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  • Opt-in Prerelease for 1.1!


    Ted

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    Hi all,

     

    As I'm sure many of you read, 1.1 is to enter Experimentals this week! It's a significant update to KSP in terms of just how much has changed under the hood. We've done a complete overhaul of the user interface from a conglomerate of interface systems to Unity 5's native system. Aside from that, an entirely new system for the wheels had to be adopted due to the major changes Unity made to the native wheels system, and the list goes on!

     

    Quality Assurance is the most bare bone part of the entire testing process and is performed by around five to ten QA testers pretty much constantly. The focussed testing and efficiency mean that instead of going through the motions of the game as a normal player would, QA tends to identify areas of the new content that would usually be prone to issue and hunt for bugs there. This cuts down the time taken to find issues by a significant margin and means that the content is tested more evenly – playtesting can sometimes skip completely past some aspects of a feature. Furthermore, this method allows the testers to work closely with the developers and compare exactly what they intended to occur for specific cases, to what actually occurs – this is where QA becomes more about feedback.

     

    QA is a lot more than just finding bugs. It’s about having the knowledge of the game (especially how it works under-the-hood), the comprehension of the ideas behind the features in the game, the understanding of what a developer wants the feature to turn out like and how you can assist them in making it happen. Furthermore, it’s about condensing all of that into concise and objectively written issue reports.

     

    The QA process on 1.1 has been going for a long time, but it has been incredibly fruitful: crushing 516 issues in 107 builds! There is still more to do however, in Experimentals we hope to only increase the stability of the game, add polish to areas and carry out some bug fixing as always!

     

    The Experimental Team comprises about 100 testers. All of these testers are volunteers who contribute their spare time to playtest the game. They are normal players, sourced from the various communities via a simple application process. Often and understandably they don’t have as much spare time to devote to testing as the QA Testers and thus there are significantly more Experimental Testers ‘signed up’ than we need at any one time. This works in everyone’s favour as it keeps the activity level throughout an Experimental Phase and doesn’t put pressure on the testers while they also deal with their personal and professional lives.

     

    After we have an update go through QA, as detailed above, it is hopefully free from major issues and each feature has had any needed major improvements and refinements carried out; the update is in a feature-complete state. However, many components of a feature may still be unpolished, such as part balancing, or the performance of newer UI on different platforms. This is where Experimental Testing comes in and assists the developers in cleaning up the remaining feedback issues.

    An Experimental Testing phase typically lasts around a couple of weeks, though it is highly dependent on the number of issues that arise and how much further development is required to reach a release state. At the end of the Experimental phase, there are still a fair amount of issues on the tracker that are still open, but it’s important to note that these issues are typically minor ones, ones that aren’t in the scope of the update or simply issues that would take too much time and resources to resolve.

     

    This time around though, things will get even more interesting after Experimental testing! Given that update 1.1 will be unlike any update we’ve seen to date in terms of widespread changes to pretty much any significant and underlying system in the game we're planning to provide an optional pre-release branch of update 1.1. This opt-in branch will run for just under two full weeks before the targeted release date of the final update.

     

    The nature and extent of the changes in the update mean that many plugins and add-ons will require refactoring, updating and at the very least a recompile. Of course modders cannot do this overnight and on the flick of a switch, especially with an update of this scope. Typically a select group of particularly KSP-savvy modders would be given access to the new update to help us find bugs, but the extent of the changes this time around is such that we feel we should open it up to everyone.

     

    The pre-release branch will be opt-in via Steam only, and won't be available via the KSP Store. We really wanted to make the pre-release branch available on all distribution channels but given the frequency of builds, the size of those builds, and the necessity for everyone to be on the latest version for testing it proved to be impossible to facilitate this on the KSP store.

     

    To facilitate discussions of the pre-release branch we’ll be opening up a temporary forum for feedback. Additionally, a separate section will be made available on the bug tracker to report bugs on.

     

    Please feel free to ask any and all questions you have!

     

     


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      Quote

    The pre-release branch will be opt-in via Steam only, and won't be available via the KSP Store.

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    :mad:

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    given the frequency of builds, the size of those builds, and the necessity for everyone to be on the latest version for testing it proved to be impossible

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    Fix your damn "patcher" then - this is exactly what it's suited for. As it stands the KSP launcher/patcher is utterly pointless... and it's been that way for ~a year now.

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      On 3/28/2016 at 2:28 AM, mcirish3 said:

     

    I know this.  I just don't trust steam not to change the rules at some point in the future.  

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    It is not Steam that would change whether KSP has DRM or not, it is up to the developers, and currently KSP has no such DRM. If the developers ever decide to implement a DRM system I suspect they would either create an incredibly annoying way to play the game for those people who don't have the Steam version, or force all of those users to play through Steam to unify the player base. I am sure this sounds incredibly unlikely to happen, therefore I don't think you have much to worry about with DRM being added to the game.

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    Patience: an attribute learned and honed by astronomers in Michigan, and one I have put to great use waiting for 1.1.
    I haven't groused.
    I haven't kept poking the "WHEN?" monster with pointed sticks.
    I may have whined, once, that I should have filled out the tester sign-up a little less flippantly...

    What I have been doing, is plugging KSP, HARD to anyone who will listen; KSP was a huge hit at an Astronomy Night at my wife's school, and I will be presenting to the PTO about forming an After School Rocket Club. I will also be lecturing about and demoing KSP at Penguicon.

    In a former life, I was a software developer and beta tester - I understand the issues that can arise when writing code, and can appreciate the monumental task of coordinating all the aspects of creating such a work as KSP. I really feel sorry for @KasperVld and @Ted for all the vitriolic and often times over-privileged posts I've seen here about the 1.1 release.


     

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      On 3/28/2016 at 6:15 PM, Yellowburn10 said:

    I came here because I heard rumors that the pre-release branch was released, to which I am now disappointed. :(

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    Judging by the fact there are 1.1 vids on youtube, I think that's the case.

    The open beta will come Soon afterwards.

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      On 3/28/2016 at 10:38 PM, Table said:

    how do i change to 64bit when the update releases?

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    You will probably have multiple applications in the folder1, or you will have an option to download 64 bit.

    1Probably not, not quite sure.

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    Devnotes tomorrow should let us know how soon to the pre-release, if it doesn't happen before then.  Though I got a feeling the pre-release is going to be a little rocky.

    Edited by mcirish3
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      On 3/29/2016 at 3:19 AM, Kozak said:

    I keep seeing people playing 1.1 experimentals where can i get my hands on it?

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    You can't. They have a carefully selected group of testers for that phase, and entry into it is currently closed. You need to 1: prove yourself worthy (look for the old post seeking people, if it's still around, to find out what they look for), and 2: wait patiently until they need to replenish the ranks of testers. There will be an announcement in the forums if that ever happens.

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      On 3/27/2016 at 7:07 AM, richfiles said:

    Unfortunately, that's not how 64 bit support works. 64 bit support unlocks access to addressable memory sizes larger than about 4 GB. That means, if you have more than 4 GB of RAM in your PC, KSP will be able to use any free RAM above 4 GB. Like me, I have 32 GB RAM, but right now, KSP can only access 4 GB. 64 bit KSP will be able to access as much of my RAM as it needs.

    There are apparently VERY good performance improvements though. Scott Manley loaded a massive station that gave him 4 FPS in current KSP, and that same station ran 10 FPS in 1.1, which is a VERY impressive performance boost! That comes from more efficient code and new engine features though, not really 64 bit.

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    Nope. Unity 5 introduces Multithreading WHICH DOES let the 7 processors also hop in and help. Make sure ya know what you're sayin before you correct someone :wink:

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      On 3/28/2016 at 5:30 AM, steve_v said:

    :mad:

    Fix your damn "patcher" then - this is exactly what it's suited for. As it stands the KSP launcher/patcher is utterly pointless... and it's been that way for ~a year now.

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    Listen, listen. If SQUAD decides to fix the patcher NOW, days before KSP pre-release, they'll be delaying the pre-release by weeks, and by then if they didn't fix the KSP Store's system to be able to handle several versions before 1.1 release then 1.1 would be out for everybody.  (you realize it costs them money to keep up the KSP store servers and the more versions they need to handle on there the more costly, while Steam doesn't cost them nearly as much.) There's no point in them doing it, and you know honestly they could have done the same thing as um, 0.15, 0.16, 0.17, 0.18, 0.19, 0.20, 0.21, 0.22, 0.23, 0.23.5, 0.24, 0.25, 0.90, 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4 and 1.0.5, an NOT have given us a prerelease. And even if you don't get to play the prerelease, you'll have way more Day One mods and addons released. I'm sorry for @KasperVld and @Ted for all these comments of people enraged about this, you guys keep on keepin on and we'll all be happy in the end. :)

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    If it's possible to request/apply for access of the pre-release version, well you can sign me right up then! I don't see why everyone is so mad they bought it on the KSP store and are going "OH NO! I can't get it on steam!" ...I bought mine on the KSP store before steam release, Whats so bad about getting a steam access key?

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      On 3/29/2016 at 5:33 AM, Coolstorm10_ said:

    Nope. Unity 5 introduces Multithreading WHICH DOES let the 7 processors also hop in and help. Make sure ya know what you're sayin before you correct someone :wink:

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    Nope to your nope. :)

    Richfiles was absolutely correct, multithreading and 64 bit support are separate features. They both happen to be enhancements in Unity 5, but that doesn't mean they are the same thing.

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      On 3/28/2016 at 9:34 AM, aceofspadesfg said:

    It is not Steam that would change whether KSP has DRM or not, it is up to the developers, and currently KSP has no such DRM. If the developers ever decide to implement a DRM system I suspect they would either create an incredibly annoying way to play the game for those people who don't have the Steam version, or force all of those users to play through Steam to unify the player base. I am sure this sounds incredibly unlikely to happen, therefore I don't think you have much to worry about with DRM being added to the game.

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    No, This is just not true.  Sure technically Squad would have to agree to DRM but if Steam wants DRM they will have DRM, at which point Squad will have to choose whether to continue selling the game on steam or not.  BUT Steam has made many thing be retroactive in their licencing and I can see the scenario where people who already have KSP on steam would probably just be screwed, even if Squad walked away from Steam, not that I foresee that happening either, but stranger things have happened.

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      On 3/29/2016 at 12:42 PM, mcirish3 said:

    No, This is just not true.  Sure technically Squad would have to agree to DRM but if Steam wants DRM they will have DRM, at which point Squad will have to choose whether to continue selling the game on steam or not.  BUT Steam has made many thing be retroactive in their licencing and I can see the scenario where people who already have KSP on steam would probably just be screwed, even if Squad walked away from Steam, not that I foresee that happening either, but stranger things have happened.

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    I also find that highly unlikely. To put it bluntly, Steam is not EA, and they don't want to alienate their fan base. They clearly make an effort to make their content as accessible to the end user as possible, and often have VERY nice sales for things. At the same time, I'm sure Steam has some awful penalty for Squad should they choose to withdraw from Steam, maybe some kind of "exit fine" or something. But, if it becomes financially advantageous for Squad to leave Steam, it wouldn't be hard for them to convert Steam's product keys into their own, and make sure every KSP loyalist gets updates for their version.

    Also, the developers I know, not KSP devs, don't want to put some bull copy protection on their game, they'd much rather put some kind of mechanic that trolls pirates. I'm sure Steam would be on board from something like that, and if it was KSP implementing it, I'd imagine that it'd take the form of "The Kraken", or something. *Imagines a squid monster eating crafts every time they try to land*

    Edited by JoelleEmmily
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      On 3/29/2016 at 12:42 PM, mcirish3 said:

    No, This is just not true.  Sure technically Squad would have to agree to DRM but if Steam wants DRM they will have DRM, at which point Squad will have to choose whether to continue selling the game on steam or not.  BUT Steam has made many thing be retroactive in their licencing and I can see the scenario where people who already have KSP on steam would probably just be screwed, even if Squad walked away from Steam, not that I foresee that happening either, but stranger things have happened.

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    I wasn't talking about 64 bit, just KSP 1.1 in general. Sorry if I didn't make it clear :wink:

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    I wanna be in. I wanna be part in the next step beta test. Can't wait for it...

    I know I wasn't that active here lately but I lost my PW ... and I come here mostly for gathering information.

    BTW: I already have some suggestions for improvements for 1.1.

    1. Make sure pinned windows stay persistent even if switched to map view temporarily (pinned window goes away when going to map, but comes back when switching back).
    2. Would be cool if I additionally could pin them in a way so that they stay on screen even when switching to map mode (e.g. for thrust limiting while in map mode)
    3. Really cool would be if the pinned state would be saved, and next time I switch to that vessel it goes where I last placed it.
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    Does anyone have any news on when the beta will start as this post was made on March 2nd. I'm guessing it's soon as the streamers/youtubers experimental versions look complete. Just wondering if any one knew anything that I do not.

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    What would be cool is I could press M in KSC view and it opens tracking station, I have pressed M so many times by accident trying to open the map in tracking station, if these shortcuts were available it would be much easier to swap from building to building...

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