UFO:Alien Invasion

General => Discussion => Topic started by: Erkronos on February 28, 2010, 10:23:24 pm

Title: When will be the next release?
Post by: Erkronos on February 28, 2010, 10:23:24 pm
I love this game so much. It is the best free game I have ever seen. I saw loads of new content added to the game plus fixing bugs and glitches from the main website. The problem is that when are we going to see another new release of this game? The latest download file is like 2 years old! So any ideas when we will get the latest download?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Sarin on February 28, 2010, 10:32:40 pm
There are development builds available here on forums. Also, I think that v.2.3 stable will be relased soon.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on March 01, 2010, 01:05:41 am
Sorry, there is no ETA.
The only thing I can tell you that IMHO it's not gonna be released in the next 1-2 month.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Sarin on March 01, 2010, 04:40:22 am
Strange, I've heard that relase will be within the month.

Okay, ut was january at that time...
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Mattn on March 01, 2010, 07:36:25 am
winter is still writing some articles for the ufopedia and these still must be translated. once they are finished and they are translated, the game will be released. but that can't happen in the next few weeks as we have to give the translators a little bit of time, too.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Erkronos on March 01, 2010, 07:37:18 am
Seriously they need to bring up the latest version so that we can download. It has been about 2 years! Come on!
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: insetto on March 02, 2010, 12:19:10 am
Seriously they need to bring up the latest version so that we can download. It has been about 2 years! Come on!

Well for me anything that come out from this project is a blessing.
As nobody is asking money I think that they have the right to take all the time they need.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: vedrit on March 02, 2010, 12:21:05 am
If people want this to come out sooner, do more than just play it.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on March 02, 2010, 12:57:24 am
If people want this to come out sooner, do more than just play it.
Very true :)
But to get 2.3 out, we need some *particular people* to do some particular things.
It's always hard in open source projects to get those last 2%...
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: freegamer on March 02, 2010, 06:12:46 pm
That you have a release plan is the main thing, quite when the release happens is down to father time and human nature.  I look forward to 2.3 immensely!
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Battlescared on March 12, 2010, 12:58:31 am
Very true :)
But to get 2.3 out, we need some *particular people* to do some particular things.
It's always hard in open source projects to get those last 2%...

The last 5% is always the toughest of any software projects.  Major kudo's for getting it to 2%!

Eagerly but patiently the next release.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Stedevil on March 12, 2010, 12:09:17 pm
Seriously they need to bring up the latest version so that we can download. It has been about 2 years! Come on!

The latest development version is always online. I was playing the "alpha" 2.3 version already 1,5 years ago. Instead of just complaining, why don't you download the dev version and help fix bugs? That is more constructive. :)
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Sgt. Hatter on March 13, 2010, 02:43:34 pm
Seriously they need to bring up the latest version so that we can download. It has been about 2 years! Come on!

Have you ever worked in software development?  Delays and such are the norm, even in most professional development houses.  You should be glad that steady development is still being made; most freeware/open source game projects I've seen wind up rolling over and dying in under six months.

Besides, it's not like pre-compiled releases aren't available.  Have you bothered to read this post (http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=2830.msg34820#msg34820)?  Sure, it's an in-development build of 2.3, but it beats nothing, doesn't it?
Title: You're reading this post wrong
Post by: setreset1 on March 18, 2010, 11:25:00 am
You're reading this post wrong. We (no programming/graphics/language skills love good games) people are not complaining, just letting you know that we follow the wiki for updates every week, read the monthly status update, and are just waiting for the next release, cuz it's the best open source game ever. Maybe knowing this will give the developers some more enthusiasm to complete these last 3.14% to the next stable release.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: shevegen on March 25, 2010, 12:13:59 pm
I don't think that developers "misunderstand" anyone on purpose per se.

It just really is that sometimes there is a little bit of work which is less interesting to do. Usually those last 2% include parts which aren't extremely fascinating. That's why there are often smaller steps needed to close that gap, and hence often a plea for people to help these efforts :D

Rather than only waiting, it often is better to point out which things can be improved. Even if these are only little things.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Battlescared on March 27, 2010, 11:50:17 pm
Rather than only waiting, it often is better to point out which things can be improved. Even if these are only little things.

Nope, point out things that are broken.  Things that can be improved should go on the backburner for the next release, or else requirements creep will prevent it from ever being done.  I know what you mean, just pointing out that things need to bound in order to complete.

And I think there is a good point that those of us who are waiting as freeloaders (I know we don't really rate as customers) just want to let the devs know their work is appreciated and there are people waiting for them to finish, as politely as we can.  It's hard to feel motivated on something that you think no one cares about, and we do!
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: MCR on March 31, 2010, 02:28:19 pm
If you want to help speed up the next release, take a look here  ;):

 
Want to add here that even people without almost any experience regarding computers could help:


Take a walk, enjoy the nature & record some interesting sounds for UFO:AI with your mp3 player:
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=3580.msg26141#msg26141

SCREAM INTO A MICROPHONE (yes, as simple as that  ;)):
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=1527.msg34776#msg34776

Use your synthesizer & record some cool sounds:
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=1546.msg8092#msg8092

Again I can only tell you to take a walk & enjoy the niceness of spring, this time using different terrain & with finding a method to get good samples of yourself walking, running & jumping around (Do not forget to document your records  ;)):
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=1727.msg9343#msg9343

Or if you are rather the destructive type of person  :D:
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=3617.msg26545#msg26545

Or maybe you are the creative person, you can send sketches & drawings also, there is always a way to integrate cool looking & theme-fitting stuff:
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=2890.msg19572#msg19572

Here you can find very simple tasks, designed for those of you, who do not have much time, but still feel the need to help making this project better:
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=4665.msg36393#msg36393


You want 2.3 out ?! - go give yourself a kick & do something productive  ;)


... or wait & stay a passive spectator ::).
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: freegamer on March 31, 2010, 03:11:00 pm
Have you considered doing a beta/preview release?  Or, if the word beta is a bit strong, just call it a release candidate.  Will help get some early feedback on the any immediate problems, alleviate pressure from people who want a new release, as well as make the final release a bit better by helping focus on the issues that will affect players the most.

It'll also help generate more publicity.  Multiple releases make more noise than a single release. ;)
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: MCR on March 31, 2010, 03:31:28 pm
Have you considered doing a beta/preview release?  Or, if the word beta is a bit strong, just call it a release candidate.  Will help get some early feedback on the any immediate problems, alleviate pressure from people who want a new release, as well as make the final release a bit better by helping focus on the issues that will affect players the most.

http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=2830.msg35608#msg35608
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: geever on March 31, 2010, 03:34:41 pm
Have you considered doing a beta/preview release?  Or, if the word beta is a bit strong, just call it a release candidate.  Will help get some early feedback on the any immediate problems, alleviate pressure from people who want a new release, as well as make the final release a bit better by helping focus on the issues that will affect players the most.

It'll also help generate more publicity.  Multiple releases make more noise than a single release. ;)

Our stable releases are beta releases the final one will be far ahead in time. Release candidate would mean we don't change anything but polishing. Anyway we have those builds you're asking for - by contributors -see the sticky topic in win forum.

-geever
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: freegamer on March 31, 2010, 06:00:08 pm
Our stable releases are beta releases the final one will be far ahead in time. Release candidate would mean we don't change anything but polishing. Anyway we have those builds you're asking for - by contributors -see the sticky topic in win forum.

-geever
You're being ideological.  Making minor changes to a -rc is fine, as is adding a bit more (i.e. the -rc being slightly incomplete).  I mean, the most famous open source project, Linux, that uses -rc to shape the final release, not to just polish it.  (Usually each 2.6.X release goes through 7-9 rc releases.)
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Destructavator on April 01, 2010, 04:44:23 am
Different projects, both open-source and otherwise, are organized in different ways, including how releases are planned and named.  Heck, I've seen a number of different systems just for version numbers alone, some of them which seem to make more sense than others...

Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: tetrahedral on April 01, 2010, 09:19:06 pm
You know, this is just me coming from a psychological standpoint, but what if it was easier to download & compile whatever the current dev version is, play through it & submit bug reports?  I mean I'm not saying it's physically hard to do as it is now, but I know I had to do some digging to figure out everything (and I'm still not 100% sure how to do it).

I could see how you would want to keep the general public away from a ridiculously-buggy, nigh-unplayable early alpha or beta, but as we get closer & closer to release for 2.3, it's pretty stable & polished, and again, from a psychological standpoint, I'd be more motivated to find ways to contribute if it were easier for me to set up & run new versions as they came out. (And coupled w/ BTAxis's kickass contribution sticky & MCR's awesome follow up on how to contribute, I think this might kick contributions into high gear.)

Again, I'm still working on figuring out how to dl/install dev versions, but--

Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Destructavator on April 01, 2010, 10:59:01 pm
You know, this is just me coming from a psychological standpoint, but what if it was easier to download & compile whatever the current dev version is, play through it & submit bug reports?  I mean I'm not saying it's physically hard to do as it is now, but I know I had to do some digging to figure out everything (and I'm still not 100% sure how to do it).

I could see how you would want to keep the general public away from a ridiculously-buggy, nigh-unplayable early alpha or beta, but as we get closer & closer to release for 2.3, it's pretty stable & polished, and again, from a psychological standpoint, I'd be more motivated to find ways to contribute if it were easier for me to set up & run new versions as they came out. (And coupled w/ BTAxis's kickass contribution sticky & MCR's awesome follow up on how to contribute, I think this might kick contributions into high gear.)

Again, I'm still working on figuring out how to dl/install dev versions, but--

  • Would it involve a ton of extra time & effort to write a UFO:AI frontend with options to launch the current installed version, download the newest version, and maybe a button to take you to the bug reporting forums?
  • What about reserving some space right on the front page for getting people set up w/ the latest dev version, instructions on how to contribute material, report bugs, etc.?
  • Maybe it might also be helpful if everybody already contributing were to record demos while they work?  i.e. while you're building a map in UFOradiant, flipping on a recording program & making a little video to get new people up to speed on the UI, program features, etc.

We periodically put up already-compiled installers in the Windows section, you just download the one large file and run it to install then play.

Also, Muton went to a lot of trouble to build an automated program that updates an SVN copy, compiles it with options that have hints written in plain English (no programming experience needed) and takes care of the more difficult dirty work for you.

So, right there, you have two easy ways of getting reasonably up-to-date copies of the development version of the game.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on April 02, 2010, 12:48:33 am
What about reserving some space right on the front page for getting people set up w/ the latest dev version, instructions on how to contribute material, report bugs, etc.?
I fully support that.
But keeping such a link up to date is difficult. One prob is the size of the package, especially regarding upload time. So we're thinking about splitting it into chunks, but that ain't easy because of dependencies.

Maybe it might also be helpful if everybody already contributing were to record demos while they work?  i.e. while you're building a map in UFOradiant, flipping on a recording program & making a little video to get new people up to speed on the UI, program features, etc.
NOT a brilliant idea imho. A tutorial video has other requirements than just watching an experienced mapper doing his thing.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Mattn on April 02, 2010, 09:26:58 am
http://mattn.ninex.info/videos/

here are some tutorials - but they aren't very good
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: freegamer on April 08, 2010, 09:15:02 pm
So... are you guys going to do a 2.3rc or 2.3beta release and alleviate community pressure/demand for 2.3 final (as well as good more feedback / bug reports) or what?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Edi on April 08, 2010, 10:24:32 pm
I'd say that every installer posted for the public by muton or Destructavator or anyone else counts as a 2.3 RC release, meaning that it's as good as you've got until that point unless you compile the code on your own.

It's no use pestering the developers all the while and frankly, it's actually insulting to them to make demands like that.

The more people take part, contributing code (not for me, this one, I'd screw it up), reporting bugs and testing things, the quicker things will happen, but they will all happen in their own good time.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Legendman3 on April 08, 2010, 11:10:36 pm
Compileing the stuff isnt that bad it takes maybe 6 hours or less(depends on internet speed) to download the svn and muttons or whoevers compiling tool. Then you run the tool compile everything once then for then check once or twice a day for svn updates and compile the installer every once in a while thats what i do. Its simple and quick.  ;D
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on April 08, 2010, 11:14:00 pm
I agree with Edi except for the fact that I personally do NOT really feel insulted by such demands. They're not helpful though.

The builds offered are fine (= the best we can offer) for skirmish games.
The prob with campaign is that (besides some remaining nasty bugs)
- we are lacking *content*, especially for the endgame
- we can't guarantee save game compatibility.

As a result, I don't know if I should recommend to start a 2.3rc campaign with the intention to really finish it.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Edi on April 09, 2010, 11:31:59 pm
The prob with campaign is that (besides some remaining nasty bugs)
- we are lacking *content*, especially for the endgame

Okay, THIS I may be able to help with. What do you guys need? As arrogant as it sounds, I'm a way better than average story teller, so if it's descriptive content or story related stuff you want, tell me what needs to be done where and I'll see what I can do.

Now, building maps, levels and that sort of thing, that's where I will fall down with the lack of expertise with the tools at hand and a lack of time to commit to learning them, but story related stuff and proofreading things is right up my alley. I speak, read and write English at native fluency and am a card-carrying member of the Grammar Police Brigade, so if you need any of that, send me a PM or an email (if the board allows sending emails through it, my address is not publicly visible).
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: tetrahedral on April 13, 2010, 10:34:51 pm
I was just playing through 2.3dev & it looks like the UGV stuff all still needs to be done
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Legendman3 on April 13, 2010, 11:00:31 pm
They wont put in UGV's for a long time. But if you can make some models for them.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: BTAxis on April 13, 2010, 11:04:16 pm
Already have models.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Legendman3 on April 14, 2010, 10:27:22 pm
Then why not put them in? is it the coding?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: BTAxis on April 14, 2010, 10:29:34 pm
Coding, animations, UI... it needs a lot of work.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on April 15, 2010, 12:10:25 am
UGV are not for 2.3 for sure.

However, do we have a list of the remaining todos for ugvs, BTAxis ?
If not, we should create one, maybe on the ML...
After dealing with all that (untested) 2x2 code in pathfinding, UGVs are one of the first 2.4 features for me. At least the ability to test them.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: BTAxis on April 15, 2010, 12:12:34 am
Hmm, good idea. I don't think there's a todo for UGVs right now, at least not one that is in any way up to date.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Hertzila on April 15, 2010, 12:54:33 am
If 2x2 units basically mean UGVs, there is one on the wiki (http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/TODO/General/Support_for_2x2_units), though how up-to-date I'm not sure.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: BTAxis on April 15, 2010, 01:03:05 am
Last modified 25 April 2008. I think there's a good chance that what's on there is obsolete.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on April 15, 2010, 01:34:15 am
Thx Hertzilla for digging that up. I overlooked it.

Well, it may be outdated, but imho it's a good start. :)
So let's just update it...
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Legendman3 on April 15, 2010, 10:07:47 pm
Update please. Good to know you guys will work on it for the next release(2.4?)  :D
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on April 15, 2010, 11:14:45 pm
@BTAxis:
I took a closer look at that todo list and have to say that it's outdated in a *positive* way :)
That is, many things that have the status open, WIP or 'no clue' are already prepared/done, especially pathfinding.

But I have 2 important questions that don't seem to be covered by the list at all:
IIRC I was already able to buy an Ares from the market, but
Q1: how do I get it on board of a dropship ?
Q2: how will I control it in battlescape ? Is it the 9th soldier (UI work) or does it replace the 9th soldier ?

I volunteer to update the pathfinding stuff in that list as soon as I am enabled to test it.
I don't care much for the model, animation or turret. A shoebox-thingy will do.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Mattn on April 16, 2010, 08:07:41 am
in the team selection menu should be a button for switching to ugv already.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: geever on April 16, 2010, 11:19:04 am
in the team selection menu should be a button for switching to ugv already.

That was the old UI, now we have a tab for them, but commented out in menuscript (and maybe not working (missing/outdated callbacks)).

Assigning and removing UGVs were broken in 2.2.x either, I can check&fix it after 2.3 if it's a need for 2.4 but I'm not sure if it should be. We have quite much plans for 2.4 already and we also want shorter release cycle. We should discuss 2.4 features before promising anything... ;)

-geever
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: H-Hour on April 16, 2010, 11:32:05 am
We have quite much plans for 2.4 already and we also want shorter release cycle.

Are these spelled out anywhere? Or just in the devs heads for now?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: BTAxis on April 16, 2010, 12:57:54 pm
Q1: how do I get it on board of a dropship ?

For some time there has been a mockup (http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/Proposals/New_UI#Craft_assignment) for assigning units to craft. It's probably not going to be quite like that, that's mostly up to geever and bayo_O, but that was the basic idea. Essentially, it comes down to "soldier space" and "UGV space" in a dropship, which are mutually exclusive.

Quote
Q2: how will I control it in battlescape ? Is it the 9th soldier (UI work) or does it replace the 9th soldier ?

Remember that the amount of soldiers will eventually be increased (this means UI work as well as other code changes, mattn wasn't clear about this). The largest amount of soldiers that can be in a dropship (the Herakles) is 12. The largest amount of UGVs (again the Herakles) is 3. So you would have a maximum of 15 units on a mission. However, in base defence missions this might be even more.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: MCR on April 16, 2010, 01:53:43 pm
However, in base defence missions this might be even more.
The most logical thing for basedefend should be that ALL available soldiers should fight, but we could make a upper limit of 15 soldiers fighting @ the same time there & add reinforcements automatically if soldiers die & additional soldiers are still available...
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Silversnow on April 18, 2010, 06:27:46 am
Excuse me for the newbie question, but where can we see what remains to be done?
Just in case we may have the skills to help  ;)
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: BTAxis on April 18, 2010, 11:57:47 am
What exactly do you mean? You want to know what remains to be done on UGVs/2x2 units, or what remains to be done until the game ins finished? If you meant the former, Duke and I intend to update the TODO for this, will probably have to discuss it first. If you meant the latter, there is no clear answer I can give you, only "a lot of everything". If you want to help, I suggest you take a look at the sticky thread.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Silversnow on April 18, 2010, 08:50:47 pm
I meant both actually, thanks for the tip  :)
I guess I'll start with those and see what I can do to help.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: !!nibiruplanetx on April 28, 2010, 07:31:52 am
This is going to be so awesome!
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Marte on April 28, 2010, 09:16:56 am
The most logical thing for basedefend should be that ALL available soldiers should fight, but we could make a upper limit of 15 soldiers fighting @ the same time there & add reinforcements automatically if soldiers die & additional soldiers are still available...

HI! just my 2 cents: why this limit? If soldiers are in a base, they all should be fighting, otherwise player maybe needs some kind of explanation for this limitation..
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Jarkill on April 28, 2010, 01:17:08 pm
Several reasons, I'd suspect. Game balance for one thing, GUI as another. System resources, turn length, etc.

Given that my main method of selecting units is currently pressing 1-8 on the keyboard, I don't think I'll ever take more than 10 units into battle myself.

Microing 16+ units would get dull very quickly. It'd stop being squad based combat and start being platoon based combat.

Mostly WMG here though.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on April 28, 2010, 10:26:17 pm
Several reasons, I'd suspect. Game balance for one thing, GUI as another. System resources, turn length, etc.
You're right on the money with that list. However, there are plans to increase the number of actors to control.

btw you seem to have a good grasp of the implementation of the game. Are you a coder ?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Marte on April 29, 2010, 09:44:29 am
Several reasons, I'd suspect. Game balance for one thing, GUI as another. System resources, turn length, etc.

Given that my main method of selecting units is currently pressing 1-8 on the keyboard, I don't think I'll ever take more than 10 units into battle myself.

Microing 16+ units would get dull very quickly. It'd stop being squad based combat and start being platoon based combat.

Mostly WMG here though.

thanks for explanation, i suspected that were reasons.. but player (not coder or hard-player) need a reason for this limitation, what do you think?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on April 29, 2010, 10:21:50 pm
Number of seats in the dropship maybe ?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: MCR on April 30, 2010, 07:11:24 am
Number of seats in the dropship maybe ?
A logical explanation for the missions & there the number of soldiers should be limited to the space available in the dropship, as this should also be additional motivation for the player to get new dropships with more seats...

But how does this influence the number of soldiers fighting in the base ? They do not need a dropship to get there...
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Marte on April 30, 2010, 08:21:36 am
maybe aliens uses soporific gas to get soldiers sleeping?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on April 30, 2010, 09:13:57 pm
But how does this influence the number of soldiers fighting in the base ?
Only 8 soldiers are on duty at a time. The others are sleeping, taking a shower or in hospital etc., far away from their combat equipment. So they are *ordered* not to participate in the combat and hide instead.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Hertzila on April 30, 2010, 10:09:12 pm
Only 8 soldiers are on duty at a time. The others are sleeping, taking a shower or in hospital etc., far away from their combat equipment. So they are *ordered* not to participate in the combat and hide instead.

Am I right at expecting this limit to raise to 15/18 (the space of the largest dropship, without/with UGVs) when the engine supports it?
The explanation is actually believeable too, though usually in such a situation everybody would be sent to fight, despite how unprepared.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Marte on May 04, 2010, 11:26:02 am
Only 8 soldiers are on duty at a time. The others are sleeping, taking a shower or in hospital etc., far away from their combat equipment. So they are *ordered* not to participate in the combat and hide instead.

we can give this information to player ? maybe on faq here on forum ?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on May 04, 2010, 09:14:37 pm
Feel free to make it a FAQ forum entry if you expect the people to find and read it there ;)
IIRC there's also a FAQ in our wiki...

However, that explanation is not part of the official story(yet). It's merely a quick suggestion from a stupid coder(TM).
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Destructavator on May 04, 2010, 09:20:04 pm
On a related note, what is actually holding us back from breaking the eight-unit limit at this point?  Is it the code?  Or the (lack of proper) GUI?  Or both?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on May 04, 2010, 09:32:33 pm
As we already have more than 8 actors on the alien and civ teams, there shouuld be no prob with the general code. Afaik it's mostly a GUI thing (and some GUI-related code maybe).
AND a matter of game balance of course.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: BTAxis on May 04, 2010, 11:17:33 pm
Discussion moved to GUI design; split and moved (http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=4762.msg37909#msg37909) to the Artwork subforum.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: geever on May 05, 2010, 01:56:22 am
As we already have more than 8 actors on the alien and civ teams, there shouuld be no prob with the general code. Afaik it's mostly a GUI thing (and some GUI-related code maybe).
AND a matter of game balance of course.

It's not just the gui but code as well. At least on campaign side.

-geever
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on May 05, 2010, 11:09:13 pm
Do you think it will be much work or difficult to overcome this limit ?

As least this tells me that we should have the ability to test with *9* soldiers asap.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: geever on May 06, 2010, 10:57:07 am
Do you think it will be much work or difficult to overcome this limit ?

As least this tells me that we should have the ability to test with *9* soldiers asap.

We can try this in 2.4 but we should not include any new features in 2.3 IMHO. The release is delayed quite much already and I'm also not aware all the problems it can cause so can't predict the amount of work with it.

-geever
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Edi on May 06, 2010, 05:36:42 pm
We can try this in 2.4 but we should not include any new features in 2.3 IMHO. The release is delayed quite much already and I'm also not aware all the problems it can cause so can't predict the amount of work with it.

-geever

I'm no coder, but I've got some experience testing stuff and I agree that it should be left to the 2.4 development version. There's no telling how many things such a change could break and in what ways, so it's better to get a working stable release out now and only then start fiddling with things.

With Shrapnel/Illwinter we had to recall one patch for Dominions 3 in testing phase because it broke the entire game (CTD on startup, no workaround) and there was another patch that had something changed where it caused a CTD whenever you did a specific completely legal action, so it had to be emergency patched right afterward.

For comparison, the suggested change of upping the limits of soldiers is somewhere in between the two Dominions examples in terms of how much it changes, if I'm reading all the references by the coders right.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on May 06, 2010, 10:03:17 pm
I wasn't talking about releasing 8+ actors as a 2.3 feature. I was merely talking about creating the ability to test it and figure out which parts of the code need to be changed.
Some places may be easy and can be changed now, others not. But even if a change looks touchy, we might consider to carefully change it now because there is a lot of testing before the release of 2.3 ;)

Also, I don't know how long we'll have to wait until those 6 articles arrive and 2.3 is released...
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: BTAxis on May 06, 2010, 11:10:22 pm
Maybe make a new branch for it if need be?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on May 06, 2010, 11:27:51 pm
If it seems to be too touchy maybe.
But that would give away the benefit of having it tested thoroughly.

I'd suggest to make the 'opener' (ie. the 9th button) a diff file for devs, and test only the resulting changes (ie. overcoming the hardcoded limit) in trunk for a while.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Kildor on May 07, 2010, 03:55:38 am
Let`s wait merging save_break branch? And after that (and bughunting) we can make two thing: create branch 2_3_stable, and start play with trunk?
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: geever on May 07, 2010, 12:08:29 pm
Let`s wait merging save_break branch? And after that (and bughunting) we can make two thing: create branch 2_3_stable, and start play with trunk?

I agree.
Also we @all should focus on stabilizing now IMHO.

-geever
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on May 07, 2010, 10:20:05 pm
k.
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: cpsogoj on May 27, 2010, 08:18:10 pm
I am getting crazy.. i want 2.3, 2.3, 2.3. 2.3 2.3! GIVE ME 2.3! 232323232323! If you guys dont give me 23 release now, i will destroy you with my plasma beam gun!

:-P

Now, more seriously: is there any way to play the developing version? How?
More people playing is good for finding bugs :-)

Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Ain Soph Aur on May 27, 2010, 08:53:04 pm
Now, more seriously: is there any way to play the developing version? How?

You must be a windows user...
http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=2830.0 (http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=2830.0)
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: cpsogoj on May 27, 2010, 10:48:53 pm
Yes i am. Why? Isnt that easy to play the development version?
If its hard, explain me everything very well as if i was very stupid lol (i suppose that i need to compile the game in order to play, and i dont have any idea how to do that).
Title: Re: When will be the next release?
Post by: Duke on May 27, 2010, 11:16:55 pm
Follow the link Ain Soph Aur provided and you'll find the latest Windows installer. No compile needed.