Team Fusion recently announced on the 1C Maddox forums that their upcoming mod patch will bring so many features it will be labelled 'Team Fusion Mod version 4.2', not 4.01 as previously discussed.
New coastal landmarks for the newly labelled 'update 4.2'. Above, Folkestone Harbour WIP in CoD, compared with the current benchmark, Folkestone in BOBII, below.
And the already mooted major upgrade in version 5.0 (believed to include new flyables, and a new map) is so big that version 5.0 will be jumped over as well, and the next release will be version 6.0.
Che?
Spokesman Mystic Puma said on the 1C forum:
v4.2 = Loads more work than a v4.01, more than a v4.1 and enough of a change so that after it comes out v5.00 can become v6.0
Actually, it really is just down to the amount of work that has gone into it, so instead of a bug fix patch, this really adds a lot more
Software numbering conventions state that: (after an initial software release) in subsequent releases, the major number is increased when there are significant jumps in functionality such as changing the framework which could cause incompatability with interfacing systems, the minor number is incremented when only minor features or significant fixes have been added, and the revision number is incremented when minor bugs are fixed.
For the project to jump by two minor increments from 4.0 to 4.2 would imply there was a release version which was not released, and then more content was added.
And for the project to jump not just one, but two major numbers forward from v4 to v6, would require two leaps forward which make the software incompatible with previous versions.
Is the hyperbola justified?
Late last year Team Fusion came out with patch 4.0 for their Cliffs of Dover mod. It was not the great leap forward they had hoped for, and the reaction from single player fans was not kind. The update was great for online play, but broke the single player game, so they have been working since then on fixing those bugs, and had planned this year to release an update called patch 4.01.
But this small hotfix became a major update, as the single player fix itself took more time than expected, allowing new content to be added:
- Single player 'lawndart' fix
- Integration of the Enlightened Florist dynamic campaign engine
- Reworked ground handling dynamics
- New coastal landmarks including Brighton, Folkestone, Dunkirk, Calais
- Updated reflection and bump mapping
- 'Lost' models eg bombs, trains and tunnels made available in game
- Changed AI bomber gunner accuracy
- Netcode optimisation
- Airfield sirens
- Revised tracer and particle effects to improve FPS
- Corrected ammunition lights in Bf109s
- Animated pilot in player aircraft
- Flak guns can be manned
- Revised 'default' AI values to improve AI combat abilities at all levels
- Revised bailout animation (WiP)
- Revised AAA accuracy
Certainly there is plenty of potential improvement there and if calling it version 4.2 keeps the team motivated, more power to them!
Now lets look at the version 5.0 update becoming version 6.0
Ships ahoy, for Team Fusion v5.0, err... 6.0?
The announced features for the next major update include:
- new flyables: variants of existing AI aircraft eg cannon armed Spitfire and Hurricane, flyable Wellington or Beaufighter, rather than completely new aircraft
- new ships including heavy cruisers and battleships, uboats and destroyers. No sign of an aircraft carrier yet. The ship models shown seem to indicate a move to the Mediterranean theatre.
- new map/theatre: again, all logic points to the MTO is the theatre of choice (makes sense given the planeset available is limited to 1940-41, and the ships being shown were classes that were fielded in the Med)
- new landscape features such as hedgerows
- modified contrail effects
- Uboat pens
- Barrage balloon nets
- New shader allowing effects such as low smoke and fog
- Cockpits repaints of Bf110s
- Improved sound engine
Updated maps with hedgerows: for version 6.0?
Not sure why the next release would be a 6.0 rather than a 5.0 but again, whatever keeps you motivated Team Fusion!
So what's next? Hurricanes on the moon perhaps?
New coastal landmarks for the newly labelled 'update 4.2'. Above, Folkestone Harbour WIP in CoD, compared with the current benchmark, Folkestone in BOBII, below.
And the already mooted major upgrade in version 5.0 (believed to include new flyables, and a new map) is so big that version 5.0 will be jumped over as well, and the next release will be version 6.0.
Che?
Spokesman Mystic Puma said on the 1C forum:
v4.2 = Loads more work than a v4.01, more than a v4.1 and enough of a change so that after it comes out v5.00 can become v6.0
Actually, it really is just down to the amount of work that has gone into it, so instead of a bug fix patch, this really adds a lot more
Software numbering conventions state that: (after an initial software release) in subsequent releases, the major number is increased when there are significant jumps in functionality such as changing the framework which could cause incompatability with interfacing systems, the minor number is incremented when only minor features or significant fixes have been added, and the revision number is incremented when minor bugs are fixed.
For the project to jump by two minor increments from 4.0 to 4.2 would imply there was a release version which was not released, and then more content was added.
And for the project to jump not just one, but two major numbers forward from v4 to v6, would require two leaps forward which make the software incompatible with previous versions.
Is the hyperbola justified?
Late last year Team Fusion came out with patch 4.0 for their Cliffs of Dover mod. It was not the great leap forward they had hoped for, and the reaction from single player fans was not kind. The update was great for online play, but broke the single player game, so they have been working since then on fixing those bugs, and had planned this year to release an update called patch 4.01.
But this small hotfix became a major update, as the single player fix itself took more time than expected, allowing new content to be added:
- Single player 'lawndart' fix
- Integration of the Enlightened Florist dynamic campaign engine
- Reworked ground handling dynamics
- New coastal landmarks including Brighton, Folkestone, Dunkirk, Calais
- Updated reflection and bump mapping
- 'Lost' models eg bombs, trains and tunnels made available in game
- Changed AI bomber gunner accuracy
- Netcode optimisation
- Airfield sirens
- Revised tracer and particle effects to improve FPS
- Corrected ammunition lights in Bf109s
- Animated pilot in player aircraft
- Flak guns can be manned
- Revised 'default' AI values to improve AI combat abilities at all levels
- Revised bailout animation (WiP)
- Revised AAA accuracy
Certainly there is plenty of potential improvement there and if calling it version 4.2 keeps the team motivated, more power to them!
Now lets look at the version 5.0 update becoming version 6.0
Ships ahoy, for Team Fusion v5.0, err... 6.0?
The announced features for the next major update include:
- new flyables: variants of existing AI aircraft eg cannon armed Spitfire and Hurricane, flyable Wellington or Beaufighter, rather than completely new aircraft
- new ships including heavy cruisers and battleships, uboats and destroyers. No sign of an aircraft carrier yet. The ship models shown seem to indicate a move to the Mediterranean theatre.
- new map/theatre: again, all logic points to the MTO is the theatre of choice (makes sense given the planeset available is limited to 1940-41, and the ships being shown were classes that were fielded in the Med)
- new landscape features such as hedgerows
- modified contrail effects
- Uboat pens
- Barrage balloon nets
- New shader allowing effects such as low smoke and fog
- Cockpits repaints of Bf110s
- Improved sound engine
Updated maps with hedgerows: for version 6.0?
Not sure why the next release would be a 6.0 rather than a 5.0 but again, whatever keeps you motivated Team Fusion!
So what's next? Hurricanes on the moon perhaps?
"If you forget history you are doomed to repeat it". Feature creep kills many healthy projects. Just get the fixes out, TF, and worry about the new stuff while your fan-base is occupied with the new release...
ReplyDeleteI dont want all that pointless stuff just fix the lawndarts that have been broken for six damn month. Hopeless.
ReplyDeleteGreat reading your posst
ReplyDelete