Changelog

All notable MGFX changes are recorded here. MGFX has not published version tags yet, so work that has not been assigned to a release remains under Unreleased.

Unreleased

Current working set reviewed on 2026-07-28.

Added

• Added explicit Plain GLua entry modules for core initialization, server distribution, the legacy global bridge, developer tools, and examples: mgfx/init.lua, mgfx/distribute.lua, mgfx/global.lua, mgfx/devtools.lua, and mgfx/examples.lua.
• Added matching opt-in Lux packages for global installation and developer tools: @lux/mgfx/global and @lux/mgfx/devtools.
• Added an isolated animated-material test addon covering native material drawing, styled source capture, and a second captured material used as an image mask.

Changed

• Plain GLua integrations can now keep MGFX local with local mgfx = include("mgfx/init.lua"). The core entry does not install a public global, commands, hooks, or examples. The shipped autorun loader remains a compatibility adapter that installs MGFX and developer tools.
• Importing @lux/mgfx no longer installs globals or developer tools, and the default mgfx.api runtime is created lazily on first use. Code that needs a GLua-facing global must import installGlobal from @lux/mgfx/global.
• Examples are no longer loaded by the default addon or developer-tools path. They must be distributed and installed explicitly. The unsafe mgfx_reload and mgfx_hot_reload commands were removed.
• Shader-pack loaders now return their data as modules instead of mutating a process-wide MGFXShaderPack global.
• MGFX source licensing changed from the former non-commercial license to the Lux MGFX Community License 1.1. It permits qualifying non-profit community servers to recover reasonable operating costs and permits free plugin development and distribution; commercial use still requires written authorization.

Fixed

• IMaterial is now treated as an executable image source. ImageUV, radius-free Image, and effect-free ImageEx bind the original material directly, preserving material proxies such as AnimatedTexture.
• Styled image paths that require MGFX composition now execute the source material into a render target before applying radius, mask, stroke, shadow, outer glow, or backdrop effects. Material-backed texture masks use a separate capture target so source and mask animation remain independent.
• Image texture shaders now sample $texture1 consistently, while material slots that may be rebound through SetTexture start with real texture values. This removes the $texture2 type warning and avoids bypassing material behavior through $basetexture extraction.
• Material capture now preserves render blend, color modulation, alpha, scissor, and coverage state, and applies corrected UVs at capture boundaries.
• The internal white image texture now uses an owned material wrapper instead of assuming that color/white is a mounted VMT.
• Text composition can discover its ConVars after optional developer tools are installed. Text renderer and profiler state no longer depend on a global MGFX table, and profiler wrappers can be uninstalled cleanly.

Documentation

• Updated the Plain GLua and Lux setup guides for the explicit entry points and optional adapters.
• Documented direct and captured IMaterial behavior, animated materials, material-backed masks, sampler assignments, and render-target capture costs.
• Updated architecture, shader, licensing, repository, generated-output, and bilingual documentation to match the runtime changes.