[GS] 30-Day Patch for GS?

[pokiehl]

Well todayst Thursday and no patch so far..

 

[Architect]

I really like the weekly communication. This radio silence is no fun.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Well todayst Thursday and no patch so far..

The patches have typically been released around 1pm Eastern. So if it is today, it should be in about 10 minutes. But I doubt it is today. There was a second QA update for the week late yesterday.

 

[bbbt]

What are the chances Firaxis will give us access to the DLL? I've heard people say since Civ VI has been released for the Switch and iOS that Firaxis will want to keep all versions of Civ VI the same so they might be hesitant to release it for PC.

I don't think the the Switch/iOS would be an issue unless they have some sort of plan to include them in cross platform multiplayer/steam workshop which seems very unlikely.

The issue could be Mac and Linux: mods that change the dll source code won't work with them. Also true in previous versions. However with 'modded cross platform multiplayer' that adds a wrinkle - i.e. if someone with a dll-based mod hosts an online game and a mac user joins - what happens? Does the game download the mod and the crash the whole multiplayer game with sync errors as it isn't actually work on one for example?

Otoh I don't know enough even know that anything that modifies a dll could even 'auto install' like that via the workshop (versus some manually file removal). So it might not be an issue (or be an issue for anyone joining a game hosted with dll mods).

I mean I think we're talking a fraction (people who are going to custom install dll mods) of a fraction (people who play with mods in civ period) of the user base, so I don't know that it's really a practical issue overall.

 

[Aristos]

I really like the weekly communication. This radio silence is no fun.

Super communication hype frenzyness when they want to sell you something... complete radio silence afterwards.

 

[Wizard-Bob]

Super communication hype frenzyness when they want to sell you something... complete radio silence afterwards.

Sadly, this seems to be SOOO true

 

[leandrombraz]

Most of the devs probably went to GDC this week, so it was unlikely that they would release anything today.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Most of the devs probably went to GDC this week, so it was unlikely that they would release anything today.

Several of the ones I follow on Twitter have gone. Although, I don't think that's indicative of whether the patch would release or not. It's not like there's DLC or whatever that needs to be hyped.

 

[Stilgar08]

I miss the hourly updates on QAbuild stuff and so forth...
Although I'm in the middle of a game and play in offline mode for fear of not being able to finish I'm eagerly awaiting news on the patch. Are there none? New bets on when it will drop and whats in it?

 

[WillowBrook]

Nothing unusual in last week's updates. They are definitely working on a patch, but I can't tell anything about when it will come out.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

There were 3 updates last week. Although you could make the argument that the first one was a holdover from the previous week which had only a single update.

At this point, things don't seem to be running pell mell to the finish line, but we will see what today brings.

It's pretty likely that they are going to patch PC, Mac, and Linux simultaneously so they don't break cross-platform multiplayer. And the Mac and Linux builds have been updating daily.

I think, if we see the PC qa build update today and tomorrow, that would be a good indicator for Thursday.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

There were zero updates yesterday.

20 minutes ago Aspyr updated the Mac and Linux Branch builds, which have this description: "Test Branch to send builds to 2KQA" which are different than the ones they do internal QA with. (Aspyr has such nice labelling)

So I'm guessing Aspyr is looking for final approval on their builds for the new patch.

Thursday? Looking likely.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

aww man but i was supposed to do something that evening for a change

 

[Aristos]

aww man but i was supposed to do something that evening for a change

You WILL do something that evening.

 

[Delvi]

I really hope for Thursday, going back home on Friday after several months travelling on business.

 

[marius_kaparius]

I really hope the vanilla and R&F civilizations get some rework. I've now beaten the game with every GS civ I've wanted to.

 

[acluewithout]

Maybe we’ll get an announcement video today?

My concern is that there’s so much that needs tuning that the next patch won’t be able to improve the game that much. Guess we’ll see.

Civ is in a very frustrating place. Standing back, the game really is in great shape. GS really pushes the game forward. Lots of great mechanics. Increasingly those mechanics fit together really well. Lots of good balance decisions.

But there’s also so much that’s still out of whack, sometimes only by a little, that it feels increasingly frustrating as you play it.

There’s big stuff like voting and resolutions in the WC (basically, the WC is well implemented, but the resolutions are a bit dry; the voting doesn’t quite work; emergencies are not quite there yet; and (just like Governors and Gov Plaza), the implementation lacks some “colour” (eg something triggering the WC like a Wonder or meeting every Civ)), but also really small stuff like Railways just not having any real impact so why build them (there really needs to be some hammers from connecting your cities). It just feels like lots of the game doesn’t matter, and that often that’s just because of a few yield points here or there or the implementation being a little too conservative (WotW is a good example of the later).

And then there’s pacing which is just off (although mods can help with that).

And then moreover there’s just the general passivity of the AI and lack of real challenge.

I’ve ended up uninstalling Civ, because I just got fed up with the cycle of really wanting to play, really enjoying a few turns, and then having my enjoyment fall off a cliff. I’m still keen to play, but want to try again after the game is patched (and if patches don’t get there, maybe after some lite modding). But waiting for patches, it could easily be a year before the game really hits its straps.

Sigh.

I can understand why people prefer playing Civ V and IV or other established games. There’s something to be said for playing a game with maybe less interesting or developed mechanics, but where those mechanics are all thoroughly well tuned because of how long the game has been around.

I really can’t see myself ever bothering with these incredibly long development cycles again if there was ever a Civ 7 etc. I’ve been really interested in picking up BattleTech, but I think it’d just be the same palaver again given how recently that came out.

Indeed, I think part of what’s going on is that FXS might be deliberately stretching out the development cycle for this game, i.e. they seem to have been and are continuing to hold off introducing certain mechanics and Civs etc. I can’t really fault this. I’m sure there’s a financial element to that approach, but it also means mechanics are more mature and there is more opportunity for FXS to tune the game. I’m happy with that approach - a better game is a better game. But the downside is that the game still feels like a work in progress even though it was released in 2016. Sheesh!

I’m really happy with Civ’s direction. I’m just impatient. Honestly, I feel like I’m constantly just waiting for the next patch. Even with GS, for all its new mechanics, the most important things for me were just changes to the base game.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

The Mac QA build updated overnight. So if the thing yesterday was "for approval", this would suggest that approval was denied.

 

[Kwami]

Indeed, I think part of what’s going on is that FXS might be deliberately stretching out the development cycle for this game, i.e. they seem to have been and are continuing to hold off introducing certain mechanics and Civs etc. I can’t really fault this. I’m sure there’s a financial element to that approach, but it also means mechanics are more mature and there is more opportunity for FXS to tune the game. I’m happy with that approach - a better game is a better game. But the downside is that the game still feels like a work in progress even though it was released in 2016. Sheesh!

I disagree with most of what you wrote, but I especially disagree with this. Compared to Civ V, Firaxis is releasing patches and expansions more quickly. Indeed, they're releasing content at about the same pace that they did for Civ IV. I don't think that anyone is intentionally holding content away from you just for fun.

Anyway, here's hoping for a patch soon! I'm just about to start another game and I hate getting a mid-game patch.

 

[WillowBrook]

Looking back at the change history, it looks like, before yesterday, the Mac and Linux branches were last updated February 5, 6, and 7, with various Mac and Linux QA branch updates in between but none between Feb 7 and 14. So, for the GS patch, it seems to have taken three tries to get the non-QA branches in shape, and that happened a week before GS came out.

So if history is any guide, I'd guess we're looking at next week for the patch, especially if we see another update or two to the Mac and Linux branches today or tomorrow and then nothing on their QA branches.