I have two major announcements related to Rubygame:
Rubygame 2.4 is now available
I’m stepping down from my position as project maintainer
First, the happier news. Rubygame 2.4 is, finally, done. This release contains the much-anticipated event handler system, which allows you to define how your objects respond to events (e.g. keyboard presses, mouse clicks, and even your own custom, gameplay-related events) in a dynamic, object-oriented way. I’m very proud of this system, because it is flexible, extensible, and powerful, yet at the same time easy to use and made of very simple parts.
Rubygame 2.4 also includes a new suite of event classes for keyboard, joystick, and mouse input, and all the other things. They are a full replacement of the older events, and I strongly encourage you to upgrade your games to use them (use EventQueue#enable_new_style_events to do that).
This release also includes a patch to enable key repeat, contributed by Roger Ostrander (atiaxi), and several bug fixes. See the NEWS file for the full details. Downloads for Rubygame 2.4 are available at Rubyforge. Precompiled gems for Windows and Mac are not available as I’m writing this, but I’ll post them at that same spot as they are sent to me. (Hint, hint.)
Now then, the more serious news.
After 4 years of off-and-on work on Rubygame, I have finally decided to step down as project maintainer altogether. From my vantage point, this is long overdue. Anyone reading this blog over the past 8 months can see the reason why I’m stepping down: I just don’t have the time, energy, or motivation to be a reliable maintainer anymore.
So, Rubygame 2.4 will be the last release of Rubygame I make, but I hope not the last release of Rubygame ever. There are plenty of ideas on the ROADMAP, and the Git repository has a lot of code in the dev-3.0.0 and old-3.0.0 branches that could be cleaned up and released.
But the project needs a new maintainer with the time, enthusiasm, and experience to keep it moving forward.
If you’re interested in being that person, please send me an email: jacius at gmail.