Devnote Tuesday: Post-release progression

[SQUAD]

<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="92" data-orig-width="480"><img data-orig-height="92" data-orig-width="480" alt="image" src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/0ff9377afa68dc3ad3fe6844aaf1bd38/tumblr_inline_nxm9lvfKpD1rr2wit_540.jpg"/></figure><p>Hello everyone!</p><p>At the time of writing it’s been about 24 hours since the release of update 1.0.5. This first content update after 1.0 is far larger update then it would seem, given the low increment of the version number. We hope you’re enjoying it so far, today’s devnotes will reflect on the past weeks of development.</p><p>The 1.0.5 update proved to be a welcome change for some of the developers, after weeks and months of working on the user interface overhaul that’s slated for update 1.1, which has resumed in full force. Let us know what your favorite features are on our forums!</p><p>It’s quite impressive to see how many more issues are found when tens of thousands of people get their hands on a build of a game instead of about a hundred. Felipe (HarvesteR), Brian (Arsonide) and Nathanael (NathanKell) are working with Ted to push a ‘silent’ update as soon as possible. Because the issues are generally very small and not game-breaking we won’t bump version numbers, but we’ll simply be releasing an updated build of 1.0.5 which you can download from the website; steam will update automatically. </p><p>In between the testing, bug fixing and retesting Nathanael also found time to implement RK2 integration (Heun’s method) with variable timestep for the low warp levels on rails - which greatly sped up thermodynamics under those conditions – and also some tweakables inspired by toadicus’ Tweakable Everything plugin. Like many other developers, he worked through the weekend to make the update as good as it could be.</p><p>The 1.0.5 release went very smoothly overall then, and we were very pleased with the response we got from you guys. The new features were received positively, as were the tweaks and bugfixes – even the new Facebook and Twitter avatars were met with enthusiasm, much to Dan’s (danRosas) delight. We all really enjoyed the videos and livestreams that happened over the weekend, and we peaked at over 1,000 viewers on KSPTV which was awesome. Several developers made an appearance during the shows as well, and we think that’s something we should keep going for future updates.</p><p>All in all, we feel the whole community came together over this update, and we’d like to extend our gratitude to everyone who participated in any way to make the update happen. KSP wouldn’t be where it is today without the community and we feel privileged to be working on the game every day.</p><p>On to future development then. We’re rapidly approaching our self-imposed Christmas release goal for 1.1, likely a little too quickly considering the amount of work left to do and the time this update will take in QA & Experimental testing: almost every single part of the game has been changed, and it all requires vetting to make sure no (major) bugs creep in. Undeterred by this, Dan continued work on the assets that will be implemented in the 1.1 update such as the tier 0 buildings, and started to experiment with Houdini and Houdini Engine in Unity. It’s a paradigm change since it’s a node based system, but it has a lot of potential regardless.</p><p>Mike (Mu) and Jim (Romfarer) have continued work on the user interface, fixing a lot of bugs and reworking the Space Center scene slightly by adding some features to make it more accessible to new and old players alike. Jim has added one particularly interesting feature in the Editor scenes: a text search filter in the vessel editor. This will allow you to search by filtered pre-defined categories with or without a text filter, as well as searching all parts.</p><p>We saw an interesting question pop by regarding the support of the OSX Metal API in Unity 5.2: we’re currently working with the latest version of Unity and any new backend features it implements should be present in the KSP 1.1 update – provided that they don’t require extra implementation work on our end. </p><p>There is finally news on the forum update to IPS 4 as well: we’ve gone over several options and it looks like the update will be a job done in-house by Kasper (KasperVld) and Ted. Once we have all the tools we need we’ll set up a schedule for testing and the actual transfer to IPS4, which we’ll keep you updated on.</p><p>Kasper also sent over a great surprise to commemorate his one year working on KSP: a Rosetta and Philae plushie to decorate the newly renovated office. It finally arrived after a few weeks and everyone loved it, we hope you do too!</p><figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="720" data-orig-width="960"><img data-orig-height="720" data-orig-width="960" alt="image" src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/6b03cb09ad6d5a2d62c96d87f3d42a03/tumblr_inline_nxm9nuUUMS1rr2wit_540.jpg"/></figure>

Edited November 11, 2015 by Claw

[KasperVld]

Relevant to the Rosetta & Philae thingy:

Edited November 10, 2015 by KasperVld

[TheMoonRover]

Almost certainly not first by the time I finish reading this and think of something to say.

So the barn is going to make it into the game about 12 months later than originally planned then?

[smjjames]

Some might consider the missing body lift gamebreaking, but at least it can be worked around for now.

Also, you guys somehow named two of the intakes 'Cargo Ramp intake'.

[linuxgurugamer]

I'm glad you are thinking about another minor update, but....

I don't like the idea of a "silent" update. At least call it 1.0.5a or something like that. Otherwise, I (and others) will just end up downloading it again and again and again (you get the idea)

LGG

[KasperVld]

I'm glad you are thinking about another minor update, but....

I don't like the idea of a "silent" update. At least call it 1.0.5a or something like that. Otherwise, I (and others) will just end up downloading it again and again and again (you get the idea)

LGG

We will announce when the new build goes live - not to worry

[OddFunction]

Tier 0 = Barn??

[Corax]

I'm glad you are thinking about another minor update, but....

I don't like the idea of a "silent" update. At least call it 1.0.5a or something like that. Otherwise, I (and others) will just end up downloading it again and again and again (you get the idea)

LGG

Absolutely. Either it is an update, thus a different version, or it is not. I don't care whether you call it 1.0.5.0.0.1 or 1.0.5a or whatever, but please don't make the only distinction between archives a difference in checksums... what's the rationale behind that?

Experience tells us there will likely be at least another update anyway, so please.

[DancesWithSquirrels]

I agree on needing a version number - particularly for bug tracking. If you don't give the update a number it's going to be hard for people to properly report bugs, as you won't know if they are running 1.0.5 or, well, 1.0.5 with updates.

1.0.51?

[KasperVld]

Ingame the version number is easily distinguishable in the main menu: the last numbers in the version number in the bottom right corner are the build ID. Let me grab an image.

edit:

So in this case, the version is 1.0.5 build 1024. Once our 'silent' patch is applied it might for example be 1.0.5.1028

Edited November 10, 2015 by KasperVld

[CaptRobau]

You know what my favorite feature of 1.05 is:

Buoyancy has been handled so well that while you're already deep underwater, opening a service bay (which has air in it if closed prior to going underwater) will show a splash/bubble effect and increases the rate of descent. It was hard to get something stock to sink (hint: lots of full ore canisters), but that effect + the new improved underwater camera made it so worth it.

[pellinor]

I don't like the idea of a "silent" update.

This. The idea of version numbers is to distinguish versions, not to express feelings about an update. You already have a habit of using numbering as a marketing instrument, please don't take it too far.

Ingame the version number is easily distinguishable in the main menu: the last numbers in the version number in the bottom right corner are the build ID. Let me grab an image.

EDIT: ah right, that will work.

Edited November 10, 2015 by pellinor

[colmo]

Text search for parts! Considering the headroom 64 bit will allow us for mods, we'll need this! Most welcome.

[Endersmens]

Kasper beat me to it. The version number won't change, but the build number will.

E.g. [1.0.5].1025 [] = version number

1.0.5.{1025} {} = build number. So the first 1.0.5 release was the 1024th build of ksp.

So, like Kasper said, if it takes 3 builds to fix everything and they give us that version, it would be 1.0.5.1028 instead of 1.0.5.1025.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Endersmens

[Waxing_Kibbous]

Liking the new contract system a lot, plus all the improvements both graphically and musically? Did I catch a new song in there?

I agree that having a 1.05a, 1.05.1, etc bugfix release number change would be nice- bugfix releases happen! Edit ninja'd hard

[nightingale]

Since it means I won't have to deal with updating CKAN and forum threads to say that my mods are now compatible with KSP 1.0.6 (or 1.0.5a, 1.0.5.1, or whatever), I definitely approve of the non-incrementing version number. For players using mods, it means not having to deal with yet another round of forced updates because the version number incremented.

[mattinoz]

Ingame the version number is easily distinguishable in the main menu: the last numbers in the version number in the bottom right corner are the build ID. Let me grab an image.

edit:

http://i.imgur.com/RqnW84F.png

So in this case, the version is 1.0.5 build 1024. Once our 'silent' patch is applied it might for example be 1.0.5.1028

Why, now all we need is an in Game bug reporter!

Seeing the game knows which version, what system we are using and such.

[TMS]

...Tier 0 barn...

Dis gonna be gud...

Edited November 10, 2015 by TMS

[Superfluous J]

#BringBackTier0

Or something.

I'm going to hack the game so all tiers look like Tier 0. Or maybe flip them, so as you upgrade you get less and less until you reach Tier 5, in which case you have the tier 0 buildings.

[softweir]

Ingame the version number is easily distinguishable in the main menu ...

That's not a lot of use for people who like to keep archived downloads of their games. You've got any number of sub-version numbers from 1.0.6 to 1.0.99999 to play around with, why not use one?

[Kobymaru]

It's just not good practice to have differing released versions with the same version number. Please reconsider, and make it 1.0.5.1. Or 1.0.6 (version numbers are cheap! Free, in fact, since you can go up to infinity)

[earth]

What is RK2 Heun's method?????

[Tourist]

This is a public service announcement. The controversy for today will be:

<strike>The Barn</strike>

<strike>Overheating space planes</strike>

Version numbers

[Alshain]

Guys they didn't say the minor revision number wouldn't be changed, just the major revision won't change. Calm down, you can see the entire version number on the title screen. Currently we have 1.0.5.1024. The next one will likely be higher than 1024.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Alshain

[Claw]

What is RK2 Heun's method?????

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heun%27s_method

It's basically a way to solve some of the math in a way that's somewhat speedy and accurate.