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[2019] Hey, so, we messed up.


over 5 years ago - /u/Wrel - Direct link

Last update was a bit of a mess. There was a lot of positivity surrounding the fixes going into the most recent update, and some of those fell flat. We didn't have our pass complete for Infil cloak on low (how it currently looks is not how it'll look when we're finished,) and the per-faction population limit check was broken.

Reinforcements Needed was already broken, but to varying degrees based on where it was trying to spawn you. Good news is that we've got a workaround for Reinforcements Needed that is on Live currently (as of like 10 minutes ago,) and a PTS update to fix some issues with the spawn system.

Next week we'll be getting this Live (and ideally with an updated cloak shader for the low pipeline,) provided no more issues pop up while it soaks over the weekend.

Thanks for trying to be patient through this. The spawn system is fundamental, and it's important that we get it right, which unfortunately means a lot of tuning. If we didn't feel like this system had the potential to alleviate a lot of problems, we wouldn't have done the work on it. "Taking the L" isn't the direction we're going, and hopefully the coming update will get us to a place of relative stability. Not to say that more tuning won't take place, but, as a lot of enthusiasm showed in the previous Patch Note post, getting the per-faction pop balance working is one of the last remaining hurdles.

Yes, we should be using Test Server more often. No, Test Server is not ideal for many cases (Spawn System testing included,) but it would have brought to light the UI memory issue we faced earlier this week. We've got a bad habit of trying to turn updates out very quickly, sometimes overlooking crucial elements we're then scrambling to fix later.

Part of that is being a small team, part of it is an overwhelming eagerness to grow the game, and the two often clash with one another. We'll try to temper our strategy in the future, but until then, here are the PTS notes for tonight.

Bug fixes

  • Clicking a Reinforcements Needed spawn location will no longer prevent the player from deploying to that area.
  • Spawning into balanced fights at contested regions with less than 60 allied population should now work.
  • Elysium Spawn Tubes greater than 1000 meters from the player are now on a 30 second spawn cooldown, opposed to 20.
  • Warpgate spawn locations for all unlocked continents should now appear at all times.

Forum notes here: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/jun-07-2019-pts-update.251961/

External link →
over 5 years ago - /u/DBPaul - Direct link

Just wanted to chime in briefly on this. A lot of what game development is about is finding a balance between speed and accuracy. Go too fast and you miss your target; take too long and the target has moved.

In this case we lined up our shot a little too quickly and have opted to take our time to aim the next one.

For those who are curious, in this metaphor the spawn system is a loud, powerful rifle that was highly customized by several people, some of whom may or may not have ever existed. It appears to be made of a strange metal that smells like paper, it uses a series of buttons, cranks, and triggers to fire, and for ammunition it uses those weird watch batteries and four-sided dice that somehow keep pouring from a nearby hose.

over 5 years ago - /u/DBPaul - Direct link

Originally posted by Yawhatnever

If anyone wonders why the spawn system keeps getting messed up, it's probably because the branching looks something like this:

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Player behavior is complicated, which leads to complicated models, which leads to complicated code that is pretty much impossible to test out anywhere but on live servers with hundreds of people.

(If I happen to be right: I'm currently seeking employment)

https://imgur.com/a/Q1d9bnM

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