That box at the top of this forum

[DarkDragon]

I have created scripts to automatically update a ZC changelog and publish alpha builds, and thanks to War Lord this functionality is now integrated directly into the AGN forums, at the top of the Beta Discussion forum.

Please be aware that these alpha builds are WORK IN PROGRESS, and may be unstable, corrupt your quests, or break your computer. Please do use these alpha builds to check the latest bug fixes and explore the new features, but actively developing quests on an alpha build is NOT recommended.

With this new deployment system in place, I would like to modify somewhat the bug reporting process:
* Before posting a new bug, please check the changelog to verify the issue has not already been addressed in the next build.
* Please include both the build number and operating system in your bug report.
* Feel free to add helpful tags, such as [ZSCRIPT], [SUBSCREEN], etc, to the start of the bug thread title, to better draw the attention of the specific developer in charge of that subcomponent.
* It is the original poster's responsibility to follow up on his bug report: please keep up to date with the alpha builds and let us know if a new build has resolved the bug . Once a bug has been flagged as fixed and moved to the quarantine, PLEASE VERIFY THE BUG. ;)

If the scripts appear to be broken or if there are other problems, please PM me or post in here.

EDIT By ShadowTiger: A helpful thread in case you are told you need a new DLL file: Click (http://www.armageddongames.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1112657#post1112657).

[Tygore]

Awesome.

[Nicholas Steel]

maybe make this a announcement instead of a sticky? so it stays at the top of the forum.

[DarkDragon]

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that but wanted people to be able to reply if there were any problems. I'll post an announcement on all the ZC Dev forums as well I guess.

[Nicholas Steel]

are announcements required to be locked? i thought you didnt have to lock announcements...

[DarkDragon]

I think they are; to post a new announcement I had to go fill out a special form in the mod cp, and I saw no options for allowing user replies.

[Nicholas Steel]

oh ok then, was just a thought then.

[Nicholas Steel]

omg that was weird... recently this forum seems to be under a fair bit more load... just before about a minute ago the new alpha was downloading at 4kb a sec... i canceled it and started again a short while after and now its going at a much better 25kb. (tho 51kb would be great)

[DarkDragon]

The betas themselves are actually currently hosted on some of Sean's webspace; he told me he had more than plenty of storage and bandwidth to handle the load :evil:

[Nicholas Steel]

yea it varied greatly, sometimes it reached 51kb but most of the time it sat at 25kb.

[The_Amaster]

Pretty sweet. This should cut down on repeat bugs considerably. Plus it helps bring the Devs and Testers closer, allows us to keep track of whats being done, and gives us a feeling of more power than we havem thus increasing our morale.

[Petoe]

This is an awesome system! Alpha builds released so often!

Now it's testing time! ...though, in DD's post the part "may break your computer" bothers me a bit. I understand it's an Alpha and quest corrutions and other ZC related issues are acceptable, but if there's even a small possibility of these Alpha's fucking up my computer, I dunno if I'm that willing to download any of them even though I have a big urge to test...

[DarkDragon]

The worst that could realistically happen would be quest corruption, or ZC hanging and dumping garbage files in your ZC directory, or completely freezing your computer until you hard reboot. But like with any program of ZC's complexity, I can't truthfully promise that there's anything that absolutely could not happen.

[Petoe]

Ah, ok. So I guess there's really no reason to worry then. I just thought there were something in the Alphas that may cause problems, but they are just versions of ZC that are a bit buggier eh? :)

Oh and there will be more stable betas released every now and then between these Alphas am I right?

[Deviance]

The betas themselves are actually currently hosted on some of Sean's webspace; he told me he had more than plenty of storage and bandwidth to handle the load :evil:

Yeah my server tends to cap the downloading when it's under stress.

[Nicholas Steel]

yay, the changelog is pretty damn informative :) (not really)

[pkmnfrk]

I think it would be good if, in addition to the full releases, there were also "executables only" releases, so that people on dial-up (like me, for example) could easy try out a new alpha without having to download all the files that don't change (the DLLs, sfx.dat, 1st/2nd/3rd.qst) all over again.

I just did a quick check, and in alpha 233, the executables (zelda-, zquest- and zlaunch-w.exe) weigh in at 2.39 megs, zipped, while the other files are 2.63 megs! That's over half of the releases which don't change!

Now, granted, occasionally, they DO change, in which case the full release would need to be downloaded. But, that should be rare at best, especially since the bulk of the changes are going to be in the main three executables.

[ennonfenom]

hi im not sure what is going on but ive try'd twice to get 254.
and when its done and unpackage the zip i go to about in zc and zq.
they both say v2.11 beta (build) 18. http://www.armageddongames.net/forums/showthread.php?t=96691

[Nicholas Steel]

ignore what the programs say, only follow the name of the zip file you downloaded.

[DarkDragon]

Right. These are intermediate builds, which will become b18 when the next beta is released. (17 got skipped for some technical reasons).

[Shoelace]

Yay! This means b18 will be released! I am excited because 16c is just destroying my life. lol

[CastChaos]

I just told poor Shoelace that there won't be any more beta before the stable version and bamm... there will be one. I wonder how it will be... Will it be completed before May 19th, I wonder..........

[DarkDragon]

What's special about May 19th?

[CastChaos]

You surely know about the other ZC forum, the PureZC. Well, the PureZC Spring Expo 2007 will accept submissions until May 19th. I want to submit a demo made with 16c, but if b18 is released by May 19th... I may upgrade... Or if it is released soon then I might start the demo with it... No problem if it comes just in summer, I was just curious...

[Majora]

Good show on the MANY bug fixes that have been done for the next build! That's the most in a single build announcement! The Devs are gaining momentum and at this rate, 2.5 will be out in (minimum) 5 weeks to (maximum) 9!

[The_Amaster]

The Devs are gaining momentum and at this rate, 2.5 will be out in (minimum) 5 weeks to (maximum) 9!
Eh, I'm not hat optimistic. There are still some features that need implementing and debugging(Pits, Custom Item Classes, etc.).
But yeah, a lot of progress has been made. Great job guys!

[Majora]

Well.... I was slightly excited when I saw all those fixes, call it an impulse. If feasible, 2 devs should work on one feature, (Simultaneously if possible). true that things will take slightly longer, but bugs will become less frequent and any that DO appear will be fixed faster.

My $0.02

[DarkDragon]

It's true that pair programming is extremely effective, but requires both programmers to be together physically. Over the internet you just end up stepping on each other's toes.

[Majora]

I was looking over the changelog, and saw that the "Like likes eat small shields" rule was discontinued, which means it was taken out. What is the behavior now? Do like likes eat them all the time?

[_L_]

Items now use the "Edible" flag, which is set for large shields by default. Quests which used "Like Likes eat small shields" will have their small shields' Edible flag set.

[ShadowTiger]

Items now use the "Edible" flag, which is set for large shields by default. Quests which used "Like Likes eat small shields" will have their small shields' Edible flag set.So if you have all of your items marked as edible, will it eat them all, or just one at a time? ... and thus, which item? The one most recently acquired? Or can only shield-class items have this flag?

[_L_]

All of them at once!

I recall that the Like Likes in OoT can eat both tunics and shields in one go.

[Dark Nation]

I know that, because of the way ZC is written, this would be a special case, but, what if you set Heart Containers to be edible? Everytime a Like Like got you, you'd permanently lose a heart. :evil:

[The_Amaster]

Ya know, 254 is just about a new beta version. it going public anytime soon?

[Majora]

I believe that the next build should be the beta. well, that it should be beta 18.

Simply because, as far as betas go, the next build seems to be more stable than 254.

[_L_]

I know that, because of the way ZC is written, this would be a special case, but, what if you set Heart Containers to be edible? Everytime a Like Like got you, you'd permanently lose a heart. :evil:

Okay then!

And setting Heart Pieces to edible will make you lose one of them as well.

[Petoe]

I believe that the next build should be the beta. well, that it should be beta 18.

Simply because, as far as betas go, the next build seems to be more stable than 254.

Hell no! With that huge list of changes and fixes that hasbeen done to b254, the next build should be at least tested a bit before calling it beta18. That's just IMO of course, but I hope the developers agree. I mean, with so many changes it is almost certain there are some nasty new bugs in this new upcoming build, so getting those fixed and I think it would be a perfect time for a beta 18.

Of course I have personal reasons why I want beta 18 to be as stable as possible. Making Lost Isle bugfree is very important for me, and what could be better "advertisement" for ZC than a big epic quest for a ZC 2.5 beta that is bugfree? :)

[The_Amaster]

what could be better "advertisement" for ZC than a big epic quest for a ZC 2.5 beta that is bugfree?

Two monster epic quests? Mine should be done around 2.5's release also. I doubt it'll be as big as Lost Isle, but the things pretty massive.

[Majora]

2 and three-fourths..... mines not "EPIC OMG GINOURMOUS GI-HUGIC" big, but t's a decent size. I've been cramming this past week trying to get as much done as possible.

In short: TLOZ: Epic Quest, to be relased the same day as 2.5.

[beefster09]

I plan on releasing AMN soon after the release of 2.5. If I cram hard then I can get it to be a "launch" title. Otherwise, it will be in Christmas-Easter of '08.

[_L_]

Okay then!

And setting Heart Pieces to edible will make you lose one of them as well.

Hmm... I just realised that there's a problem with this. What if you have more than one kind of Heart Container, and only one of them has the Edible flag?

P.S: Didn't there used to be a box at the top of this forum?

[The_Amaster]

Yeah, I thought the update box was only down temporarily.
I mean, I still check Shardstorm like every day, but it could be useful.

[Nicholas Steel]

i agree it would be useful :P we would only need to check one place for updates then ;) and another place for details on the update if any is available.

[elise]

For the longest time there isn't a box anymore , does it get back or is this thread gonna be unlocked.
Where can I now see that there is a new release and where to get it :googly:

[Nicholas Steel]

http://shardstorm.com/

check there once every week or so.

[rocksfan13]

Umm, links to old builds do not work.
I tried to grab 254 and it doesn't work.

[Nicholas Steel]

See the difference?

http://www.zelda.sjnetwork.net/alphabuilds/254-windows.zip
http://www.shardstorm.com/zc/alphas/1318-windows.zip

So to get 254 you would change the URL to http://www.shardstorm.com/zc/alphas/254-windows.zip

and that doesn't work either lol.

[rocksfan13]

Yup, had already tried that and got the same you did.
Think this needs fixed so quests that are crucial to old builds at this point can be played.

[Nicholas Steel]

Build 654 was when the transition between servers occurred.

[rocksfan13]

BUMP.

Issue still exists.