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VO 1.8.755-760, Q1 Recap
(Cross-posting from News):
We made a lot of development progress, in January through March, even if it wasn't the progress we would have intended at the beginning of the year.
For example, the prototype for the new "Persistent Event" mission-system architecture went awry at one point, and ended up briefly taking down all the tutorial missions. Not good. But, the improved prototype is now far more scalable and should be able to handle a lot more complex content.
We were expecting to need to improve the prototype, we just didn't plan on that in Q1.
The same happened with the new high-performance networking system for the client, which was shipped to help solve a problem some players were encountering, and then had to be reverted later as it created entirely new problems that have to be investigated.
These kinds of frustrations happen when you're working a lot on updating or expanding "fundamental" game architecture, in a live production game (effectively "building a plane while in flight"). Big changes can lead to big problems, which then result in delays. But, overall, we've been making good progress.
* Where are we going from here?
Big-picture, we're still focused on the "Game Development Direction" sticky thread at the top of the Suggestions Forum.
That being said, we're also doing a lot of behind-the-scenes changes to the way we develop, test and update the game. We're adding more automated testing to reduce the chances of future bugs, and generally modernizing a lot of our processes. Once completed, this can save us a *lot* of time, which can instead be spent on "forward" development.
* Content Updates
Assuming we don't encounter any major "fires" in the form of critical game instabilities, we expect to ship more player-facing content during Q2.
I don't know exactly what it will include. Probably new Persistent Events, at least, along with likely some other changes and improvements.
I have a "wish-list" of changes, but I'm not going to speculatively comment. These days, we don't announce features until they've shipped. Stay tuned!
We made a lot of development progress, in January through March, even if it wasn't the progress we would have intended at the beginning of the year.
For example, the prototype for the new "Persistent Event" mission-system architecture went awry at one point, and ended up briefly taking down all the tutorial missions. Not good. But, the improved prototype is now far more scalable and should be able to handle a lot more complex content.
We were expecting to need to improve the prototype, we just didn't plan on that in Q1.
The same happened with the new high-performance networking system for the client, which was shipped to help solve a problem some players were encountering, and then had to be reverted later as it created entirely new problems that have to be investigated.
These kinds of frustrations happen when you're working a lot on updating or expanding "fundamental" game architecture, in a live production game (effectively "building a plane while in flight"). Big changes can lead to big problems, which then result in delays. But, overall, we've been making good progress.
* Where are we going from here?
Big-picture, we're still focused on the "Game Development Direction" sticky thread at the top of the Suggestions Forum.
That being said, we're also doing a lot of behind-the-scenes changes to the way we develop, test and update the game. We're adding more automated testing to reduce the chances of future bugs, and generally modernizing a lot of our processes. Once completed, this can save us a *lot* of time, which can instead be spent on "forward" development.
* Content Updates
Assuming we don't encounter any major "fires" in the form of critical game instabilities, we expect to ship more player-facing content during Q2.
I don't know exactly what it will include. Probably new Persistent Events, at least, along with likely some other changes and improvements.
I have a "wish-list" of changes, but I'm not going to speculatively comment. These days, we don't announce features until they've shipped. Stay tuned!
(Cross-posting from News):
*** Vendetta 1.8.760
- Updates to Portuguese translations.
- Improved scalability for the Persistent Event system, each PE runs in its own process and the network traffic between PEs and the game has been reduced.
- Fixed use-after-free bugs and potential null pointer use detected by analysis tools.
- Fixed issues with lua being run in multiple threads simultaneously.
- Fixed minor memory leak.
- Fixed potential negative timer timeout that resulted in a very large timeout.
- Fixed uninitialized pointer bug in radar extender addons.
*** Vendetta 1.8.759-server update
- Fixed issue with Convoy NPCs warning of failing the mission when hit with repair weapons.
- Refactored internal bookkeeping of NPCs in Persistent Events to be more efficient.
*** Vendetta 1.8.759
- Fixed issue with the UI not responding to Quest controllers in the latest OS version 2.1.
*** Vendetta 1.8.758
- Fixed issue with being unable to enter the universe after attempting to create a new character using a name that is already taken.
- Added text to Russian connection failure message explaining that we are aware of the issue and are continuing to monitor the situation.
- Added more logging of clients stuck entering the universe.
*** Vendetta 1.8.757.2
- The Linux version is forced into window mode on Wayland desktops due to lack of keyboard input in fullscreen mode.
- Fixed another problem stemming from multiple threads attempting to access Lua at the same time.
*** Vendetta 1.8.757.1
- Fixed issues with improperly displaying localized chat from NPCs during missions.
*** Vendetta 1.8.757
- Fixed problems stemming from multiple threads attempting to access Lua at the same time.
- Added more server-side connection-failure analytics to help track down sporadic login problems.
*** Vendetta 1.8.756.2
- Removed separate client-side network threading system due to many issues.
*** Vendetta 1.8.756.1
- Fixed crashes related to the new multithreaded networking system.
*** Vendetta 1.8.756
- The separate network thread is now being used on all platforms.
- Added server-side analytics to detect network connectivity issues.
*** Vendetta 1.8.755.3
- Fixed crashes on Windows when logging onto the Test server.
- Fixed the /ping command on Windows.
- The Windows version should catch more crashes now.
*** Vendetta 1.8.755.1/2
- Fixed a crash on First-Run for Windows.
- Fixed network connection analytics.
*** Vendetta 1.8.755
- An experimental separate network thread has been added to the Windows version to improve responsiveness.
- Updated Italian localization.
- Added analytics to help track network connection issues.
*** Vendetta 1.8.760
- Updates to Portuguese translations.
- Improved scalability for the Persistent Event system, each PE runs in its own process and the network traffic between PEs and the game has been reduced.
- Fixed use-after-free bugs and potential null pointer use detected by analysis tools.
- Fixed issues with lua being run in multiple threads simultaneously.
- Fixed minor memory leak.
- Fixed potential negative timer timeout that resulted in a very large timeout.
- Fixed uninitialized pointer bug in radar extender addons.
*** Vendetta 1.8.759-server update
- Fixed issue with Convoy NPCs warning of failing the mission when hit with repair weapons.
- Refactored internal bookkeeping of NPCs in Persistent Events to be more efficient.
*** Vendetta 1.8.759
- Fixed issue with the UI not responding to Quest controllers in the latest OS version 2.1.
*** Vendetta 1.8.758
- Fixed issue with being unable to enter the universe after attempting to create a new character using a name that is already taken.
- Added text to Russian connection failure message explaining that we are aware of the issue and are continuing to monitor the situation.
- Added more logging of clients stuck entering the universe.
*** Vendetta 1.8.757.2
- The Linux version is forced into window mode on Wayland desktops due to lack of keyboard input in fullscreen mode.
- Fixed another problem stemming from multiple threads attempting to access Lua at the same time.
*** Vendetta 1.8.757.1
- Fixed issues with improperly displaying localized chat from NPCs during missions.
*** Vendetta 1.8.757
- Fixed problems stemming from multiple threads attempting to access Lua at the same time.
- Added more server-side connection-failure analytics to help track down sporadic login problems.
*** Vendetta 1.8.756.2
- Removed separate client-side network threading system due to many issues.
*** Vendetta 1.8.756.1
- Fixed crashes related to the new multithreaded networking system.
*** Vendetta 1.8.756
- The separate network thread is now being used on all platforms.
- Added server-side analytics to detect network connectivity issues.
*** Vendetta 1.8.755.3
- Fixed crashes on Windows when logging onto the Test server.
- Fixed the /ping command on Windows.
- The Windows version should catch more crashes now.
*** Vendetta 1.8.755.1/2
- Fixed a crash on First-Run for Windows.
- Fixed network connection analytics.
*** Vendetta 1.8.755
- An experimental separate network thread has been added to the Windows version to improve responsiveness.
- Updated Italian localization.
- Added analytics to help track network connection issues.