I could give a long speech full of lies, half-truths, and shameless + attempts to get you to support my agenda's various components, but + dammit Jim, I'm a coder not a politician! + +
So instead I'll just talk about what's going on with the tree so + people who don't hang out on irc know what the fuck is going on for a + change. Maybe Palisade or someone should see that relevant tidbits + make it to the website's news page. What's here's mostly for other + developers and non-novice users so I'm going to feel free to go into + technical details of things the average non-coder may be confused by. + Tough. => + +
It's not out yet. In fact, it's not even close to out yet because + I pretty much have become the stable release manager here because like + an idiot I stepped up to the plate when someone needed to in order to + get 0.1.0 out the door.. First lesson: Never volunteer yourself to + do a job that nobody else wants---you'll find out quick why they don't + want it and you won't be able to get them to take it later. ;> + +
What needs to be done for QF 0.1.1: + +
Mission packs in -gl target all work already, save + hipnotic. -gl dies saying the scrap texture is full. There's + already a fix for this in the code, I just need to enable it. + Currently unstable allows four scrap textures whereas stable + allows only one. Four is overkill (all hipnotic needs is two) + but I figure there's got to be at least one other mod out + there that needs the extra space for tiny textures. + +
When I'm satisfied that things are working okay, I'll call it 0.1.1 + and make sure archives get made. I'll also upload Debian packages + (since I do that) to potato and woody. They may not ever see potato, + but I'll try since the above would really be just a bugfix release. + Someone who cares will have to make rpms, win32 binaries (if that's + possible in the 0.1.x tree, it may be now and not have been when the + release archives were made I don't know..) + +
As a side note, there is talk (since so many of QF's
+ coders are Debian users and developers) of modifying the UQuake
+ console version string in 0.1.1 to read "QuakeForge Quack (B-Finn
+ edition) 0.1.1" or something similar in honor of one of #debian's
+ most memorable and amusing trolls, B-Finn who always wanted "HELP
+ FOR PLEASE TO INSTALL QUACK"... He made it clear that he meant Quake
+ and was obviously trolling (that, stupid beyond belief, or someone's
+ sick idea of competition to megahal...) It probably won't happen,
+ but then again ....
+
+
If you hadn't noticed, a lot is broken lately. Understatement of + the entire 20th Century I realize. We've begun working on the shared + object support. Linux svgalib and X11 work, sortof. X11 is being + broken again because of the seperate input/video things being LAME(!) + and broken anyway, but the results will be cool. + +
You can thank Mercury for breaking the tree with what he knew was a + badly designed module solution, but he did lay the framework needed to + do it right. He's also getting stuck fixing it which is of course + poetic coder justice or something. ;> Currently the shared + objects must be in the dir you run from--taniwha is working on a path + cvar which will be searched. + +
Bad news: Someone broke qw's protocol. Client or server
+ we don't know, but it's broken. Unintentionally, it will be
+ repaired. At least, as soon as someone else fixes it or I get a
+ working -ggi target, timestamped server console, and about an hour to
+ work on it in.
+
+
Good gods, where to begin? If you don't know it you must have + been living under a rock or something: Zoid has taken an interest in + QuakeForge(!) He's asked for cvs write access and has been hanging + around to answer questions, offer suggestions, and generally remind + us that he thinks we're all insane. (He's right, of course..) + +
Here's what he's had to say so far: + +
We're obviously thrilled Zoid's taken such an interest in our + project. We're very grateful to have him working on the project + where time permits him to and for the advice he's offered to us. + diff --git a/sotc/2000/0222 b/sotc/2000/0222 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0343187 --- /dev/null +++ b/sotc/2000/0222 @@ -0,0 +1,107 @@ + +
I'd like to say first off that based on the feedback I've gotten from + my last State of the Code update, I'll probably be doing these more + often. They'll also be showing up on the webpage soon I hope. I'm + keeping archives until that happens. This one's a bit long because a + lot has happened and I should have wrriten this about Friday night. + Sorry for the delay. + +
In general, the update for 0.1.1 is coming along nicely. A lot of the + changes I have been working on have actually been committed to thre + tree. If you grab the Release_0_1 tag out of CVS right now, your + version will still say it is 0.1.0, but it should have most of the + bugs fixed. All in all, a very good thing. Here's what I've still got + to do with it: +
That's it! Tentatively, 0.1.1 can be ready to roll as early as this + weekend. You can still grab the Release_0_1_0 tag for the current + release, but please grab the current stuff and "test" the hell out of + it. 0.1.0 was pretty good, but 0.1.1 should fix every known issue I've + been told about since then. Break it if you can, please! + +
If you have been living under a rock and don't know it, unstable works + again! Mostly. Mercury has, in fear for his mortal life, undone many + of the changes made to unstable which caused so much breakage before. + The only target not working again is the SDL target because nobody + else but me seems to be building -sdl and just because I build it + doesn't mean I understand that target. (Remember, my areas are the QF + build system and some of the stuff deep in the engine core!) If you + can fix it, step up and do so. + +
Win32 support. xC and Endy have Win32 "working" again under VC++, for + some versions of working. xC is working on the problems, but could use + a hand if you can help him. Here's what's broken: +
The protocol breakage between the QW clients and server has been + fixed. We are still (unfortunately) compatible with Win32 2.3x clients + with all the problems that invites. We'll probably so remain until + we're done with the merge because we don't want to change the protocol + on win32 people until we know we can support them. Currently we just + don't have enough win32 developers with their hands in the code to + make sure it remains working. + +
I've begun working on QER/QSG colored lighting in QF. It's the first + QER feature I'm working on in the hope that we'll eventually be + working from a common codebase. That's up to them of course but we all + know the QF tree is superior to the q1source tree. Still, they may not + want to have to work around software renderer limitations, so we'll + see. + +
The merge continues at impressive speeds. The merge hall of fame has + a new face today as taniwha has proven his insanity by filling the CVS + list with commits of merged files. + +
We've been talking to QuakeWorld Forever about their secure QuakeWorld + implementation. I will probably at some point be helping them + implement public key cryptography. I've explored the best way to do + this (Netrek uses a similar strategy) and have a few ideas. We'll see + how they pan out. + +
As I mentioned above, I'm implementing some QER features and Endy from + QSG has been picking away at a few of our Win32 problems. I generally + consider these two groups to be closely related, but we're going to be + working with them more to make this a truly multi-project effort and + ensure some standardization and compatibility between our projects. + +
If you haven't heard, you've lived under a rock for quite some time + now. QuakeLives is and has been almost since the project's inception, + in violation of the GNU GPL. They tell us that they did not and do not + have Copyright infringement problems with that license, the GNU GPL. + They demanded we remove any statement saying otherwise from our + website. (Mercury says he left QuakeLives because of GPL + violations---this is noted on our news page.) Since we can prove + otherwise, we've refused. + +
Speaking of QuakeLives, the MegaTF website was distributing copies of + a release marked 2.54 without source. Slade of QuakeLives told us that + MegaTF was distributing "warez" and later denied making that + statement. We've got logs if anybody cares enough to read them, + naturally. At any rate, Ambush has removed the offending binaries + until he has some idea where things really stand with QuakeLives. He + is not retargetting MegaTF in the meantime. Talk to him, not to us, + etc. + diff --git a/sotc/2000/0308 b/sotc/2000/0308 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef03d14 --- /dev/null +++ b/sotc/2000/0308 @@ -0,0 +1,64 @@ + +
Palisade's away for a bit. He should be back sooner or later but + until then things are a bit muddled---sometimes life doesn't leave + us with the opportunity to prepare for a need to become scarce for + awhile. Since the show must go on regardless, the project's core + coders have been picking up some of the administrative tasks 'till + he gets back. Bear with us, it ain't exactly our department. + +
This update will probably not be as frequent as many of you might + want. I'm going to stick to development issues mostly, but I'll + cover them in detail. Usually after the fact. But it will be + updated. + +
Pretty damned stable from what I'm hearing, unless you run win32. + Sorry about that, I don't do windoze so it didn't get tested. I + have and will apply pretty soon a fix for that. Look for 0.1.2 to + be released. Want a release date? Tough, I know better than to + offer you one. We'll make sure it gets spammed to the usual sites + when it's ready believe me. + +
If you have a patch for something you want to go in to stable, + send it to me! Now's the time to do it. I have patches for the + cache mismatch bug planned. Our newest win32 coder, Tonik, has a + fix for the win32 stuff in my inbox right now. + +
Well, dispite some problems with COM_Parse() that are screwing + with QW, unstable works rather nicely. taniwha is working on it, + should be fixed soon. + +
raptor has been playing with volfog again and has it replacing + the water brush for testing purposes. Give Necropolis a very nifty + effect by grabbing yourself a watervis'd map and trying it out. + raptor recommends r_wateralpha .3, r_volfog .0009, and r_waterripple + 5. Be forewarned that the volfog code currently uses the stencil + buffer which is almost guaranteed to not be hardware accellerated. + Expect a FPS drop. Using the stencil buffer is really not a good + idea and raptor will fix it if I don't first. He's got other visual + toys in mind too. + +
We've decided it's time to kill the UQUAKE and QUAKEWORLD defines + in common. Some of them won't go away, but many of them will. And + soon. This brings us one step closer to a single unified game. + Before that can happen though, we need to be able to build a UQuake + dedicated server. Remember unixded? Of course you don't, it's + ancient and it sucked. Well anyway, it needs to be able to be built + and used once again so we have a point of reference for putting a + server inside the QW clients. These two things are the last major + hurtles to a unified game and tree. Everyone is encouraged to help, + whether they're actually part of the project or not. + +
QuakeForge has joined the QE.. uh, right. QuakeForge has joined + the QSG mailing list to hash out standards with other projects. + We've generally agreed that we've all gotten a few nifty features + implemented while we've been getting used to the new codebase (and + in QF's case, rewriting it in the process!) We're just about at the + point that we're starting to talk about where to go from this point + to establish and maintain working standards. More news on that will + become available as soon as we figure it out for ourselves. + diff --git a/sotc/2000/0318 b/sotc/2000/0318 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec2a8b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/sotc/2000/0318 @@ -0,0 +1,117 @@ + +
Yeah yeah, I know. Okay, first the quick news: Palisade is + back. The website is still under construction but it got a lot + easier to construct since now it updates immediately after a CVS + commit. With Palisade back, it seems that everyone who planned to + vote on the logos has now done so and we should hopefully have a + result soon. + +
I promised I would keep the crap not related to the technical + aspects of the project short and at the top where they were easy to + skip, but a very important issue needs to be discussed whether it + fits the usual content of this page or not. Here it is: + +
How many poeple can ask that in two weeks' time? I lost count, + but there were a lot of inquiries. Unfortunately, I have bad news + for you. MegaTF says they're quite loyal to QuakeLives, despite any + legal or other problems the engine team has had or may have in the + future. Ambush says on his radio show that he hopes all of the + engines will support MegaTF though, so we didn't really expect any + problems. + +
I've been trying for several weeks now to establish a regular + dialogue with Ambush, but people close to the project have told me + that most likely my emails wouldn't be seen, much less answered. So + I mentioned something about trying to connect with him durring or + after the 17 March 2000 MegaPhone show. Several other people from + the team as well as from other teams came as well to help show the + players of MegaTF that indeed we are serious about supporting the + mod fully. + +
Things remained civil until some of the QuakeLives guys came in, + and things started falling apart then. Attempts to calm the fires + weren't terribly successful until not long before the show's start. + Things remained sane throughout most of the show. Ambush asked for + another small feature to be added durring the show (the console + version string gets in the way and he'd like to get rid of it) and I + wrote and committed the feature he asked for on the spot. + +
Fires started burning again shortly after the show ended. I'm + not unsurprised, but eventually I did manage to wind up talking with + DyerMaker out of the view of the main channel so there was actually + a chance of talking. The results? I am now aware that MegaTF's + loyalty to QuakeLives extends as far as deliberately shutting out + any engine but QuakeLives from being able to run Mega2k. They've + decided that since Slade will not take part in creating an open and + secure standard for all engines, they can only support his. In + order to do that and do it well, they have to ensure that we can't + run Mega2k. Nothing personal against QuakeForge or anything, it's + just how the politics have played out. + +
So from where I'm sitting, it looks like Ambush isn't interested + in other projects and engines supporting MegaTF. Or at least, he's + only interested in seeing QuakeLives-endorsed projects support + MegaTF. Nothing personal and no offense intended toward us, but + they seem to be intending whether they say so or not to be + exclusively QuakeLives. + +
Well, nothing personal, but I have no intention of playing these + silly one-must-win-and-everyone-else-must-lose games. I'm quite + sick of them by now - but I'm surprised nobody else seems to be. + We'll do the best we can to support Mega2k whether they want it or + not. Why? For one, some of us play it. For another, and more + importantly, many of YOU play it. I lost count somewhere + not far before 150 people who have asked in recent weeks if + QuakeForge intended to support Mega2k's new features because you + don't run win32 and aren't interested in starting. Yes we + will. It may not happen until after Mega2k's release if the needed + information to do so is going to be withheld from us, but you better + believe it will happen. + +
Am I being a bit harsh here? Quite possibly. As I write this, + it is now merely 24 hours after what we can all agree was a rough + night for a lot of people. From my perspective, it looks like + MegaTF is refusing to allow Mega2k to run on anything but QL dispite + Ambush saying he wants all the engines to be able to run it and to + work together or interoperability standards. + +
It seems that's what's going on here, but that doesn't mean it is + what's happening. Chances for misunderstandings have not been + infrequent and it's not unlikely that MegaTF would be absolutely + thrilled to see a project dedicated to compatibility and open + standards like QuakeForge working to make sure not only that we + support Mega2k, but that every project out there can. And even more + importantly, that the user doesn't have to worry about whether or + not project foo's client is going to work with project bar's server. + +
If that's the case, then all of the above is essentially moot. + We'll do our best to make sure we support Mega2k right out of the + archive the moment it and that whatever it takes to make sure it + does work has already been made available for and incorporated into + every single project we can find, whether they're affiliated with us + or with QSG or MegaTF or the abominable snowman or not. Lack of + standards can only hurt the game. Since that's obviously a very bad + thing, hell yeah we'll do everything we can to keep it from + happening. + +
So what are you, the players of MegaTF who don't want to be tied + to a single engine and a single operating system, supposed to do + about any of this? Make some noise! And I don't mean go around + accusing MegaTF and QuakeLives of trying to quash all the other + engines either---that's the wrong kind noise to be making. It also + is quite likely not true. The noise you should be making is for + Mega2k to run on your preferred engine. And I do realize for a lot + of you, the engine you prefer happens to be the only one that even + runs on your platform. If that's the case, make sure you're heard! + You can write to me until the cows come home but I'm not the one who + needs to hear from you! + +
If you're still here after all of that, I'm impressed. Release + of 0.1.2 hasn't happened yet, but could really anytime now. Mostly + I have just had other issues on my mind. Plus I don't want to give + too much false hope here, but I really think a release of 0.2.0 + isn't all that far off. I've been focusing my efforts in that + direction. diff --git a/sotc/2000/0319 b/sotc/2000/0319 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab19100 --- /dev/null +++ b/sotc/2000/0319 @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ + +
This update is so close to the last one posted a mere six hours + ago that most of you reading it never even saw the last one. Don't + worry, anything important is being retained in this update. + +
Palisade is among the living believe it or not and we finally + have his votes for the logo contest. He's pretty much it so the + good news is that we should very soon have a new logo! + +
I also had mention in the last SotC that the website updates + itself whenever any of us checks in a change now. It's very nifty + and is helping us get the new site layout done faster. Something I + didn't mention before is that we have somehow managed to convince + twisted to work with us on spicing up the page a bit while keeping + it functional and efficient. + +
We all owe Yanster big for helping us get in contact with Ambush + of MegaTF tonight. He was in #QuakeForge for a few hours talking to + the guys present at the time. Among them were Mercury, Deek, Endy, + and devkev. I was there too, but I was and am half dead from sleep + deprivation so I can't say I'm totally coherent then or now. + +
The guys in the channel helped Ambush get MegaTF build with qccx, + which was pretty cool I think since qccx is looking like one of the + most interesting quakec compilers out there to us and will probably + become our preference once qcc is released under the GPL. + +
Mercury was talking with Ambush about support for Mega2k in + QuakeForge. I can't say where that's going yet because the + discussion hasn't reached conclusions yet. Still, the discussion I + thought was so improbable is happening. That's a good thing for the + entire community I think. I'm glad to be wrong this time. + +
What I said before about making sure that every engine can + support MegaTF, I meant every word of it. I will do everything + humanly possible to ensure that the features needed become + standardized and that all of these engines are intercompatible at + the protocol level. And securely too - what's it matter if all the + rest of this happens if any person can just cheat their way to + highest scores? + +
Right now what seems to be necessary is time. I still think + people who care should make sure they're heard so MegaTF knows that + Mega support in other engines is important to you. That goes double + if you only have one engine for your platform to choose from. + +
If you're still here after all of that, I'm impressed. Release + of 0.1.2 hasn't happened yet, but could really anytime now. Mostly + I have just had other issues on my mind. Plus I don't want to give + too much false hope here, but I really think a release of 0.2.0 + isn't all that far off. I've been focusing my efforts in that + direction. diff --git a/sotc/2000/0402 b/sotc/2000/0402 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b55235c --- /dev/null +++ b/sotc/2000/0402 @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ + +
You read it here first! (unless you didn't) QuakeForge now works + 100% with Mega2k. I spent several hours trying to tune the flight + physics for the airscout so they work the way people would hope. + +
While you MAY be able to connect to a QF server running it with a + standard 2.3 or 2.4 Id Software release QuakeWorld client, I won't + recommend it. The first time an airscout goes flying you're likely + going to confuse your prediction code something terrible! As always + our implementation is open to other projects (I've sent Endy of QSG + a copy) and when he gets it working in QWF he'll be making the patch + available to all of the QSG projects which will hopefully make this + a non-issue. + +
Look for a real playable QF server running Mega2k as soon as + Ambush is ready for beta testing. I'm running a test server now but + you're not going to get a good game going on my DSL connection so + it's mostly been there for testing airscout physics. + +
I might have to put up a screenshot of dyerfort's ducks, they're + a quack! + +
You may or may not know this, but I've deliberately held off from + finishing 0.1.2 because I've been busy tracking down bugs and things + for 0.2-d.. The reason? It's time to release. Or at least, it's + time to declare it time to release and fix the remaining obnoxious + buglets. They're not overly complex but there are several of them + to fix. + +
I won't give a release date because if I do I promise we'll miss + it. Most of the core project people are Debian Linux users after + all. (if you don't get it, don't worry..) + diff --git a/sotc/2000/0416 b/sotc/2000/0416 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c425711 --- /dev/null +++ b/sotc/2000/0416 @@ -0,0 +1,69 @@ +
Everyone needs to upgrade to recent CVS if they're using any + version of QuakeForge 0.2-d after view height offset support was + implemented for MegaTF, how it's done has changed incompatibily. + The good news is that the reason this happened was because of the + intruduction of conformance to the draft of QSG standards version 1 + (which hasn't yet been published because we might fit some other + minor stuff in there maybe..) + +
I don't have a URL for Coderjoe's win32 binaries but I'm going to + post news on the main page about the QSG standard as soon as we hash + out the last few issues this standard version will support (mostly I + think we have to decide if we're even going to touch skyboxes at all + and what we're going to do with them. + +
Since that's not going to be a requirement for engines to support + in this version, I've gone ahead and done the *qsg_standard key and + set it to 1. We are QSG standards compliant! + +
People keep asking us to work with other engines (including but + not limited to) QuakeLives.. + I'll say this one more time, we've tried. Every major engine project + excepting QuakeLives has been part of QSG for some time now. They've + decided to have BuBBa represent their project in QSG, but if you don't + mind my opinion in here that seems to be a token gesture on their + part. If you've talked to BuBBa you know what I mean. + +
Despite their promise to + John Carmack, QL 2.54 is available to beta testers without + source. Of course it's not on their web page but all you have to do + is agree to their beta testing terms and they'll send you a copy + happily. Of course their terms include that you don't ask them for + source and pretty much almost always have. + +
This blatantly violates the GNU GPL under which Quake's source + was released but so far they've managed to stall, delay, flat out + lie their way out of being sued by Id Software for it. You're + invited to investigate the situation for yourself if this is at all + important to you. A polite message to John with your results may + be a good idea. I cannot believe after all of this they're still + trying to get out of releasing source under the GPL. It's truly + a sad thing to see. + + +
While on the topic, I got a little (16k) email just an
+ hour or so ago from someone who either has a copy of the unauthorized
+ QL source or has far too much time on their hands. It describes in
+ very good detail exactly how the QL rocket trail effect works. As I
+ suspected by looking at screenshots, it's a tri strip which works
+ very similar to the existing particle engine. I'd like to thank the
+ person properly here for the info but he wishes to remain anonymous
+ for very understandable reasons.
+
+
Why this matters is that I can now implement the effect and it'll + be a genuine clean-room recreation of their rocket trails. If they + would've had any legal ground to stand on for a lawsuit if I'd used + their source (I can't see how since it sounds like a mod to Quake's + particle engine which is GPL'd) they certainly don't have any ground + to sue anyone who might use an implementation done by me for QF. + +
This is what happens when you try to screw the GPL. Thanks to + the guy who sent me the email, you know who you are. + +
A few target-specific issues and some weirdness with dyerfort's + catapults remain. Other than that we're just about ready for a new + release. Be on the lookout! +