Open Nectar 0.9.1

A new launcher, self-updating installs and smaller downloads that run on any
current Linux distro, plus a round of graphics fixes: see-through water,
a clear helmet for Olimar and smooth animations at 60/120 FPS. Saves,
settings and texture packs carry over.

Updating from 0.9 or earlier: download the new version, open its
launcher, press Update and choose the folder where the game is
installed. You don't need your disc image again. From now on, the installed
launcher updates itself.

New

• A brand-new launcher. Covers for Pikmin and Pikmin 2 (downloaded from
  GameTDB, like Dolphin does) that grow when you hover them; click a cover to
  play. The background slowly cycles through screenshots of the game and the
  area photos from Olimar's log, taken from your own game files.
  • Install and Update under each cover. Pikmin 2 is shown as
    "Coming soon".
  • Installing now happens inside the launcher window: disc image and
    folder, progress, errors and "Play now", all in the same style.
  • The download you run from (package or AppImage) only shows Install and
    Update. The launcher that stays in the game's folder adds Settings and
    Move Install.
• Settings outside the game. The launcher's Settings tab has every
  option of the F1 menu, grouped the same way, with the same explanations.
  Changes are saved at once and apply the next time the game starts.
  • Language (European disc) can be picked there.
  • Texture Packs: choose the active pack or go back to the original
    textures, and install new packs from their .zip.
  • HD Models: install or replace each model from its .zip, and turn
    each one on or off on its own (turning one off keeps the files and
    brings back the original model).
  • Pikmin 2 will get its own section here.
• Automatic updates. The installed launcher checks GitHub when it
  opens. When a new version is out it says "Open Nectar X is available" and
  the button becomes "Update to X": it downloads, installs and restarts by
  itself. If you are offline, you can still update from a folder you
  downloaded by hand.
• Update without the disc. Any new download can update an existing
  installation: press Update and pick the installed folder. Saves,
  settings, packs and the extracted game data are left untouched.
• Move Install. Moves the whole installation (saves and settings
  included) to another folder or drive, then reopens the launcher from
  there.
• Linux AppImage. Open_Nectar-x86_64.AppImage is a single file: make
  it executable and open it. The .tar.gz is still there with the same
  content.
• Whistle Pluck (optional, off by default): hold the whistle over
  sprouts to pluck them one after another. F1 > Controls, next to Hold to
  Pluck. Thanks to 4laric (#56).

Changes

• Two files per installation. An installed game is now just nectar
  (or nectar.exe) and nectar-launcher, next to the game data. No more
  .real files, launch scripts or lib folder on Linux, and no
  SDL2.dll on Windows: everything they needed is built into the
  executables. Older installations are tidied up when you update.
• Linux: runs on any current distro. The game only needs glibc 2.29 or
  newer (Ubuntu 20.04+, Mint 20+, Debian 11+, Fedora, openSUSE Leap 15.3+,
  Arch, Manjaro, SteamOS) plus the usual OpenGL driver. Tested on clean
  Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 12, Fedora 40, openSUSE Leap 15.6 and Arch.
• Smaller downloads: about 11.6 MB for Linux (was 19 MB).
• No language question during install. The European disc installs all
  five languages and starts in English; change it from the launcher,
  F1 > Display or the game's own options.

Fixes

• Water is see-through again. You can see the ground under the water,
  as on the GameCube. The port was saturating a colour value the console
  only reads 8 bits of, which made the water fully opaque.
• The Forest of Hope pond no longer looks opaque: texture stages set
  without a coordinate now read the first one, as on the console. Thanks to
  4laric (#58).
• Olimar's helmet is clear glass with a light blue rim instead of a
  strong blue tint, and other lit translucent surfaces match the console.
• Smooth animations at 60 and 120 FPS. Character animations are stored
  at 30 frames per second; the game now blends between frames instead of
  holding each one, so Olimar, the Pikmin and enemies move smoothly at
  higher frame rates.
• Language on the European disc: the language chosen in F1 was ignored
  once a save existed, because the save's own language setting won. Both
  are now kept in sync: F1, the launcher and the game's options always
  show and use the same language.
• Installing over a running game or launcher no longer fails with
  "Text file busy" on Linux; on Windows the old program is set aside and
  removed the next time the launcher opens.
• Playing from the installed folder with a European disc no longer
  stops with "This disc needs nectar-pal".
• Older installations without a region marker are recognised as
  European from their data, so an update never installs the American
  build over a European disc.
• Map screen on wide screens (Android): the "Land" confirmation panel
  no longer sticks out on the right edge before it opens (#57).