Add changelog and more documentation changes

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Changelog
+*Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be referred to as Smash Ultimate here.*
+
+All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
+
+The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
+but this project does not use [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
+Instead, keywords with a suffixed number are used for the releases as this is more of an audiovisual project.
+
+## [Alpha1] - 2021-01-28
+### Base Kart
+* New base kart for all characters, with a design inspired by the Standard Karts found in Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It is also slightly larger than the previous base kart used, but its height is lower compared to it.
+* The new base kart is considerably higher in polygon count compared to the old base kart. Every kart takes up slightly more disk space, and there may be a trivial performance hit (less noticeable on computers with better GPUs, more noticeable on computers with lower-end GPUs and mobile devices).
+* Only one headlight is used this time, instead of two from my previous attempt.
+* Eight smaller lights are found at the back of the kart, and the side and back sections also have blue light areas that light up green in tracks that take place during the night. The front of the kart also has blue light areas, but they don't light up green at night.
+* The Smash Bros. symbol is found at the back of every kart, and lights up in tracks that take place during the night.
+* Actual exhaust pipes built into the engine, with the two nitro emitters being placed considerably higher than from my previous base kart.
+
+### Roster
+* Add all of the DLC characters released so far, being up-to-date with version 10.1.0 in Smash Ultimate.
+* All character names are exactly as how they appear in Smash Ultimate, except for not being all uppercase. This effectively drops most prefixes and last names.
+
+### Character appearance
+* Larger characters that can be seen more easily, with the scaling increased to between 0.03 to 0.05 Blender units. 0.05 is the most common scaling factor used.
+* Most characters with more realistic hair now use the `alphatest` shader instead of the `alphablend` shader for their hair and eyebrows. A lot less hair being lit in the dark! A side effect of this shader change is that such characters now look slightly more cartoony, also making them fit slightly better with the official STK style.
+* Unique vertex color permutations for every character based on themselves. No more guessing who is in a generic kart!
+* Larger characters may have the steering wheel pointing upwards instead of facing them.
+* Better sitting positions for most characters.
+* Make all characters that have hands actually hold the steering wheel.
+* Certain characters that don't sit down like humans do have their seats removed entirely.
+
+### Notable character-specific changes
+* Duck Hunt - The duck stands on top of the engine, not on the dog's back.
+* Mr. Game & Watch - Appears in his original black and gray glory, no longer appearing in purple. However, he still appears in 3D, and some of his animations may not have the choppy appearance.
+* Olimar - The glass material for his helmet has been replaced by a texture shipping with STK. The winged Pikmin have been removed. Instead, 5 different Pikmin (red, yellow, blue, white, and purple) appear around the kart. Olimar is no longer alone while racing!
+* Piranha Plant: The feet are no longer visible; it rests directly on its pot. Its neck is more naturally curved.
+* R.O.B. - Drives by using its arms and not the steering wheel, like in its appearance in Mario Kart DS.
+* Wario - The glass material for the goggles on his helmet has been replaced by a texture shipping with STK.

INSTALL.md

@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 ## Prerequisites
-**SuperTuxKart 0.9.3 or later is required to use this addon collection, but 1.0.0 or later is recommended.** The addons are shipped in SPM (Space-Partitioned Mesh) format (this format is unique to this game, not having appeared anywhere else yet), which only said versions of STK can read. If STK isn't already installed, download it from <https://supertuxkart.net/Download>, and follow the specific instructions for your operating system. If using a Linux/BSD distro, there should be a package for the most recent STK release; install it from there.
+**SuperTuxKart 0.9.3 or later is required to use this add-on kart collection, but 1.0.0 or later is recommended.** The addons are shipped in SPM (Space-Partitioned Mesh) format (this format is unique to this game, not having appeared anywhere else yet), which only said versions of STK can read. If STK isn't already installed, download it from <https://supertuxkart.net/Download>, and follow the specific instructions for your operating system. If using a Linux/BSD distro, there should be a package for the most recent STK release, or a slightly older one; install it from there.
+
+## How to download
+Use the `git` command-line program or a Git frontend to clone this repository. Git LFS must be installed in order to successfully download all of the audiovisual files. This downloads everything, including the STK kart files and the source Blender files.
+
+```bash
+git clone https://gitlab.com/Worldblender/ssbu-karts-for-stk/
+```
+Alternatively, this repository can be downloaded as a compressed archive, but it will not receive updates when they are released.
 
 ## How to use/install
 Copy or symlink the contents of the 'karts/' directory to one of these paths, depending on your operating system:
@@ -12,8 +20,7 @@ Copy or symlink the contents of the 'karts/' directory to one of these paths, de
 
 * On Android: `<location of internal storage>/stk/home/.local/share/supertuxkart/addons/karts`
 
-Or copy individual karts to the addons directory, if not all of them are desired. Upon starting STK, you should see the loading screen fill up similar to below, assuming that no other addon karts are installed:
-
+Or copy individual karts to the add-ons directory, if not all of them are desired. Upon starting STK, you should see the loading screen fill up at least up to the loading icon. It may fill up past that point if other add-on karts are installed. This progress will not be seen if this collection is being installed for a STK installation starting in a server-only mode or no graphics mode.
 
 ## Tips
 * Your opponents cannot be chosen (unless you're playing a local multiplayer game, or starting the game from the command-line)! They are decided at random, and depending on how many AI karts are set up (up to 20 by default), more than 8 fighters may be seen in one round.
@@ -48,7 +55,7 @@ The karts are unoptimized in that most of them contain more than 50 skinning joi
 * Find the file at `<location of data directory>/data/stk_config.xml`; this is where some of the additional game options can be configured, but which cannot be configured normally by the user. If this file is located in a read-only location, such as in a shared installation, it may not be possible to edit this file, so playing.with fewer of these karts is the only option.
 * Find the lines reading
 
-```
+```xml
   <!-- Maximum bones from all animated meshes in each frame to be uploaded for
        hardware skinning, For gles 3.0 the specification guarantees at least 2048, for
        TBO in desktop at least 65536 (max buffer size) / 64, SSBO at least 2^24 / 64,

README.md

@@ -17,20 +17,24 @@ This repository uses Git Large File Storage (LFS), in order to keep the reposito
 
 Karts-only downloads: <https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Lu1aS4lUVr_MFaRcuUp3byLaolmFL8Hl?usp=sharing>
 
-## Preview of all the karts
-Can be found in </screenshots/karts_default_all.png>. Individual screenshots can be found in each source directory of every character.
+## Kart Previews
+[Preview of all the karts exported](/screenshots/karts_default_all.png) 
+
+Individual screenshots can be found in each source directory of every character.
 
 ## How to use/install
-Can be found in </install.md>
+Can be found in [`install.md`](/install.md)
 
-## Detailed Kart Information
-Can be found in </kart-information.html>
+## Detailed Kart Information and changelog
+Can be found in [`kart-information.html`](/kart-information.html)
+
+The changelong can be found in [`CHANGELOG.md`](/CHANGELOG.md)
 
 ## Premise: How the SSBU Fighters got into the Mascot Kingdom
-Can be found in </premise.md>
+Can be found in [`premise.md`](/premise.md)
 
 ## Errata, Limitations, Todo
-Can be found in </errata.md>
+Can be found in [`errata.md`](/errata.md)
 
 ## Rationale
 The purpose of this project is to satisfy three objectives at once (a.k.a. kill three birds with one stone):

errata.md

@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@
 ## Wishlist / Todo: Things that can be improved
 * Replace the front Mandarava Motors logo with the symbols of the universes each character originates from.
 
+* Tweak the sizes of some characters to be closer to canon, though not too small that they can't be easily seen with another kart.
+
 * Rename the bones in the Ice Climbers' kart to not conflict with each other.
 
 * Use normal maps and PRM maps to make more materials look better in-game.