Incremental Build Releases
by Chris Labombard · in iTorque 2D · 03/24/2011 (7:20 am) · 34 replies
I wanted to bring up the idea of having a faster turn around on releases by allowing for tiny point releases with 1 or 2 very small features or bug fixes, possibly community driven.
What it is:
- Release a new version of iT2D 1.4.1.X weekly or as soon as a stable build is ready with a new feature or fix (even a tiny fix)
- Release it as a zip file instead of an installer (decreases testing time, and I find installers annoying)
- Allows for community fixes, features etc. to be added in by the developers
- Allows for community testing, which you are probably seeing with 1.4.1 release is a huge benefit
What it does for our community:
- Keeps the community excited
- Lets the community actively contribute
- Gives GG employees extra help by default
- gives us faster turn around on new builds
Just wanted to throw this out to the developers. I think it is by far the best way to get the product even more stable, with faster releases, and more features.
For example, Conor is porting in Multi-touch support. I believe it's a small addition but if a dev could take his diff of 1.4.1 and plug it in and release a zip I think it would be a huge boost and immediately effective.
What it is:
- Release a new version of iT2D 1.4.1.X weekly or as soon as a stable build is ready with a new feature or fix (even a tiny fix)
- Release it as a zip file instead of an installer (decreases testing time, and I find installers annoying)
- Allows for community fixes, features etc. to be added in by the developers
- Allows for community testing, which you are probably seeing with 1.4.1 release is a huge benefit
What it does for our community:
- Keeps the community excited
- Lets the community actively contribute
- Gives GG employees extra help by default
- gives us faster turn around on new builds
Just wanted to throw this out to the developers. I think it is by far the best way to get the product even more stable, with faster releases, and more features.
For example, Conor is porting in Multi-touch support. I believe it's a small addition but if a dev could take his diff of 1.4.1 and plug it in and release a zip I think it would be a huge boost and immediately effective.
About the author
I have been a professional game programmer for over 5 years now. I've worked on virtually every platform, dozens of games and released a few of my own games, including 2 iPhone titles and a title waiting release on Big Fish Games.
#22
03/24/2011 (12:23 pm)
It was never really closed, but it has had several sluggish sessions. We are in the process of looking at how to revitalize the program. 
#23
03/24/2011 (12:24 pm)
We are working on an official criteria, but you can look at Steve's recent work to see why he was considered and accepted. Something to think about.
#24
Let me know when the official criteria is available. ;)
03/24/2011 (12:32 pm)
Steve's resources on building a FPS quite obviously push him into the Associate position.Let me know when the official criteria is available. ;)
#25
I make a lot of tutorials and samples for students and they are always throwing interesting game-play at me to learn about so would be the cherry on top of the cake.
03/24/2011 (12:52 pm)
Likewise,I make a lot of tutorials and samples for students and they are always throwing interesting game-play at me to learn about so would be the cherry on top of the cake.
#26
That is a good example that there should be new releases more often with bug fixes. When I tried Torsion with 1.7.5 it did not work. The only way I found out about the bug was to search these forums
www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/114833
Luckily this is a great community with someone always willing to help. This post was added more than 1 year ago. It took me 20 minutes to recompile with the source and make it work. The same amount of time that probably would take to do a 1.7.5.1 release without the bug.
03/24/2011 (6:10 pm)
@ AllistairQuote: This would definitely be helpful, take TGB 1.7.5 for example, Torsion debugging support is 100% broken and requires a patch to be applied manually and a recompile, not great for attracting new users.
That is a good example that there should be new releases more often with bug fixes. When I tried Torsion with 1.7.5 it did not work. The only way I found out about the bug was to search these forums
www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/114833
Luckily this is a great community with someone always willing to help. This post was added more than 1 year ago. It took me 20 minutes to recompile with the source and make it work. The same amount of time that probably would take to do a 1.7.5.1 release without the bug.
#27
03/24/2011 (8:45 pm)
That particular bug in T2D shouldn't be a problem anymore. The fix for that was rolled into the hotfix update we did along with the collision and linkpoint editor. If people are still experiencing that from a fresh download then there may be something wrong with the download links. 
#28
They want you to ask yourself if you're doing enough, constantly!
03/24/2011 (9:31 pm)
@Chris:There probably won't be official criteria :PThey want you to ask yourself if you're doing enough, constantly!
#29
yes, I got that behavior from a TGB 1.7.5 download I did about a month ago. In another words, that download still has the source C++ file with the bug that causes Torsion not to debug. I fixed it by applying the source code change described in the above thread, that is, in telnetDebugger.cc line 327 add the return variable
03/24/2011 (10:43 pm)
@ScottQuote:If people are still experiencing that from a fresh download then there may be something wrong with the download links.
yes, I got that behavior from a TGB 1.7.5 download I did about a month ago. In another words, that download still has the source C++ file with the bug that causes Torsion not to debug. I fixed it by applying the source code change described in the above thread, that is, in telnetDebugger.cc line 327 add the return variable
err = Net::recv(mDebugSocket, (unsigned char*)(mLineBuffer + mCurPos), MaxCommandSize - mCurPos, &numBytes);
#30
03/25/2011 (2:18 am)
@Scott - Would do anything to get my hands on that exe. We have an educational license for standard TGB and at the moment I'm getting our IT to roll out a zip file I put together but they always cock it up putting it in wrong folders etc.
#33
Most importantly, did you guys come up with a release schedule? Would love to see that.
03/28/2011 (1:23 pm)
Did you guys ever figure out if this was something you were interested in doing?Most importantly, did you guys come up with a release schedule? Would love to see that.
#34
03/29/2011 (7:35 am)
@Chris - Not yet. We are still planning. 
Torque Owner Chris Labombard
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