Why no minor patches?

[Farks]

Why do the Dev-team never release smaller patches with fixes for urgent problems and all that? I understand that it takes months to make new content, but just getting minor patches out for problems that are located and fixed almost directly after a release seems reasonable to me. Nobody likes to play for months with problems that can be fixed in about a week. And it would take away a lot of the "OMG-GIF-US-NEW-RELEASE!!!" pressure.

Just a thought.

[Fess|3-5|]

I know with past releases there is usually a hotfix patch that comes out within weeks that will fix game crashing bugs, but minor bugs are usually saved for the next patch most likely because there are so many and life goes on with them.

[Farks]

All those have been server side patches, and they can only fix a limited amount of problems. There are many things that makes PR crash, but some of them are more common than others. And a patch doesn't have to be all about game crashes.

[Scot]

And it would take away a lot of the "OMG-GIF-US-NEW-RELEASE!!!" pressure.

Just a thought.

For that exact reason. If you have an OMG NEW RELEASE! OMG!! you will have people hear about through friends/forums etc etc, and then they post on a forum/tell another friend, making the cycle continue. That way you get more players.

[Farks]

For that exact reason. If you have an OMG NEW RELEASE! OMG!! you will have people hear about through friends/forums etc etc, and then they post on a forum/tell another friend, making the cycle continue. That way you get more players.

This is about getting new players?

[Scot]

This is about getting new players?

I'm guessing it's a large factor. I'm not saying it's the only reason, but really I'm guessing it wouldn't add to the wow factor of 'holy ****, new weapons, new maps etc' which adds to the fun of PR Releases.

Also the DEVs are pure evil

[Zeppelin35]

I think new versions should be for releasing new factions and maps, while smaller patches should be used to fix bugs and remove unliked new mechanics.

[TheParadoX]

Yep, a smaller patch removing the ability to revive everyone even after a headshot, and incrreasing the grenade power would be perfect !

[Jay]

I thought the reason was that they can't patch the mod for some reason. So each time they make a release with minor changes, it's another 4 gig download.

[Rhino]

most small fixes can be done as a server side patch to keep things simple. There is really very little things out there that require the fuss of the entire community updating to a new version which for the most part only confuses players about what version they are meant to have, espically new players.

if there is anything fundamentally buggy / wrong with the build then we do, but we do enough testing before we release to ensure there's not.

[cyberzomby]

ah I started reading this thread with another idea in mind than I got now when I read Rhino's reply.

First I thought: Yea why not give a new vehicle, weapon, feature every now and than to keep everybody psyched. Like you check your mail and a forum before work and you see: COOL! US can now use (input cool thing here)

But Rhino's point is a good one. There will be a lot of patches out there and it will be confusing.

Thanks for clearing it up! Never thought of this before.

[Truism]

Some things in this version have the potential to break PR if they aren't fixed I think.

Old bugs and mechanics problems, like extreme deviation and bugged suppression were annoying, but the no headshot mechanic completely robs PR of realism, and significantly detracts from gameplay. The headshot/fast revive/fast heal mechanic is a really serious problem that needs dealing with in a timely fashion.

[TheParadoX]

I'm thinking of all the new players who discover PR ... They are amazed by the maps, the vehicles, the sounds, all the realism in general.

- So it only takes one or 2 bullets to kill an ennemy ?
- Well, yes. Except you can always revive him afterwards

Talk about disappointment

[General_J0k3r]

there have been quite some server side patches the usual player doesn't necessarily hear about

[gclark03]

Release a hotfix limiting the Medic kit to one per squad.

[supahpingi]

Want there a small hotfix for the 600x800 bug for 0.8?

[eggman]

The intent was:
v0.50# = major release
v0.51# = server side hotfixes, usually necessary
v0.55# = minor release, fix bugs, address game play issues, add in new content that barely missed the major release cut off
v0.56# = server side hotfixes, if necessary, try to avoid
v0.60# = major release & repeat above

The issue with v0.85 is that the scope creeped to be a lot more than a minor release.

There does seem to be some things that may require a client side patch to v0.85 (in addition to a server side patch).

Every release cycle, whether it's a minor patch or a major release takes a huge amount of energy just to co-ordinate the release. So the team - who also play the mod extensively - like to ensure that the bulk of the issues are understood. And then there is needed time to develop solutions and test them before releasing. A built in patcher would be really nice (for clients and servers) and if that was the case you'd probably see more frequent updates.

egg

[Farks]

ah I started reading this thread with another idea in mind than I got now when I read Rhino's reply.

First I thought: Yea why not give a new vehicle, weapon, feature every now and than to keep everybody psyched. Like you check your mail and a forum before work and you see: COOL! US can now use (input cool thing here)

But Rhino's point is a good one. There will be a lot of patches out there and it will be confusing.

Thanks for clearing it up! Never thought of this before.

Did you read my post? I'm not talking about new content etc, just small patches that fixes things that are already in the game.

[Outlawz7]

Release a hotfix limiting the Medic kit to one per squad.

Farks was talking about hotfix patches in general, not a new version every week due some latest phobia and frenzy over 'omgz medic spam'.

A hotfix like this would be very welcome in cases such as the G3A3 deviation bug in 0.708 which completely ruined MEC maps and we had to deal with it for over 2 months + a match lost in PRT on the account of a handicapped rifle.

[Rhino]

the only thing that would cause us to do a full new client patch now would be if there was something causing CTDs or something else making the game 100% unplayable for a large proportion of players, at the moment, there is nothing. As for that reason there is no reason to do a client patch.

Small, and yes they are small how ever big you may think them to be, gameplay issues are not big enough to worry about to do patches for, and yes that includes the head shot revive thing which was intended and is a test to see how well it dose. We are already looking into changing it for v0.9 but how we change it is anouther question, it will very unlikely be a simple revert back to what it was before.

Far more players are playing PR more than ever now so its obviously very playable.