Prerelease 1.202A (Major HUD updates, experimental new network stack)

[x4000]

Note:  This doesn't affect players playing solo, but multiplayer players please note that this version contains experimental network code.  Basically, the entire TCP-based networking code from past versions has been ripped out, and a (hopefully faster) UDP-based solution has been put in its place. There may be problems.  However, I really could use feedback on how this new solution is working, so if you have a chance please do test it out.  If this seems to work better for people in general, this will become the new networking stack for the game.

The Latest prerelease is now out: http://www.arcengames.com/share/AIWar1202A.zip

That version is an upgrade from version 1.201, so you have to already have 1.201 (or greater) installed. Just unzip it into your game folder (usually C:\Program Files\Arcen Games\AI War\ unless you specified something else). Please make sure that your unzip process keeps the folder structure from the zip file, rather than just unpacking all of the files into the base target directory.

What's new since 1.201:
(Cumulative release notes since 1.201 are attached at the bottom)

-------------------

-The quick-buttons at the bottom of the screen are now shown in the galaxy map.

-The Lidgren Network library is now used for networking; this makes the game use UDP rather than TCP, and should hopefully help performance for players in  high latency/ high packet loss areas.


NEW ART - Philippe Chabot
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Updated Planetary Summary Box
Button - Minimap Display Mode
Minimap (In Three Sizes)
New Build Button Style
New Tech Button Style

SPECIAL THANKS
--------------

-Thanks to Tankor Smash for suggesting the quick-buttons remain available in the galaxy map.

[tals]

Is it possible to run live and beta side by side?

[x4000]

Is it possible to run live and beta side by side?

Yes, you can have multiple copies installed on one machine -- just copy your entire AI War folder from the live version to some other folder, then copy the beta files on top of them.  I actually have two or three different versions on my PC at once, as you might imagine.

Savegames are currently compatible between 1.201 and 1.202A, but to revert the version you have to open the save file in a text editor and change the top line to be the old version number.  Make sure you save a copy of your game before doing this, as this can lead to corruption of your save file if it's edited wrong.

[eRe4s3r]

Wow, i absolutely love the beefed up minimap and icons (shows that i should have put more than 2 seconds into making the previous minimap , but what can ye do.. )

Though i have a really weird "block" sitting underneath the "normal minimap/view filter" button which crosses over into the minimap.. and i don't really get what you mean with 3 sizes of minimap? can we somehow change the size? If so how?

Edit: by the way - i find the new icons MUCH MUCH better than previous ones - The orange whatever color it is (I am still colorblind heh) gives them a sense of importance and vibrance - very nice

[Ashery]

Twelve minutes into a co-op game with three people and we've had two crashes so far.

Liq3 should be able to give more specific information as he was able to recreate the crash (Forget the details on my end).

Don't really have anymore information on the crashes, unfortunately :\

[Volatar]

It seems to me, just from networking knowledge, that UDP would be a bad idea for an RTS. TCP provides packet reliability, while UDP does not. With the need for 100% snchronization between players, this could be fatal.

You are already moving ahead in the move to UDP, so I assume you know this already, and have taken steps to overcome it. I am curious what you have done though.

[darke]

It seems to me, just from networking knowledge, that UDP would be a bad idea for an RTS. TCP provides packet reliability, while UDP does not. With the need for 100% snchronization between players, this could be fatal.

http://gafferongames.com/networking-for-game-programmers/udp-vs-tcp/ of particular note the "Why you should never use TCP to network a multiplayer game" section near the bottom.

(Just a random google, but this has been common knowledge since, umm... Quake came out?)

Pretty much every network lib for games gives a prebuilt relyable-udp layer so you don't really have to think nowdays to implement it.

[x4000]

Wow, i absolutely love the beefed up minimap and icons (shows that i should have put more than 2 seconds into making the previous minimap , but what can ye do.. )

Edit: by the way - i find the new icons MUCH MUCH better than previous ones - The orange whatever color it is (I am still colorblind heh) gives them a sense of importance and vibrance - very nice

Glad you like them!

Though i have a really weird "block" sitting underneath the "normal minimap/view filter" button which crosses over into the minimap.. and i don't really get what you mean with 3 sizes of minimap? can we somehow change the size? If so how?

Oh, look at that block -- whoops!  Thanks for the catch, will fix, that's totally in error.  For the three minimap sizes, the minimap will be resizable shortly (the art assets are now there), but it's not yet in this release.

[x4000]

Twelve minutes into a co-op game with three people and we've had two crashes so far.

Liq3 should be able to give more specific information as he was able to recreate the crash (Forget the details on my end).

Don't really have anymore information on the crashes, unfortunately :\

If the game is crashing, there is going to be an UnhandledExceptions.txt file.  This may or not be related to the new networking, Fiskbit and I just tested it out and it was working great -- so it might be some edge case with the networking, or possibly it is some other bug related to changes in this prerelease, but I won't know without the UnhandledExceptions.txt file from the crashing computer(s).

[x4000]

It seems to me, just from networking knowledge, that UDP would be a bad idea for an RTS. TCP provides packet reliability, while UDP does not. With the need for 100% snchronization between players, this could be fatal.

http://gafferongames.com/networking-for-game-programmers/udp-vs-tcp/ of particular note the "Why you should never use TCP to network a multiplayer game" section near the bottom.

(Just a random google, but this has been common knowledge since, umm... Quake came out?)

Pretty much every network lib for games gives a prebuilt relyable-udp layer so you don't really have to think nowdays to implement it.

Yes, this is common knowledge amongst game designers, and I started out with using the Lidgren library for reliable UDP transmissions.  However, there were some threading problems with it at the time, and it was still in beta status, and I decided to recode something else myself from scratch after having a frustrating time trying to modify the lidgren library to my purposes (it's good open source code, there's just a lot of it when you don't know the design intentions behind it).  Anyway, so hence my TCP sockets solution.  I went with TCP because of the programming simplicity, and the fact that transmissions are on a 200ms cycle, anyway.  And because, frankly, in all my testing it worked just as well as the UDP solution.

As is evidenced more recently, the TCP solution clearly has not been working as well for all other players.  Fiskbit normally was having to run at about Network +8 just to get it playable I think, but he and I just tested and it was fine with no latency adjustment, and perfect Network +1.  So clearly, depending on the connection and the amount of dropped packets, the UDP solution is far superior even though TCP works for some.

Now if I can just find out more about those crash bugs, and get more test data...

[Echo35]

-The Lidgren Network library is now used for networking; this makes the game use UDP rather than TCP, and should hopefully help performance for players in  high latency/ high packet loss areas.

And of course this has to come out when I finally get my high speed fiber line back >.<

[x4000]

-The Lidgren Network library is now used for networking; this makes the game use UDP rather than TCP, and should hopefully help performance for players in  high latency/ high packet loss areas.

And of course this has to come out when I finally get my high speed fiber line back >.<

Isn't that always the way? 

[CautiousChaos]

I'm playing single player and just got an exceptions error when moving ships through a wormhole.  I've u/l the exceptions file.
-cc

[x4000]

I'm playing single player and just got an exceptions error when moving ships through a wormhole.  I've u/l the exceptions file.
-cc

Thanks, that's the same one that liq3 got -- unrelated to the networking, it was a bug in the planetary summary updates.  In this version, just avoid clicking to any planets that don't yet have any of your ships on them, and you'll avoid that issue.  A new version will be up in just a couple of minutes, though, so people don't have to keep dodging that.  Thanks for the report!

[x4000]

New version:  http://arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,1193.msg7705.html#msg7705