- Security patch - 4 October 2025
Hello fellow game developers. It has come to my attention that there is a potential security exploit in the UnityPlayer.dll. Unity has already released a patch, and this is what they had to say on the subject: "A security vulnerability was identified that affects games and applications built on Unity versions 2017.1 and later for Android, Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems. There is no evidence of any exploitation of the vulnerability, nor has there been any impact on users or customers." Now that this info is public, it was paramount to update Height Lab so that it isn't used to hurt my customers. Thank you again for using Height Lab.
- Version 1.3.5 hot fix - 30 November 2024
Hot fix Fixed an issue that was keeping the user from selecting any of the EXR outputs.
- Version 1.3.4 update - 15 November 2024
Update Variable values can now be changed by dragging the value. Cursor changes to drag icon when dragging a value, and to rotate arrows when dragging in the preview window. Expression layer preview no longer shows parenthesis around individual layers. Dragging in the preview window now extends to the edge of the main application window.
- Version 1.3.3 update - 1 November 2024
Update Added Lens shape. Added more noise examples. Added Surface and Waves examples. Added new built-in variables to get expression layer information: LYR, LYRZ, LYRS Added more math constants: SQRT2, L2E, L10E, LN2, LN10 Opening a project asks if you'd like to restore the example back to default now. Fixes Opening an Example saves a recent project icon now. Fixed a horrible bug that caused the project to keep displaying an IO error due to a read only file. DEMO Files can now also be saved as TGA and PNG.
- Version 1.3.2 update - 21 October 2024
Fixes Fixed a copy/paste issue. UI was not updating correctly after moving an item.
- UI Overhaul | Output Properties - 18 October 2024
Inspector Panel Properties populate in an inspector panel now. It cleans up the interface and makes more room for the other panels. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2f5508_d8826d40be71409e82f587ef64a803b0~mv2.png Outputs Add Output type by just clicking a button now. This is straight forward compared to before. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2f5508_5e8d1cf4a8a64641979e81a60759f3c8~mv2.png Added properties to the Outputs. To normalize a Height Map, just tick the Normalize checkbox. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2f5508_56d806835ec743f58882c7c3575d979b~mv2.png To flip Normal directions, just tick X, Y, or Z checkboxes. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2f5508_d523e330ca5c4483828f78503943e008~mv2.png Other Improvements Reduced the amount of texture RAM used by Outputs. Added more error handling. Files are now saved as tmp before overwriting the project. This offers even more red…
- Demo Store Page - 6 August 2024
Announcement The demo is now its own store page - this way reviews can be left without having to own Height Lab! Thank you, thank you!
- Version 1.2.4 released - 2 August 2024
Fixes and Updates Updated tooltip for duplicate/copy/paste buttons for Variables.
- Version 1.2.3 released - 26 July 2024
Fixes and Updates Multi selection for: delete, property changes (except text), visibility for layer, and enable/disable for outputs is now possible. Multiple items that use dropdowns with mixed values show as mixed (a horizontal line) in places where, values, are, mixed. Multiple Layers and Variables can now be copy/pasted. Duplicate, Copy and Paste buttons added to Variables. Undo/Redo completely disabled while in any dialog box. Before this you could undo and not even see it happen. Scrolling Layers and Variables (that is if the list is long enough) no longer force a re-render. Manual Update Updated images that show Variables with new ones that show duplicate/copy/paste.
- Version 1.2.3 BETA release - 12 July 2024
I'm currently implementing multi select for this next release. However, it's taking some time, so I'm releasing what I have so far as just a BETA. Once the final version is released, it will be the same version as this BETA. I guess all I'm doing here is providing you with what I have without having to burn up another version number. Demo users and paid customers can access the BETA by going to Height Lab in their Library and doing the following: Right click Height Lab Click on Properties Click the Betas tab Change Beta Participation to "beta - public beta" Right click Height Lab Click Manage->Uninstall Reinstall Items that are in this BETA will eventually be in the official 1.2.3 release. What a cool version number ;) Fixes and Updates Multi selection for: delete, property changes (except text), visibility for layer, and enable/disable for outputs is now possible. Also related to multi…
- Version 1.2.2 hot fix - 30 June 2024
Hot fix Refactoring the undo/redo system broke recent history. Other fix Undoing Welcome dialog changes no longer crash the app.
- Version 1.2.1 released - 28 June 2024
Features Rolling Backups can be loaded from the Welcome dialog now. Height Lab will remember and display up to 10 backups along with how long ago it was last saved. This is good for restoring short term backups. Fixes and Updates Backup count is now a slider, and the range is from 3 to 10. Brightened tab/toggle buttons a little bit more. Backups only save when a change has been made to the project. TextEdit boxes play nice with undo/redo and properly go out of focus. Navigation is now disabled when editing text. Lists no longer disappear when loading a project. Fixed Templates panel navigation. Thumbnails are now updated every time a project is saved. Manual Update Updated the page on Backups. Now it describes what a rolling backup is and shows that the backups can be viewed and opened from the Welcome Dialog. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2f5508_99ac8a6c9e0948f69821547862922f3c~mv…
- Update coming Friday, June 28th - 24 June 2024
Announcement All the features planned for Height Lab, and one extra, are done and in! I hope you enjoy all of them and find them very useful. Further updates will just be of bug fixes and very minor tweaks here and there. With that said, here's that unexpected extra unplanned feature... Rolling Backups Height Lab backs up projects now, at least that's what the previous version promises. However, backup files required tedious manual moving and renaming, and no one wants to do that. So, I created a new section under the Welcome dialog (see image below) that lists all those backups. Now you simply double click the backup to open it, then preview and/or restore the project from there. Profit. Updates and Fixes More updates and fixes coming your way. These will all be listed in the patch notes on Friday. Behold Double click to open a backup. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2f5508_99ac8a6c…
- Version 1.2.0 released - 14 June 2024
Features Added Settings dialog box. Now you can tweak settings to fit your needs. Reverse yaw, pitch, and zoom direction, set the new "View Aligned" rotation mode, change rotation and zoom smoothing, and change the number of backups. Added view aligned rotation option. Variable values accept simple math expressions. Type in something like 4/2 and when ENTER is pressed it'll become 2. Fixes and Updates Updated examples to match the documentation. Added labels to the buttons in the Welcome dialog box. Moved Background Blur into settings, and renamed it to Environment Blur. Updated Bar description again. Added seconds to render complete message. Tightened up double clicking for recentering. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2f5508_e8f0f93d6ce242248ec5c4fa2359fc02~mv2.png
- Version 1.1.2 hot fix - 31 May 2024
Hot Fix Added size option to new Bar shape. To refresh an example after being opened once, simply delete it out of the example folder and reopen. Manual Update Updated verbiage for the new Bar shape. Breaking Changes The new Bar shape syntax has changed. To fix, replace func(x, n) with func(x, 1, n). See the manual or function legend in Height Lab for an explanation of the new syntax.
- Version 1.1.1 released - 31 May 2024
Features Added Bar and Donut shape. Added size option to Cone, Pyramid, and Sphere. Added a backup feature. The AppData folder now contains a history of 6 backups. Any of the files can be copied and renamed back to the original file name. Instructions to do this have been added to the manual. Fixes and Updates Pressing CTRL+E was throwing an exception when there were no Documents in the project. Cleaned up tool tip for the export button. Updated examples to reflect the new Cone, Pyramid, and Sphere functions. To refresh an example after being opened once, simply delete it out of the example folder and reopen. Manual Update Added verbiage for the new Bar and Donut shape. Added verbiage for the new Cone, Pyramid, and Sphere variants. Added instructions for restoring from a backup. Breaking Changes The new Cone, Pyramid, and Sphere syntax has changed. To fix, replace func(x, y, n) with fun…
- Version 1.1.0 released - 17 May 2024
Features Added a layer preview section under the expression text box. This preview displays the layers as an expression, that way it's much easier to see how layers relate to one another and the order they are evaluated. Fixes and Updates Renamed the license from "Full" to "STEAM COMMERCIAL". That way the commercial part is more obvious. It says Height Lab is for commercial use in the EULA, but not everyone reads those. A tooltip has been added to the preview area that states you can rotate the model with the left mouse button, the background with the right, and that double clicking resets the rotation. The color change of pressing a button is now more obvious. The OperatorType and OperationOrder drop downs get disabled now if the first layer is selected. This is because the first layer doesn't actually use those options. Controls look disabled when they are disabled now. The template b…
- An update is coming Friday, May 17th - 14 May 2024
Improvements/Fixes The UI had some quirks about it - like the button press wasn't very obvious, and controls didn't really look disabled when disabled, so expect those and some other UI polishes to come your way. Response to user feedback In addition to that, I added a little preview area under the Expression text box, which displays the layers themselves as an expression. That should make the layers a little easier to follow and understand. License callout I've renamed the license type to STEAM COMMERCIAL down in the info area to make it clear that Height Lab can be used commercially. The EULA says that you can, but not everyone reads those. Try before release You can preview this update for both the paid version and the demo. Just right click Height Lab in your library, click Properties->Betas->Beta Participation->beta - public beta. Enjoy!
