Moonlight|3D is well on track with the planned major changes coming along nicely. Version 0.3.0 will feature a new improved toolchest, full undo/redo support, editable "ghosts" that show older states of an object (e.g. in a state before a subdivision operation was applied), and a much improved property editor.

Moonlight|3D is undergoing a big transformation on the way to version 0.3.0 which culminate in very visible user interface improvements when they are finished.

First and foremost, the toolchest will get a completely new face. The current hierarchical structure will be replaced by a flat one with icons in categories. These categories will be foldable so that you can easily hide all those icons that you don't need right now. Colorful icons make the tools much easier to find and easier to hit with the mouse. Still, the new layout can display more tools in the same space than the old text-ladden one could.

Alongside this toolchest change, undo and redo functionality is currently being added to the program. The usability improvements from this feature are pretty obvious: 3D modeling can be an unforgiving task where a single accidental mouse click can ruin a lot of work - this is when a decent undo feature can save your day. Internally, each single tool needs a dedicated undo to keep overall memory usage low, so this is the single most daunting task on the transition from version 0.2.3 to 0.3.0.

Another big improvement is the ability to go back in an object's history and edit an older form of it directly in 3D via "ghosts" - differently colored wireframes of the historic versions of these objects.

Last, but not least, changes in the Moonlight Application Framework to the way that properties work made them more flexible. The most obvious benefit that will come from that is the ability to display them in a much more appropriate user interface - proper labels, more advanced widgets and generally a much more intuitive layout. In short, the property editor in Moonlight|3D will get much more usable.

Unfortunately, all of this is still pretty much a work in progress. A lot of work remains to be done until these changes are complete. This means that Moonlight|3D 0.3.0 will appear at the end of January 2010 at the earliest. We will publish updates until then so be sure to check back regularly if you are interested. If you have questions or comments, feel free to post them in the forum.