July 08 Status Update
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Hot off the press.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Khuskan
Almost there.
SourceForts has always been one for attracting new and strange errors, from bizaare timer crashes to servers shutting down when manipulating blocks, but this one really did hold us back. Following an apparent SDK update, compiling levels has become problematic for myself and Black, the two main mappers on the project. What essentially happens is that, after compiling using high dynamic range lighting (an effect we're inserting into as many levels as we can), the 'reflective' textures known as cubemaps would fail to render properly on models and weapons, despite working correctly for the rest of the level. The especially strange thing is how they would appear to work correctly after first compiling the level, only for them to stop working, leading to strange instances where the mappers would upload the map declaring the bug fixed, only for their dismay for it to be reported an open issue again. Fortunately, processing the cubemaps in a level doesn't have to be done by the origional mapper, and other members of the development team seem to be able to run them with no issues. This workaround was discovered somewhat later than we would have hoped, however the levels are now being final compiled and handed over to other development members to finish off. We're still testing a few things, but the release really is that one step closer, and we're hoping you're able to wait a little longer so this mod can be as polished as it possibly can be. |
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Some 1.9.4 Media.
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Recently I found things a little too quiet, so instead of waiting for the final bugs to be exterminated by Zoc and HisChild. I thought I'd post some 1.9.4 images. That and it would be more interesting to look at than:
Abandon Pic #1 Abandon Pic #2 Abandon Pic #3 Abandon Pic #4
Astrodome Pic #1 Astrodome Pic #2 Astrodome Pic #3 Astrodome Pic #4
Basin Pic #1 Basin Pic #2 Basin Pic #3
Canyon Pic #1 Canyon Pic #2
Fronts Pic #1 Fronts Pic #2 Fronts Pic #3
Overload Pic #1 Overload Pic #2 Overload Pic #3 Overload Pic #4
Skywalk Pic #1 Skywalk Pic #2 Skywalk Pic #3 Skywalk Pic #4
Sphinx Pic #1 Sphinx Pic #2
Abandon Pic #1 Abandon Pic #2 Abandon Pic #3 Abandon Pic #4
Astrodome Pic #1 Astrodome Pic #2 Astrodome Pic #3 Astrodome Pic #4
Basin Pic #1 Basin Pic #2 Basin Pic #3
Canyon Pic #1 Canyon Pic #2
Fronts Pic #1 Fronts Pic #2 Fronts Pic #3
Overload Pic #1 Overload Pic #2 Overload Pic #3 Overload Pic #4
Skywalk Pic #1 Skywalk Pic #2 Skywalk Pic #3 Skywalk Pic #4
Sphinx Pic #1 Sphinx Pic #2
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A v1.9.4 Update
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It's been a while since our last update, so I figured I ought to fill everyone in on what's happening. Yes, we're still slogging away on v1.9.4. It's an incredibly hectic time of the year for us, more so than ever. Nearly every key member of staff is in the midst of a period of important exams meaning that the Haven development taking place on the sidelines has drastically halted. It's not all bad news though, as we're happy to announce the return of the fabled coder, HisChild, to the team - and further more Zoc has whittled the list of v1.9.4 bugs (the length of which increased somewhat since any previous announcement as result of some hefty testing sessions) to the following:
As usual we can't guarantee a release date, but we are doing our utmost to get you the final rendition of the 1.9.X series of SourceForts. Expect a status update next weekend.
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[Zoc] Update!
Currently we have 3 open bugs, and 3 fixed bugs waiting for tests. Those are:
Open Bugs:
Fixed and waiting for tests:
Don't worry folks, we're making sure heavy testing happens before we mark a bug as fixed. Unfortunately, this takes quite some time, but I'm sure we will get a release with all bugs fixed. Okay, I know, there are always a little bug lurking in a hidden corner, but well, we're doing our best! ;)
- Obscure crash bug
- Spectator locking
- Spectator teamswitch-slam exploit
- Side-bar text spam
As usual we can't guarantee a release date, but we are doing our utmost to get you the final rendition of the 1.9.X series of SourceForts. Expect a status update next weekend.
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[Zoc] Update!
Currently we have 3 open bugs, and 3 fixed bugs waiting for tests. Those are:
Open Bugs:
- Flag returning sound - Played at some incorrect times
- Spectator teamswitch exploit. Some weapon still are exploitable
- Spectator locking
Fixed and waiting for tests:
- Spectator teamswitch-slam exploit
- Obscure crash bug - detected and needing some tests
- Side-bar text spam
Don't worry folks, we're making sure heavy testing happens before we mark a bug as fixed. Unfortunately, this takes quite some time, but I'm sure we will get a release with all bugs fixed. Okay, I know, there are always a little bug lurking in a hidden corner, but well, we're doing our best! ;)
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New Official SourceForts IRC Channel
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Due to a recent blip on the dev team's activity radar we have lost control of our IRC channel and some clever people have decided to claim ownership of it. Woops! No big deal though; you can now find the official SourceForts IRC channel at #sourcefortsmod, on Gamesurge as usual.
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Forums are open again!
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After a small hiatus for maintenance, the forums are back.
The maintenance was necessary to adapt some new tools to aid us in development.
Don't worry, nothing big have changed ;)
The maintenance was necessary to adapt some new tools to aid us in development.
Don't worry, nothing big have changed ;)
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Remaining Bugs
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Remaining Bugs
The following bugs are taken directly from our tracker and are the only bugs still needing a fix before the final 1.9.4 test.
[code] [feedback] Freeze blocking
Current Status: Open, awaiting feedback on how it behaves
Detailed Description: This problem arises usually when a player is trying to unfreeze a block from outside the base, and the person inside wants to stop them from unfreezing. The person inside the base can begin to freeze the same block as the person outside the base. This "blocks" the freezing of the person outside, meaning they cannot unfreeze that block until the person inside stops. This becomes a huge problem in pugs/scrims when one team is trying to get through the wall and the other team can just sit behind the wall and keep blocking the other team from unfreezing the block.
[code] [re-opened] Nade Time
Current Status: Semi-fixed, needs further tweaking
Detailed Description: This problem has to do with grenades and grav nading. Currently (unless this has already been fixed, but I 'm 99% sure it hasn't) in v1.9.4 when you drop the nade and pick it up with your gravity gun, the counter on the grenade continues to go. This means that, with the current timer which is at 4 seconds, you only have four seconds to grab the nade and fire it before it detonates. Instead, when you pick up a grenade with your grav gun the timer should reset back to its original value (4 seconds IIRC). This is done mostly for ease-of-use, meaning that players have more time to fire the grenade from their grav gun thus making gravnading easier. The timer has reset in the past versions of SF, so it really should not be changed for v1.9.4.
[code/animation] [open] RPG Reload Animation
Current Status: Not fixed, low priority
Detailed Description: After the rocketeer fires a rocket, there is no reload animation. After firing there should be the old "lower the RPG, raise the RPG" that denoted the reload.
The following bugs are taken directly from our tracker and are the only bugs still needing a fix before the final 1.9.4 test.
[code] [feedback] Freeze blocking
Current Status: Open, awaiting feedback on how it behaves
Detailed Description: This problem arises usually when a player is trying to unfreeze a block from outside the base, and the person inside wants to stop them from unfreezing. The person inside the base can begin to freeze the same block as the person outside the base. This "blocks" the freezing of the person outside, meaning they cannot unfreeze that block until the person inside stops. This becomes a huge problem in pugs/scrims when one team is trying to get through the wall and the other team can just sit behind the wall and keep blocking the other team from unfreezing the block.
[code] [re-opened] Nade Time
Current Status: Semi-fixed, needs further tweaking
Detailed Description: This problem has to do with grenades and grav nading. Currently (unless this has already been fixed, but I 'm 99% sure it hasn't) in v1.9.4 when you drop the nade and pick it up with your gravity gun, the counter on the grenade continues to go. This means that, with the current timer which is at 4 seconds, you only have four seconds to grab the nade and fire it before it detonates. Instead, when you pick up a grenade with your grav gun the timer should reset back to its original value (4 seconds IIRC). This is done mostly for ease-of-use, meaning that players have more time to fire the grenade from their grav gun thus making gravnading easier. The timer has reset in the past versions of SF, so it really should not be changed for v1.9.4.
[code/animation] [open] RPG Reload Animation
Current Status: Not fixed, low priority
Detailed Description: After the rocketeer fires a rocket, there is no reload animation. After firing there should be the old "lower the RPG, raise the RPG" that denoted the reload.
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The thing about mods is...
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You never understand how painstakingly long something so simple can take to finish until you actually work on one. That basically sums up everything wrong with every mod. Take a look at SourceForts. Version 1.9.3 was supposed to be the end all be all of the 1.9.x series. Unfortunately, this did not work out... at all.
Move on to v1.9.4 and... oh you're still waiting for that. Release date, whenever we say it's done. When will we say it's done? When we learn from our mistakes and have a more extensive beta testing session. Nobody is perfect, and we're far from it.
I know you all want the next version to come out. Hell, I'm embarassed when I think about how many times we've said it's close. Sure it seemed close at the time, but close is relative. We have to work through all that fun crap life throws at us, and then find time to deal with the crazy drama pandas on our forums. On top of that we (Read: Zoc) have to find time to work on this sloth of a project.
So please people, cut us some slack. We're working, I swear.
Move on to v1.9.4 and... oh you're still waiting for that. Release date, whenever we say it's done. When will we say it's done? When we learn from our mistakes and have a more extensive beta testing session. Nobody is perfect, and we're far from it.
I know you all want the next version to come out. Hell, I'm embarassed when I think about how many times we've said it's close. Sure it seemed close at the time, but close is relative. We have to work through all that fun crap life throws at us, and then find time to deal with the crazy drama pandas on our forums. On top of that we (Read: Zoc) have to find time to work on this sloth of a project.
So please people, cut us some slack. We're working, I swear.
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And they did it again
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THE FAUCET CONSPIRACY already exposed the CRIMES of the evil transglobal coroperation VALVE
Now ONCE AGAIN they strive to DESTROY everything this modification stands for!
And therefore they updated thy holy SOURCE ENGINE and, as what happened over THREE YEARS AGO they have DESTROYED EVERYTHING THAT IS SOURCEFORTS
So yeah. Damn you Valve.
Guess this means we better hurry up and release 194, eh?
Now ONCE AGAIN they strive to DESTROY everything this modification stands for!
FREEDOM!
HOPE!
LIBERTY!
HOPE!
LIBERTY!
And therefore they updated thy holy SOURCE ENGINE and, as what happened over THREE YEARS AGO they have DESTROYED EVERYTHING THAT IS SOURCEFORTS
So yeah. Damn you Valve.
Guess this means we better hurry up and release 194, eh?
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More News?
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Just another quick announcement.
We would like to welcome our new concept artist, GCool, to the SourceForts development team. He proved to be of great worth to the team prior to joining through his modification of o_nobody_o's flechette concept, and will therefore be taking upon the duty of conceptualsing the remaining weapons for the phase 1 release, as well as any other 3D visual assets that are deemed a requirment as development progresses.
On a less positive note, HisChild has had to take an indefinite absence from the team due to matters of greater priority arising in his day to day life (the details of which will not be disclosed). Zoc will be finishing up the absolute, final fixes for 194 before returning to work on Haven with Xyal (who should be back with us shortly).
That's all for now, but we'll be doing what we can to keep you up to date on progress.
Another edit to save a news post:
Construct mod have just registered their website, www.constructmod.com - It's just a place holder for now, but keep an eye on it!
We would like to welcome our new concept artist, GCool, to the SourceForts development team. He proved to be of great worth to the team prior to joining through his modification of o_nobody_o's flechette concept, and will therefore be taking upon the duty of conceptualsing the remaining weapons for the phase 1 release, as well as any other 3D visual assets that are deemed a requirment as development progresses.
On a less positive note, HisChild has had to take an indefinite absence from the team due to matters of greater priority arising in his day to day life (the details of which will not be disclosed). Zoc will be finishing up the absolute, final fixes for 194 before returning to work on Haven with Xyal (who should be back with us shortly).
That's all for now, but we'll be doing what we can to keep you up to date on progress.
Another edit to save a news post:
Construct mod have just registered their website, www.constructmod.com - It's just a place holder for now, but keep an eye on it!
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Another small update.
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Firstly, as covered in yesterdays news post, 1.9.4 release is more or less imminent, however we don't want to set a solid release date because something always comes up. Big servers hosts will shortly be contacted with information on the server version followed by a general public release.
We're hoping 194 will be the last solid version of the 19x series. We know it was just meant to be a bug fix, but a lot has been changed behind the scenes. I'm sure you're going to appreciate the aesthetic updates to a few popular maps, the quelling of bugs from the previous version and a few touches here and there. That said, it still took us far longer than we anticipated and we can do nothing but apologise for the delays.
On another note, Ex-SF staff members FicWill, KGtheway2B and Louti accompanied by Steam Podcast staff member Bob (and a number of others) have started up their own SourceForts inspired modification, Construct. They're on the lookout for new staff, at the moment concept artists in particular, so if you're up for it, get in contact!
They don't seem to have their own full website yet, but when they do, we'll provide a link.
Snuffyedit: Little update on this update: Construct has already found a concept artist, so they are requesting no more applications be sent in.
We're hoping 194 will be the last solid version of the 19x series. We know it was just meant to be a bug fix, but a lot has been changed behind the scenes. I'm sure you're going to appreciate the aesthetic updates to a few popular maps, the quelling of bugs from the previous version and a few touches here and there. That said, it still took us far longer than we anticipated and we can do nothing but apologise for the delays.
On another note, Ex-SF staff members FicWill, KGtheway2B and Louti accompanied by Steam Podcast staff member Bob (and a number of others) have started up their own SourceForts inspired modification, Construct. They're on the lookout for new staff, at the moment concept artists in particular, so if you're up for it, get in contact!
They don't seem to have their own full website yet, but when they do, we'll provide a link.
Snuffyedit: Little update on this update: Construct has already found a concept artist, so they are requesting no more applications be sent in.