Since 1.009 is out soon, i thought it might be an opportune time to get answers to a laundry list of questions i have.





1- will we be finally able to add front rooms to our games? (options and menu screens)

2- will be be able to finally compile our games as .exe's without the FPSCR splash screen?

3- is the building editor coming this build or not?

4- will the FPSC classic packs, enemies, interiors and weapons be resurfacing this time in a FPSCR friendly format?

5- will we be getting more NPC's (including the long promised zombie pack) this time?

Hi,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to answer no/maybe to all of those. I'll explain why.

1) You can change the background and the huds for the menus already, but there won't be an editor.

2) Not until the product is out of beta. This won't be for some time.

3) Unlikely, the feedback on the building editor highlighted a lot of changes our alpha testers would have liked to see, so we feel it is better to delay that side of it while we make improvements.

4) Characters can be converted using Animar, legacy weapon support will be improving, I don't have the full details yet as it's still work in progress. The segments system is very unlikely to ever be included, although the ConKit will reflect a similar style when complete.

5) Zombies need V1.009 to work, and hopefully will follow that release sooner rather than later.

SC

As he says above

I would like some zombies under my Christmas tree.

In other words, no ConKit in 1.009?! Arghhhhhh!!!!

Lee said eventually you would be able to change these ...Even on the fly ?

Has this outlook changed ?

No just in this version



Yes no conkit in V1.009, it wasn't ready for release to everyone. We would have given it out and then ripped it apart and your levels may not have worked with the new version. Obviously that isn't desirable, hence no release.

Ahh that's ok wasn't really expecting it in this version.....Just thinking what Lee said Long term



Again I thought if anything at all it would have been a W.I.P of the conkit ..... Understandably its best to get what has been done working optimally first

no conkit, thats kinda made me sad.. but i guess its better to be fixed or whatever it needs b4 it gets to us i suppose.
will it be ready to come with multiplayer then or?

Its been and still is a long time since the last build......
Im kind of hoping V1009 will be a huge leap forward in the main structure and updates will then come thick and fast...
Here's hoping anyway

I hope we can add more levels when we reach a win zone in this build at least. Seems everything else got put on hold. Going to be nice if something is new after this long wait. Not interested in multiplayer for me, never use that on any other games. Win zone that will load up another level makes a lot more sense to get that going.

well multiplayer isnt in 09 either, thats the beta after 09 i think, defo not till steam release anyways as the 2 are linked i thought..

So no conkit... No multiplayer..... No zombies .....No front end editor

Im beginning to worry now.... I have that already ..

Agreed, it seems like we are only getting performance updates and no actual new features. I was expecting a lot more after having to wait so long for this build - still no release date. Starting to get discouraged, as a Gold pledger we don't even get any early build releases(before the Silver and Bronze pledgers) as promised. I don't think any feature should be held back from us until the "Steam release", if it is. I am also tired of seeing stuff about App Game Kit 2, this is not the site for it.

Every one is complaining about 1.009v right now what is in it and what is confirmed not to be in it is all speculation at this point, and people need to a relax a bit, it will be out eventually.As for the gold user issue, alpha builds is very, very, unstable and experimental, releasing this on the general populous would have been a disaster in the making.

Some are unhappy about that but I would have to agree with TGC that alpha builds would be a bad idea to release on the general gold populous as they had quiet the backlash from earlier builds released pre 1.004. Versions released now is more battle tested and hardy, and will not affect product performance as much, the odd bug does slip through but they are usually minor ones.

All items will be tested before steam release I am sure about that.Even thought the testing team works round the clock to get those pesky bugs some do slip through so TGC will rely on the general populous to help iron out any additional bugs the testing team might have missed.

TGC in all likely event has a bug list the size of santa's naughty list to work through, cut them some slack they are really working till the early hours to get 1.009 out to you guys.

I think the performance and quality is the most important right now, but I can understand anyone who does not have patience because after so much time is hard to maintain patience.
I think that needs to be added for the next release little things that not wasting time like add flying bird that add a live to the game and a few other little things that return the enthusiasm to all those who no longer have the strength to wait (It is very important and not so difficult).
Anyway that's what I think

My previous message ( Below ) was meant more sarcasm in a humorous way than a serious comment ...I should have added some kind of smilie



As I understand it we are getting new Terrain tweaks, Updated lighting, Baking incorporation and lots of other new features that should make the wait well worthwhile so don't take my comment seriously

After so specular about changes, instead of make me fill fine as normal, this news make me fill diffuse.

3com

the guys have put a lot into 9.

new lights

shadow extras and bug fixes and ambient occlusion etc lights and the like are done

fog as been added

tri planar is added for stretchy textured cliffs

animation ability to insert our own characters etc.

speed ups

better ai

more commands

lots more characters are able to reside in reloaded along with more objects etc.

working on 3 fronts conkit multi and extras.

ok they are well over delayed to the point i am tearing my hair out, but the gold pledgers have only themselves to blame for the situation, if we had been nicer with the bugs etc, then we would still be getting them alas some are too shouty loud mouths and ruined it for everyone else. so we only have our selves to blame.

I can understand that we all myself included cant wait for the next release and to be fair everyone has to be very patient whether we like it or not.

Unfortunately it just cant be done any faster. A lot of users requests and aspirations from all users for more and better which in reality takes as much time as its taking as said unfortunately. Its a long, long job and tough too. TGC are just as eager to get it out as quickly as possible for obvious reasons but they also listen to users requests for that more and better and are committed to the community driven aspect which drives them to include as many of the users requests as possible and to do so whilst maintaining the best possible quality. Overall its a very hard task and more time is involved to get the best end result possible at any stage and do the best they can do to meet the users aspirations.

When the next release comes along and I expect it wont be too long hopefully then it will have what it has to help users and those things not yet included we just have to wait for to come along later. A lot of man hours are going into this and no more can be given - its just hard slog all the way and much more of that to come yet.

A lot of changes overall since last release in many areas of the engine which will hopefully make the end result that much better than it would otherwise be.

When the release comes best to just make the most of whats new, improved and updated while we wait patiently for more to come as we can't do anything else.

Actually only one version was released to Gold pledgers alone as Alpha. It was decided to use a smaller test team to get more targeted reports, Gold pledgers themselves weren't entirely to blame for this and accept like everyone else it's better to get a decent working release than suffer all the issues and bugs related to an untested Beta release. The decision to use a forward testing team had nothing to do with Gold pledgers being 'shouty' but more to do with all pledgers swamping the forums with bug reports which was overwhelming the dev team who had to sift through it all

This is one of my bad jokes 3com. Fantastic.

Here's hoping that Lee is just holding V1.009 back to give us all nice Xmas present to open on the 24th. Merry Xmas to all.

I, for one, am glad of the testing team, I'd rather those guys test the beta releases thoroughly to squash as many bugs as they can before it gets released to us lot even if it does take time. For every bug the community find, the testing team would have found a lot more that would then be fixed before the beta is officially released. Go team Alpha!

i stand corrected

even patience.as its limits going back to reading my books instead of reading this crap

No conkit for next beta? Sorry, but this is one of features that I am looking forward. No beta last month, and now bad news that no conkit is coming...I am bit dissapointed. And also as a gold pledger i was expecting some alpha releases but nothing came since 1.004...do something with it please. I feel now that I have no advantages compared to bronze or silver...

I would just encourage patience from all here. We pledged to support the Reloaded project knowing it is a work in progress and that it is well worth the wait. I don't think most realize what it takes to write the code that puts all this together. Just be glad they are not putting buggy software out to the general public like Microsoft. I'm sure when 1.009 is out we will all be happy. You know there will always be more, but we know some will never be satisfied.

Hi,



You won't have to wait much longer. Things have moved forward a lot in the last week.



As has been said, Gold pledgers would not have thanked us for releasing alpha's to them, as many that went out to the internal testers had unexpected crashes relating to the many systems that the software is required to run on. Some had performance issues and the lightmapper had issues with various mixed media.



All of these issues have been fixed internally, and I expect we will be releasing a version to the alpha testers very soon, and providing they green light it, onward to all pledge levels.



Gold pledgers should remember that what you get over silver pledgers is the right to sell without paying a single penny to TGC. Something that I don't think any engine offers (Correct me if I'm wrong).



The zombie won't be far behind V1.09, but that version needs to be out, before we can release them.



Multi-player requires Steam to function, and so can't be released before then.



The ConKit wasn't well received by the alpha testers, and so it was decided that it was better to work on it some more rather than disappoint you all with a feature that needs more work.



I think you'll find that V1.9 has many, many features that move it forward. To name just a few, improved fog, much faster performance, baked light maps, improved AI, a lot more media, tri-planer texturing, grenades, new editor tools, the ability to create multi-level games and a load of things that have currently escaped my mind. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.



SC

I'm more than happy to give the dev and testing team as much time as they need. And as an ex-professional QA Technician who has worked in the industry for 4 years or so I can say without hesitation that giving builds to Gold Pledgers before they're stable is going to be counter productive.

Even after 1.009 appears to be stable I'd still personally hold off on giving it to Gold Pledgers first without Test Plans in place and without training people how to report bugs properly.

Not True...There were many added packs that Gold Pledgers have that others do not ... Also the main feature would be selling the games you make....

I think you need to look here as reminder of the difference in levels



http://fpscreator.thegamecreators.com/order.php



Gold is still well worth getting and by far the best pledge level..

I say send the next beta out to everyone at the same time, then watch the complaints and rants come in about this not working, that not working then sit back and say "I told you so...".

AWESOME !!! Thanks SC ! " To name just a few, improved fog, much faster performance, baked light maps, improved AI, a lot more media, tri-planer texturing, grenades, new editor tools, the ability to create multi-level games and a load of things that have currently escaped my mind. I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

This sounds very good to me ! Looking forward to playing around with this ! Very awesome news !

The next beta will go out to everyone at the same time ?

I think he means the alpha

He was just being psychotic.







I still don't know whos brainchild it was to enable the build function on an alpha engine, but this question is of course the logical result.

Like the old Fps classic I am guessing the final rendering is done on the final standalone compile .... The game we see in test mode is just test mode...
But the final standalone compile gives the lighting and baking procedures ....at least im guessing thats what happens

Whichever version they send to the alpha team (that would be alpha then I suppose )

That would be the super secret Santa version.....:p

Yeah, and I already have my polar express ticket.

3com

Love the conversations that take place around here during the weeks prior to a new beta!

All I can say looking at the latest news letter is ...WOW !!

It looks all well worth the wait and right now I cant really even look at V100.85







No probs there from my perspective.....If all the Alpha testers weren't happy then its pretty obvious we wouldn't have been keen either...

Holding back till more work has been done will certainly save a load of Conkit problem threads

This is all part of the beta testing, imagine how it would be if we had a great test game engine and then a few weeks before a full release discovered that standalone games didn't work! - I'm sure some of our older users will remember us having to go back and fix standalone issues with Classic, even through everything worked in test game..

Better to take lots of time, and care and make it right, then rush out garbage! Lee is doing the job of ten people. On the other hand, I think v9 is close to release!

I have to say this. Really, waiting is not a problem for me, but there is a perfectly legitimate issue here that keeps getting twisted concerning what was DELIBERATELY advertised earlier in the sales of this program and what is now actually happening. The fact is, of course - nobody who is interested in finding the potential capabilities of FPSCR and pushing it's limits wants to have a buggy, crash laden experience in the process. So here is the crux of the complaint as I see it - and it is absolutely legitimate.
Many of us who paid our money in the earlier times of this development did so because we read in the advertisement that there would be regular releases - monthly on the average - of the builds. Money was paid in exchange on this company's word that this is what was going to happen. There was also this company's word that a hard copy would be given to gold pledgers (and by the way, I fully expect that part of the deal to be held up, since I gave the money in exchange for it) - but now there is word in these forums that apparently it is ok for this company NOT to keep this part of their word. Where I come from, a man keeps his word, especially after getting paid to do so.
Now, for all of those who want to lecture the complainers - with the constant condescending attitude that they have no idea what goes into writing a code for a program like this - let's get things straight - I believe most of these folks do not have to be the lead programmers to understand that. But if a company decides to take a lot of people's money and then change the deal after they got the cash, the least they could do is send e-mails to the customers and apologize for underestimating the unexpected gravity of the effort involved in this work. After all, the promises - or should we call it implications? - were made that a totally different scenario would be taking place for gold pledgers than what they are experiencing - and yes, for crying out loud, we understand that there is a complex situation regarding a multitude of issues within this engine. But why do you think these people are complaining? Don't make promises you can't keep - because it absolutely reeks of the bad business practice of "bait and switch" - whether in desperation of raising funds for the project - or (and I don't want to believe this) raising funds for pleasure. Quite frankly, I don't think anybody cares of the motivation when profit is made upon promises that suspiciously keep changing and ultimately don't seem to be fulfilled. I still like this product, but from where my money stands, no apologies to the earlier customers whose deal is now morphing beyond their control is rather in poor taste. Don't make promises that you can't keep - and I suggest if you can't deliver somewhere in a time frame - then stop making remarks like "in a couple of weeks" or "mid-November". It's that rhetoric - not the lack of delivery - that is causing people to boil.

Up to this last build we have had regular updates and most things have been discussed on the forums regarding changes..
What issues exactly are you referring to ?

The waiting is almost over, today is V1.009 day!

Sorry we changed our plan but it was best to just get the hard parts sorted and fixed. The engine is great now and so we expect more regular versions in the future.

Rick

You couldn't have called that any closer! Nice!

3com

For me not work v 1009.
And I've make a clear install.....
Please see the error in the attached pictures

That's a Direct X error....
Even if you installed them recently download and install the latest Direct X runtime files from the link below.
Reboot and try again ...

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=35

This should do the trick ..