I won't bury the lede on this one: 516 is now in alpha testing!

The week started with some bug work on 515 and a bit of buttoning up. My plan was to push a new 515 maintenance release and then follow up with 516 testing. That didn't begin until yesterday because of a few delays on multiple fronts, but it's done.

Just before getting 516's release ready, though, I stumbled onto a problem in Dream Maker with the reference window. I had to throw in a last-minute fix that, funnily enough, ended up causing a bit of a snag with the first alpha. But the early glitches are being ironed out. We're now up to alpha release 3, fixing a couple of important things that came up early thanks to the testers.

So far the alpha testing is finding really useful stuff: not just a few problems in BYOND 516 but also in where various projects need to adapt their own code. As I predicted, the complex UIs being built around IE 11's backwardness needed some minor changes, but with said minor changes things are looking very promising. Devs who've been itching to use more modern JS frameworks have also expressed pleasant surprise at what's possible now.

I deeply appreciate the support of all the BYOND Members and other contributors who make this work possible. I'm glad to finally get this phase of the project out to people and excited for where this could lead.

Barring unfortunate weather, I'm hoping to get some cool pictures for you guys on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed.