3D audio & video

3D audio and speaker objects were added, along with various improvements to the sound system. It's now possible to place speaker objects in the scene, make an animation and mix down to an audio file. Sequence editor proxy support was restored, which can now work in the background, along with support for building timecodes to make scrubbing on all video types possible.

Animation system

Animation system improvements were done, especially relating to usability and to polish the interface. Includes changes to the graph editor, dopesheet editor, NLA editor, curves, drivers, constraints, posing, ... Collada integration was improved, making import and export more complete and fixing various issues, especially related to armatures and animation.

Vertex weight groups

Vertex group modifiers were added. There are three modifiers: one to edit existing vertex groups, one to mix groups together, and another to generate vertex groups based on proximity to other objects. Weight painting toolswere added to lock vertex groups, automatically maintain the ratio between different bones, and for fixing poor deformation of vertices.

UI translation

Internationalization and support for non-western fonts were added, to display the user interface in languages other than English. Efforts to translate in the most common languages is underway, and volunteers are welcome to contribute translations.

Game Engine

Navigation Meshes were added for the game engine, used for path finding, so that actors can find the path to a target or flee away. This functionality was implemented using the Recast & Detour libraries.

Texture Face settings moved to materials, for consistency and easier editing. Existing files may need some updates.

Game engine animation was improved internally, with as main external change the unification of F-Curve and Shape Action Actuators into a single Action Actuator, which now includes layering support.