New beta build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:The_Great_Refactor#Beta_3.700_Bulk_Of_The_Great_Refactor
Wow, it's been 26 days since I last pushed a public release. You know, the last release was called "Code Will Change," and that was SUPPOSED to just be a reference to a Persona 5 Song (Life Will Change), and a kind of play on words about how much code had changed in the prior build. Instead, uh... it was prophetic.
The last 26 days have been grueling and intense, but at the same time really satisfying. The release notes JUST FOR THIS RELEASE are 44,000 words. That is novella-length, and it is also similar in length to entire sections of release notes from AIW2 and AIWC in the past.
So... what the heck is going on? Essentially, I've reconstructed most of how the game talks about "external" data, and made it a lot more controlled, better-designed, and multiplayer-friendly. It's a lot harder for modders (or faction programmers, or me) to make errors now. RAM usage is down, CPU usage is improved, bandwidth requirements should be way down, and many other benefits.
On the front end, in-game, not a whole lot is different. In this specific build, there are a few things that don't work or are temporarily disabled. Tutorials, random factions, beacons, multiplayer, and most mods are out of commission temporarily. The savegame format has also been completely reworked, so all savegames prior to this version are now unusable in this version.
Why was this worth it? Well, I had kind of hit a wall with multiplayer where it was just going to be a mess in an ongoing fashion, and this was the only way forward. But even for single player, this brings clarity to the code, makes modding easier, and reduces the chances for errors. It also should help performance, particularly in large and complex games.
We're working towards completing all aspects of this game and putting it into "long term support" by January 2022, and I wanted to really make things shine here. On the surface, not a whole lot is different in this new version, but under the hood this is just a whole new world, and I'm really proud of how it's turning out.
Expect some bugs in the short term, but please do help us test, if you don't mind. You do need to use the beta branch to see this build, of course, for now. Also, I will be breaking savegames more in the near future, just as a fair warning. There are some notable improvements I want to make to various factions (like fallen spire, etc), that should make the user experience better. I also am planning on getting loadouts in place, and adding more features to DLC1 to finish up the last kickstarter features.
Anyhow, we have a lot of things going on at the moment: kickstarter last features, DLC1 additions, loadouts, expert mode, ship encyclopedia, all the stuff for DLC3, general polish, and finishing up the last of multiplayer. This giant refactor is a strange thing to do late in the life cycle of a game, but it's hopefully a solid demonstration of our commitment to wanting you all to be able to enjoy this game for years and years. My time working on this in a fulltime capacity is winding down, and we plan on releasing the Complete Edition in January, but this game has a long and healthy life ahead of it, I predict.
In a month or so we'll also be adding a Super Supporter optional DLC that lets you help offset the costs of development, which really have been way higher than earnings. At the moment, the game needs to gross another $800,000 or so before I'll see my first dollar of actual profit from this five year project. I don't know that that will ever happen, but at the moment I'm cool with that. I'm just really proud of how this is turning out, and I'd like to see this end on a really positive note.
More to come soon. Expect rapid releases on the beta branch again, now that the bulk of The Great Refactor is done.
Enjoy!