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PROJECT: Playtest (Thread No. 6)
Previous Threads:
PROJECT: Playtest
PROJECT: Playtest II
PROJECT: Playtest Thread III
PROJECT: Playtest (the 4th Thread)
PROJECT: Playtest (Thread No. 5)
Mini-FAQ
General playtest info / questions:
#1 Do I need any additional files to make the playtest work?
IF it is a build created with the .NET compiler. Therefore you need the .NET runtime environment to run the *.exe.
If you dont already have it it is avalaible at windows update or here.
Or at least you need those two dlls if you don't want to install the .NET runtime.
#2 How do I make a mod work with these playtest versions?
Although not all have been tested thoroughly, most mods should work with this playtest version without any changes. If you suffer any difficulties please post about them.
#3 Do I need to install the official Activision patch before this playtest version?
It makes no difference whether you do or not. So it is just a waste of time.
#4 How should I report a bug?
Include as much relevant information as you can. If possible explain how to replicate the problem. If appropriate, attaching a screenshot or a savegame is helpful. If the bug involves a crash to desktop, then it is helpful to include the crash log. You can enable crash logging by editing your userprofile.txt (in [Your CTP2 directory]\ctp2_program\ctp\) to set EnableLogs=Yes. The log can then be found at [Your CTP2 directory]\ctp2_program\ctp\logs\crash.txt.
#5 When will a new playtest verson be released?
When a code monkey feels like it
. This will usually be either when some serious bug is fixed, or enough minor fixes have piled up that need to be tested. If you want to test some recent change, you can post here to request a new playtest build and they will try to oblige you.
#6 When will a new playtest thread be posted?
When the old thread is full meaning it has reached or has exceeded the 500 post limit.
#7 How do I refer to a certain version?
You refer to a playtest by posting data or by date of compilation of the executable, you can find the date on the opening screen of the playtest. For instance our first playtest is dated from December the 9th 2003 or in other words it is playtest from 2003-09-12. In the latest playtest readme files we also included the code revision number, so you can also this.
#8 Why did you not use version numbers like Activision did?
We decided that we don't give them a version number until we reimplemented all of the useful features of Activision's v.1.1. Unfortunately there are still a few features missing from the patch. Therefore we haven't yet assigned a version like v.1.2 or v1.3. Well something above 1.2 or 1.3 would be more appropiate since we have been adding much more new features and fixes than the patch added. - Well let's see if this ever happens.
LATEST PLAYTEST: October 8th 2008
It is time for a new thead since the last one has reached the 500 post limit and it is time again for a new playtest, too. In the meantime we have made it to revision 866 of Apolyton Edition Playtest of CTP2.
All you need is is the following file and follow the instructions in its readme:
Edit: Updated link
Here is the latest revision 907:
PROJECT: Playtest
PROJECT: Playtest II
PROJECT: Playtest Thread III
PROJECT: Playtest (the 4th Thread)
PROJECT: Playtest (Thread No. 5)
Mini-FAQ
General playtest info / questions:
#1 Do I need any additional files to make the playtest work?
IF it is a build created with the .NET compiler. Therefore you need the .NET runtime environment to run the *.exe.
If you dont already have it it is avalaible at windows update or here.
Or at least you need those two dlls if you don't want to install the .NET runtime.
#2 How do I make a mod work with these playtest versions?
Although not all have been tested thoroughly, most mods should work with this playtest version without any changes. If you suffer any difficulties please post about them.
#3 Do I need to install the official Activision patch before this playtest version?
It makes no difference whether you do or not. So it is just a waste of time.
#4 How should I report a bug?
Include as much relevant information as you can. If possible explain how to replicate the problem. If appropriate, attaching a screenshot or a savegame is helpful. If the bug involves a crash to desktop, then it is helpful to include the crash log. You can enable crash logging by editing your userprofile.txt (in [Your CTP2 directory]\ctp2_program\ctp\) to set EnableLogs=Yes. The log can then be found at [Your CTP2 directory]\ctp2_program\ctp\logs\crash.txt.
#5 When will a new playtest verson be released?
When a code monkey feels like it
. This will usually be either when some serious bug is fixed, or enough minor fixes have piled up that need to be tested. If you want to test some recent change, you can post here to request a new playtest build and they will try to oblige you.#6 When will a new playtest thread be posted?
When the old thread is full meaning it has reached or has exceeded the 500 post limit.
#7 How do I refer to a certain version?
You refer to a playtest by posting data or by date of compilation of the executable, you can find the date on the opening screen of the playtest. For instance our first playtest is dated from December the 9th 2003 or in other words it is playtest from 2003-09-12. In the latest playtest readme files we also included the code revision number, so you can also this.
#8 Why did you not use version numbers like Activision did?
We decided that we don't give them a version number until we reimplemented all of the useful features of Activision's v.1.1. Unfortunately there are still a few features missing from the patch. Therefore we haven't yet assigned a version like v.1.2 or v1.3. Well something above 1.2 or 1.3 would be more appropiate since we have been adding much more new features and fixes than the patch added. - Well let's see if this ever happens.
LATEST PLAYTEST: October 8th 2008
It is time for a new thead since the last one has reached the 500 post limit and it is time again for a new playtest, too. In the meantime we have made it to revision 866 of Apolyton Edition Playtest of CTP2.
All you need is is the following file and follow the instructions in its readme:
Edit: Updated link
Here is the latest revision 907:
A new version of the Apolyton Edition is ready for testing and playing. It is featuring a new way to upgrade units, an improved AI and a flicker bug fix.
If you want to upgrade units there is now an extra button on the unit order button bank, on the status bar you can see: How many units you can upgrade in the active army. How many units you could upgrade if you had the gold to do it. And the total number of units in the army. Furthermore, you see the gold you need to upgrade all the units you can upgrade and the gold you would need to upgrade all units in the army.
Various fixes have been added to the AI. In addition, the basic AI unit to goal assignment algorithm was redesigned. So that the AI now checks first whether it has enough units for sieging a city, instead of assigning and moving units to a city with canceling the goal if it figures out later that it does not has enough units. Also the AI unit rally algorithm has been redesigned so that the AI can group its units before it sieges cities.
A very nasty bug was a flickering of the tile highlight square that is painted around the tile on that the mouse pointer points. Such flickering draws your attention to it, even if nothing of interest is there, this is very tiring, but now it is removed so that you can play longer without getting tired.
Here is the download link.
And here is the list of changes from the readme:
If you want to upgrade units there is now an extra button on the unit order button bank, on the status bar you can see: How many units you can upgrade in the active army. How many units you could upgrade if you had the gold to do it. And the total number of units in the army. Furthermore, you see the gold you need to upgrade all the units you can upgrade and the gold you would need to upgrade all units in the army.
Various fixes have been added to the AI. In addition, the basic AI unit to goal assignment algorithm was redesigned. So that the AI now checks first whether it has enough units for sieging a city, instead of assigning and moving units to a city with canceling the goal if it figures out later that it does not has enough units. Also the AI unit rally algorithm has been redesigned so that the AI can group its units before it sieges cities.
A very nasty bug was a flickering of the tile highlight square that is painted around the tile on that the mouse pointer points. Such flickering draws your attention to it, even if nothing of interest is there, this is very tiring, but now it is removed so that you can play longer without getting tired.
Here is the download link.
And here is the list of changes from the readme:
Code:
2008-10-08 (Revision 907)
Fixed: The tile highlight square at the mouse pointing position does not not
blink anymore. In general, blinking items draw attention even if
there is nothing important. In that case it was blinking always at
the of the GUI repainting speed, which just makes the player tired.
Fixed: The AI now uses the right settle city bounding rectangle for settling.
Changed: The AI only considers a city in its goal assignment as unexplored if
no tile improvement is visible. That is the same way as a human player
behaves, since if he sees a tile improvement without a city then he
concludes it must be in the dark.
Added: Extra upgrade command for the order button bank. The upgrade command
has to be enabled before the game start from special rules screen.
The upgrade command button is only visible if an army is active
that contains an upgradable unit.
Fixed: The AI does rebuild its capitol if it has lost its capitol.
Fixed: The ration, workday, and wages sliders now add happiness, even if
the overall slider happiness is positive. This behavior is the
expected one, even if the programmers capped the total increase,
originally.
Changed: Cities are now watchful for seven turns like in Cradle, so that
slavers go more to other cities.
Changed: If the AI build for offense it builds city walls first. Makes its
defense stronger and protects from slavery.
Fixed: Slaves do not go to cities if those cities are at the population
maximum.
Fixed: Slave raid failure message now displays the target city correctly.
Fixed: Slavers do not go to cities with walls.
Fixed: The AI does not consider boats with cargo as defenders although
the cargo cannot defend. (e.g. Slavers)
Changed: Cleaned up various AI code files to improve code reliability and
speed.
Fixed: The game does not crash anymore if a new civilization has the same
player number that was used by a civilization killed previously.
Fixed: A crash while the game checked whether a unit can settle.
Changed: Instead of moving units first to a goal and then canceling the goal
if it has not enough units when the units were already moved, it now
does not send its units to those goals at all.
Changed: The AI now considers all goals on the base of nearby units.
Changed: The AI uses an algorithm for rallying troops that works.
Fixed: Slavers now go to cities with at least to population points.
Fixed: Some problems in multiplayer, but not all.
Changed: Some settings in goods.txt and DiffDB.txt for the Apolyton Edition Mod.
Fixed: A crash with missing population assignment data.
Fixed: The AI can now settle more than one city per turn.
Fixed: A potential crash in the char window.
Fixed: A bug caused by adding new civilisations during the game.
Fixed: The AI strategy is restored after a game reload, this fixes the AI's
settling behavior for instance.
Fixed: A bug that makes the game crash if a unit is killed after a reload
before it had its turn.
I'll try and test PBEM later tonight.
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