CyberShadow and I have started a Worms Armageddon Beta Update Development Blog in order to share some interesting tidbits about the development process.

This upcoming beta update has been shrouded in secrecy; our devblog is meant to lift the veil a bit. We hope you will find its contents interesting, and follow our progress in our quest to perfect W:A.


http://blog.worms2d.info/

Wunderbar!

I'm not sure I fully understand that Mountain Sheep malarky though :confused:, surely that hasn't been added?

Edit:

Posted June 22nd, 2010 by CyberShadow in Experiments

Ok, now I understand

Sweeet! :cool:

Yep, the experiments category is for us having fun with the source :)

So, is this CyberShadow and Deadcode then? :D

http://blog.worms2d.info/wp-content/themes/worms/dev_logo3.png

I Think CyberShadow is the one at the right

I Think CyberShadow is the one at the rightRight is wrong, left is right :p

There's a link to the full-resolution logo (http://blog.worms2d.info/wp-content/themes/worms/dev_logo_full.png) at the bottom.

I'll be very disappointed if that isn't actually in the soure :P


Also, Deadcode never struck me as an afro kind of guy...

Hey, isn't this blog what I've wished here?
Maybe you can make a small blog about the development progress of W:A, so that we won't keep waiting for the new Beta without knowing anything.
Great job, Deadcode and CyberShadow!

Ah! Glorious! Now I can read all the juicy bits of the development. I love devblogs - I think I have about fifteen in my RSS feeds - it's so interesting to see new ideas surface and either get implemented, get changed, or scrapped, and hear about some of the really wacky bugs that happen sometimes.

It took you guys HOW long to finally open up at least partially? :rolleyes:

Well, I am thankful anyhow, and now that cracks have begun to appear in the wall, maybe y'all could finally acknowledge the #1 issue (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=536424&postcount=15) I have with the game? ;)

This reduces the number of possible maps from 4294967296 to 210515.

I would just save the list of levels (or the random string generated for generating the landscape like in Worms2?) and dispose the list when the land editor is closed... are they really using up so much memory? Ok, I didn't think about old computers ^_^

I would just save the list of levels (or the random string generated for generating the landscape like in Worms2?) and dispose the list when the land editor is closed... are they really using up so much memory? Ok, I didn't think about old computers ^_^

I suggested something like this a while back (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39142), and Cybershadow totally ignored it... >_<

I sure hope this new devblog hasn't caused me to be wrongly optimistic about changed attitudes among the Powers That Be... :-/

It took you guys HOW long to finally open up at least partially? :rolleyes:
No matter what you do, you can never make everyone happy. :(
I suggested something like this a while back (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39142), and Cybershadow totally ignored it... >_<
Ignore, we do not. We make note of everything, and add it to our very (very) long list of things to improve.

Ignore, we do not. We make note of everything, and add it to our very (very) long list of things to improve.

You could let people KNOW you added their concerns to said list...

maybe y'all could finally acknowledge the #1 issue (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=536424&postcount=15) I have with the game? ;)

You sounds selfish to me. Do you know how many features are there that wouldn't be in W:A without DC and CS's help?

Do those missing 4,294,756,781 maps really matter to you?

double post edit

You could let people KNOW you added their concerns to said list...
Go here please: http://feedback.worms2d.info/

^ Not selfish in the first way (it's not that there are missing maps, it's that they don't have that awesome spikyness anymore)...

...but selfish in the second way (WA has so many things that could be added, fixed, and changed, a concern like the random map generator would likely go right over peoples heads, not go up the ranks, and be put in the "fix very last, 10 years from now" pile).

I'm vocal about my concern because the feature has been broken for many years now, and CyberShadow seemed to ignore me the last time I mentioned it.

I'm glad he finally said that all concerns are noted, so I now have no need to mention it again, but I'm also a little ticked off that he still has not addressed my concern directly, even when I mentioned that I felt ignored before.

Summing up, I'm posting it here because I feel that something as cool as this, which has remained unfixed for many years, deserves as much priority as, say, a severe roping bug, and my uptight attitude about it comes from being ignored once, and partially ignored the second time.

I've made my peace on this subject now. At this point, it either gets fixed or it doesn't. I feel I'm justified in everything I said, and if anyone, including CS and DC think I'm not, so be it...

Well, I am thankful anyhow, and now that cracks have begun to appear in the wall, maybe y'all could finally acknowledge the #1 issue (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=536424&postcount=15) I have with the game? ;)

Yes, I put off fixing that issue for a long time. But when I saw your post (quoted above), I looked at it again, and said to myself, "It's time to fix this." And I did. And now it's fixed and ready for the next beta update. (Though I haven't re-added the Generate button yet.)

17179869184 maps are accessible with this fix. That's 2147483648 for each map template in the Map Editor. 2147483648 clicks until you come back to the same map you started with. And the full range of random detail levels accessible back in v3.0 and v3.5 Beta is back.

CyberShadow is right, we don't ignore requests. We add them to our big list. Some of them we've delayed, yes, but there are many others that we've already implemented/addressed. The changelog for the next beta is already longer than the last three betas combined.

Extremist2, don't be upset!
You wouldn't believe for how many years I've been asking DC/CS about the laser or the Sheep-On-A-Rope. :eek:

Sorry that I cannot hesitate to make this post. :D

(To Extremist2)
Do you know when a Bugzilla (http://www.bugzilla.org/) is set up for a software, how many bug/requests will be posted there?

I believe there will be thousands of (or even tens of thousands of) bug/requests, and that's enough to break some camels' (developers') back.

The changelog for the next beta is already longer than the last three betas combined.


This next beta sounds very promising!
Question: During the dev blog it shows us able to import "custom" data from WWP, does that refer to the end user created content like schemes and teams or does it refer to the WWP exclusive content, like the maps and the terrain styles (Dino for example)?

If the later, then damn! I don't have WWP and was hoping its content slowly made its way into WA from the betas. :D

Sorry, just the former for now.

Well its been more than a year since I last played the game (probably even 2 years) so I decided to load it up today..... only to be hit an annoying problem.
The problem is that the game runs really slow on higher detail levels but after checking the worms knowledge base, this has already been reported and this was your response:

On some systems, the game runs very slow when the smooth background gradient is enabled (you can cycle background detail levels by pressing Insert). This is caused by incompatibility with modern video cards. Updating your drivers may fix it; otherwise, expect a fix in the next Beta update.


"expect a fix in the next Beta update"
So, does that mean this issue is definitely fixed for the next update?

As far as our testing has shown, yes.

(This isn't really the right thread for such questions, though)

I always thought the dithering thingies were done by the CPU because modern graphics card do not accept such jobs (resulting in this laggyness).

The problem is tiling a very small texture (chunks of the background gradient) across the entire screen. Some modern video cards seem to have trouble with this.

So you increased the (width of the) texture?

Yes. W:A-dithered background gradients are now wider too (and generally better-looking):



The gradient is now rendered using a new method, which should fix performance problems on some system configurations.
The dithering algorithm used for rendering the background for maps with more than 96 colours or non-standard height has been substantially improved.
The gradient is now drawn with a parallax effect. The effect can be disabled using the BackgroundGradientParallax_Disable.reg registry tweak.
The registry tweak SmoothBackgroundGradient_Disable.reg has been added. This tweak disables smooth gradients (forcing a coarse gradient) while still allowing the full cycle of detail levels to enable background debris, bitmap backgrounds and clouds.

I'm SO curious about the gradient parallax effect :D

Since the beta is still "delayed", could we perhaps get another update on the devblog? (As long as its not "Beta update still delayed") ;)

I'm dying for more info about the next update, especially after Deadcode posted this:

The changelog for the next beta is already longer than the last three betas combined.

It will be the best patch yet...

we speack of the version 0.30 or the version 4.0 with map 32 bits ect... if we speack of the versions 0.30 when the version 4.0 coming out

The patches are done "When they are done". We have no idea.

3.6.30 is probably at some point this year, 4.0 is impossible to date but I'd guess around 2012. These are entirely my personal speculation and should not be taken seriously.

4.0 is impossible to date but I'd guess around 2012.
I sure hope the Mayans were wrong.
Otherwise we wouldn't have much time to play with 4.0.
And the laser! :eek:

(off-topic)
I sure hope the Mayans were wrong.

You may be referring to this, I think:
http://www.2012hoax.org/

By that time, I believe that such "Doomsday" will only happen in W:A, W:R or such games.

(Team17 seems to like this theme to be used in their Worms games.)

I don't think anyone here actually believes the end of the world will come, Explorer ;)

I don't think anyone here actually believes the end of the world will come, Explorer ;)

I really wouldn't be surprised given some of the things people on this forum have believed.

http://wa.team17.com/images/hiband/hiband_5.jpg

http://wormsarmageddon.team17.com/images/hiband/hiband_8.jpg

Meh, I'll go for holiday insurance...