Any news on a gameplay DLL like in Civ4?

[cephalo]

I've been away for a while and I just wanted to check in on the status of Civ5 modding. I'm waiting for the source code to really jump in.

 

[Decimatus]

I've been away for a while and I just wanted to check in on the status of Civ5 modding. I'm waiting for the source code to really jump in.

No news, but sometime in the next 3 months is about on par with Civ 4's DLL release I think.

 

[smellymummy]

No news, but sometime in the next 3 months is about on par with Civ 4's DLL release I think.

this sounds very much like what i read 5 months ago

 

[DragonBlood87]

this sounds very much like what i read 5 months ago

Civ4 release date: October 25th, 2005
Civ4 dll release date: April 13th, 2006
Time elapsed from release to dll release: A little under 6 months.

Civ5 release date: September 21st, 2010
Six months from release date: About late February.

So, it's a little bit past the equivalent time from Civ4, but not enough to be earning snarky comments yet.

 

[cephalo]

I do wish they were a bit more communicative on this. They told us early on there would be one, but I wonder if anything's changed since release. I get the feeling 2k will pull the plug on anything that can't be sold somehow. They seem to willing to r8pe the series for short term profit, while a DLL is more of a long term profit kinda thing.

 

[xxhe]

I think the dll of CiV will be released much later than civ4. The reason is simple: there are too much things to be fixed before the game is no longer consider "broken"; and only after most of those issues are fixed that will they release the dll.

 

[Galacticat42]

What xxhe said is most likely correct... Jon Shafer made a huge chunk of the engine and concepts which - with very little professional coding background and instead modding coding background - were extremely buggy and had a lot of problems with the consumers. So, instead of pumping out DLC's and SDK patches, the remaining team has to figure out what Jon wrote out in the code and tune it whilst Sid Meier appoints a new design leader. Since the only guy who knew the engine code forward and backward left (Mr. Shafer) the rest of the team has to sift through the entire engine for months at a time trying to figure out what does what, when and where all while attempting to maintain their composure for the masses, keeping the consumers happy. The whole Jon Shafer leaving Firaxis stunt left Firaxis and 2K a few months behind to try and figure out the code. Since code documenting really comes from professional experience and not just mods that only the maker will ever read, Shafer most likely did in the engine what any modder would do for mods - code without comments. Although documenting code through comments is a good practice that should be exercised by all coders, the rookies and amateurs tend to leave out important comments. Which I confess I am also guilty of at times.

 

[DragonBlood87]

What xxhe said is most likely correct... Jon Shafer made a huge chunk of the engine and concepts which - with very little professional coding background and instead modding coding background - were extremely buggy and had a lot of problems with the consumers. So, instead of pumping out DLC's and SDK patches, the remaining team has to figure out what Jon wrote out in the code and tune it whilst Sid Meier appoints a new design leader. Since the only guy who knew the engine code forward and backward left (Mr. Shafer) the rest of the team has to sift through the entire engine for months at a time trying to figure out what does what, when and where all while attempting to maintain their composure for the masses, keeping the consumers happy. The whole Jon Shafer leaving Firaxis stunt left Firaxis and 2K a few months behind to try and figure out the code. Since code documenting really comes from professional experience and not just mods that only the maker will ever read, Shafer most likely did in the engine what any modder would do for mods - code without comments. Although documenting code through comments is a good practice that should be exercised by all coders, the rookies and amateurs tend to leave out important comments. Which I confess I am also guilty of at times.

Yes, very true. If the documentation they received for the engine is anything like the "documentation" the modding community was given... I can see why there would be such delays.

 

[cephalo]

What xxhe said is most likely correct... Jon Shafer made a huge chunk of the engine and concepts which - with very little professional coding background and instead modding coding background - were extremely buggy and had a lot of problems with the consumers. So, instead of pumping out DLC's and SDK patches, the remaining team has to figure out what Jon wrote out in the code and tune it whilst Sid Meier appoints a new design leader. Since the only guy who knew the engine code forward and backward left (Mr. Shafer) the rest of the team has to sift through the entire engine for months at a time trying to figure out what does what, when and where all while attempting to maintain their composure for the masses, keeping the consumers happy. The whole Jon Shafer leaving Firaxis stunt left Firaxis and 2K a few months behind to try and figure out the code. Since code documenting really comes from professional experience and not just mods that only the maker will ever read, Shafer most likely did in the engine what any modder would do for mods - code without comments. Although documenting code through comments is a good practice that should be exercised by all coders, the rookies and amateurs tend to leave out important comments. Which I confess I am also guilty of at times.

That sounds like alot of information that Firaxis wouldn't release publicly... You forgot to mention that this is all wild speculation on your part, am I right? Also, the Civ4 DLL had almost no comments whatsoever.

 

[rezaf]

I'd argue that the days where the lead designer hammers out the code himself are a thing of indie games and the past, so I can't quite agree with the assessment that Jon Shafer's departure has caused any significant trouble in that regard.

As it stands, I wouldn't be surprised if there never was a source-release - Firaxis' stance towards the modding community and communicating with it has been less then stellar so far, to say the least.

I DO hope I'm wrong, though.
_____
rezaf

 

[smellymummy]

Civ4 release date: October 25th, 2005
Civ4 dll release date: April 13th, 2006
Time elapsed from release to dll release: A little under 6 months.

Civ5 release date: September 21st, 2010
Six months from release date: About late February.

So, it's a little bit past the equivalent time from Civ4, but not enough to be earning snarky comments yet.

very true, but id have to say snarky comments are always okay from disgruntled enthusiasts