0.4.3 RC1 schedule

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Vezzra
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0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#1 Post by Vezzra »

EDIT2: RC1 builds have been uploaded.

Unless any objections or problems arise, the upcoming monday builds will be 0.4.3 RC1.

Procedure:
  • Please turn in any patches that should be applied for 0.4.3.
  • Deadline is Monday, July 22nd 6PM UTC. By that time everything should already be committed to SVN, so if a patch needs to be reviewed before be sure to give enough time for that.
  • If you can't get in a patch on time that you think sufficiently important to delay RC1, please leave a post here in this thread. I'll check the forums before I'll start the build process, and will honor such requests unless Goeff or eleazar decide that I should go ahead with RC1 anyway (@Geoff & eleazar: in this case please also post a reply here in this thread).
Now regarding the changelog:

As nobody else volunteered to update the changelog, I finally went ahead and did it myself. I did that by digging through the commit messages of several hundred SVN commits, so I most likely missed something major, messed things up, misinterpreted something, placed entries under the wrong captions etc. There are also several commit messages I wasn't sure how to incorporate into the changelog, either because I didn't know if or how to, or I didn't understand what exactly the change was. Here is a list of the relevant commits: 5772, 5780, 5798, 5839, 5870, 6020, 6021, 6024, 6026, 6116, 6118, 6167, 6190, 6191. The updated changelog has already been committed (rev 6243).

Geoff, eleazar - please, can one of you review my work and make the necessary corrections? Furthermore, these things need to be done:
  • Regarding the addition of the moderator mode, I only added a very short entry for that, I think you, Geoff, can probably better come up with a good summary.
  • I also didn't do a "Key changes" category at the top, like we had for the 0.4.2 changelog.
I will wait for a confirmation that the changelog is ok before I proceed with RC1. If I don't get a go-ahead until Monday evening, I'll postpone RC1 to Tuesday evening, if I don't get a go-ahead until then, I'll just produce normal test builds. The go-ahead can be a confirmation that the changelog is fine as it is, or that the necessary corrections have been made, or even that I shouldn't care about the changelog and proceed anyway. Just tell me what to do :D

[EDIT: fixed typo]
Last edited by Vezzra on Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Dilvish
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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#2 Post by Dilvish »

That was a lot to go through -- great job! As for two commits in your inquiry list which I had originally done, I think a changelog comment is probably unneeded:

[6020] was a correction I made, mostly undoing some design window panel resizing I had accidentally comitted. Even if it wound up slightly differently than before, it was so minor I doubt it needs a comment in the changelog.

[5870] could probably be summarized as 'minor adjustments to Object Window display defaults', but again, it was such a minor change, which didn't actually change functionality, I'm doubtful it needs to be mentioned.

I also went ahead and made a couple modifications to the changelog:
-- the new blockade mechanics are a pretty significant change and I thought I should expand on their explanation. As I write this, I realize I should probably put that same info into the pedia, and then perhaps this changelog entry could go back to being shorter. I'll try to add the pedia entry soon, let me know if you want me to shorten the changelog entry in that case. Of course if you think it should be shortened or clarified regardless of the pedia, be my guest.
-- the lingering negative effect on population resulting from Concentration Camps was a significant enough substantive change I thought it should be mentioned under content, not just vaguely referenced under bug fixes.
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eleazar
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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#3 Post by eleazar »

Vezzra wrote:As nobody else volunteered to update the changelog, I finally went ahead and did it myself. I did that by digging through the commit messages of several hundred SVN commits, so I most likely missed something major, messed things up, misinterpreted something, placed entries under the wrong captions etc. There are also several commit messages I wasn't sure how to incorporate into the changelog, either because I didn't know if or how to, or I didn't understand what exactly the change was. Here is a list of the relevant commits: 5772, 5780, 5798, 5839, 5870, 6020, 6021, 6024, 6026, 6116, 6118, 6167, 6190, 6191. The updated changelog has already been committed (rev 6243).
Ideally, IMHO the committer should update the change log with the stuff that he adds/changes, especially since he is best able to explain it. Personally i think the best practice is when you make the commit (not that every commit needs a change-log entry, but many do), as it makes the changelog more useful between releases, and there's less chance of forgetting something. But the main thing is IMHO that the committer make the changelog entry at sometime.

Of course things will be forgotten, and it's good for someone to look over the changelog and make sure nothing is forgotten, but that's kinda a big ugly job if it's all or mostly on one person. I've cleaned up the changelog in the past, but that was more of a clarity, organization thing, not a write from scratch.


Anyway, it looks like you did a good job, it's all very clear. Though i can't speak much to the accuracy, as i've been fairly inactive for most of this stretch.

I've added a "Key Changes section, which is mostly drawn from your "New Features" section. That's the part for players to get a quick idea of what's different, if they don't want to read a wall of text. Based largely on reading your changlog those are the features i'd highlight. Those closer to the word done since the last big release may see something that needs to be changed there.

revision 6246.

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Geoff the Medio
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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#4 Post by Geoff the Medio »

I would not emphasize increasing the systems limit to 5000. It's not really usable at that many, but saying it's a "key change" suggests it should be fully playable at that setting. The "new features" point might note that playing with that many is not recommended.

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#5 Post by eleazar »

Geoff the Medio wrote:I would not emphasize increasing the systems limit to 5000. It's not really usable at that many, but saying it's a "key change" suggests it should be fully playable at that setting. The "new features" point might note that playing with that many is not recommended.
Good point.

revision 6251.
"de-emphasized the 5000 systems feature, and added cautionary note. Also spelling fixes."

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#6 Post by Vezzra »

Dilvish wrote:As for two commits in your inquiry list which I had originally done, I think a changelog comment is probably unneeded
Ok.
I also went ahead and made a couple modifications to the changelog
Very good :D
...let me know if you want me to shorten the changelog entry...
As far as I'm concerned let them as they are now, no need to shorten them, even if you add that to the pedia. Of course Geoff and eleazar have the final say here, but since they haven't raised any objections till now I assume they are also fine with it.

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#7 Post by Vezzra »

eleazar wrote:...it's good for someone to look over the changelog and make sure nothing is forgotten, but that's kinda a big ugly job if it's all or mostly on one person.
Tell me about it... ;)
Anyway, it looks like you did a good job, it's all very clear.
Thanks :D
Though i can't speak much to the accuracy, as i've been fairly inactive for most of this stretch. [...] Those closer to the word done since the last big release may see something that needs to be changed there.
Well, that's a call to everyone who has been contributing in the last months to take a look at the changelog and see if I missed or misunderstood anything, placed it in the wrong section, or if something could be worded better - after all, I'm not a native speaker ;) (deadline for corrections is that same as for all other commits, Monday July 22nd, 6PM UTC).

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#8 Post by Vezzra »

@Eleazar, you added this line to the "Key Changes" section:

Code: Select all

 ~ New Moderator and Observer player modes
I'm a bit confused, the observer player mode has already been added in 0.3.16. Is there a specific reason to mention it again here? Anyway, the entries regarding the new moderator mode in "Key Changes" and "New Features / Improvements" differ now and IMO should be harmonized. That needs to be done before tomorrow's deadline.

@Geoff: Speaking of which, as you didn't comment on my statement:
Vezzra wrote:Regarding the addition of the moderator mode, I only added a very short entry for that, I think you, Geoff, can probably better come up with a good summary
I assume that you're okay with the brief entry we have now.

Aside from that I take the replies so far (and the fact that Geoff went ahead and bumped the version numbers) as the go-ahead and will proceed with RC1, unless any objections are raised. I've also contacted Nagilum regarding the builds for Linux, I hope he can do that.

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#9 Post by Geoff the Medio »

Vezzra wrote:@Geoff: Speaking of which, as you didn't comment on my statement:
Vezzra wrote:Regarding the addition of the moderator mode, I only added a very short entry for that, I think you, Geoff, can probably better come up with a good summary
I assume that you're okay with the brief entry we have now.
It should probably be elaborated on a bit....
~ New Moderator player type in multiplayer games
~~ Sees the full universe like an observer.
~~ Controls the timing of turns.
~~ Can create and destroy objects, add or remove starlanes, and set ownership of objects.
~~ Can be used with no other human players and several AIs to have a more-controlled AI test arena than using observer mode.
I've also contacted Nagilum regarding the builds for Linux, I hope he can do that.
I messaged him recently as well. He may or may not be available at any given time. If he can't provide builds, we'll probably have to go ahead with releases without his immediate help.

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#10 Post by eleazar »

revision 6252.

Added Geoff's details about moderator
Galaxy Generation is now based on a copy-able random seed
This explanation of seeds seems clumsy, but i can't think of a clearer, concise way to explain the seed.

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#11 Post by Dilvish »

Say, another change I think it would be good to squeeze in today would be to change the presentation order of sitreps, so that Technology research sitreps go first -- as it is they are almost last, & very easy to miss (for such an important thing). Ok if I do that?
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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#12 Post by eleazar »

Dilvish wrote:Say, another change I think it would be good to squeeze in today would be to change the presentation order of sitreps, so that Technology research sitreps go first -- as it is they are almost last, & very easy to miss (for such an important thing). Ok if I do that?
Sounds like a good change.

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#13 Post by AndrewW »

eleazar wrote:revision 6252.

Added Geoff's details about moderator
Galaxy Generation is now based on a copy-able random seed
This explanation of seeds seems clumsy, but i can't think of a clearer, concise way to explain the seed.
Galaxy Generation now uses a random seed which can be easily copied, this makes it easy to recreate the same galaxy during another game. This can be useful for testing purposes, if you want to see what someone else would do with the same setup and so on.

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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#14 Post by MatGB »

Dilvish wrote:Say, another change I think it would be good to squeeze in today would be to change the presentation order of sitreps, so that Technology research sitreps go first -- as it is they are almost last, & very easy to miss (for such an important thing). Ok if I do that?
Works for me, possible to not just do tech but all global stuff first then location specific stuff?
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Vezzra
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Re: 0.4.3 RC1 schedule

#15 Post by Vezzra »

Dilvish wrote:Say, another change I think it would be good to squeeze in today would be to change the presentation order of sitreps, so that Technology research sitreps go first -- as it is they are almost last, & very easy to miss (for such an important thing). Ok if I do that?
IMO a good idea... you still have a few hours left (as of this post) to get the change in ;)

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