Starling 2.8 – yes, really! 😊

Bink

Daniel I hope 2026 is treating you well so far! 🍀

Daniel I've just released Starling 2.8.

It's going to be pretty hard to top this awesome news, and we're still only in the first week of January!

785597448

Hello Starling author, I am a beginner in Starling and I would like to ask you a few questions. Firstly, I noticed that Canvas only has a method for filling colors and not drawing strokes? Secondly, I need to use a custom text box to display the built-in fps, but it seems there is no way to obtain the built-in fps? Thank you

Fancy2209

785597448 about the canvas class yes, no line styles yet, meaning no strokes
LineStyles are complex and I didn't know how to implement them currently.

785597448

Fancy2209 I currently use the Flash drawing API directly to draw and convert it into textures If Canvas supports drawing strokes, that would be great

matpg

Still using Starling, have it in a game project I've been working on the past 5 years.

Shaun_Max

@Daniel — since you’re currently working on Starling again, would it be possible for you to take another look at Starling’s TextField class and let me know whether it’s technically feasible to add the missing APIs (getLineText, getLineOffset, getLineMetrics, getTextFormat) when compared to Flash’s TextField?

We had a brief private discussion about this a couple of months ago. I’m not asking for a feature to be added — I’d just like to understand whether this is something that could realistically be supported, or if it’s a limitation by design so I can stop pursuing it and plan accordingly.

Thanks!

General

That's great news! Thank you so much! Currently working to make a strategy game using Starling and AIR

785597448

General Why not use OpenFL directly

chachawu

I'm really looking forward to it, thank you.

Daniel

Thanks for all the nice words, guys! 🤗

@Shaun_Max Actually, most of that should be feasible. As you know, Starling's TextField uses (a) flash.text.TextField to render it's text as a texture; in that case, all that information you're asking for is available. Or (b) it uses a bitmap font to lay out the characters itself. In that case, it would simply have to store more information about how it assembles those letters. (Sorry for the late reply - I hope that helps!)

ll24llll

Daniel You probably didn't expect to hear from me again after such a long time — but here we are!

Daniel!

I started developing a game with Starling last year, and I’ll admit there were times it felt lonely, even discouraging, wondering whether I should have, honestly! Reading your post was unexpectedly moving, like a warm hand on my back at exactly the right moment. Um... it's more than I can easily put into words so... thank you! Thank you to you and to everyone in the community for keeping it alive in a meaningful way. Deeply appreciated.

Daniel

ll24llll Thanks so much for your kind words! I can totally relate to your feeling ... – Starling isn't the latest, coolest kid on the block, never was. But whatever engine you use, the important thing is that you have fun working on your game and that you feel you're making good progress. I'm glad my latest update could provide you with some additional motivation. 😁 Keep going!!!

Thanks also to @inverse and @paulp_games for leaving a reply! ❤️

inverse

💟 💟 💟 💟 💟

paulp_games

Awesome! Thanks!

vync79

Thanks Daniel!
Starling rocks forever!