New release 0.9.1 - Deer God Resurrection

After a long hiatus, I'm thrilled to announce that DeerPortal is back! The Almighty Deer God has blessed me with a surge of energy and inspiration in 2025. During my break, SFML, the game engine that powers DeerPortal, released its 3.0 version. This meant I had to rewrite the entire codebase from the ground up, but I'm excited to finally present DeerPortal 0.9.1, packed with improvements and modernizations.

I had to pause development during the COVID-19 pandemic around 2020. My first attempt to migrate to SFML 3 in January 2025 didn't go as planned, but I tried again in April/May with much better results. From there, I focused on optimizing the game and streamlining the build process.

After reading comments from players across the internet, I realized that many people found the game confusing. To address this, I wrote a proper handbook and added an in-game message layer to better explain what’s happening. I've also overhauled the CI/CD infrastructure for building on different platforms, which should make future updates much smoother.

Some development stats:

• Development Period: October 15, 2019 → July 13, 2025 (5 years, 9 months)
• Total Commits: 136 (82 between tagged releases + 54 pre-releases)
• C++ Code Changes: 89 files modified in the src/ directory
• Net Code Growth: +4,063 lines of C++ code (8,043 added, 3,980 deleted)
• Project-wide Changes: 173 files changed (24,313 insertions, 4,250 deletions)

Major Changes in Version 0.9.1 (vs. 0.8.1)

SFML 3.0 Migration

Complete Engine Overhaul

• Successfully upgraded the engine from SFML 2.x to SFML 3.0.1.
• Implemented modern C++ features, including smart pointer memory management.
• Verified cross-platform compatibility for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Modernized the build system using CMake with platform-specific scripts.

New Features

Card Notification System

• Now, visual overlays pop up when you pick up cards.
• These notifications display the actual card art, so you know exactly what you've collected.
• Player portraits are integrated with contextual messages.
• Finally, you can understand what's happening in the game!

Intro Animation ✨

• This is just a starting point for more to come!

Updated Game Handbook 📖

• A comprehensive PDF guide is now included with every release.
• Features a complete reference for all the cards in the game.

Performance Improvements

Optimized Rendering Pipeline ⚡

• A new VertexArray diamond rendering technique reduces draw calls by a whopping 99.1%.
• Implemented SFML 3.0's more efficient triangle primitives.
• This results in a 20-80% FPS boost across various hardware.
• Sprite management optimizations deliver up to 10x better frame rates.

Platform Support

macOS 🍎

• Comes in a professional app bundle with a native icon.
• Features an automated DMG installer.
• Self-contained distribution with all necessary libraries bundled.

Windows 🪟

• An NSIS installer package for easy setup.
• A comprehensive compilation guide for developers.
• Full integration support for Visual Studio.

Linux 🐧

• DEB packages for Debian/Ubuntu-based systems.
• Universal TGZ archives for broader compatibility.
• Minimal runtime dependencies.

Looking Forward

This release marks a new chapter for DeerPortal. With modern technology, better performance, and an improved user experience, I'm excited to continue the journey of transforming humans into deer gods!

Download the latest version from Itchio or the GitHub releases page and join me in the mystical world of DeerPortal.

May the Deer God guide your path! 🦌