[We the People] Development "diary"

[Mr. ZorG]

@ArchdukeLiet please, while working with maps, take into account the clarifications for modifying the map, which I indicated in the working chat (04.11.22).

 

[ArchdukeLiet]

Of course!

 

[ArchdukeLiet]

Today I finished the North America Large map.
Maps are getting green!

Priority 1:

1. Americas Gigantic - @ignasito - DONE
2. Americas Huge - @ignasito - DONE
3. Americas Gigantic - random @ignasito - DONE
4. Americas Huge - random @ignasito - unknown
5. The New World Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
6. Two Continents Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - in progress
7. Amerayca Gigantic

Priority 2:

1. Colonial America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
2. New England Huge @ArchdukeLiet - in progress
3. North America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
4. Northwest Passage @ArchdukeLiet - in progress
5. South America @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
6. West Indies Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
7. Western Hemisphere Huge
8. Western Hemisphere Standard

Priority 3:

1. TAC America Huge
2. TAC Central America Large
3. TAC East Coast Large
4. TAC Northwest Passage Large
5. TAC South America Standard

 

[Mr. ZorG]

Priority 1:

1. Americas Gigantic - @ignasito - DONE
2. Americas Huge - @ignasito - DONE
3. Americas Gigantic - random @ignasito - DONE
4. Americas Huge - random @ignasito - unknown
5. The New World Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
6. Two Continents Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
7. Amerayca Gigantic - in progress

Priority 2:

1. Colonial America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
2. New England Huge @ArchdukeLiet - in progress
3. North America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
4. Northwest Passage @ArchdukeLiet - in progress
5. South America @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
6. West Indies Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
7. Western Hemisphere Huge
8. Western Hemisphere Standard

Priority 3:

1. TAC America Huge
2. TAC Central America Large
3. TAC East Coast Large
4. TAC Northwest Passage Large
5. TAC South America Standard

 

[raystuttgart]

Well, there was again progress this week.

Of course we still have open todos, but an official release beginning next year still seems possible.
(And if we succeed to fix the remaining bugs until then we most likely can also have a beta in December.)

 

[ArchdukeLiet]

Another map done: New England Huge

Priority 1:

1. Americas Gigantic - @ignasito - DONE
2. Americas Huge - @ignasito - DONE
3. Americas Gigantic - random @ignasito - DONE
4. Americas Huge - random @ignasito - unknown
5. The New World Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
6. Two Continents Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
7. Amerayca Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - in progress

Priority 2:

1. Colonial America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
2. New England Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
3. North America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
4. Northwest Passage @ArchdukeLiet - in progress
5. South America @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
6. West Indies Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
7. Western Hemisphere Huge
8. Western Hemisphere Standard

Priority 3:

1. TAC America Huge
2. TAC Central America Large
3. TAC East Coast Large
4. TAC Northwest Passage Large
5. TAC South America Standard

 

[ArchdukeLiet]

Another map done: Northwest Passage Large

Priority 1:

1. Americas Gigantic - @ignasito - DONE
2. Americas Huge - @ignasito - DONE
3. Americas Gigantic - random @ignasito - DONE
4. Americas Huge - random @ignasito - unknown
5. The New World Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
6. Two Continents Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
7. Amerayca Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - in progress

Priority 2:

1. Colonial America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
2. New England Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
3. North America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
4. Northwest Passage @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
5. South America @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
6. West Indies Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
7. Western Hemisphere Huge
8. Western Hemisphere Standard

Priority 3:

1. TAC America Huge
2. TAC Central America Large
3. TAC East Coast Large
4. TAC Northwest Passage Large
5. TAC South America Standard

 

[raystuttgart]

Hi everybody.

since we get ever more frequent questions on an ETA for the release,
I think it is time that we also give an answer to it and some update.

-----

A beta release in December has become unrealistic.
Thus an official release in January has also become unrealistic.

At least there is no point in it ... too much is still open and changing.
It would just cause us trouble with endless reports of broken or missing stuff.

-----

Open todos are e.g.:

1) Bugfixes for known bugs are still in work
2) Maps and MapScript adjustments are still in work
3) Trade Quests for the new Goods are still in work
4) L-Plot-System for the new Resources is still in work
5) Domestic Advisor Screen Update is still in work
6) English Texts for some of the new content is still in work
...

-----

There is no point in stressing the team.
Also we do not want to prioritze time over quality.

Please understand that we are still a small team and things do not always work out as planned.
However there is still continous progress and motivation and teamwork in the team is excellent.

So please stay patient and let us continue working on the release without pressure.
We promise that once we actually release this monster it will have been worth the waiting time.

-----

Thanks a lot for the trust and support we get from community.

-----

Best regards
WTP modding team

 

[Mr. ZorG]

I finished work on the Amerayca Gigantic map. it was the most difficult map to edit: there are a lot of "torn" rivers and rivers, the mouth of which was at the source point.
if those who will test the map find errors / shortcomings, send the coordinates of the tiles, I will correct it.

Priority 1:

1. Americas Gigantic - @ignasito - DONE
2. Americas Gigantic - random @ignasito - DONE
3. Americas Huge - @ignasito - DONE
4. Americas Huge - random @ignasito - unknown
5. The New World Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
6. Two Continents Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
7. Amerayca Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE

Priority 2:

1. Colonial America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
2. New England Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
3. North America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
4. Northwest Passage @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
5. South America @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
6. West Indies Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
7. Western Hemisphere Huge
8. Western Hemisphere Standard

Priority 3:

1. TAC America Huge
2. TAC Central America Large
3. TAC East Coast Large
4. TAC Northwest Passage Large
5. TAC South America Standard

 

[ArchdukeLiet]

In the meantime I did create a new gigantic map, Undiscovered World. This is a fictional, generated map and manually modified for WTP. Gigantic size (108x215).

Furthermore we went through the TAC maps and concluded that it is not necessary to convert some of them to WTP, as they are already double with other maps under priority 2.

Priority 1:

1. Americas Gigantic - @ignasito - DONE
2. Americas Gigantic - random @ignasito - DONE
3. Americas Huge - @ignasito - DONE
4. Americas Huge - random @ignasito - unknown
5. The New World Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
6. Two Continents Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
7. Amerayca Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE

Priority 2:

1. Colonial America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
2. New England Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
3. North America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
4. Northwest Passage @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
5. South America @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
6. West Indies Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
7. Western Hemisphere Huge
8. Western Hemisphere Standard

Priority 3:

1. TAC America Huge
2. TAC Central America Large
3. TAC East Coast Large
4. TAC Northwest Passage Large
5. TAC South America Standard

New maps:

1. Undiscovered World Gigantic @ArchdukeLiet - DONE

 

[raystuttgart]

We made good progress, but still those bugs postpone / prevent a release.
(The rest of the work is slowly but surely making progress and would also not totally block us.)

This is actually the big bottleneck we have, since it requires really skilled programmers with a lot of time.
The only active programmer in the team that is skilled enough to work on those is @Nightinggale.

2) Automated Units get stuck on River Ford (GIT Issue #449)
3) Pathfinding for New Movement System (GIT Issue #561)
4) Issues in Automated Trade Route System [POSTPONED after 4.0]
6) Combat Forecast sometimes not shown (GIT Issue #557)
7) Negative Storage bug (totally breaking everything) (GIT Issue #501)

In other words:
We desperately need more support of skilled programmers ...

 

[Mr. ZorG]

in my opinion, two problems are quite serious, but they should not delay the publication of the release.

3) Pathfinding for New Movement System (GIT Issue #561) - yes, choosing the shortest path is very important and with the current cost of moving around the area, it will increase the unit's travel time. but after running quite a few test games, I can say that this is important, but not critical. units that need to get to a certain point quickly, you can swipe manually.
6) Combat Forecast sometimes not shown (GIT Issue #557) - the error occurs quite rarely and should not slow down the publication of the release.

 

[raystuttgart]

... should not delay the publication of the release

It is not specifically about any single of them. It is simply still too many.
For a full official release we should at least fix a few of them.

Also 2 (#449, #557) of them have already been analyzed and we know how to fix them.
It is basically just about a skilled enough programmer finding time to work on them.

So let us please not get impatient and throw out releases with bugs that can be fixed.
There is no reason to become sloppy and prioritize time over quality now - we never did.

----------

Summary:
Any bug that is already analyzed and we know how to fix is a reason to postpone the official release until it is fixed.
Publishing hastily without taking the time to create good quality will not benefit us, quite the contrary. It will waste even more effort and time in the long run.

By the way:
There is still also a lot of other work still to be implemented, it is not just the bugs - although these are a major concern for the release.
e.g. The Trade Quests are not yet done, the MapScript is not done and also the Screens we wanted to implement / fix are not yet done.

-----------

In the end it all comes down to capacity of skilled programmers which will once more be the bottleneck.

 

[raystuttgart]

Puh, that was a hard day of work for the team with lots of great progress.
Only seen few days in the history of this mod that had as many commits as today ...

We are on a good path to the next release if we continue cooperating as nicely as today.
So thanks for everybody who participated in all those work sessions for the effort invested.

We have fixed bugs, we implemented new Buildings with great graphics, we implemented new small features, we implemented new Events, we translated texts, we ...

 

[ArchdukeLiet]

For the maps, I'll continue working on:
- Western Hemisphere Huge
- Western Hemisphere Standard

 

[raystuttgart]

For the maps, I'll continue working on:

Thanks, it would really be good to get the stuff for the beta release done.

Originally we planned a beta release end of December already.
Now it is more realistic to have a beta release end of January ...

It is just a few more small steps to publish at least a beta to community.
So let us not lose energy and motivation on the last meters of the marathon.

 

[ArchdukeLiet]

Today I finished the Western Hemisphere Huge and Western Hemisphere Standard maps.

I'll continue working on TAC Central America Large and TAC East Coast Large.
Mr. Zorg has commited to finalise Americas Huge - random.

Priority 1:

1. Americas Gigantic - @ignasito - DONE
2. Americas Gigantic - random @ignasito - DONE
3. Americas Huge - @ignasito - DONE
4. Americas Huge - random @ignasito - unknown @ Mr. ZorG - In progress
5. The New World Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
6. Two Continents Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
7. Amerayca Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE

Priority 2:

1. Colonial America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
2. New England Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
3. North America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
4. Northwest Passage @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
5. South America @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
6. West Indies Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
7. Western Hemisphere Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
8. Western Hemisphere Standard @ArchdukeLiet - DONE

Priority 3:

1. TAC America Huge
2. TAC Central America Large @ArchdukeLiet - In progress
3. TAC East Coast Large @ArchdukeLiet - In progress
4. TAC Northwest Passage Large
5. TAC South America Standard

New maps:

1. Undiscovered World Gigantic @ArchdukeLiet - DONE

 

[raystuttgart]

Super excited for "New Hope", Kenshi has finally worn off...

Well, as you see here we are pretty close to the public beta release.

[Work Coordination] Todos for Release 4.0 aka "New Hope" [OBSOLETE]

I will look at the maps that @ignasito adapted and make adjustments. I'll take care of it on January 9th.

forums.civfanatics.com

Big thanks for all your hard work, dear modders.

Thanks, nice words are always appreciated.
But honestly we mostly do this for ourselves.

It has been almost 2 years between Release 3.0.1 and Release 4.0 (aka "New Hope").
Finally being so close to the public beta release seems like an incedible success in hindsight ...

------

Players may not have realized what was going on behind the scenes ... but we had some difficult times.
There were several months when the team had been reduced to only two actively contributing member ...

Still ... after these 2 years we are short before publishing the biggest release ever in Civ4Col modding history.
And not only that, we have also re-united the core team again and even found new team members and supporters.

So yeah ... I am also exited - just ask the others ... I must have been pretty annoying recently.
I can't wait to get our baby published and see how community reacts ...

We grinded for 2 years that felt endless and fought battles in a war that seemed impossible to win.
But still in the end we joined forces again, persevered, found our motivation again, worked hard and thus emerged victorious once more.

Thus I am extremely proud of what we achieved.
And it also shows how much we can still achieve together in the releases to come.

 

[Lmk]

biggest release ever in Civ4Col modding history.

Let that fxxxxxg sink in, brothers

 

[Mr. ZorG]

Since @ignasito didn't get in touch, I had to take over the job of modifying the "Americas Huge - random" map. and since it has to match the "Americas Huge" map, I've dealt with both maps. today I finally finished remaking and testing them.
also, given that the maps were not created according to the template that we discussed in the working chat, I will redo the remaining two maps: "Americas Gigantic" and "Americas Gigantic - random".

Priority 1:

1. Americas Gigantic - @ignasito - @ Mr. ZorG - In progress
2. Americas Gigantic - random @ignasito - @ Mr. ZorG - In progress
3. Americas Huge - @ignasito @ Mr. ZorG - DONE
4. Americas Huge - random @ignasito - @ Mr. ZorG - DONE
5. The New World Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
6. Two Continents Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE
7. Amerayca Gigantic @Mr. ZorG - DONE

Priority 2:

1. Colonial America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
2. New England Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
3. North America Large @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
4. Northwest Passage @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
5. South America @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
6. West Indies Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
7. Western Hemisphere Huge @ArchdukeLiet - DONE
8. Western Hemisphere Standard @ArchdukeLiet - DONE

Priority 3:

1. TAC Central America Large @ArchdukeLiet - In progress
2. TAC East Coast Large @ArchdukeLiet - In progress

New maps:

1. Undiscovered World Gigantic @ArchdukeLiet - DONE