Prerelease 3.090 (Bugfixes, RAM usage improvements)

[x4000]

The latest beta is available via the Updates window in version 3.060 or greater of the game.  Just open the game and you can quickly download the prerelease through the updates tab.  If you don't yet have 3.060 or greater, you can download 3.060 here.  This prerelease version is compatible with any vendor's version of the game -- Steam, Impulse, whatever.

Note:  If you have bug reports related to this release, please log them in the bug reports subforum with one bug per topic.  It makes things infinitely easier for us.  Thanks!

Looking for a Patch That Can Be Manually-Installed?
Because of the time involved in creating multiple versions of each patch, we only create manually-installable patches for official versions of the game, not each beta prerelease.  But you can easily create your own manually-installable beta patch!  Please note that current betas can only be successfully applied to version 3.060 of the game or later (if you later wish to revert to the official version for any reason, you can download the full raw files from the above link to do so).

To create your own manual beta patch, simply download these two files:
1. Current Beta Director Xml File.
2. Current Beta Zip File.

If you try to open that zip file, it will say it's corrupt -- that's okay, it's not really a zip file.  Finally, create a new zip file on your computer, and put both the director and the fake-zip-file inside it.  Call your outer zip file something that starts with Beta and ends with an extension of .zip.  Beta.zip will work just fine, or you can name it after the specific version number if you want to hang onto it.  And that's it!  Now you have your very own manually-installable package of the AI War beta version of your choice, which you can install by simply selecting via your Updates window in the game.  Please note that "Beta" in the filename is case-sensitive.

What's new since 3.089:
(Cumulative release notes since 3.060 are attached at the bottom)

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

-Fixed a bug that could allow missing voice files or a missing sound card to crash the game, rather than just writing to SoundLoadExceptions.txt.

-Previously, if sound was disabled then the visual taunts from the AIs were not even shown.  Fixed.

CHANGES TO PAST PRERELEASES
=======

- Several more RAM efficiency fixes, as well a fix to a memory leak in the AI thread that was introduced in this round of betas.

[@B0FH]

This could be me being too eager to test, but after trying both checking for updates and manually making an update file, it's still coming up as 3.0.8.9?

[Shardz]

Yeah, I also tried to install this update four times and it doesn't appear to have been applied. Upon relaunching, it still lists the version number as 3.089 and has the 3.090 update ready to download again. It's probably something really minor I'm sure, but I'm not sure if I'm patched or not...it doesn't appear to be so.

[Spikey00]

Ditto.  This has happened to me in the past (early on).

[madpinger]

Ya, same here.  3.0.8.9.

[Kjara]

On top of the above, it also seems to have broken the planet summary thingy on the right.  Only bombers, guardposts, engineers, tachyon emitters, warp gates and command centers show up(and it thinks there are 5 mk's of each of those).

Edit: Acually the units that show up are different planets, but it seems to be stuck showing only 7 or so units at a time?

[x4000]

Whoops -- the update really is 3.090, but I forgot to update the version number.  My bad.  If you do the update, you'll be on 3.090, but it will say 3.089.  The planetary summary was not touched in 3.090, so if there was a problem in there, it was also in 3.089 and possibly slightly before.  I think that Keith was still working on some bugfixes with that after his RAM-saving rework of it.  I expect we'll have another prerelease tomorrow night, but the Easter holiday here has slowed us up today.  Sorry for the trouble with it!

[@B0FH]

In that case have to report that the soundcard error I reported is still live in 3.0.9.0 - the game refuses to load with no card present, despite disabling sound completely (when using 3.0.6.0).  Does seem to be along the same lines as the previous fix (applied to 3.0.9.0), just in a different class.

05/04/2010 08:58:38 (3.0.8.9)
-----------------------------------Application_ThreadException-----------------------------------System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at AIWar.VoiceCommands.AddFileToLists(String Filename, String RelatedText, List`1[] Lists) in C:\vcprojs\AIWar\Framework\VoiceCommands.cs:line 63
   at AIWar.VoiceCommands.Intialize() in C:\vcprojs\AIWar\Framework\VoiceCommands.cs:line 33
   at AIWar.GameForm.GameForm_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\vcprojs\AIWar\GameFormParts\Startup.cs:line 144
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnCreateControl()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl(Boolean fIgnoreVisible)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

[Ozymandiaz]

Yeah, I also tried to install this update four times and it doesn't appear to have been applied. Upon relaunching, it still lists the version number as 3.089 and has the 3.090 update ready to download again. It's probably something really minor I'm sure, but I'm not sure if I'm patched or not...it doesn't appear to be so.

Confirming this happen just now when using steam.

EidT: I also read the explanation jsut now 

[x4000]

New version (correctly labeled in-game now): http://arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,4596.msg31132.html#msg31132

[x4000]

In that case have to report that the soundcard error I reported is still live in 3.0.9.0 - the game refuses to load with no card present, despite disabling sound completely (when using 3.0.6.0).  Does seem to be along the same lines as the previous fix (applied to 3.0.9.0), just in a different class.

05/04/2010 08:58:38 (3.0.8.9)
-----------------------------------Application_ThreadException-----------------------------------System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at AIWar.VoiceCommands.AddFileToLists(String Filename, String RelatedText, List`1[] Lists) in C:\vcprojs\AIWar\Framework\VoiceCommands.cs:line 63
   at AIWar.VoiceCommands.Intialize() in C:\vcprojs\AIWar\Framework\VoiceCommands.cs:line 33
   at AIWar.GameForm.GameForm_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\vcprojs\AIWar\GameFormParts\Startup.cs:line 144
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnCreateControl()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl(Boolean fIgnoreVisible)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

I looked into this thoroughly, and there's just no way that specific error could happen on 3.090.  So that's very odd, maybe it wasn't updating you to 3.090 after all for some reason; it doesn't make any sense to me.  Hopefully with 3.091 this will not be an issue any more -- the line numbers referenced, as of 3.090, are in a try/catch that ignores any errors that might pop up, while it also has logic inside there to avoid an error in the first place.  So as of the prior version it should already have been double-covered, which is what made me suspect maybe you weren't really on 3.090 after all, but still 3.089 somehow.  Very odd.  Hope 3.091 does better for you!