Beta Update Deployment Process

[TechSY730]

Somewhere in the past there was a discussion about what needs to go into deploying a stable, full update. It was quite a lot!

However, what about deploying a beta update? (This question applies not only to AI War, but the other products as well)
From what I have seen, things that need to be done include:

• Checking out and building the SVN revision that the devs have agreed to be the next beta release
• Generating a patch archive, consisting of all files that changed from the last version. Also, determining which previous patch archives are now also completely obsoleted by this new one, and thus can be skipped when updating to this version. (Do you have a tool that can do this sort of change analysis for patch file packaging, or do you do it by hand?)
• Uploading the patch file to your update server (currently, some Amazon cloud service, right?)
• Updating and uploading the updates xml file to indicate the new patch version (possibly including the previously determined information about which past patches can now be skipped with this patch)
• Come up with a "clever" name for the patch (optional, but recommended )
• Update the release notes page on the wiki to indicate the version is released. Also, create the blank entry for the next version.
• Write a summary of what is new, changed, and noteworthy fixes, and possibly some other stuff about the patch or short term future goals
• Post that summary on the official Arcen blog
• Post that summary on the appropriate forum, and sticky it (unsticking the previous version if needed)
• Update the previous version's post indicating a new version and give a forum link to that new version
• Wait an hour or two before calling it a day just in case there is some sort of "game will not run" or "my save games got corrupted" or "it blew up my computer and my dog" level bugs in it (also optional, but we greatly appreciate when you are able to promptly fix those kinds of bugs in the rare cases they turn up)

Wow, while considerably shorter than deploying a stable update, that still is a lot of things to keep up with. Props to Chris for being able to do this several times a day.
Anything I missed?

[x4000]

Cheers, thanks for that.  And yep, you pretty much nailed it.  Although sometimes we have to skip the last step for... sleep.

[laughingman]

Cheers, thanks for that.  And yep, you pretty much nailed it.  Although sometimes we have to skip the last step for... sleep.

What, you haven't heard of caffeine?

[x4000]

I take 18oz of dark coffee to get going in the morning, and then a large soda or tea for late lunch as a booster.  Yeah...

[laughingman]

I hope you saw my tongue firmly planted in my cheek for that post.

I'm amazed at the consistently high volume of work you do. Much respect!

[x4000]

Oh, I know.  I was just commenting about my unhealthy amount of caffeine dependence to do it.  A few years back I went "clean" from caffeine for about a year.  Then I had a relapse and here I am.  I honestly prefer having caffeine than not, but I worry a bit about the long-term health consequences.  Occasionally.

[laughingman]

Life's too short to worry about long-term consequences.

I hear you, though. I teach 8-year olds, so without caffeine I would be eaten alive. I used to make and drink 20-24oz every morning out of a french press. I switched to a Bialetti stovetop espresso maker a couple of years ago. It's a 3-cup model, so it makes about 5oz per brew. It gives just about the same jolt, though. And Illy tastes so good out of it...

[x4000]

Nice!  I have one of those Keurig dealies, and I do two of the "dark magic" type of coffees into one large cup at once.  If I'm out and about I'll get a quad mocha from Starbucks sometimes (even four shots of expresso in a venti cup isn't quite as good as my normal caffeine, though, and I can definitely feel the difference).  My wife used to teach 2nd grade, so I feel you!

[TechSY730]

Wow, this went from a conversion about update procedures and a poorly disguised attempt to remind the devs that 5.032 is still in queue and according to Kieth ready to go, to a discussion about addiction to coffee, and now to types of coffees.

Only on the Internet would this train of conversation make any sort of sense.

[Cyborg]

I'm going to get health-conscious for a moment with you. I used to be one of those guys that drank soda all the time and occasionally espressos. It's a sobering moment when you look around the room and have soda cans stacked up with coffee or espresso hanging around. The fact of the matter is, there are no free lunches, and doping your brain to feel something or other doesn't actually mean you have somehow defied mother nature. You can't get energy out of the can- you can only borrow it from later at the expense of some part of your health.

Negative consequences include headaches, heart problems, vasoconstriction, irritability, dependence and sleep deprivation to name but a few. Caffeine is a legal psychoactive drug, but it's a drug nonetheless that people think they need to function. You really don't. I get up everyday without a coffee and do the same job as a programmer, day in and day out. Some of my colleagues drink coffee, and what I notice the most is that they're the ones who can't function without coffee because they need that now just to get back to normal. But you can do it without caffeine, and it feels just fine.

One of the devices I've used to quit caffeine (I'm a couple years clean now) is Soda Stream. It's a device that carbonates beverages, so it's like you are drinking soda, but really it could just be apple juice carbonated. Or orange juice, tea, and more. The price is affordable, and it tastes great. Check it out, and I hope you find a way towards a happier, healthier future for yourselves.

/Off healthy soapbox

/back on the healthy soapbox

Oh, and there were reports on 20/20 sometime back that actually showed brain damage from drinking coffee in excess over a lifetime.

[keith.lamothe]

I've been on and off caffeine for a few years; been off it as a regular thing for about the past 6 months, iirc.  Keeping the "on" treks from going too long seems to make breaking off not too bad.  I took to heart the tale of a friend's dad who after years of continuous use basically had to be taken home on a stretcher from a camping trip because he didn't realize they had absolutely no coffee/caffeine out there.

[Nodor]

I'm going to get health-conscious for a moment with you. I used to be one of those guys that drank soda all the time and occasionally espressos. It's a sobering moment when you look around the room and have soda cans stacked up with coffee or espresso hanging around. The fact of the matter is, there are no free lunches, and doping your brain to feel something or other doesn't actually mean you have somehow defied mother nature. You can't get energy out of the can- you can only borrow it from later at the expense of some part of your health.

Negative consequences include headaches, heart problems, vasoconstriction, irritability, dependence and sleep deprivation to name but a few. Caffeine is a legal psychoactive drug, but it's a drug nonetheless that people think they need to function. You really don't. I get up everyday without a coffee and do the same job as a programmer, day in and day out. Some of my colleagues drink coffee, and what I notice the most is that they're the ones who can't function without coffee because they need that now just to get back to normal. But you can do it without caffeine, and it feels just fine.

One of the devices I've used to quit caffeine (I'm a couple years clean now) is Soda Stream. It's a device that carbonates beverages, so it's like you are drinking soda, but really it could just be apple juice carbonated. Or orange juice, tea, and more. The price is affordable, and it tastes great. Check it out, and I hope you find a way towards a happier, healthier future for yourselves.

/Off healthy soapbox

/back on the healthy soapbox

Oh, and there were reports on 20/20 sometime back that actually showed brain damage from drinking coffee in excess over a lifetime.

And there were other studies where it prevented alzhiemers.

Win some, lose some.

[laughingman]

You won't hear any arguments from me about what a powerful drug caffeine is. That's kind of the whole point, really.

Techsy, it makes more sense on an Arcen forum than anywhere else, I think.

[PokerChen]

(soapbox speech)
...
Oh, and there were reports on 20/20 sometime back that actually showed brain damage from drinking coffee in excess over a lifetime.

And there were other studies where it prevented alzhiemers.

Win some, lose some.

It's either Brave New World or Amish community. Take your pick.

It's a device that carbonates beverages, so it's like you are drinking soda, but really it could just be apple juice carbonated. Or orange juice, tea, and more. The price is affordable, and it tastes great. Check it out, and I hope you find a way towards a happier, healthier future for yourselves.

...tea. Tea. *raises eyebrow*

Well, someone should be selling carbonated coffee. In a can. With more legal drugs, that doesn't taste like Mother.

We need to call this thread "Caffeine Deployment Process"

[Nodor]

You know you know too much about caffiene, when you switch between coffee & tea purveyors based upon the amount of sleep you have had.