[Suggestion] Hotfixes and better testing.

1st Official Post

    This will bother a lot of people and might be insulting in a way but I have to put it out there and I'm not pointing the finger and the developers nor am I pointing it at the testers, what I am doing is telling you facts as a big big user and fan of industrial craft and a long term server owner.


    Industrial Craft releases with to many bugs. Meh it happens and so what usually happens? Bug fixes woot and we call them hotfixes. But you guys for some reason have diverted away from this and it's really strange. I don't know if your using some kind of internal repo or not because if you are not it almost makes sense because its like a week before you release you start working on future updates and then when we do need a hotfix it never comes because you are already to deep in coding to revert any changes.


    I'm not actually saying the above happens but dealing with so many mods and open and close source projects over 10 years I have had that one come up as one the highest when it comes to releases and bug fixes.


    I mean some of the bugs in this release are just unacceptable to a high quality mod like Industrial Craft. I assume you guys have some pride when it comes to quality of your mod and when Industrial Craft comes out these days we have to have a full team in SMP testing EVERYTHING from the changes + more because we never expect anything to go right.


    For example someone on Vent said we don't need to test crops right, and I said ugh no since there was changes you for sure want to check them since they might actually blow up now LOL. As a joke and this is our policy for all mods when we update btw so don't feel that I'm centering you guys out in anyway.


    Anyways the point is almost all the bugs we found had been related to new changes. A little odd that the testers had miss bugs that were fixed or changed or had some kind of reference to them. This in the end I consider extremely bad testing and again I'm not blaming the testers I mean maybe they were not even given the current list of changes and etc. Maybe you guys don't trust them with all the info. I'm not sure but all this cloak and dagger stuff is actually killing the Industrial Craft name.


    Now with all these new performance monitors in Forge on both client / server we have noticed IC being the highest impact on our resources and this stuff is starting to add up. We have to almost consider a new future for our players if things keep going south overtime. Not that its something we want but what is a large community suppose to do when they are severely impacted?


    Anyways I hope you don't mind me letting off some steam on it I'm not blaming anyone and I don't know what is going inside but I'm just letting you know how I feel about the current releases that we been getting and I guess the quality of the mod.


    Last thing I'm a big fan of IC. I have always loved IC and I think it takes someone to actually love and be a real fanboy to actually bring certain problems to attention. The other people are like ITS THERE MOD STFU are really just random CoD players for a quick ride. The people like me who want to see this mod going in 2 years from now are the ones with the annoying and hated voices but usually we are the ones that care more :)


    Thanks,
    Kane Hart

    Check out Our Brand New GT New Horizons Server .:Here:.
    Check out Our Brand New GT New Horizons Let's Play Series .:Here:.

    Like 1

    I second this. I play on a large IC server as well and some of the bugs that don't have a public fix for months are quite annoying especially ones as major as jetpack fall damage/death, a nano saber being able to vaporize nano armour in one hit, IC crops not being able to be crouch-walked on (we can't harvest major cross-breeds without removing the outside plants anymore).


    I do hope that you'll consider providing patches sooner and allow for more testing before release.


    Thanks for making this great mod.

    Hi. I also spend quite some time on the IC and it is the best mod out there.... since Counterstrike for Halflife!
    The server owner spends a lot of time testing the new IC versions, and usually disables most of it cos of the bugs. Can you just do 1 version where all bugs are fixed? I mean... we dont need new stuff all the time :)
    Keep up the good work.

    Quote from ElectroBot

    I second this. I play on a large IC server as well and some of the bugs that don't have a public fix for months are quite annoying especially ones as major as jetpack fall damage/death, a nano saber being able to vaporize nano armour in one hit, IC crops not being able to be crouch-walked on (we can't harvest major cross-breeds without removing the outside plants anymore).


    I do hope that you'll consider providing patches sooner and allow for more testing before release.


    Thanks for making this great mod.


    Quote from ot0_m0t0

    Hi. I also spend quite some time on the IC and it is the best mod out there.... since Counterstrike for Halflife!
    The server owner spends a lot of time testing the new IC versions, and usually disables most of it cos of the bugs. Can you just do 1 version where all bugs are fixed? I mean... we dont need new stuff all the time :)
    Keep up the good work.


    Welcome to the forums guys,


    Ill ignore the venting due to the fact that i believe that IC2 is being ran on full steam with the limited time constraints and budgeting (Remember, this is a mod, they arent getting paid)
    IC2 is a hobby for AL and the Dev's, im not gonna smash you guys for sharing your opinion but with only 1 and 4 post your opinion doesn't have much strength.

    Alblaka says:

    "People using their intellect in attempts to discuss other people into the ground could be considered less intellectual then people using their intellect for something beneficial :3"

    Quote from Fallen_dead

    Ill ignore the venting due to the fact that i believe that IC2 is being ran on full steam with the limited time constraints and budgeting (Remember, this is a mod, they arent getting paid)
    IC2 is a hobby for AL and the Dev's, im not gonna smash you guys for sharing your opinion but with only 1 and 4 post your opinion doesn't have much strength.



    Transfered to Real Life you just said:
    "Hey there little kid on the street. No you have no money and did not go to elections. Your voice has no right. No go and play in the dirt!"
    Seriously whats up with this community smashing anyone that has not a zillion posts in the spam section, or makes a trillion comments that go like "already suggested faggot!". One registeres to this forum to raise ones voice. And in a matter of fact every human, just as every players voice or opinion got the same basic rights and power. Just some douches believe in idolization and thus keep up parroting anything someone "big" or "known" has said.
    This crap here is almost disgusting and very very said to see if reminded that the good old internet culture of forum discussions is dying. Now go and think about what you just said!



    On Topic:
    I rather agree to KaneHeart. I am a server owner myself, an we are still on Ic 1.64, due to certain annoying bugs, or just due to incompatibility of some addons. You (as devs) might consider inviting some new people for the beta testing, maybe one/some that can provide a beta server. Often bugs that later become hotfixed were Smp only, and could have saved server owners alot of time if discovered beforehand. In any way, I think anyone here will agree that Industrial Craft is good work, and everyone is happy with what it provides.


    FarFar

    as long as devs respond to bug reports with:


    "fixed in my private version GTFO"
    "works for me on my private fork"
    "already fixed, but you will recieve update 2 month later"


    this forum is useless.
    closed served and remove workspace after few replies...only lulz on forum.

    Quote from ot0_m0t0

    Hi. I also spend quite some time on the IC and it is the best mod out there.... since Counterstrike for Halflife!
    The server owner spends a lot of time testing the new IC versions, and usually disables most of it cos of the bugs. Can you just do 1 version where all bugs are fixed? I mean... we dont need new stuff all the time :)
    Keep up the good work.

    Now now no need to be snappy. Bugs will always happen hotfixes could always happen too though hehe.

    Quote from Fallen_dead

    Welcome to the forums guys,


    Ill ignore the venting due to the fact that i believe that IC2 is being ran on full steam with the limited time constraints and budgeting (Remember, this is a mod, they arent getting paid)
    IC2 is a hobby for AL and the Dev's, im not gonna smash you guys for sharing your opinion but with only 1 and 4 post your opinion doesn't have much strength.

    I never judge a book on its cover if you get what I mean. The one being nasty is not nice but even 4 post counts never says much. Not everyone likes to post or comment. Some might stay on the side lines for months and years.

    Quote from RawCode

    as long as devs respond to bug reports with:


    "fixed in my private version GTFO"
    "works for me on my private fork"
    "already fixed, but you will recieve update 2 month later"


    this forum is useless.
    closed served and remove workspace after few replies...only lulz on forum.

    As much as I want to say you are being an ass this is probably the one thing I hate visiting this site about. Fixed wtf DON'T SAY ITS FIXED Because its not LOL. :( Oh well

    Check out Our Brand New GT New Horizons Server .:Here:.
    Check out Our Brand New GT New Horizons Let's Play Series .:Here:.

    Kane hart, thank you. This what we where all thinking, but u had the courage to say it. As a guy just about ready to start his first server, I really apprciate this.

    Ephesians 4:29
    Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up,
    as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.


    I dunno.. I gotta say having jetpacks not constantly killing my players is a decent tradeoff for wrenching personal Safes/Trade-O-Mats kicking players... LOL

    Quote from Luathas

    I dunno.. I gotta say having jetpacks not constantly killing my players is a decent tradeoff for wrenching personal Safes/Trade-O-Mats kicking players... LOL


    Her point is that jetpacks shouldnt kill people AND wreching Psafe/Trade'os shouldnt kick u.

    Ephesians 4:29
    Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up,
    as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.


    I'm sorry, but none of what you are suggesting is stuff that can easily happen overnight. Nor are these things spontaneous or instant, seeing as how fickle code can be after you've stared at it for +12 hours straight.


    I can understand how bugs and such can be hideously annoying to be forced to deal with, but you forget that the real culprit in all of this is Mojang. THEY are the ones responsible for the platform that these mods run off of. It is thru the creative talents of Alba, Azanor, and various other mod developers that these things are even possible with Minecraft, as they literally have to 'break' the game just to inject their design into in, attempt to piece it back together, and pray that it works flawlessly after the fact...


    Minecraft has ZERO mod support. None. Nah-duh. These mods are, quite frankly, hacks and breaks instituted into the game to force it to work in a way not intended, and to work with certain designs in mind. If you honestly expected these mods to be bullet-proof (or even close to bullet-proof), then you foolishly forget the truth of what these developers must do to even bring these creations into existence...


    The only thing I can agree on is a quicker release on 'patch-versions', but I'm not going to assume that they have all the time in the world to conjure those up. The biggest thing, I bet, IC^2 needs is more developers and such who can catch these bugs. And unless you people start volunteering your Java-coding services, you have no reason to expect more effort out of them...

    Would anyone like to try a Slowpoke Tail?! Only 1 Million Yen!


    Quote

    this isn't about arrogance or ego, I have a block that I put a lot of freaking work into


    Every Mod Author, in existence. And yet, you STILL say otherwise.

    Ermm.... How about like dev builds and stable builds?

    1. OMG CREEPER RUN AWAY!
    2. Go away, you creeper wierdo!
    3. What ever, I'll just go around.
    4. Hup, over their heads I go!
    5. Okay Mister living grenade, I'm going to knock you into those skeletons, and I'll follow through with a nano saber. Understood? FOR THE ALMIGHTLY DRAGON LORD!

    Quote from kevindude


    Her point is that jetpacks shouldnt kill people AND wreching Psafe/Trade'os shouldnt kick u.

    Oh, i totally agree having everything work would be nice, though you have to admit, one is definatly better than the other ;)

    To the Newbies (being nice ^^ ) your opinion doesn't usually matter until you have over 100 posts and then once you get over 500 your ussually favored in arguments.


    AND don't complain to me it's how everything works im still not favored in most arguments so I ussually don't even participate in half of them.


    Note: Modders aren't machines if they were then the modders would not stop most of the spambots on the forums these days.

    But good ANATOMICA. Wouldn't dealing with spambots be a small price to pay if we had faster patch versions? However they aren't machines. I like the dev build stable build idea.

    Quote

    That's a rather cool idea, but a lone tree is suspicious, better plant some more. So really... forget about solar-flowers, solar-trees are the next generation :P

    After talking to a half dozen devs (non IC devs) and about 2 dozen Server owners. I must say that this suggestion could use a sticky at this point. You guys seem to be going the wrong direction and I'm worried that its going to start having an effect on the way people start looking at IC.

    Check out Our Brand New GT New Horizons Server .:Here:.
    Check out Our Brand New GT New Horizons Let's Play Series .:Here:.

    Quote from FenixR

    Related, Read the comments from alblaka and SirSengir about open beta tests

    Yeah, I don't really agree with the idea of open beta tests, and while I do think that a hotfix every once in a while would be nice, I'm not going to agree with stickying this thread simply because yes, glitches are annoying, this is known, but in a mod as big as IC2 can you really expect it to be 100% glitch free? All I've really seen so far in this thread is people demanding big things of the devs who aren't getting paid to do this. I think that the fact that IC2 exists at all is huge, but instead it exists without the use of adfly (seriously Alblaka, get some ads on here or something)? I find that to be amazing and if there's one thing wrong out of every one hundred things that have gone very right, I'm actually okay with that.

    Is the answer to this question no?


    Quote

    Hey don't take it so hard. Ignorance is part of this generation it seems. -the wise words of XFmax-o-l

    The solution to all this is GIT. It allows a developer to easily work on dev branches, switch back and forth between current and older versions, apply patches/fixes to any version state you ever made within seconds and... it is completely free.