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Jagged Alliance 2: Deadly Business v.1.13?[message #256186]

Wed, 14 July 2010 09:52

Geoffrey_White

Messages:24
Registered:June 2010

Based on the next release (barring that, the latest in Tron's SVN) of Jagged Alliance 2: Stracciatella, completing the begun externalizations for modders, incorporating the additional weapons from Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business, and the multiplayer feature of Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games (utilising Jagged Alliance 2: v.1.13's code)... It's Jagged Alliance 2: Deadly Business 2010!

(Basically, the v.1.13 bit won't be part of the actual name; it'll just be the external version number for JA2: DB; it'll mostly be there to acknowledge the JA2: v.1.13 team's hard work relating to implementation of the multiplayer feature).

The internal version will have appended letters to denote whether it is an alpha, beta, or release candidate, in addition to the date of the build. Each stable release won't have any appended letters, just the date of the build. For example:

- JA2: DB v.1.13a - Build: 2010-07-10
(completing externalizations)

- JA2: DB v.1.13a - Build: 2010-09-05
(weapons from JA2: UB)

- JA2: DB v.1.13a - Build: 2010-10-17
(multiplayer)

- JA2: DB v.1.13b - Build: 2010-10-31
(preliminary testing and bug fixes)

- JA2: DB v.1.13b - Build: 2010-12-22
(testing and bug fixes)

- JA2: DB v.1.13rc - Build: 2011-06-03
(more testing and bug fixes)

- JA2: DB v.1.13rc - Build: 2011-07-01
(final testing and bug fixes)

- JA2: DB v.1.13 - Build: 2011-07-09
(stable release)

(Please note the dates are merely an example, and in no way reflect a realistic timeframe).

Where-as the stable build would simply be referred to as JA2: DB 2011 (as I doubt there would ever be two stable versions released in the same year).

After that's complete, the team may decide on another group of enhancements/features to add, and can start work on it (using the same version system), allowing the next stable release of JA2: DB to be JA2: DB 2012, or JA2: DB 2013 (depending when a stable release can be made).

For example, the plans for the next stable release might include Lua scripting, and an SQLite database for externalized data, etc., improving the user interface (specifically weapons' graphics, and increased resolutions), and so forth...

This sort-of system allows bugs to be properly found, and eliminated, and any enhancements/features to be thoroughly thought-out, and tested before a stable release is made. It also means that modders will then have a stable platform they know is going to stay around (and stay stable) for a while.

It's basically a, "one step at a time," approach to SMP, I guess...

It's also a game/mod in-and-of itself, but it'd also be a platform for people to mod off of; it'd kind-of be like v.1.13 in that sense, but it'd stay both truer to the original Jagged Alliance 2 games, and would (hopefully) be more stable.

It'd be something for everybody!
- And, if Stracciatella, SMP, and/or v.1.13 are still being worked-on, there should be an anonymous (read-only access) SVN set-up to share the code with them, and hopefully a few of the coders (in the case of Stracciatella, the one coder) from each of those projects might take an interest in this, "mod," and contribute code to it.

(It also means modders won't need to wait for ten years to have the full-fledged SMP before they can release their mod; it could almost be an intermediate step between Stracciatella and SMP).

After all, we all want to make JA2 better in our own ways, don't we?

What do you all think?
(The name, and initial goals can certainly/obviously be changed; I'm just giving my basic idea here).

I'm not interested in being the project leader (maybe there could be nominations and a poll for that); it'd be interesting for me to try with my limited knowledge, but I'd still be willing to try, if people wanted me to...

I'm more interested in getting the entire JA2 community unified behind one project (whether it is to code, to test, to mod, or whatever), to make it the main staple of JA2 for everyone (nostalgic, stable, moddable, and re-playable)...

Where-as, right now we have three projects fighting for the attention of the JA2 community:
v.1.13 - re-playability, and (apparently) moddability.
Stracciatella - mostly for nostalgia, and stability, but also a bit moddable.
SMP - moddability first, but also trying to add re-playability (updated user interface, etc.).

This would basically start as Stracciatella (being basically a stable vanilla JA2), adding some UB stuff to it, but mostly making it a bit more moddable, before adding the multiplayer as the re-playability!

From there, it'd basically start to become SMP, [i]if[/] that is what was chosen for the next stable release.

The final step (for one of the last releases) might be to start incorporating all of the features of v.1.13 as scripts for modders.

It'd still be stable (and mostly vanilla JA2/UB with multiplayer like JA: DG,), but it'd have all the features of v.1.13 available (not compiled directly into the game) to the modders should they wish to implement them using the scripts.

Then you have Stracciatella as a Stable Modding Platform with the features of v.1.13 available, if desired.

That'd the all three projects combined, but stable, and because most of the added features would only be used by scripting, it wouldn't be bloaty.

...

That's a pipedream, and if it were to ever happen, it'd basically take all the coders from all three projects agreeing both that this is the way to go, and to work together... And, it'd still prolly be years off... But, this is a way to make that dream a possibility (and barring that, at-least there's a new, stable JA2 mod out in a decent amount of time that includes multiplayer)! lol

Take this all with a grain of salt; I tend to dream, think big, try to get others to embrace change, and be way too idealistic (not always a good mix). ;P

PS: I can't believe I actually typed all of this on my BlackBerry Bold 2/9700 (which I did because I didn't have access to a computer, and didn't want to forget any of this)! That's a lot of typing with my stubby thumbs on a tiny keyboard! lol

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