Forums » General

Will there be an update tonight?

May 26, 2006 tumblemonster link
I know, blah blah blah. SOMEONE was going to post it eventually!
May 26, 2006 slime73 link
OMGUPDATEWAITINGMADNESSYAY!

/end breathing
May 26, 2006 Doukutsu link
I'm guessing:
1 new ship...
Some small interface additions...
Border Skirmish and Escort Mission tweaks...
Something to do with the missions system and/or editor...
Space Bovine.
May 26, 2006 roguelazer link
There was no In Progress this Monday, though...
May 26, 2006 incarnate link
Hopefully a release tonight. Mostly some more PDA interfaces, some network tweaks, and some fixes to the AI/bots. Luis and I have been working on some new ship stuff, but I'm not sure if that'll make it in time. Michael has a whole lot of stuff going on.. including an all-new Hive (big code rewrite), but I'm not sure on the status of what he's doing.
May 26, 2006 Whistler link
Remember: "tonight" may include the wee hours of tomorrow.
May 26, 2006 richterm link
Not acceptable. You're patching too quickly. I'm too used to waiting weeks for patches to the games I play.

...

...

I tease, I kid.

I'm impressed.
May 26, 2006 tumblemonster link
sweet!
May 26, 2006 roguelazer link
Another new hive? The old one was never even implemented! :-)
May 26, 2006 incarnate link
The old one's been implemented in sedina for ages? It's never been propogated out of sedina because it wasn't ready yet. This is a rewrite, and should hopefully be a big improvement (although mostly to us, in ways transparent to the userbase).
May 26, 2006 jexkerome link
We won't be needing any more skin graphics, will we?
May 26, 2006 LeadFist link
Wow. An update just prior to a holiday weekend? You guys (Guild Software) are gluttons for punishment. Thx for the effort.
May 27, 2006 momerath42 link
My stuff isn't quite ready tonight; I'm now shooting for releasing something early next week.

What will be visible about the rewritten Hive, to players, is that the Hive missions will operate more like the border skirmish mission; they will start immediately, be available throughout their duration, and the success/failure conditions are similar. That is to say, both sides have parameters for maximum-force-deployed and maximum-losses-before-retreat, among other things. If max-losses is <= max-force-deployed there will be no "respawning", which will still be the case in the smaller Hive infestations. But, the primary goal of the new code was to make the Hive utilize the same mechanisms as my newer missions. This *should* mean no more incorrect counts and never-ending missions.

Apart from the Hive, I have lots more brewing! I have a "shadow" economy operating on the test server, which will go into production still in shadow-mode. This means that it operates in the background, absorbing input, but not affecting change. That way, we can shake out the bugs without risking ridiculous prices. Before it starts affecting prices it will be taking over the determination of when to start escort missions, where from/to and the rewards. I also have a mechanism for starting/rewarding the HiveHunt missions based on loss of convoy/mining ships in those sectors, but that may not make it in this week.

It feels great to finally be tying some things together in a coherent whole. Next, I hope to make the Border Skirmish/?/? also have some impact/be more dynamic, and maybe throw an economy-impacting blockade/blockade-buster mission pair in too.
May 27, 2006 avirulence link
Just wondering. The trade missions will be based on 'real' demand for products, so when you implement a shadow economy, will the missions depend on that?
May 27, 2006 momerath42 link
The currently-available, single-player trade-missions will *not* be tied in. The Escort missions, which are coupled with a not-yet-player-playable transport mission, will be started according to supply and demand (are now on the test server). When all that's working, and we have time to do an appropriate interface or come up with another solution for dividing cargo amongst a group, I'll make that currently-npc-only trade mission playable. Ultimately, anything deemed worth preserving from the current trade missions will be rewritten for the new system, and therefore be subject to the market's whim. I should point out that, though the current trade missions will not be prompted by demand, *all* buying and selling will impact the economy (already does on the test server).
May 27, 2006 moldyman link
May 27, 2006 Person link
SWEET!

/me bows in honor before the weekly update

THANK YOU DEVS!

-Calder
Jun 02, 2006 Person link
*poke*
/me does the update dance...

-Calder
Jun 02, 2006 Black Omega link
Soon ой