A Win64 build is on Steam!

[Sandworm]

Have a look at this:

This may be very good news, at least for windows users. The use of the fourth build number means they have split windows into 32 and 64 bit versions. Hopefully squad is also working on making the current 64-bit linux executable functional (it cannot use more than 4gb of memory due to various errors). Given squad's failure to address minor errors in the linux build for pretty much the last year (see the linux support thread) I doubt their capability to issue a working 64bit linux build. I would hate for linux users to be left behind.

But sad to say, as with the multiplayer announcement, it seems the community again ahead of the developer on this (see the win64 patch thread).

The other good news is that, after a month or so of nothing, Squad has been pushing new scratchpad builds in threes (win/mac/linux) fours (win32/win64/mac/linux) rather than focusing on just the windowswin32 build. It's not a return to experimentals, but it is progress on this quarter's update. I say quarterly because the pattern during the last year points to Squad issuing releases in line with a financial cycle.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Sandworm

[Sandworm]

While we are here....

Squad has created a new "scratchpad2" directory labelled "Dev use only" while the description for scratchpad has become "QA Builds and Staging Area". Staging? That sounds significant.

[Spartan-S63]

That would be nice to have an official Windows 64 bit executable. But where did you even find this stuff from?

[Sandworm]

Oh, sorry. It's all on SteamDB here: http://steamdb.info/app/220200/

Just click on the 'history' tab for the exact data I cite above. I check SteamDB every few days to see what Squad's up to.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Sandworm

[Spartan-S63]

Ah, I've hard of SteamDB, I guess I never looked hard enough to find this site. Thanks. It would be interesting to see what ends up happening with this.

[Lilleman]

Almost a real build?

Edited June 20, 2014 by Lilleman

[astroboy820]

Maybe that's why the next version is taking more time than expected. Maybe the next version will include x64 support.

[Sandworm]

Maybe that's why the next version is taking more time than expected. Maybe the next version will include x64 support.

Maybe, but only if the devs are ignoring .25 to work on win64. The wind64 build isn't in the "QA Build" but a new directory. So it probably isn't part of the next release. The size of the win64 build (750ish mg rather than 1600mb) suggests it lacks lots of content. Whomever is using it probably wants something that starts easily, without the long wait times of the full release. That's the sort of install that mod creators use when their code keeps crashing ksp to desktop.

[Caelib]

"Staging Area" just means the pre-production environment.

[nismobg]

My body is ready !

[Alguien]

As nice as it is, i still find annoying how Squad only runs to work in features after a user/mods does it.

[Shogun Gunshow]

Squad has features they need to complete, and a limited amount of employees to dedicate to those tasks. Unlike modders, it's not often that they get a chance to go wild and try some weird ideas. This is why opening a game to modding is so powerful: no matter how large your team, you just can't match the creativity and resourcefulness of thousands of modders experimenting and mucking around in the code.

Modders are always going to be ahead of Squad in creating new stuff. That's just kind of the nature of it.

[rkman]

Squad only runs to work in features after a user/mods does it.

You mean like maneuver nodes, career mode, science gathering?

It's ok, maybe you are new to ksp.

[KasperVld]

Last time I heard from Squad about 64 bit, they had this to say

We're pleased with the results that the community has come up with in regards to making 64 bit ksp run properly and we're excited to see what Unity 5 brings with it.

The devs have looked into 64 bit builds in the past, and they were always deemed too unstable for release. Plus, when you look at the current 64-bit hack, you can see that 1 in 4 people are reporting that it doesn't work for them.

Don't get your hopes up too much, I think

[Sandworm]

You mean like maneuver nodes, career mode, science gathering?

It's ok, maybe you are new to ksp.

Exactly. Precisenode added much node editing support before the 24.5 did similar. Protractor, KER, VOID and a host of other options still provide vastly better maneuver planning and control. The MissionController mods covered all of the features of contracts long before squad. Surely these mods cannot be as polished as Squad's will be. That's what happens when you add to existing executables. But when it comes to new features, Squad is simply playing catchup. (Ok, flags. Squad was first with flags.)

[KasperVld]

Exactly. Precisenode added much node editing support before the 24.5 did similar. Protractor, KER, VOID and a host of other options still provide vastly better maneuver planning and control. The MissionController mods covered all of the features of contracts long before squad. Surely these mods cannot be as polished as Squad's will be. That's what happens when you add to existing executables. But when it comes to new features, Squad is simply playing catchup. (Ok, flags. Squad was first with flags.)

You're talking about what a team with <10 developers has to accomplish (while maintaining a high coding standard and inter-version compatability) with what a small army of modders can come up with.

[Eric S]

Exactly. Precisenode added much node editing support before the 24.5 did similar.

Exactly not. Err.. ok, the truth is somewhere in between. Maneuver nodes themselves didn't exist until the devs implemented them. Mods added ways to manipulate maneuver nodes, and then the devs added two more manipulation methods to the stock game. So in truth, there's give and take there.

The devs are outnumbered by the modders by a significant amount and many, if not most of the modders don't hold themselves to the standards the devs do when it comes to stability of said features. It's no surprise that modders generally implement features first. After all, if the devs implement a feature, why would modders implement it afterwards?

[blizzy78]

and many, if not most of the modders don't hold themselves to the standards the devs do when it comes to stability of said features.

I think you are very wrong here.

[Linear]

Exactly not. Err.. ok, the truth is somewhere in between. Maneuver nodes themselves didn't exist until the devs implemented them. Mods added ways to manipulate maneuver nodes, and then the devs added two more manipulation methods to the stock game. So in truth, there's give and take there.

The devs are outnumbered by the modders by a significant amount and many, if not most of the modders don't hold themselves to the standards the devs do when it comes to stability of said features. It's no surprise that modders generally implement features first. After all, if the devs implement a feature, why would modders implement it afterwards?

Correct to anything but standards.

Just because you're not a farmer for a job, you grow the strawberrys in your garden to the best of your ability.

[KasperVld]

Lets get back on topic though, this topic is about a possible 64 bit Windows build of KSP, not mods

[PlonioFludrasco]

What "QA builds and Staging area" could mean?

Edited June 21, 2014 by PlonioFludrasco

[KasperVld]

What "QA builds and Staging area" could mean?

QA stands for Quality Assurance, you can read a bit more about that here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/entries/905 but basically it's the tasting phase before experimentals, in which all components of an update are tested separately. Not sure what they mean with Staging Area. That'd be a nice question to ask Rowsdower

[PlonioFludrasco]

Not sure what they mean with Staging Area. That'd be a nice question to ask Rowsdower

Maybe where they put things to be tested?

[Red Iron Crown]

"Staging" to me implies it's a place to park a potential public release before it goes live.

[Sandworm]

Squad has made no statements about the appearance of win64 builds. It might not even be a build. It might just be an experiment with the Win64 patch/hack.

"Staging" certainly sounds like a place to put something just before a larger activity. That larger activity may be a public release, but more likely it is for the beta testers (under squad's beta-of-the-alpha paradigm). The 'QA' label really points to something not ready for customers. I read the most into the scratchpad/scratchpad2 split. That says 'fork' to me. We could ask Rowsdower for clarification, but I doubt that would end well. He might simply lock this thread for speculation about release dates.

On my point about the fiscal year. 0.23 was released the day before Mexico's Q4 ended in 2013. 0.23.5 was released the day after Q1 2014 ended. This association does not hold true for all releases, but there is a pattern imho. This may be the closest squad has come to a schedule.