Devnote Tuesday: The wait is almost over!

[Kiro]

51 minutes ago, StarStryder said:

Am I the only one concerned that there is still new feature development being done at this late stage in the release process.  It really should be bug fixes only at this point.

I thought they went into feature lock shortly before Q/A an Experimentals started. What new features are you talking about?

[StarStryder]

45 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

Well, if you’re bringing up “should be,” the version number shouldn’t be 1.2 either, so there’s that...

Call me silly, I don’t mind new functionality being added to an existing product. Microsoft does it, Adobe does it, why should Squad not do it?

I wasn't talking about beta (<1.0.0) vs. released (>1.0.0) but about the release cycle for 1.2.  They're nearing the end of the "experimental" phase for the 1.2 release and they're still adding new features.  This is a fundamentally bad idea as it massively increases the risk of new bugs making it through to the public release.

New features really should be held until release 1.3 now.

[Red Iron Crown]

4 minutes ago, StarStryder said:

I wasn't talking about beta (<1.0.0) vs. released (>1.0.0) but about the release cycle for 1.2.  They're nearing the end of the "experimental" phase for the 1.2 release and they're still adding new features.  This is a fundamentally bad idea as it massively increases the risk of new bugs making it through to the public release.

New features really should be held until release 1.3 now.

There haven't been any big features added in a few builds, and those that have been added since prerelease started have largely been based on prerelease feedback. I think they're doing OK.

[boborene]

The over is almost only wait...

[Jorge_slc]

1 minute ago, boborene said:

The over is almost only wait...

If they finally don't release today (or this week) I wonder how they will title their dev notes: "The wait is even MORE almost over"?

[Dizzle]

2 minutes ago, Jorge_slc said:

If they finally don't release today (or this week) I wonder how they will title their dev notes: "The wait is even MORE almost over"?

We're guaranteed either a release, or title snark.

[Jorge_slc]

2 minutes ago, Dizzle said:

We're guaranteed either a release, or title snark.

I'd rather have the former, but a good title snark would ease the pain of having no release this week

[Curveball Anders]

44 minutes ago, Red Iron Crown said:

There haven't been any big features added in a few builds, and those that have been added since prerelease started have largely been based on prerelease feedback. I think they're doing OK.

Was a bit bored so I scanned the release notes for the various builds (post the initial pre-release).

And there's nothing big added, just a lot of fixes and tweaks.

[Kerbart]

2 hours ago, StarStryder said:

I wasn't talking about beta (<1.0.0) vs. released (>1.0.0) but about the release cycle for 1.2.  They're nearing the end of the "experimental" phase for the 1.2 release and they're still adding new features.

Ah, you didn't put a lot of effort in communicating that clearly. My bad for reading the tea leaves the wrong way, I guess.

What new features have been added since, say, build 1500? Now I'm curious. Perhaps we have a different opinion on what “features” (a rather opaque term) are?

[TopHeavy11]

It's the Final Countdown!

[Bombaatu]

So... anyone else obsessively reloading the Announcements page?

[Werty]

not me why are you asking?

[Jorge_slc]

neither am I... preposterous

[pandaman]

No point.

If it releases today it will most likely be about 3 or 4 hours or more from now anyway (Which would make it about 22:00 or 23:00 uct onwards), based on past experience. 

And there is no guarantee (yet) that it will be today anyway.  And mashing the keyboard won't make it happen any faster.

14 minutes ago, Bombaatu said:

So... anyone else obsessively reloading the Announcements page?

 

[Bombaatu]

I was being facetious, @pandaman.

kinda....

[nomercy4you]

For people in europe devnote tuesdays are almost always devnote wednesdays

I think there are still 4-5h to go...

[pandaman]

22 minutes ago, Bombaatu said:

I was being facetious, @pandaman.

kinda....

Yeah I gathered that, but some actually would ! 

Actually my 'gut feeling' is not today, I hope I'm wrong as I'd love to play properly tomorrow,  but I'd rather wait a few days than have a release before it's ready.

Edited October 4, 2016 by pandaman

[Kepler68]

21 minutes ago, pandaman said:

Yeah I gathered that, but some actually would ! 

Actually my 'gut feeling' is not today, I hope I'm wrong as I'd love to play properly tomorrow,  but I'd rather wait a few days than have a release before it's ready.

I would also rather a devnote wensday release than 100 crashes  plus during either the 1.0 or 1.1 release (I forgot which) there were complaints about the update being sloppy so it seems like squad has learned and they're taking their time  

[James M]

XBOX IS FIXED! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[Navy2k]

What i can't understand why not let the experimental build sit for a few days (was last updated 2am mexican time today) or a week, if I remember correctly it was new experimental builds until the last moments and then release for most of the updates i can remember.

And this has nothing to do with the fact that my RSS install is running smooth at the time and 1.2 only can mess up things for a while  *commencing RSS Backup procedures*

Edited October 4, 2016 by Navy2k

[HafCoJoe]

In all honesty I don't think it's coming out this week as the bug tracker still has a number of issues - I won't be upset if I'm wrong though

[StahnAileron]

To be honest, I'm kinda hoping that SQUAD goes from a pre-release version/stage to a Release Candidate stage that completely locks features and focuses on part balance, tweaks, and any last minute bugs. The complete feature lock (and hence most of the underlying programming) would give modder a fix target to aim for in updates (1.2 would require updates to both plugins and parts). I'd like this so that there would be a reasonable chance of mod updates being sync'ed to the 1.2 release (I REALLY miss having RCS Build Aid, KER, and EEX for craft construction... and of course parts from mods I use a lot.)

I haven't seen 1.2pre updates to mods (for good reason, given the moving target), unlike 1.1pre. Still, KSP is pretty mod driven (on PC... Poor console users. I have a PS4, but I refuse to buy KSP for it. KSP is a PC program through and through). It's be nice if the devs gave the modders some lead time for updates, especially considering how, uh, "impatient" (to put it kindly) the userbase can get about mod updates when new KSP versions hit. I think even just a week or two of "RC" status would help the modders.

I'm anxious for the 1.2 release, but I'm also dreading the aftermath on the mod side. Unless modders have considered 1.2pre as it currently stands as stable and useful enough to do dev versions of mod updates but have kept quiet about it. (Again, for good reason.) I'll be just as anxious for 1.2-compatible mods once 1.2 hits.

[Alshain]

@StahnAileron They have pretty much already done that.  The last several pre-release patches did nothing but fix issues.  We haven't had new features since Sept. 23rd when the payload/coupling categories and the 0.625m heat shield were added.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Alshain

[edrobotguy]

On 10/4/2016 at 8:45 AM, Kerbart said:

Ah, you didn't put a lot of effort in communicating that clearly. My bad for reading the tea leaves the wrong way, I guess.

What new features have been added since, say, build 1500? Now I'm curious. Perhaps we have a different opinion on what “features” (a rather opaque term) are?

Is the constantly changing periapsis/apoapsis on objects orbiting Mun a feature or a bug?  Because that was new.  Had to do with converting between polar and Cartesian coordinates as I recall.  Something to do with completely changing the way orbits are calculated.

When you completely change a basic game mechanic, like the way orbits are calculated in 1.1 or the entire atmosphere mechanics for 1.0, you introduce a host of potential errors all the way down the line.  This was my protest back when the 1.0 release was first announced - if you're completely changing basic game mechanics, you're not in a release version or even a Beta version; you've reverted to Alpha.

Edit: Also, the basic wheel mechanics changed in 1.1.  Now merely looking at my Minmus base causes the game to launch my 360 tonne base tens of meters into the sky.  What is the source of the energy that sends the base into the sky?  My best guess is that the compression of the wheels and struts is not saved, and that some wheels are being spawned slightly under the surface.  Those immediately burst, and that sends the base flying. Oh and don't ever actually touch a wheel strut if you're a Kerbal! That sends you flying kilometers into the sky. Once again, a basic game mechanic changed and that brings on a slew of errors all the way down the line.

Edited October 6, 2016 by edrobotguy

[Waxing_Kibbous]

It seems like the amount of showstoppers are winding down, I have a feeling 1.2 will drop soon Nobody find any more bugs OK?