Make sure to fully close Wallpaper Engine when updating. If you're having issues, try verifying the files over Steam first.

Hey everyone,

An update for Wallpaper Engine has been released that will make it possible to select custom images or whole directories with images to be shown inside a web wallpaper! This means that you can build custom image slideshows now or simply create cool things with JavaScript ontop of everyone's favorite backgrounds.

Check out this new tutorial to learn how you can build a web wallpaper with support for customizable images:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=795674740

A few other improvements have found their way in, including improved behavior for audio responsive wallpapers, the 50 FPS limit from the UI is gone and wallpapers you selected locally (for example video files) will now show up better in the browser with the ability to change their properties (like volume and scheme color)! Also, you can now more easily delete your projects from the editor open file menu.

The next patch will fix wallpapers pausing with maximized/fullscreen windows on multiple monitors and possibly some more usability improvements and fixes that have been requested (which I still need to do more reseach on).

• Fixed properties with single quotes to be escaped improperly and causing the UI to not show any properties.
  
• Fixed most FFT inconsistencies for different hardware settings and used a fixed range with up to about 22khz.
  
• Fixed web wallpaper render process silently crashing if being closed with an audio wallpaper active.
  
• Fixed local wallpaper files not showing & saving any properties.
  
• Attempted to fix auto start with high priority (although I can't speed it up much if the hardware doesn't allow it, but now it may at least be more reliable when it takes longer).
  
• Attempted to improve pausing with certain full-screen games.

• Added file and directory selection to wallpaper browser.
  
• Implemented custom file/directory import system in web wallpaper.
  
• Added full-screen GIF hack (open from file, all document types) unfortunately it performs terribly (it's just using Chromium).
  
• Made max FPS dependent on max refresh rate of the system.
  
• Made it possible to delete wallpaper projects in the editor.
  
• Added icons to volume/playback rate and audio recording controls.
  
• Enabled audio of video wallpapers in the editor.
  
• Added options for video looping which may help in some cases to improve the smoothness of loops.

As usual, leave a comment, visit the bugs forum http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/ or let me know via e-mail ( wallpaperengine@gmail.com ) if you're having problems or questions!

Cheers,
Kristjan

Make sure to fully close Wallpaper Engine when updating. If you're having issues, try verifying the files over Steam first.

Hey everyone,

An update for Wallpaper Engine has been released that will make it possible to select custom images or whole directories with images to be shown inside a web wallpaper! This means that you can build custom image slideshows now or simply create cool things with JavaScript ontop of everyone's favorite backgrounds.

Check out this new tutorial to learn how you can build a web wallpaper with support for customizable images:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=795674740

A few other improvements have found their way in, including improved behavior for audio responsive wallpapers, the 50 FPS limit from the UI is gone and wallpapers you selected locally (for example video files) will now show up better in the browser with the ability to change their properties (like volume and scheme color)! Also, you can now more easily delete your projects from the editor open file menu.

The next patch will fix wallpapers pausing with maximized/fullscreen windows on multiple monitors and possibly some more usability improvements and fixes that have been requested (which I still need to do more reseach on).

• Fixed properties with single quotes to be escaped improperly and causing the UI to not show any properties.
  
• Fixed most FFT inconsistencies for different hardware settings and used a fixed range with up to about 22khz.
  
• Fixed web wallpaper render process silently crashing if being closed with an audio wallpaper active.
  
• Fixed local wallpaper files not showing & saving any properties.
  
• Attempted to fix auto start with high priority (although I can't speed it up much if the hardware doesn't allow it, but now it may at least be more reliable when it takes longer).
  
• Attempted to improve pausing with certain full-screen games.

• Added file and directory selection to wallpaper browser.
  
• Implemented custom file/directory import system in web wallpaper.
  
• Added full-screen GIF hack (open from file, all document types) unfortunately it performs terribly (it's just using Chromium).
  
• Made max FPS dependent on max refresh rate of the system.
  
• Made it possible to delete wallpaper projects in the editor.
  
• Added icons to volume/playback rate and audio recording controls.
  
• Enabled audio of video wallpapers in the editor.
  
• Added options for video looping which may help in some cases to improve the smoothness of loops.

As usual, leave a comment, visit the bugs forum http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/ or let me know via e-mail ( wallpaperengine@gmail.com ) if you're having problems or questions!

Cheers,
Kristjan

Make sure to fully close Wallpaper Engine when updating. If you're having issues, try verifying the files over Steam first.

Hey all,

A patch for Wallpaper Engine has just been released that should pave the way for easier model importing. A lot of limitations have been lifted and the model and texture importers have been replaced with open source libraries to enable support for more formats. On top of that, the model importer now does a better job optimizing the model, adding missing texture coordinates or normals, and the texture importer will allow you to import images of any size now (between 16 and 8192 pixels in width and height. If necessary, they will be downsampled to the next power of two, as this is a hardware requirement). You can now also import models without textures and simply set a constant color in the editor afterwards.

Model formats that are supported now:

• FBX (latest version not supported anymore, but they're working on it)
  
• OBJ
  
• DAE
  
• 3DS
  
• BLEND
  
• X
  
• LXO

Texture formats that are supported now:

• PNG
  
• TGA
  
• JPG/JPEG
  
• BMP
  
• PSD
  
• ICO
  
• GIF (NO ANIMATION YET - but you can use them in web wallpapers as before)
  
• DDS

Keep in mind that the UI and the shaders are pretty much still the same! Those will be revised separately in a later update.

Complete changelog:

• Fixed Steam detecting Wallpaper Engine if the internet disconnected and reconnected and WPE was started *through* Steam before.
  
• Fixed local app wallpapers not being able to be opened without tags.
  
• Fixed projects with illegal characters for directories in their title to fail import.
  
• Fixed NaNs und Infs in audio buffer after running FFT code.
  
• Attempted to fix overlapping border when the UI windows are maximized.
  
• Attempted to fix more Media Foundation video issues (looping, flashing, screen going black).
  
• Fixed file imports with ' in the name.
  
• Fixed audio processing for web wallpapers not enabling in a certain scenario.
  
• Fixed audio callback context not being cleared when switching between web wallpapers.

• Made it easier to get the konami achievement (*about* time).
  
• Added uninstall command to build script that will at least close the main application so Steam can delete it (during verify too!).
  
• Added 'order' key for wallpaper props in project.json.
  
• Implemented AssImp and removed FBX SDK and tinyObj.
  
• Made it possible to import models that don't have textures.
  
• Made it possible to import models with more than 65k vertices.
  
• Increased texture size limit to 8192^2.
  
• Enabled model import for fbx, obj, 3ds, lxo, blend, x, dae.
  
• Implemented FreeImage into the texture compiler.
  
• Enabled image support for png, tga, jpeg, bmp, ico, gif, psd, dds.
  
• Made it possible to import non-power-of-2 images, they will be downsampled with bilinear filtering to the next power of two.
  
• Adjusted eagle flag projection so it fits better on wider screens.
  
• Added color and alpha options to current generic shader.
  
• Added unsubscribe button to browser.
  
• Updated GLM.
  
• Added more verbose log output to DirectX safe start (used during auto start, to prevent crashes).
  
• Changed FFT spread to widen lower frequency area more (now using an exponential function instead of trig).
  
• Added error logs and output to CreateProcess and Steam item subscription.

As usual, leave a comment, visit the bugs forum http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/ or let me know via e-mail ( wallpaperengine@gmail.com ) if you're having problems or questions!

Cheers,
Kristjan

Make sure to fully close Wallpaper Engine when updating. If you're having issues, try verifying the files over Steam first.

Hey all,

A patch for Wallpaper Engine has just been released that should pave the way for easier model importing. A lot of limitations have been lifted and the model and texture importers have been replaced with open source libraries to enable support for more formats. On top of that, the model importer now does a better job optimizing the model, adding missing texture coordinates or normals, and the texture importer will allow you to import images of any size now (between 16 and 8192 pixels in width and height. If necessary, they will be downsampled to the next power of two, as this is a hardware requirement). You can now also import models without textures and simply set a constant color in the editor afterwards.

Model formats that are supported now:

• FBX (latest version not supported anymore, but they're working on it)
  
• OBJ
  
• DAE
  
• 3DS
  
• BLEND
  
• X
  
• LXO

Texture formats that are supported now:

• PNG
  
• TGA
  
• JPG/JPEG
  
• BMP
  
• PSD
  
• ICO
  
• GIF (NO ANIMATION YET - but you can use them in web wallpapers as before)
  
• DDS

Keep in mind that the UI and the shaders are pretty much still the same! Those will be revised separately in a later update.

Complete changelog:

• Fixed Steam detecting Wallpaper Engine if the internet disconnected and reconnected and WPE was started *through* Steam before.
  
• Fixed local app wallpapers not being able to be opened without tags.
  
• Fixed projects with illegal characters for directories in their title to fail import.
  
• Fixed NaNs und Infs in audio buffer after running FFT code.
  
• Attempted to fix overlapping border when the UI windows are maximized.
  
• Attempted to fix more Media Foundation video issues (looping, flashing, screen going black).
  
• Fixed file imports with ' in the name.
  
• Fixed audio processing for web wallpapers not enabling in a certain scenario.
  
• Fixed audio callback context not being cleared when switching between web wallpapers.

• Made it easier to get the konami achievement (*about* time).
  
• Added uninstall command to build script that will at least close the main application so Steam can delete it (during verify too!).
  
• Added 'order' key for wallpaper props in project.json.
  
• Implemented AssImp and removed FBX SDK and tinyObj.
  
• Made it possible to import models that don't have textures.
  
• Made it possible to import models with more than 65k vertices.
  
• Increased texture size limit to 8192^2.
  
• Enabled model import for fbx, obj, 3ds, lxo, blend, x, dae.
  
• Implemented FreeImage into the texture compiler.
  
• Enabled image support for png, tga, jpeg, bmp, ico, gif, psd, dds.
  
• Made it possible to import non-power-of-2 images, they will be downsampled with bilinear filtering to the next power of two.
  
• Adjusted eagle flag projection so it fits better on wider screens.
  
• Added color and alpha options to current generic shader.
  
• Added unsubscribe button to browser.
  
• Updated GLM.
  
• Added more verbose log output to DirectX safe start (used during auto start, to prevent crashes).
  
• Changed FFT spread to widen lower frequency area more (now using an exponential function instead of trig).
  
• Added error logs and output to CreateProcess and Steam item subscription.

As usual, leave a comment, visit the bugs forum http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/ or let me know via e-mail ( wallpaperengine@gmail.com ) if you're having problems or questions!

Cheers,
Kristjan

To properly apply this patch, make sure that you close Wallpaper Engine and let Steam update it!

Hey all,

A new patch for Wallpaper Engine has just been released that brings some new enhancements for web and video wallpapers and some fixes!

Web wallpapers can now use user options (properties) like custom colors, checkboxes and sliders. They can also access the general settings, like the FPS limit, and audio data, so you can build your own visualizers much more easily now. You can now also edit your web wallpapers more easily, when you are changing your files and save the wallpaper, it will automatically be reloaded. Check out these new guides to learn how to use these features:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785994149
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=786001446
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=786006047

Video wallpapers now got a rate and volume control in the wallpaper browser.

Since the previous patch, I introduced a custom verification check for app wallpapers (which was bugged on top of that, should be fixed now). But I still haven't figured out a good way to deal with verifying such files. Doing it manually is a very tedious and lengthy process, so in general you should export your apps to HTML if you can or convert them to videos to avoid this. Until I have a sandbox available for apps that I feel is secure enough, this verification system has to do. There are still some unverified apps on Workshop and I will try to get around to checking them out as soon as I can.

• Made user props, general props and audio data available to web wallpapers.
  
• Added slider and checkbox controls to wallpaper browser.
  
• Added live reload in editor to wallpaper types other than scenes.
  
• Added audio processor to editor.
  
• Added volume and rate controls to video wallpapers.

• Fixed audio wallpapers not working after a video wallpaper was used (because the application was muted).
  
• Fixed video wallpapers muting the entire application.
  
• Fixed all app wallpapers being blocked although they were verified.
  
• Made audio FFT a little less bass heavy.
  
• Fixed editor stuttering when dragging the window.
  
• Attempted to fix another UI start/shutdown crash.
  
• Changed app launcher to require a successful hook of the wallpaper or otherwise cancel launching it.
  
• Fixed a potential issue (race condition) in scene wallpapers.
  
• Attempted to improve video looping behavior.
  
• Attempted to improve wallpaper window management to avoid wallpapers getting in front of icons and similar issues.

As usual, if you are experiencing problems or have questions, you can leave a comment here or on the forums: http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/


The next feature patch will be the first step to make model importing easier (scene wallpapers). My plan is to remove all kinds of limitations from the model and texture compiler as much as I can - the UI will not be revised just yet, that'll come later. So my planned next changes are:

Models

• Remove vertex limit of 65535 (it will not be infinite but around 4 Billion, which would be very impractical and slow mind you).
  
• Automatically set texture coords if they are missing (they will just be set to 0,0 - tangent space for normal mapping cannot be generated then though).
  
• Automatically generate normals if they are missing (generated from face normals and then auto smoothed).
  
• Allow import of geometry with no materials (this will result in either a missing texture or a constant color for now, until the UI has been updated to deal with this).

Textures

• Add support for JPEGs.
  
• Increase max allowed texture size to 8192.

Cheers,
Kristjan

To properly apply this patch, make sure that you close Wallpaper Engine and let Steam update it!

Hey all,

A new patch for Wallpaper Engine has just been released that brings some new enhancements for web and video wallpapers and some fixes!

Web wallpapers can now use user options (properties) like custom colors, checkboxes and sliders. They can also access the general settings, like the FPS limit, and audio data, so you can build your own visualizers much more easily now. You can now also edit your web wallpapers more easily, when you are changing your files and save the wallpaper, it will automatically be reloaded. Check out these new guides to learn how to use these features:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785994149
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=786001446
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=786006047

Video wallpapers now got a rate and volume control in the wallpaper browser.

Since the previous patch, I introduced a custom verification check for app wallpapers (which was bugged on top of that, should be fixed now). But I still haven't figured out a good way to deal with verifying such files. Doing it manually is a very tedious and lengthy process, so in general you should export your apps to HTML if you can or convert them to videos to avoid this. Until I have a sandbox available for apps that I feel is secure enough, this verification system has to do. There are still some unverified apps on Workshop and I will try to get around to checking them out as soon as I can.

• Made user props, general props and audio data available to web wallpapers.
  
• Added slider and checkbox controls to wallpaper browser.
  
• Added live reload in editor to wallpaper types other than scenes.
  
• Added audio processor to editor.
  
• Added volume and rate controls to video wallpapers.

• Fixed audio wallpapers not working after a video wallpaper was used (because the application was muted).
  
• Fixed video wallpapers muting the entire application.
  
• Fixed all app wallpapers being blocked although they were verified.
  
• Made audio FFT a little less bass heavy.
  
• Fixed editor stuttering when dragging the window.
  
• Attempted to fix another UI start/shutdown crash.
  
• Changed app launcher to require a successful hook of the wallpaper or otherwise cancel launching it.
  
• Fixed a potential issue (race condition) in scene wallpapers.
  
• Attempted to improve video looping behavior.
  
• Attempted to improve wallpaper window management to avoid wallpapers getting in front of icons and similar issues.

As usual, if you are experiencing problems or have questions, you can leave a comment here or on the forums: http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/


The next feature patch will be the first step to make model importing easier (scene wallpapers). My plan is to remove all kinds of limitations from the model and texture compiler as much as I can - the UI will not be revised just yet, that'll come later. So my planned next changes are:

Models

• Remove vertex limit of 65535 (it will not be infinite but around 4 Billion, which would be very impractical and slow mind you).
  
• Automatically set texture coords if they are missing (they will just be set to 0,0 - tangent space for normal mapping cannot be generated then though).
  
• Automatically generate normals if they are missing (generated from face normals and then auto smoothed).
  
• Allow import of geometry with no materials (this will result in either a missing texture or a constant color for now, until the UI has been updated to deal with this).

Textures

• Add support for JPEGs.
  
• Increase max allowed texture size to 8192.

Cheers,
Kristjan

Restart Wallpaper Engine over Steam to properly apply this patch!

Hey all,

Another patch for Wallpaper Engine has just been released that fixes a few issues. It should provide more stability, video flickering/looping fixes for Win 7 and better support for unicode.

• Fixed wallpaper browser crashing when double clicking a wallpaper.
  
• Fixed application wallpapers not being adjusted correctly on additional monitors.
  
• Fixed video wallpaper flickering on Win 7.
  
• Fixed monitor previews not showing up.
  
• Fixed unrecoverable boost filesystem errors to cause silent crashes or malfunction, they will now show a message box and then close the application.
  
• Fixed unicode support in main application, editor, compiler and general UI.
  
• Attempted to fix a dx11 crash.
  
• Fixed web wallpaper clicking on multiple monitors.
  
• Attempted to make desktop setup more stable and added check for high contrast mode.

• Added separate launcher executable to prevent Steam from 'detecting' Wallpaper Engine. This is not enabled yet but will be enabled over the weekend.
  
• Added a manual review system to application wallpapers and made it 'more difficult' to open unverified ones (see below).
  
• Updated CEF to latest version.
  
• Updated JSONCpp to latest version.
  
• Added update inconsistency warning to UI (will be shown if Steam updates WPE while it is running).
  
• Added a balloon tip that pops up when starting a video fails (e.g. 4k on Win 7).

As usual, if you are having any problems, write a comment here or in the forums http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/ or send me an e-mail to wallpaperengine@gmail.com .

For all Razer Kraken users, apparently there is a way to get audio input to work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny1FzeCYWdI If anyone could try that I'd be interested to know if it helps.

Cheers,
Kristjan

Restart Wallpaper Engine over Steam to properly apply this patch!

Hey all,

Another patch for Wallpaper Engine has just been released that fixes a few issues. It should provide more stability, video flickering/looping fixes for Win 7 and better support for unicode.

• Fixed wallpaper browser crashing when double clicking a wallpaper.
  
• Fixed application wallpapers not being adjusted correctly on additional monitors.
  
• Fixed video wallpaper flickering on Win 7.
  
• Fixed monitor previews not showing up.
  
• Fixed unrecoverable boost filesystem errors to cause silent crashes or malfunction, they will now show a message box and then close the application.
  
• Fixed unicode support in main application, editor, compiler and general UI.
  
• Attempted to fix a dx11 crash.
  
• Fixed web wallpaper clicking on multiple monitors.
  
• Attempted to make desktop setup more stable and added check for high contrast mode.

• Added separate launcher executable to prevent Steam from 'detecting' Wallpaper Engine. This is not enabled yet but will be enabled over the weekend.
  
• Added a manual review system to application wallpapers and made it 'more difficult' to open unverified ones (see below).
  
• Updated CEF to latest version.
  
• Updated JSONCpp to latest version.
  
• Added update inconsistency warning to UI (will be shown if Steam updates WPE while it is running).
  
• Added a balloon tip that pops up when starting a video fails (e.g. 4k on Win 7).

As usual, if you are having any problems, write a comment here or in the forums http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/ or send me an e-mail to wallpaperengine@gmail.com .

For all Razer Kraken users, apparently there is a way to get audio input to work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny1FzeCYWdI If anyone could try that I'd be interested to know if it helps.

Cheers,
Kristjan

Hey everyone,

An update for Wallpaper Engine has just been released that improves the wallpaper browser. You can now switch between wallpapers and monitors without having to re-open it, so your friends won't get spammed with the in-game notification anymore. The color customization has been moved into the browser, so you don't have to open the settings to adjust the wallpaper/Windows colors. And finally, there's some initial sorting and filtering now to make finding wallpapers easier.

I have also attempted to address stability issues with the UI, let me know in the comments if you are still experiencing crashes or post a thread in the bugs forum if something's wrong ( http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/ ). The custom colors you have set so far will be reset with this patch unfortunately, but it shouldn't take too long to set them up again with the new browser.

Coming next up are improvements to web wallpapers so they can read custom user colors and audio input from JavaScript plus a guide to illustrate the required setup for that.

• Added instant preview to browser.
  
• Removed separate monitor window and integrated it into browser (only visible on multi monitor systems).
  
• Made it possible to immediately adjust colors in browser.
  
• Made it possible to open all three windows at the same time.
  
• Added settings short cut button into browser.
  
• Added text search and sorting to browser.
  
• Added icon for favorite items in browser.
  
• Added obvious tutorial to editor home screen.
  
• Attempted to improve UI stability and responsiveness (CEF is now running in its own thread).

• Attempted white window on Win 7 on multi monitor systems that don't use live wallpapers on all monitors.
  
• Fixed WASAPI not restarting when default audio device changes (e.g. plugging earphones in).
  
• Fixed WASAPI sometimes detecting 'silence' flag in error.
  
• Attempted to fix frame skipping on looping videos.
  
• Attempted to fix flashing on looping videos.
  
• Fixed mouse coords in web wallpapers not being relative to their screen.
  
• Fixed wallpaper monitor offset being based on monitor work area instead of full area (caused issues with task bars at the top).
  
• Fixed web wallpapers being able to mess with the project.json (could potentially change it and link it to an executable).
  
• Fixed UI crash on shutdown due to pending inter-process commands.
  
• Fixed browser rating display.

• Enabled error file logging by default.
  
• Removed model material limit.
  
• Added save button and save notification to wallpaper editor to make behavior clearer.
  
• Changed order of menu items in tray.

Cheers

Hey everyone,

An update for Wallpaper Engine has just been released that improves the wallpaper browser. You can now switch between wallpapers and monitors without having to re-open it, so your friends won't get spammed with the in-game notification anymore. The color customization has been moved into the browser, so you don't have to open the settings to adjust the wallpaper/Windows colors. And finally, there's some initial sorting and filtering now to make finding wallpapers easier.

I have also attempted to address stability issues with the UI, let me know in the comments if you are still experiencing crashes or post a thread in the bugs forum if something's wrong ( http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/1/ ). The custom colors you have set so far will be reset with this patch unfortunately, but it shouldn't take too long to set them up again with the new browser.

Coming next up are improvements to web wallpapers so they can read custom user colors and audio input from JavaScript plus a guide to illustrate the required setup for that.

• Added instant preview to browser.
  
• Removed separate monitor window and integrated it into browser (only visible on multi monitor systems).
  
• Made it possible to immediately adjust colors in browser.
  
• Made it possible to open all three windows at the same time.
  
• Added settings short cut button into browser.
  
• Added text search and sorting to browser.
  
• Added icon for favorite items in browser.
  
• Added obvious tutorial to editor home screen.
  
• Attempted to improve UI stability and responsiveness (CEF is now running in its own thread).

• Attempted white window on Win 7 on multi monitor systems that don't use live wallpapers on all monitors.
  
• Fixed WASAPI not restarting when default audio device changes (e.g. plugging earphones in).
  
• Fixed WASAPI sometimes detecting 'silence' flag in error.
  
• Attempted to fix frame skipping on looping videos.
  
• Attempted to fix flashing on looping videos.
  
• Fixed mouse coords in web wallpapers not being relative to their screen.
  
• Fixed wallpaper monitor offset being based on monitor work area instead of full area (caused issues with task bars at the top).
  
• Fixed web wallpapers being able to mess with the project.json (could potentially change it and link it to an executable).
  
• Fixed UI crash on shutdown due to pending inter-process commands.
  
• Fixed browser rating display.

• Enabled error file logging by default.
  
• Removed model material limit.
  
• Added save button and save notification to wallpaper editor to make behavior clearer.
  
• Changed order of menu items in tray.

Cheers