T3D 1.1 Preview and reporting bugs against it
by Scott Burns · in Torque 3D Professional · 04/07/2011 (1:17 pm) · 16 replies
You may have already noticed a new download for T3D has appeared in your products. A 1.1 Preview build was just uploaded. We tried this style of release with iT2D 1.4.1 and with the positive response to it, not to mention the benefit it had for development, we've decided to do it with T3D as well.
I'll save the big fanfare post and details for Eric or Mich to do later, but I wanted to address some things with reporting bugs against this build. Like the iT2D one, this build is considered an unstable preview that has seen limited QA. There will definitely be bugs in it that still exist from previous versions as bugs are still being worked on. So that there isn't a flood of duplicate reports, please only report new issues that you are encountering in this build. If you run into a bug that still exists from a previous version it should be considered as still in the queue.
Oh, and the Physics demo crashing on exit is a known issue for this build.
Edit:
I should have mentioned this originally but it slipped my mind. Occlusion, zones and portals are not finished yet.
I'll save the big fanfare post and details for Eric or Mich to do later, but I wanted to address some things with reporting bugs against this build. Like the iT2D one, this build is considered an unstable preview that has seen limited QA. There will definitely be bugs in it that still exist from previous versions as bugs are still being worked on. So that there isn't a flood of duplicate reports, please only report new issues that you are encountering in this build. If you run into a bug that still exists from a previous version it should be considered as still in the queue.
Oh, and the Physics demo crashing on exit is a known issue for this build.
Edit:
I should have mentioned this originally but it slipped my mind. Occlusion, zones and portals are not finished yet.
#2
04/07/2011 (1:59 pm)
Thx :) 
#3
a) 1.1 final will be contain any new demos?
b) Do you have any plans to release source code of your masterserver, to help newbies implement their own masterserver by learning sourcecode of your masterserver?
c) 1.1 preview contains new/updated docs?
04/07/2011 (2:53 pm)
A few questions:a) 1.1 final will be contain any new demos?
b) Do you have any plans to release source code of your masterserver, to help newbies implement their own masterserver by learning sourcecode of your masterserver?
c) 1.1 preview contains new/updated docs?
#4
a) Yes and no. Some are getting revamped, polished and made more performant, some may be getting cut being rolled into new ones. I don't believe the final list has been decided yet
b) I don't know if this would ever happen or not, but probably not.
c) The preview contains no new or updated docs. Those won't be ready until Final is ready to ship.
04/07/2011 (3:12 pm)
@Dmitrya) Yes and no. Some are getting revamped, polished and made more performant, some may be getting cut being rolled into new ones. I don't believe the final list has been decided yet
b) I don't know if this would ever happen or not, but probably not.
c) The preview contains no new or updated docs. Those won't be ready until Final is ready to ship.
#5
04/07/2011 (3:31 pm)
I knew there was a reason why I woke up feeling good this morning. Now I just hope I won't have nightmares tonight. ;)
#6
oh my... initial look, and gotta say deathball deserts lookin awesome
04/07/2011 (4:18 pm)
Is there a change log posted anywhere yet for the prerelease ?oh my... initial look, and gotta say deathball deserts lookin awesome
#7
04/07/2011 (4:36 pm)
Sorry, no changelog for this release. That gets generated after the QA cycles as it's usually based on those reports. 
#8
So do your best. We are really interested in finding bugs that have well documented reproduction steps. The more well defined your bugs are, the more we can put in developer's hands before final.
04/07/2011 (4:49 pm)
We hope you guys are going to help us drive an even bigger change log. Right now we are very focused on blocker and critical bugs. Our queue is actually fairly low right now and we are hoping you guys can fill it back up. If that doesn't happen, we will move towards more major and normal bugs while we bang on it from our end and finish the demos.So do your best. We are really interested in finding bugs that have well documented reproduction steps. The more well defined your bugs are, the more we can put in developer's hands before final.
#9
PS: and the new flares are awesome!
04/07/2011 (5:41 pm)
Just found one, clicking "edit" for a cubemap in the material editor crashes the engine. Specifically the skybox cubemap. Oh, and the cubemap does not render like it used to in the material editor preview.PS: and the new flares are awesome!
#10
04/07/2011 (10:02 pm)
I had a terrain cell disappear on me at certain camera angles - I can email a screenshot if you need it.
#11
I ask this because I currently have the flu (NY winters, ugh)..and I am currently not healthy enough to help though I would like to help.
.. I am guessing about 7 days ? Please let me know so that I can get involved, sick or not. thx
// Edit:
A.
1.1 Preview - issue in Physics demo;
Stand near world space 0,0,0 in the physics demo. Shoot the farthest mountain tops that you see & watch yourself receive damage.
B.
The ammo-item in the physics demo eats projectiles.
The projectiles simply vanish. ..Maybe all items do this ?
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I talk with people about T3D..this is what I hear;
#1 ISSUE of why people avoid T3D:
***STUTTERING!/HICCUPS!***
A mission starts; the game stutters
You shoot a projectile; the game stutters
You look around; the game stutters
Random events; the game stutters
sometimes the stutters last for seconds..
The Hiccups and stutters = BIGGEST debacle here.
OTHER ISSUES Mentioned:
Shooting through walls without trying, un-rendered weapon explosions, projectiles being 'eaten'/'disappear' for no reason. Sound problems.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The hiccups/stalls are the largest, most magnificently huge problem.
Make them priority #1.
04/08/2011 (12:54 am)
@GG: How long will this testing last ?I ask this because I currently have the flu (NY winters, ugh)..and I am currently not healthy enough to help though I would like to help.
.. I am guessing about 7 days ? Please let me know so that I can get involved, sick or not. thx
// Edit:
A.
1.1 Preview - issue in Physics demo;
Stand near world space 0,0,0 in the physics demo. Shoot the farthest mountain tops that you see & watch yourself receive damage.
B.
The ammo-item in the physics demo eats projectiles.
The projectiles simply vanish. ..Maybe all items do this ?
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I talk with people about T3D..this is what I hear;
#1 ISSUE of why people avoid T3D:
***STUTTERING!/HICCUPS!***
A mission starts; the game stutters
You shoot a projectile; the game stutters
You look around; the game stutters
Random events; the game stutters
sometimes the stutters last for seconds..
The Hiccups and stutters = BIGGEST debacle here.
OTHER ISSUES Mentioned:
Shooting through walls without trying, un-rendered weapon explosions, projectiles being 'eaten'/'disappear' for no reason. Sound problems.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The hiccups/stalls are the largest, most magnificently huge problem.
Make them priority #1.
#12
Oh, and no one's mentioned yet, but the 1.1 Preview installer is unsigned on purpose. We're still in the process of acquiring a new signing certificate.
@Sean
I thought that the cubemap crash, which was fixed in B3 but returned recently, had been fixed but I'm not sure. Go ahead and write a bug for that just in case.
@Richard
That's a strange one to have, definitely write up a bug for that. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for it happening
@eb
Don't worry, testing will last long enough for you to help with. We're beginning the first full cycle on Monday. I don't really have accurate estimates yet on how long a cycle will last as I'm still pulling together everything and my previous estimates from last year were based on 2 - 4 people performing testing.
What I do know is that a T3D cycle will definitely be longer than an iT2D cycle right now, and I'm expecting to have to do at least 3 cycles.
a) I don't like the sound of that. Sounds like some math is going wrong somewhere. Go ahead and write that up when you have a chance and I'll keep an eye out for it when I start the full cycle next week.
b) Do you see that only in the physics demo? There's been a lot of proejctile oddities in that one lately.
As for everything else, in general the main goal of 1.1 is stability, bug fixing and performance.
04/08/2011 (10:10 am)
I updated my original post. I should have mentioned yesterday that the occlusion and zones & portals stuff wasn't fully finished yet. Oh, and 1.1 Preview uses PhysX 2.8.4.5, which is what the runtime dlls that are included now came form. So if you if recompile against 2.8.4.4 and try to run against the included runtimes it will crash.Oh, and no one's mentioned yet, but the 1.1 Preview installer is unsigned on purpose. We're still in the process of acquiring a new signing certificate.
@Sean
I thought that the cubemap crash, which was fixed in B3 but returned recently, had been fixed but I'm not sure. Go ahead and write a bug for that just in case.
@Richard
That's a strange one to have, definitely write up a bug for that. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for it happening
@eb
Don't worry, testing will last long enough for you to help with. We're beginning the first full cycle on Monday. I don't really have accurate estimates yet on how long a cycle will last as I'm still pulling together everything and my previous estimates from last year were based on 2 - 4 people performing testing.
What I do know is that a T3D cycle will definitely be longer than an iT2D cycle right now, and I'm expecting to have to do at least 3 cycles.
a) I don't like the sound of that. Sounds like some math is going wrong somewhere. Go ahead and write that up when you have a chance and I'll keep an eye out for it when I start the full cycle next week.
b) Do you see that only in the physics demo? There's been a lot of proejctile oddities in that one lately.
As for everything else, in general the main goal of 1.1 is stability, bug fixing and performance.
#13
04/08/2011 (11:34 am)
I generate Empty Room template projects from the toolbox and they don't start (Full template projects start up just fine), and the console.log complains about a dozen or so mission files like client/game.cs. 
#14
I definitely think that a 1.1 final version needs some serious polish applied to it regardless of how many bugs are fixed. Heck the PhysX demo is still using a bastardized version of the GDC demo from 2009 and isn't quite inline with other sample projects anymore!
Overall though it's good progress. Just keep it up!
04/08/2011 (1:13 pm)
Hehe was just about to make a report about the Empty Template having issues with mission loading - it gets to Stage 3 and hangs... Some of it's missing files have been missing since the Template was generated (before the 1.0 release), so the problem has to stem form something more recent. But it's something so obviously wrong that surely it's already a known issue, right Scott?I definitely think that a 1.1 final version needs some serious polish applied to it regardless of how many bugs are fixed. Heck the PhysX demo is still using a bastardized version of the GDC demo from 2009 and isn't quite inline with other sample projects anymore!
Overall though it's good progress. Just keep it up!
#15
04/09/2011 (3:06 am)
++ Michael
#16
04/12/2011 (3:25 pm)
Scott, ignore my earlier post about the cubemap editor. Worked fine on my desktop, then I remembered that Mar09 DirectX was not installed on my laptop. Installed DX and it works fine now. 
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