[Master Interface/Players] Now with less installing, unless of course you want to DOWNLOAD EVERYTHING!

News
#1

It has been quite some time since the last post, because we have been busy reimagining the Offline Players (Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Board Game). This background toiling has culminated in a new released version 1.5.0-p1 for the desktop platforms! This being such a significant change to the way things work, we wanted you all to be able to enjoy it on your Windows, macOS and Linux machines, and provide an opt-in to a beta program for mobile users that want to try it out (details below). for everyone!

Offline Players:

  • We have banished the requirement to install SoundSets before you can listen to them. The default behaviour now is to show the Moods and Elements of a SoundSet as if you had installed it, and the required Samples are fetched and played on demand. :zap:
  • Any time you feel the longing to install a SoundSet you can simply double click on the SoundSet title to begin the install process, which will show a check mark when complete to let you know it is good to go without internet. :earth_americas:
  • If installing one SoundSet at a time is not your style, you will be pleased to find a Download Everything setting now available. Whilst this is Enabled, Syrinscape will quietly install every single available SoundSet for you without any further interaction. Just let it run and you will have everything at your fingertips. :raised_hand_with_fingers_splayed:
  • In case you are not quite ready to take that sort of plunge, there is also a middle ground, Auto Download, which will quickly and quietly install any SoundSet that you navigate into, so just looking at a SoundSet is enough to soon make it available Offline. Just watch for the check mark to tell you it is done. :heavy_check_mark:
  • No more outdated Flag indicators out to ruin your day, instead updates for SoundSets are automatically applied when you next check out the SoundSet while Online. :triangular_flag_on_post:
  • Most settings now apply app-wide, rather than being specific to a logged in user. We found this was more often confusing rather than useful. In addition, the Players now remember any selected Audio output channel settings. :gear:
  • Devices with all sorts of strange cut-outs obscuring the clickable buttons in the edges of the interface should now be more readily usable, as we respect safe screen areas. :iphone:
  • Scrolling on the Element list no longer bumps element volumes, preventing accidental loudness or quietness. :mute: :loud_sound:
  • Looking for that rogue Element playing somewhere in some SoundSet that you just can not find? Well Now Playing to the rescue, a new entry in the campaigns list, sitting right under All SoundSets. This gives you a list of all the SoundSets that are making noise, so you have a sniffer hound at your side for the hunt. :dog:
  • SoundSets no longer all load at launch, saving time and memory. As our impressive library has grown in size, this has become more and more important! :floppy_disk:
  • More memory savings as loaded Samples can now be expunged from memory when no longer used, making room for others to load in their place. Before this every Sample stayed resident in memory for the lifetime of the app! :recycle:
  • The Players have levelled up their spell casting and now OneShots can conjure eight simultaneous instances of the same Sample, up from two, allowing more roars, thunderclaps, Wilhelm screams at once. :eight_spoked_asterisk:

Beta Program:

Mobile users can add themselves to the Beta Testing program with these links:

iOS:
Online Player: https://testflight.apple.com/join/5Q1xPA2z
Fantasy Player: https://testflight.apple.com/join/N22Yzef8
Sci-Fi Player: https://testflight.apple.com/join/bXPp2e0V
Board Game Player: https://testflight.apple.com/join/af31vMtv

Android:
Online Player: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.syrinscape.SyrinscapeOnlinePlayer
Fantasy Player: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.ixc.Syrinscape
Sci-Fi Player: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.syrinscape.SyrinscapeSciFiPlayer
Board Game Player: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.syrinscape.SyrinscapeBoardGamePlayer

If you have any difficulties setting this up, or any issues while testing, let us know in a comment. :speech_balloon:

We’re actually post launch now, the mobile version is released for all!

Other changes that have recently landed:

  • We have thrown open the doors for the wardrobe and now OneShots are quick to don pretty clothes, so no more icon-less OneShots in the Master Interface or in the Offline Players, even in your own content. We took the time to dress all your existing content too. :tophat:
  • We have rescaled the volume sliders in the Web Player to more closely match the balance achieved in the other Players, so content should play at a nicer level. :level_slider:

Thank you for joining us on this crazy update. May your audio adventures be ever-immersive and fun! :sparkles:

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Syrinscape freezes on opening (MacOS)
#2
#3

Downloaded the new version of the Fantasy Player for my desktop and tested it out this morning. WOW! What a difference! It is so fast! And I love that I can use every sound set without having to wait.

A fantastic update! Excellent work!

Looking forward to being able to use the new version (when available) on my tablet.

3 Likes
#4

Just tried this out quickly, but at first blush, it addresses pretty much every issue I had with the Fantasy Player. I can’t tell you how happy I am that the offline player is getting some love!
Great update!

And I like that the sounds I haven’t bought have the YouTube video right in the UI. That will help me decide if I want to buy it or not!

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#5

Great to hear, thanks for posting :slight_smile: As for the mobile release, we hope to do that very soon after our team is all back from holidays - but you can always jump on early with the beta program, links provided in the original post. Despite being called beta, we are expecting it to be exactly what we release, and you can opt out whenever you want :star_struck:

3 Likes
#6

IOS feedback:

  • for text input fields, you still seem to have issues with accepting trackpad input for the done button. (Noticed with Login prompt). Actually, I think it’s just the workflow when using a password manager and the fact that the input field is in the middle of the screen and also at the bottom of the screen. I’ll play around and see if I can nail down where the inputs get confused and think that I haven’t input my password yet.
  • Custom mood customization lost on upgrade, and it still doesn’t sync across devices.
  • Left sidebar with all sound sets - doesn’t react to trackpad scrolling
  • Still no support for AirPlay??
  • thank you for fixing the location collision with the iOS application switcher!
  • for the left hand sidebar, minor suggestion. As I scroll with my thumb in landscape orientation (attached to Smart Keyboard), I keep triggering the animation to slide it off the screen and disappear it. Perhaps increase the sensitivity there, or expose that sensitivity as a user setting. Not a real big issue at all, it just makes the screen jump around a bit while scrolling is all.

Thanks again for updating this! I’m loving the improvements! And my notes above are all minor (except AirPlay - I really would want to have AirPlay available)
The loss of customization done in the Custom Sound set is annoying and reinforces that it’s not a fully baked solution and you really want people to buy a subscription instead of individual sound sets. Which is unfortunate because not everyone likes the subscription model.

1 Like
#8

If I follow the android Fantasy player link I get the message that I am not invited to beta test.

#9

Thanks for your interest!

And, oops, they were our internal testing links. I’ve updated to what I hope should be the public links now :man_facepalming:

And an easy access Fantasy Player link just for you: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.ixc.Syrinscape

Or I believe you should also be able to visit the Google Play Store page for the app and opt in there.

1 Like
#10

“Now Playing” is a most useful feature for me–thank you.

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#11

Adding that auto campaign without recalculating them all every frame to check what is currently playing took some extra book keeping - I hope we got it right :smiley:

1 Like