King Arthur's Gold
Build 2367 - Hotfix
This time around the AngelScript optimisations should work.
Cheers,
Furai
Build 2367 - Contributions Galore; Performance, Translations and a Bug Massacre
In particular, Asu and Fuzzle have been given access to our internal repositories. Asu has taken on a variety of performance improvements, modding quality-of-life changes, and translation work. Fuzzle has focussed on fixes and gameplay quality of life, and is preparing a lot of changes that aren't quite ready for release yet, including new gamemodes and a lot of overhauled "behind the scenes" stuff.
This build should improve performance, particularly serverside. Enormous collapses should no longer "kill" servers (thanks makmoud98 for help testing this), water and fire shouldn't cause issues with certain graphics setups, the minimap should be a lot faster in general.
This build features improved (but experimental!) translation support, with more to come. We've had expressions of interest from serveral members of the community - if you'd like to help get KAG translated to your locale, Asu is probably the one to get in touch with. There's an open github issue but the forums are also a good place to discuss this. We'd love to get official translation support for lots of languages in to help KAG reach and welcome all sorts of international audiences.
There are also a lot of bugs fixed and improvements for modders, check the changelog for details on those!
Next month will be more fixes, more performance work, an improvement pass on the in-game (and discord) emoticons, yet more modder-requested functionality, and ongoing translation efforts.
Changelog:
Game:
[removed] immobilise button from vehicles with drivers (thanks fuzzle)
[added] mirror_map and water_baseline config options to kaggen
Heads:
[added] greece head to heads2.png
[modified] heads selection has 8 columns now to fit more heads in
[added] extra head slot to FOTW for greece head
[modified] mazey head (dutch pride, no antenna)
Performance:
[fixed] angelscript on linux performance (thanks asu, furai)
[fixed] very slow rebuild when video is enabled (thanks asu)
[fixed] slow file hashing in launcher (thanks asu)
[fixed] collapse performance bug (thanks asu, fuzzle)
[added] minimap updating is batched
[modified] flood layers (water, fire) only update minimap if a cell actually changed
Translation:
[added] language switch menu (see misc options) (thanks asu)
[added] french json locale (thanks asu)
[added] extra translation support (thanks asu)
[removed] legacy irrlicht translations
Github:
[added] README (thanks fuzzle)
[added] legal clarifications on distribution rights
Scripting/Modding:
[added] kickafk and mechanisms support to challenge gamemode
[added] GUI DrawShadowedText functions for AS
[added] DrawTextPlain methods - the old DrawText keeps the legacy behaviour to avoid compatibility issues.
[added] config color for console + new default colors (thanks asu)
[modified] Improved /performance command (thanks asu)
[modified] TextureFromFile fails rather than returning a default texture if the file doesn't exist
[added] hasMatch() to CFileMatcher for testing if there's actually a match for the searched file or not
[added] show script console command exceptions (thanks asu)
[modified] new mod downloader appearance (thanks asu)
[added] Maths::ATan2
[added] Vec2f_lengthdir(f32 length, f32 dir) alternative vec2f constructor for people from gamemaker
[added] Vec2f toString and string concatenation (though no working += yet)
Bugs:
[modified] "onHit" safety pass which may help server/client stability.
[modified] moved knight sword cling to its own script so knightlogic can be removed when dead (onHit safety)
[fixed] initialize materials correctly (thanks fuzzle)
[fixed] each team's flag being 1 block different on maps that don't have flag positions defined (i.e. generator maps) (thanks cameron)
[fixed] "respawn in approximately never" happening when build time is set to 0. (thanks cameron)
[fixed] buildOnGround tagged builder blocks (buildings) getting picked up incorrectly
[fixed] first map in cycle skipped in non-shuffle mode
[fixed] mapcycle "first map" behaviour to work across different script-loaded mapcycles
[fixed] crash in toUpper (thanks asu)
[modified] cleaned up a few places where shadowing is unhelpful in-engine (dark text)
[modified] explain the mod verification failure to be less confusing (thanks asu)
[modified] 'cannot create blob on client' message is now more detailed (thanks asu)
[fixed] crash when passing a map name that doesn't exist to /loadmap (thanks asu)
[fixed] issue with minimap updating when water/fire set somewhere impossible
[fixed] dumb outlining on minimap
Keeping you in The Loop - September 2017 Roundup
The last month (plus change) has been about sorting everything out community-side. We've got new admins, the discord server has continued to flourish, the community repositories are hooked up to the internal ones properly, and we've got two new "direct" contributors. There's been a lot of fiddling in control panels, preparing paperwork, and peering at command-lines. Sorry for a text-only post, it's hard to take a compelling screenshot of this kind of thing :)
[LIST]
<*>New Admins:
Definitely the most visible development for players; 10 new admins will be patrolling the official servers in addition to the existing crew. You can also call them to the game on discord with "@Ingame Server Admin" in the general or help channels. Huge thanks to Galen for spearheading this and to the OKSA crew in each region who chimed in on the applications. Welcome to the new admins! ːkag_flexː
<*>Discord Server:
For those that haven't joined yet, the [URL="https://discord.gg/69Xh2sa"]official discord server[/URL] has flourished nicely. There's currently over 120 users online, almost 600 users total. It's been a hub of discussion, organisation, and tasty memes since it opened, and shows no sign of slowing down, so if you haven't joined yet, get on it! Thanks to the administration team and three cheers to @Furai getting over his irc-itis and joining ːkag_winkː
<*>Repositories Aligned:
This lets us directly use the [URL="https://github.com/transhumandesign/kag-base"]github kag-base repository[/URL] alongside our internal repos, which is much better than manually reconciling the changes like I had to before this change was made. In particular, I should be able to merge public pull requests much more regularly, which will reduce friction on community developers contributing fixes and features. If you're interested, check out the #development channel on discord. ːkag_yesː
<*>Direct Contributors:
We've brought AsuMagic and Fuzzle on board to contribute to our internal repos directly, including the engine. This will let us service modder's requests and concerns more quickly and should help with finding bugs too as there'll be more eyes on the code. There will likely be a bit of a warming-up period as they learn to navigate the rough edges of our dated codebase, but we're looking forward to working with them.
[/LIST]
The community has also been busy organising their own stuff:
[LIST]
<*>KAG World Cup:
The 2017 KWC has started being organised and currently has 70 members. You can check out the social forum [URL="https://forum.thd.vg/social-forums/kag-world-cup-2017.1424/"]here[/URL] if you want to get involved or find out more.
<*>Gather:
The Australian community is hosting regular 5v5 gather games [URL="https://discord.gg/ktD58b2"]via their separate discord server[/URL]. I took part this Monday - it was a nice collaborative atmosphere with some good coordination and would be a good alternative to pub games if you're feeling frustrated there or want to up your game. Anyone is welcome, but there's currently only one server which is located in Australia. There's talk of bringing it to the official discord server and other regions too, if that's something people are interested in. The system is currently developed by cameron (cameron1010 on the kag forums) so he's the one to bug about that.
[/LIST]
Next month should involve another build with more community maps, a whole host of fixes and improvements game-side, and doubtless more community shenanigans.
Can't wait!
Max
World Humanitarian Day Followup
Thanks for all your support over the sale weekend - and a warm welcome to new players!
Stay kind to each other,
Love from THD
World Humanitarian Day Special - #NotATarget
Ultimately, World Humanitarian Day helps to raise public awareness about humanitarian assistance activities and the importance of working together to solve the world’s problems.
This year the WHD Campaign is #NotATarget
View the WHD #NotATarget website here
To do our bit for raising awareness, King Arthur's Gold will be 50% off on steam for the entire weekend, and half of each sale will be donated to UNICEF at the end of the event. Pick up a copy for yourself of a friend and help save lives at the same time!
We who are lucky enough to spend our time playing video games instead of suffering violence, famine, and preventable disease, can lend our support to those that need it.
Please consider signing the #NotATarget petition, letting your friends and family know about WHD, and supporting a humanitarian organisation of your choosing this August 19th.
Thanks and lots of love,
THD
Build 2311 - New Maps!
A small build this time around, just pulling in the latest batch of community maps and a single fix!
There are new maps in the "big 3" modes.
TDM:
- Added bunnie_Korwin_Mikke
- Added bunnie_Wojciech_Jaruzelski
- Added Cohen_Sanctuary
- Added Lavaguy678_Peanut
- Added mcrifel_Ruin
CTF:
- Added 4zK_Rorschach
- Added 4zK_Stubs
- Added 8x_BBiscuit
- Added 8x_Grounds
- Added Fuzzle_Stale
- Replaced Punk123_toothgrinderx with Punk123_toothgrinderx2
- Added Punk123_SkinnedCastle
- Added Punk123_PrincessCity
- Added Punk123_CryingDemon
- Added SJD360_Abrogation
- Added Skinney_Descent
- Replaced SJD360_Overdose with SJD360_Overdose2
TTH:
- Added 8x_HawksCieza
Please leave your feedback in the appropriate place so that map authors and moderators can get a handle on community sentiment and so we can remove any problem maps.
We're looking to take a more "seasonal" approach to maps if we keep getting this high level of interest in mapping. The CTF mapcycle in particular is very large now (relative to game length) and we think that perhaps mixing up the cycle more regularly and maintaining a smaller pool of active maps could be most enjoyable going foward. We're open to opinions on this idea of course!
Thanks to all the map moderators and to all who submitted maps! Congratulations as well to those who got maps in game.
Have fun!
Max
Full Changelog:
[merged] PRs #14 and #15 from github; accepted community maps + mapcycle updates
[modified] fixed underground grass in 8x_grounds and ffsff_underhangpit2 maps
[fixed] CTF crashing after a bad map is loaded (still causes other huge problems of course)
Build 2303 - More Flags, Fixes, Community Buttons and Pull Requests
One change should help ease water-related frustrations a little...
Here's a run-down of the major changes:
- More flags in the National Flags Head Pack!
As requested on the forums, the flags of Iraq, Syria (+Independence), Libya, Mali, Tunisia, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, The Faroe Islands, Greenland, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic have been added. Greece is coming next build. For those that missed it, you can pick up the pack on steam for the sweet sweet price of two bucks!
- Community buttons!
The community buttons at the bottom of the main menu have been retouched. The new official (fan-run) Discord server is linked, IRC is labelled as such, and the official forums get a link too. Come say hi if you haven't already! The buttons could use some dressing up but they're more relevant and nicely arranged than they used to be at least.
- Sponge Buffs
Water haters rejoice! As discussed on the forums, sponges last for 2 hits and reduce the stun time to 1/6 of a second.
- AFK kick works on wall-clock time instead of in-game time.
This should prevent afks from evading the kick in TDM.
- Github Pull Requests Merged
Thanks to Fuzzle for this month's community pull requests, and to makmoud98, AsuMagic and HkgStudio for their interest in contributing over on github!
The last few months there's been a few community-side shakeups as well:
- Maps
There's been a few more map moderators assigned who have been reviewing maps like crazy. Check out the map submission forum for more info, a sneak peek at the accepted maps, and to have your say!
- Discord server rivalry
Gamers seem to have embraced discord for their general-purpose comms, and the KAG community has been no exception. Multiple clan and unofficial discord servers had popped up. There's now an official (still fan-run!) discord in an attempt to unify this a little, with links to the more specialised servers there (clan discords in particular).
Next build will be about getting the recently accepted community maps in-game, and a bit of repo cosolidation - so that the pull request process is simpler for us and we can take more of them without hassle.
Have Fun!
Max
Full Changelog for those interested:
[modified] new sprites for some missing countries - iraq, syria (+independence), libya, mali, tunisia, austria, estonia, lithuania, georgia, faroe islands, greenland, cuba, puerto rico, dominican republic
[added] new/nicer community buttons at bottom of main menu (discord link included)
[updated] engine with new apiclient stuff
[fixed] afk kick working in game-time vs clock-time (means that someone afk across multiple short games will still be kicked - think TDM)
[modified] sponge reduces stun to 1/6 of a second and takes 2 hits with water to destroy
[added] cant build on currently collapsing tile spaces (prevents wasting materials, as those tiles cannot be modified until the collapse is finished)
[updated] merged PRs from github: 'fzzle/quarters-include-fix', 'fzzle/duplication-fix', 'fzzle/boatshop-menu-fix'
[fixed] incomplete implementation of archer quiver going invisible when sleeping in quarters
[fixed] splash doing a double-hit for force splashes (was interfering with sponges surviving a hit)
[added] c_write_console_to_disk and c_write_chat_to_disk for disabling logging
[modified] logging doesn't flush to disk (prevents slow blocking i/o for every line)
[fixed] a few missing heads in vanilla
[fixed] tcpr security issue
[fixed] slow star rendering on linux (thanks Norill!)
[added] CMap::isTileCollapsing in various flavours
[fixed] GotoURL could "jam" on hitting esc in main menu
Another Hotfix 2248 - few minor tweaks
So I've just pushed small hotfix, the most important thing about it is to reduce server log spam due to missing textures on server. Once servers update admins should see less spam in console.
Also this has been fixed:
[CODE][fixed] CTF GUI not displayed after join
[fixed] TDM spawn "change class" button icon missing[/CODE]
Cheers,
Furai
Hotfix 2248 - image offset spam removed
Just letting you know that we pushed small hotfix suppressing the console spam about image offset.
Cheers,
Furai
Build 2248 - Heads Pack, Community Fixes, Script Textures and More!
Long time coming on this build, we know! It should be out on all platforms within the next half-hour.
This build contains a boatload of changes, ranging from small things like maps and bug fixes to entirely new modding possibilities and the first ever head pack for KAG! There might be some weirdness associated with such a big patch as a lot of things have changed code-wise, please let us know about them ASAP.
About the heads pack, "Flags of the World":
There's over 120 heads, over 60 for each gender, and we're keen to hear what you think. The pack is available through steam and is just a drop-down in the heads menu. Here's a look at all the heads. If you're interested in buying but your country is missing, please get in touch with support and we'll see what we can do.
MM will be managing the release of the heads pack shortly, which will be available through steam over here. It should "just work" in-game once it's out, but please get in touch if you have trouble!
We'll be looking at non-steam options for purchase if there's interest, let us know in the thread.
Other changes:
- There are a few map changes for CTF from the community.
- Siege engines and boats in crates can't be opened right at the top of the map, which prevents them glitching off towers and wasting coins, and (slightly) discourages sky-siege.
- The materials code has been re-implemented by Fuzzle, with changes to decay rates and sprites, and much-simplified code. He'll be taking feedback in the build thread, we're happy to iterate on these changes.
- The first round of community-sourced pull requests from github have been integrated with the game. Thanks so much to those that got behind this. We'll be extending and improving the handling of this in the future.
- There are a few changes intended more for modders as well - there is now access to textures via scripts, and this is used for the pixel offsets and team recolouring in-game. This allows modders to add things like new team colours for role-play mods, procedurally combine textures, and much more. The API can be extended if need be, and we're considering re-implementing a few of the now-script-side features engine-side for performance reasons (the script-side implementations would still work, but there'd be a high-performance C++ implementation available)
Have Fun!
Max
Full Changelog:
Script Textures:
[added] script-side control of textures
[added] script-side pixel offsets (working around engine bugs)
[added] working palette swap script
[added] precache system for runner textures and offsets
Heads Pack:
[added] heads pack popup
[added] Flags of the World pack with 122 heads (61 for each gender)
Maps:
[removed] Fellere_FourRivers from map rotation
[updated] potatobird_sharkromance and punk123_antqueen maps
[modified] mcrifel_steppes new version
[added] punk123_toothgrinderx map
Pull Requests:
[fixed] [fuzzle] arrows at (0,0)
[fixed] [fuzzle] mines on join
[fixed] [fuzzle] strange seed behaviour
[fixed] [GoldenGuy] respawn timer in sandbox
[fixed] [calvinloveland] typos
Miscellaneous:
[modified] cannot open crate with siege/boat in top 5 tiles of map
[added] fuzzle material changes
[fixed] broken trade menu from materials rework
[dev] avoiding overflow on knocked
[fixed] receiver reading outside bounds could crash map
[added] fuzzle fixes for block placement on own actor
[updated] engine with async minimap stuff (minimap updated more often + in background)
[added] yagger/makmoud98 head is male trader
[modified] afk kick after 2min30 now
You can view and discuss the original post on the Official Forums here