Slitherine

I think I just threw them in as a third choice as saw someone else had.picked them without much thought. Changed it now and my other choices. Sorry for any confusion. Cheers Adam

stockwellpete, I just sent Chema-cagi a shout out over on steam so hopefully you will hear from him shortly if you haven't already.

THIS POST IS NOW VOID

Please go to . . . viewtopic.php?f=477&t=96392 . . . and download the new Open Beta either from the link provided in the post or from Steam. I have discussed the issue with Richard, the game designer, and we think that this is the least problematic way of proceeding. Here is part of Richard's PM that I received yesterday . . .

"If everyone used the open beta for the early games in the tournament it could work. Beta builds use a different server, so both players would have to use the Beta for their games, and would have to continue to do so for any ongoing games after the Update is officially released. (But could switch to the release version for games started after the release).

. . .

If players start games using the current release version there might be some replay anomalies the turn after the update goes live, resulting in the situation being different from what the other player saw in his turn, but this is so every time there is an update, and sadly we cannot coordinate updates to only occur between league rounds and Slitherine tournament rounds.

I can't test it, but as far as I can tell, the anomalies should only occur if a unit evaded from a pursuit charge in its own turn (not in the between turn phase) and then got charged in the enemy turn. Under the old code, it would be caught, under the new it would evade. Assuming that this is what happens in the replay, this would alter the random number sequence for anything else during the turn, thus possibly significantly changing the situation for other units. This combination of events is a fairly rare occurrence, so it probably would not occur in any of the game, but it might, and then one or both players might be aggrieved.

So . . . Get everyone to use the Open Beta for games started before the update is released. As these would have to continue to use the beta version even after the release, there would be no possibility of any anomalies even if any further changes were made in the release build. (Although none are planned, the beta might throw up a code change that needs to be made)."

Any anomalies that may occur will be considered "fortunes of war" and will not be considered a suitable reason for a re-start.

I will be sending a group PM to all players today with this message and I will amend the army lists shortly. We still have a week to go before the tournament starts so this should not cause us any major problems. Please post any queries in this thread.

I have just sent out the group PM so everyone will know about the change now before the tournament starts.

I have added the current FOG2DL rating and order in which players will be allocated their armies to the table. So the data for harveylh is shown as [7.06 (8)], which means his current rating is 7.06 and he will be number 8 in the order of army allocation.

I have added the current FOG2DL rating and order in which players will be allocated their armies to the table. So the data for harveylh is shown as [7.06 (5)], which means his current rating is 7.06 and he will be number 5 in the order of army allocation.

I have added the current FOG2DL rating and order in which players will be allocated their armies to the table. So the data for harveylh is shown as [7.06 (6)], which means his current rating is 7.06 and he will be number 6 in the order of army allocation.

Will games in the Biblical section be able to use the tabletop mod with the beta version? I’ve got very little experience using either mods or beta branches in this game, so I’m not sure exactly how that would work.

Another possible issue is that generally the beta game server is shutdown as soon as the beta is released. This means that any multi-player games then in progress are unplayable going forward. Someone would need to coordinate this with Slitherine support for the use of the beta server for early games to be reasonable. Otherwise replays willl be required for games in progress when the beta is released.

Chris

rs2excelsior wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 3:07 pm Will games in the Biblical section be able to use the tabletop mod with the beta version? I’ve got very little experience using either mods or beta branches in this game, so I’m not sure exactly how that would work.

I don't think this Open beta will affect the TT mod being used with Biblical. I will ask Richard for confirmation tomorrow.

batesmotel wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 3:47 pm Another possible issue is that generally the beta game server is shutdown as soon as the beta is released. This means that any multi-player games then in progress are unplayable going forward. Someone would need to coordinate this with Slitherine support for the use of the beta server for early games to be reasonable. Otherwise replays willl be required for games in progress when the beta is released.

Chris

I will mention this to Richard tomorrow. From Richard's message above it doesn't look like it will be an issue.

Please note: the Carthaginian (Hannibal in Italy) and Samnite allies pairing is legitimate even though the dates do not overlap. See . . .

viewtopic.php?f=477&t=96434

I will be starting the army allocation process tomorrow morning (Monday). Players who have not chosen armies by then will lose their places in the seedings and have to make their selections from what has not already been chosen by other players.

Richard has now sent me this, which contradicts the earlier advice . . .

"FOG2DL using open beta

Sent: 26 Jan 2020 19:36
From: rbodleyscott
Recipient: stockwellpete
Hi Pete,

On further reflection I think it would be unwise to start the league using the Open Beta because it depends on
1) The Test server not being purged, which it is regularly.
2) The open beta being left on STEAM, which it would not normally be after the update is released, otherwise STEAM users won't be able to swap back and forth to play both versions.
This then causes problems if we want to start another open beta before 12th April - which is quite likely.

So I think I am going to have to ask you to think again. I cannot promise that something won't go horribly wrong if you start using the beta version.

The truth is that beta versions are beta versions and should not be used for anything official, because they aren’t fully supported, and cannot be fully supported.

The most sensible solution would simply be to postpone the start of the season till 25th February.

The alternative would be to start with the current release version and accept that some anomalies might arise in a very few games on the first turn after the update goes live.

Cheers,

Richard"

I am not going to postpone the season until February 25th because we will lose players if we wait another month and that will create a lot more work for me. It will also throw the dates out for the rest of the year, really leaving only enough time for two league seasons plus the KO tournament .

So we will have to start with the current release version (so none of the Open Beta changes will be used until the official release) and any anomalies that occur after the Beta becomes official will be deemed "fortunes of war" and not a sufficient reason to claim a re-start to a game.

I am sorry about this chopping and changing but I was given no advance warning about this Open Beta, only reading about it for the first time when it was raised in The Rally Point.

Removing the Open Beta from the Steam version is easy. Just click on "Properties" and then "Cancel Beta". I am not sure about the procedure for the Slitherine version. Can somebody post the method please? I am presuming you have to delete the Beta to access the last Official release?

I have now sent a new group PM to everyone regarding our non-use of the Open Beta.

stockwellpete wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:22 pm Removing the Open Beta from the Steam version is easy. Just click on "Properties" and then "Cancel Beta". I am not sure about the procedure for the Slitherine version. Can somebody post the method please? I am presuming you have to delete the Beta to access the last Official release?

The open beta is a seperate installation and so doesn't interfere in any way with games using the official version. They even use seperate mp servers aparently. So you have 2 versions on your computer at the same time, no need to uninstall anything.

I need your army selections now please. I will be starting the allocation process tomorrow morning.

markwatson360 wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:30 pm

stockwellpete wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:22 pm Removing the Open Beta from the Steam version is easy. Just click on "Properties" and then "Cancel Beta". I am not sure about the procedure for the Slitherine version. Can somebody post the method please? I am presuming you have to delete the Beta to access the last Official release?

The open beta is a seperate installation and so doesn't interfere in any way with games using the official version. They even use seperate mp servers aparently. So you have 2 versions on your computer at the same time, no need to uninstall anything.

OK, thanks for that, Mark. That makes things straightforward.

You will have them this evening, sorry for the delay. I got sidetracked by the open beta as I switched to it and now have switched back, fortunately with no problems.

Harvey