Devblog 27th June 2017

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    Greetings, citizens ~

    Here’s what we’ve been up to:


    Server Performance


    While looking into server performance, we noticed an issue with NPC Fleet Management: something is preventing the proper clean-up of spawned fleets. This has been causing some of the larger servers to experience mysterious performance issues recently. If you have a server and are encountering high response times for ship creation, or server-related ping spikes, this issue might be the cause. We are working on a fix for this, and are monitoring the problem. In the interim, you may want to manually wipe all NPC-Fleets from your server from time to time (once per week should suffice). You may do so by running the following command:

    /despawn_all FLTSHP all true


    However! Please warn your players before running this for the first time, as it may result in the server becoming unresponsive for several minutes. (Instances of cleaning up 150k to 300k ships are not uncommon, and that takes some time to process.)


    SQL in StarNet

    In one of the previous updates, we added the ability for server admins to query the server’s database directly via SQL. This is an incredibly powerful tool, and many server owners have taken advantage of it to create fancy features on their websites, write fine-tuned automated scripts, gather game metrics, etc. However, this functionality required us to inject the command directly into the console, and parse its reply -- not the cleanest or most direct approach. StarNet, our dedicated tool for this sort of thing, also lacked the permissions to do this. The next release will rectify this issue, giving StarNet the permissions it needs to both run SQL queries and get their output directly. This should give admins cleaner, easier access to the internals of their server’s database.



    What’s next?

    Following our current release cycle, we’ve started releasing dev builds. These are generally buggy, unstable builds that give players early access to new features. For more information, refer to: StarMade Release Cycle & News Posts

    As soon as we’re happy with the development builds, we’ll release an official preview build. We will be following the procedure outlined in the document above, then after a round of both Schine and community testing, we’ll do a public release. After that, the next push will be for a playable dev build showcasing a prototype of the new power system. We want to get this in the hands of the community as soon as it’s ready, and are looking forward to your feedback. When the power system is completed, we will take a look at weapons, combat, and other utilities and give them a balance overhaul, as well as add new exciting features.

    As always, thank you for playing StarMade!

    ~ The Schine Team
     
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    So, what you're saying is, the new planets are less than two years away?
     
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    Has there ever been such a long gap between updates?.. Are you guys sure you aren't just taking a spring <---through---> summer break?..
     
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    first people complain about all the bugs that come with updates...then they complain about all the time between updates...

    I would hate to be a game developer, they can never win. GW2 has the same problem..
     
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    first people complain about all the bugs that come with updates...then they complain about all the time between updates...

    I would hate to be a game developer, they can never win. GW2 has the same problem..
    I have no problem with them taking there time and doing it right.. I am just asking an honest question whether there has ever been a longer gap between updates? a little over two months now and going at this point.
     
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    power? planets?
    As soon as we’re happy with the development builds, we’ll release an official preview build. We will be following the procedure outlined in the document above, then after a round of both Schine and community testing, we’ll do a public release. After that, the next push will be for a playable dev build showcasing a prototype of the new power system. We want to get this in the hands of the community as soon as it’s ready, and are looking forward to your feedback. When the power system is completed, we will take a look at weapons, combat, and other utilities and give them a balance overhaul, as well as add new exciting features.
     

    therimmer96

    The Cake Network Staff Senior button unpusher
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    I just took a look at the archive, why does it skip such a large period? Last update in archive is 9th feb 2013, but the first update in release branch is 16th june 2014... that's after the weapons refresh.
     
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    *decloaks*
    gameplay update when
    *goes back to lurking for the next year*
     

    Lecic

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    I have no problem with them taking there time and doing it right.. I am just asking an honest question whether there has ever been a longer gap between updates? a little over two months now and going at this point.
    Given your join date, you wouldn't have been around for this, but we waited like 6 months for the .15 update, which was what added the current weapons/effects systems, the first batch of logic blocks, and the dodecahedron planets. This is going to be an update of similar size, so a long wait time is hardly surprising.
     
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    Personally im not expecting anything major till the end of the year, is the next build just the new advanced build tools?
    Or are the planets and universe reset in the same build?
     

    kiddan

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    So, will build helpers ever use the new mesh system that weapon connections are using? If so, would it improve performance? Looking at build helpers really takes a toll on my framerate ATM. :confused:
     
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    As always, nice update ;)

    One question about "Advanced Build Mode GUI", Would it be possible in the future, to copy the docked structures? I mean, make a selection box, and copy docked structures too, such as turrets, rail doors or other things.
     
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    NICE!!!! love server side updates, and look forward to the prototype power system coming SOON
     

    Lancake

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    Personally im not expecting anything major till the end of the year, is the next build just the new advanced build tools?
    Or are the planets and universe reset in the same build?
    The next release build will not contain new planets or anything related to universe update.
    The advanced build mode GUI + additional tools, outline system and performance related improvements would be most of it. Accompanied with some smaller changes here and there that will be mentioned in the pre-release post (+ of course more bug fixes).
     
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    You were definitly not lying when you said the dev updates were buggy...
     
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    You people are so ungrateful. First you complain about no updates, and then you complain about buggy updates, and now you complain about the most sensible way of doing it, dev-updates.

    I, personally, much prefer seeing the dev-updates. It shows us that the Dev team is working on things while giving them the ability to test for bugs in the mean time, and doesn't put all the bugs out in the normal game build where buggy releases wreck havoc on servers. Another benefit of the Dev builds is that it gives the Devs more time to get actual releases out without having to deal with people complaining about seeing no progress, or, that was the theory anyway.

    Honestly, other, other developers would just ban you folk from the forums for the amount of straight up bashing of the Devs a lot of you do. Do I want to see the power update? YES! Am I bashing the devs the whole time I wait despite the fact that they have been taking massive steps to communicate with the community, and show the work they are doing? NO!

    Have some patience and understanding you folk. I'm kind of surprised the Schine team still puts in the time to develop this game for us with how much griping you all do.