AVWW Beta 0.971 "Release Candidate 2" Released!

[x4000]

Original: http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2012/04/avww-beta-0971-release-candidate-2.html

This one is basically AVWW 1.0, unless a showstopper bug comes up between now and Monday that we need to slip in.  Otherwise all further changes to the game will be post-release content. :)

Specifically, this version fixes a crash bug that cropped up in the last 3-4 versions based on a bug in unity.  The release notes have all the technical details, including how other unity devs can work around the problem.

The crash bug was a fairly tame one as far as crash bugs go, because you had to alt-tab out of your fullscreen game for 10+ minutes for it to then crash.  But still that's not the sort of thing you want going into an official build by any stretch.

Presuming nothing bad comes up in the meantime, the next batch of stuff is planned hit on late Monday.  Enjoy!

This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have 0.500 or later. When you launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found if you're connected to the Internet at the time.  If you don't have 0.500 or later, you can download that here.

[Bluddy]

I didn't get to mention it, but I love the way the stealth assassination mission is now! It's so intense and awesome, and it reminds me in a very good way of playing Thief.

Maybe if ambient sound effects for enemies are eventually expanded, the line to enemies off-screen could be made optional and the mission could become even more Thief-y. Nevertheless, it's excellent as it is.

[x4000]

Glad you like it!  Thief was one I missed; I really need to go back and check that one out someday.

[Minotaar]

I personally really dislike the detection lines being shown constantly. It's the same thing as when the gravity well circle display was added to AIW, I just can't stand these things fro some reason. Would be great to have this one also be optional or, even better, push-a-button-to-show-able. 

[TechSY730]

I gotta say. If after rewriting large chunks of the graphics pipeline (one of the major "pillars" of the game engine), and the worst "bug" you encounter is the "parent" engine queuing pending draw operations a little too aggressively when minimized, that's pretty impressive. I'm not sure if I have ever seen such a major rewrite go so well on the first try. Great job

[Penumbra]

I gotta say. If after rewriting large chunks of the graphics pipeline (one of the major "pillars" of the game engine), and the worst "bug" you encounter is the "parent" engine queuing pending draw operations a little too aggressively when minimized, that's pretty impressive. I'm not sure if I have ever seen such a major rewrite go so well on the first try. Great job

Man, if that isn't just asking for it, I don't know what is 

[x4000]

That's how I roll, baby -- swinging in the breeze, nuthin but concrete below.

(Someday that's going to catch up with me worse than it already has in the past.  Please not this weekend, haha.)

But in all seriousness, the graphical pipeline stuff was made less severe by the overall architecture that we have.  There are about 5ish phases in the pipeline rendering code for AVWW, and this only even involved the last of the stages.  Which is the stage with the smallest amount of code by far, but it's also "where the rubber meets the road" in terms of stuff going from managed RAM to your GPU.  If anything, what this is is a billboard for proper software architecture rather than anything else.

[Penumbra]

  If anything, what this is is a billboard for proper software architecture rather than anything else.

I love when spending extra time up front to do things correctly saves you time much later on in ways you never even expected. Nice warm-fuzzy.

[x4000]

I am all about that sort of warm fuzzy.  And if you want to know part of why we're so much faster than a lot of other developers, a lot of it has to do with having better code architecture and organization from what I've seen.  We also work our butts off, sure, but we set ourselves up to have an advantage from the start.

[Dizzard]

Congratulations on 1.0

It's been really great following A Valley Without Winds development. I'd really love to see more developers adopt a process like yours. The community you have fostered is also so friendly and constructive too, which will be great for all the newbies coming in on the 23rd.

[mrhanman]

all the newbies coming in

It'll be the April That Never Ends!

[freeformschooler]

I may have found a bug. I went to a previously unexplored secret mission area in a desert cave...  and the mission entrance object just said "No mission available."

[Martyn van Buren]

That's supposed to happen if you haven't unlocked any secret missions that can be seeded in that area; see http://www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=7193#attachments

Are you in a new world? If you've been playing for a while and unlocked more secret missions it's more likely a bug.

[Wanderer]

I found a bunch of those in buildings when I started a new world.  Kind of confusing, really, but I just shrugged and moved on.  I realize now that the world-builder basically drops those in for 'later' when you open stuff up, but a little cosmetic surgery on the message eventually will clear that up.

[freeformschooler]

Oh, yeah, that can be confusing. I haven't unlocked a lot of secret mission types in general. Good to know.