's save point ("You have reached a save point!") then comes after each level instead of only every fifth. Also in the in-game settings (F1). Requires your own copy of the game, as before.