Welcome to the patch notes, a compiled list of all changes and updates made to Protobot!

Beta 1.3.1 - July 17th, 2022

Welcome to Beta 1.3.1! A smaller update with lots of very useful changes / additions and a few important bug fixes.

Main Features

• Transform Tool Snapping

  • Snapping now enabled by default
  • Rotations are included, meaning you can disable rotation snapping all together
  • Rotation snapping now based on 15° increments instead of 45°

• New Parts! Over 30 new parts available to build with!

  • Gussets (finally!)
    • Coupler ⇒ Angle, C-Channel, and Angle Corner
    • 30 Degree ⇒ Flat and Bent
    • 45 Degree ⇒ Flat, Bent, and Plate
    • 60 Degree ⇒ Flat and Bent
    • 90 Degree ⇒ Flat, Bent, Plate, and Angle
    • Pack ⇒ Pivot, Angle, Plus
  • U-Channels (Sizing from 1 - 20 holes)
  • Plastic Spacers
    • 4.6mm and 8mm
  • Nut Variants
    • Hex, Keps, and Low Profile
  • High Strength Gear v2
    • 24T, 36T, 48T, 60T, 72T, 84T
  • Flex Wheels
    • 1.625in, 2in, 3in, and 4in (with options to include adapters)
  • Spin-up Disc (a competition part, more coming soon!)

  

• Smoother Camera Controls

  • Smoother Pan, Zoom, and Orbit movement
  • Panning speed now adjusts with zoom distance
  • Focus shortcut is now set to ‘F’ key by default

• Better Hole Placement

  • Parts no longer flip when getting close to a hole during shaft positioning
  • Flipping the direction of a part during shaft positioning now works by pressing ‘Space’ by default
  • All hole placements now align properly with hole rotations (including gussets)

Bug Fixes

• Standoffs don’t form connections on both sides
• Tooltips can appear offscreen
• Moving a hole rotates it along forward direction

Beta 1.3 - March 14th, 2022

Welcome to Beta 1.3! The biggest release to date.

Here’s an update video, which goes over all of the most important changes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAWValvXOmY

Main Features

• Updated File System

  • Introduced new top bar with options for saving and other buttons
  • New Splash Screen shows a list of recently opened files and other options
  • Allows for saving and opening of individual “.pbb” files

  

• Revamped Tools

  • Combined all previous move tools (besides Transform) into one comprehensive “Move Tool” which can accurately position:
    • Screws
    • Shafts
    • Holes
    • Any object with a center hole on a shaft
    • Nuts at the end of a screw
    • Shafts into motors
  • Move tool rotation can be toggled by pressing “R”
  • The same functions involved in the move tool are also activated when adding a new object, so moving a screw cause the same positioning as adding a new one

  

• Intuitive Connections

  • Connections between objects now form more realistically
  • For screws:
    • All that is required is that a nut is added to a screw and all objects on the screw will connect together
  • For shafts:
    • Any object on a shaft that is within two shaft collars will form a connection with the shaft

  

• Overhauled Add Menu

• Preferences Menu

• Undo / Redo

• Other Features

Beta 1.2 - March 1st**, 2021**

Welcome to Beta 1.2! The first public Beta release!

This is a big one, and it all starts with a name change: Welcome to Protobot (formerly known as the VEX Virtual Builder)

There's an update video, going over all of the most important updates: