RUMOR: Unity3D 4.3 Alpha 1 Release Notes

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Unity 4.3 Alpha 1

Features
· 2D (Yes, 2D!)

Added a new asset type: SpriteFrame.
SpriteFrame is defined by a Texture2D rectangle and a pivot point.
SpriteFrame has an internal mesh generated based on pixel alpha values.
Mesh size is 1/64 of the sprite size in pixels.
Warning: pixels-to-units ration might be changed or exposed in the following alpha.
TextureImporter gained a Sprite Mode property.
Single Sprite option will generate one SpriteFrame using the entire texture.
Auto option will generate multiple SpriteFrames based on the alpha channel.
Manual option allows custom SpriteFrame definitions.
Grid option will generate SpriteFrames based on grid parameters.
TextureImporter gained Atlas Hint property. Setting it to a non-zero value will enable the generated SpriteFrames to be atlased together automatically on build.
Packing is based on the generated mesh.
Packing will respect texture import settings and will only pack textures together if format, usage mode, color mode, compression quality, filter mode and mip-map settings match.
TextureImporter gained Mesh Scale Factor property. It can be used to scale the internal sprite mesh.
TextureImporter gained Extrude Edges property in Advanced mode. It can be used to extrude the internal sprite mesh edges if needed for custom texture-space effects.
Added a new renderer component: SpriteRenderer
Renders one SpriteFrame.
Requires a material with no texture assigned to _MainTex.
Uses Material Property Blocks to patch _MainTex with the correct (original or atlased) texture for the active SpriteFrame.
Supports dynamic batching with non-uniform scaling.
Color property sets the vertex color.
If no material is specified, Sprites/Default material (alpha-blended) is used.
Enabling pixel-snap option will snap vertices to destination render target pixel boundaries.
Added Box2D physics engine and a set of 2D physics components.
Warning: Physics functionality is incomplete in alpha 1.
Warning: PolygonCollider2D shape handling will be refactored for the following alpha.
Warning: Currently physics materials are not supported.
Added editor 2D mode.
Enabling the 2D mode (note the checkbox in the main utility area) will cause:
Scene view to lock to the XY plane.
MoveTool change to a dedicated 2D tool with familiar functionality.
Picking to become alpha-based.
Some inspectors (i.e. Transform) get simplified to only contain functionality needed for 2D development.
Dragging and dropping a texture to the scene will automatically setup a new GameObject with a SpriteRenderer.
Warning: this mode will be slightly refactored for the following alpha.
Note: AnimationWindow is being improved and tailored for 2D work, however it will only be available in the following alpha.

· Animation Window now supports Mecanim. Animations can be added to the animator controller from the Animation window. Animations can be modified in the AnimationWindow too.

· Blendshapes!

Unity now supports blendshapes (also known as "morph targets").
You can drive the blendshapes using name based binding from mecanim or legacy animation system.
Blendshape curves are imported from FBX files, but you can also record them in the animation window.

· Culling in Unity has been rewritten. Now it's much faster across the board. Umbra occlusion culling is used to cull away point lights that don't contibute to the final image; and to drastically reduce number of shadow casters from directional lights.

Umbra: Incremental occlusion culling baking
Umbra: Portal culling occluder rasterization has been greatly optimized.
Umbra: PVS culling has been removed. Occluder rasterization is always used because PVS often gave to inaccurate results and bake times were huge.
Umbra: Directional Shadowcaster occlusion culling drastically reduces the amount of directional shadow casting objects to be rendered
Umbra: Point light occlusion culling and connectivity tests are used to remove local lights that do not contribute to the final image
Vertex point lights that are outside of the frustum are faded out with the range of the light
General culling performance optimizations.
Shadow caster culling is now done during the culling stage. Geometric culling and shader based culling is now seperated. Shader based culling is performed as part of the render pipeline.
All internal callbacks during culling have been removed, a much simpler index list approach is used across the board. Culling of intermediate renderers has been simplified and goes through the same pipeline. Eg. some occlusion culling types didn't work with intermediate renderers previously.
Internal data layout has been greatly improved for performance
[10.07.13 14:50:20] Gregory:
· Editor Controls Overhaul

LookLikeControls and LookLikeInspector have been replaced with a single unified look.
New look has consistent styles, indentation and layout.
Keyboard navigation now works for all components and is improved for sliders and object fields.
The Inspector has a new Wide Mode that places controls in a more neatly aligned and vertically compact way.
Easier to write Editor GUI with consistent alignment.
Relevant new API:
EditorGUIUtility.labelWidth and EditorGUIUtility.fieldWidth replaces the parameters in the now obsolete EditorGUIUtility.LookLikeControls function.
EditorGUI.PrefixLabel has a new overload that doesn't need an id parameter.
EditorGUILayout.GetControlRect is the best way to get a Rect for a standard sized Editor control.

· Editor: .meta files are now always turned on. From Project Settings -> Editor you can choose to hide them if you are not using version control.

· Editor: BuildPipeline methods now have parameters to output CRC checksums of generated AssetBundles

· Editor: Custom render order can now be specified by using Render Layers.

· Editor: MaterialPropertyDrawers, just like property drawers, but for shaders and material inspectors!
e.g. you can do [MaterialToggle(FANCY_ON)] before a float shader property, and this will display it as a checkbox; and will enable FANCY_ON keyword when checked.

· Editor: Only new assets or assets where the actual content has change will get imported. Changing the time stamp of an asset will no longer cause a reimport.

· Editor: Added ability to specify external script editor's args, including file and line info. (Windows editor only).

· Graphics: added Camera.SetTargetBuffers MRT-variant

· Graphics: added Texture2D.LoadRawTextureData to support loading ready-made texture data

· iOS: added possibility to back rendering surface with CVTextureCache-ed texture

· Mecanim now supports animating any property including Camera properties, script float properties, blendshape properties, Lights and most other float properties on components.

· Mecanim: Added Animator.GotoState scripting function. This function allow you at runtime to transition to any state in your controller.

· Mecanim: AnimationSet, an AnimationSet allow you to override any clip from a controller with another one.

· Mecanim: Loop time vs Loop pose, When an animation clip is already looping, no need to..