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Topic: Call For Testers: UQM 0.8 Release Candidate, Windows/Mac (Read 4651 times)
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Michael Martin
Core Team
*Smell* controller
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Posts: 387
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It's been nine years, but the stars have aligned and in some cases our hands have been forced:
On and off over the past year or two I've been working on modernizing bits of the UQM build process and infrastructure. It's almost ready to release, but I'd like to see some more testing on it before I actually pull the trigger. So:
UQM 0.8 Release Candidate 1 is available for download from the project page: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sc2/files/UQM/0.8/
This is not yet a fully announced release -- there isn't an official source package, for instance. (Linux testers have been using the v0.8.0 branch on the Git repository).
I'd love to hear some reports from the field about how these work for you.
What's New Here?
The installations include WHATSNEW documents, but the highlights are:
- Namable savegames
- As part of that, a new uncompressed, chunk-based save format that should make it easier for mods to coexist and should make it much easier to edit save files
- A new graphics, sound, and input backend based on SDL2, which means Metal and DX support on Mac and Windows, or VC4 support on a properly configured Raspberry Pi -- fullscreen mode should work much more cleanly on modern computers with this change. Also, Mac builds should stop self-destructing.
- Nine years of sporadic bugfixes from the community post-0.7
- The Windows installer now supports TLS and is thus capable of performing proper net installs again
Overall, it's part "years of deferred maintenance" and part "actually release the unpublished work that still fits in with the popular mods".
What's Missing?
- The "master" branch of the Git repository still has some work that isn't merged with 0.8, but that work changed the code structure drastically enough that we decided to hold off on this.
- There isn't a traditional source release yet -- the source code lives in the v0.8.0 branch on Git and won't be exported until we advance from "release candidate" to "proper release".
- We do not support Apple Silicon yet. SDL2 still has some sharp corners there.
- Binary support for the oldest operating systems has been dropped. The net installer doesn't work on XP (no OS-level support for TLS!) and SDL2 doesn't officially support 10.5 or 10.6 anymore either. Vista and 10.6 might work -- we've already heard reports of success on Win7 and macOS 10.7.
Most of this work has already been integrated into the MegaMod, since they were following Vanilla development.
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Elestan
*Smell* controller
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Posts: 431
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Testing on Win7:
Installer:
- The first content download site failed to connect (the second mirror worked). It would be nice to have "Abort Install" and "Retry" options if a network operation fails.
- If the content download fails, the installer continues running, trying to install other packages and ending up with a non-working game. Failure to install the content should probably be fatal.
- The download initially failed because I had an outbound firewall. It would be nice if the installer could diagnose this.
- It would also be nice if there was a non-net installer.
Game:
- If you try to rename your captain while in orbit around a planet, the flashing rectangle appears in the wrong place.
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« Last Edit: December 07, 2020, 07:11:25 pm by Elestan »
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Michael Martin
Core Team
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Offline installation is possible in the same way as before: predownloading the content packs and putting them in the same directory as the net installer will prefer the local versions if they pass a size and MD5-sum check.
Note though that Remix Pack 4 received an update in 0.8 thanks in part to some new material from remixers, so a 0.7 install won't keep that pack.
Speaking of which:- The uninstaller, if told to entirely clean house, doesn't clean up the updated Remix Pack 4, treating it like a user file.
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Elestan
*Smell* controller
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Posts: 431
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I'm doing a playthrough, and a few times now, I've gotten "stuck" keys, where the thrust and turn behave as though I'm holding them down, even when I'm not. I'm not sure on the exact trigger for the glitch, or if it's something specific to my machine.
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dixius99
Zebranky food
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Posts: 4
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Downloaded and installed on macOS Big Sur, and so far it's working great.
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Michael Martin
Core Team
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Stuck keys could be two things, one of which is definitely OS-based and another of which was an SDL2-sepecific bug that was supposed to be squashed.
The one that's OS-based is that if something takes control or focus away from the main window -- a popup, or Alt-Tab, or something like that -- UQM doesn't always get told about the key-up event. This can usually be repaired by pushing and releasing the button again after focus is regained. Recent Macs may be subject to this if you do not grant UQM the new permission to "receive keystrokes from any application", but I haven't experimented thoroughly with this.
The one unique to SDL2 is that SDL2 simulates keyrepeat on its own and this interferes with UQM's own keyrepeat and keychord detection systems. This should have been disabled in the code at this point, but it could be reliably triggered just by, say, thrusting continuously for ten seconds.
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Elestan
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I'm testing on Win7. Clearing the condition did not happen as easily as releasing and tapping the button, but it did eventually clear - although it cost me the fight. If it happens again, I'll try to do a more rigorous dissection of the cause and clear conditions.
BTW, is there any chance of getting the bugzilla back online?
Stuck keys could be two things, one of which is definitely OS-based and another of which was an SDL2-sepecific bug that was supposed to be squashed.
The one that's OS-based is that if something takes control or focus away from the main window -- a popup, or Alt-Tab, or something like that -- UQM doesn't always get told about the key-up event. This can usually be repaired by pushing and releasing the button again after focus is regained. Recent Macs may be subject to this if you do not grant UQM the new permission to "receive keystrokes from any application", but I haven't experimented thoroughly with this.
The one unique to SDL2 is that SDL2 simulates keyrepeat on its own and this interferes with UQM's own keyrepeat and keychord detection systems. This should have been disabled in the code at this point, but it could be reliably triggered just by, say, thrusting continuously for ten seconds.
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« Last Edit: December 14, 2020, 07:05:29 am by Elestan »
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TG
Zebranky food
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Posts: 3
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Hi! I tested 0.8 on macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, and unfortunately the game crashes every time I try to save. It doesn't matter if I enter a save name or not, it's a 100% crash.
The crash report can be downloaded at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AbX4hZg-3ixfGPYpvorEBtiNbTc3mD5I/view?usp=sharing.
It seems to die on "BUG IN CLIENT OF LIBDISPATCH: Assertion failed: Block was expected to execute on queue [com.apple.main-thread]".
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Elestan
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I'm not sure whether this was prior behavior, but there doesn't seem to be any way to interrupt the victory credits and get back to the main menu.
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Michael Martin
Core Team
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Hi! I tested 0.8 on macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, and unfortunately the game crashes every time I try to save. It doesn't matter if I enter a save name or not, it's a 100% crash. The crash report can be downloaded at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AbX4hZg-3ixfGPYpvorEBtiNbTc3mD5I/view?usp=sharing. It seems to die on "BUG IN CLIENT OF LIBDISPATCH: Assertion failed: Block was expected to execute on queue [com.apple.main-thread]".
I can't repro this on my own Big Sur machine, but my current theory on this is on certain kinds of input configurations at the OS level, SDL2 requires you to be on the graphics/UI thread when you toggle into and out of text entry mode. If that's true, you should *also* crash on any other free-text entry mode, such as renaming the captain, the ship, or any Super Melee team.
I'm not sure whether this was prior behavior, but there doesn't seem to be any way to interrupt the victory credits and get back to the main menu.
This does indeed appear to be prior behavior, at least to 2005 and possibly all the way back to 3DO; the end credits may at the very least be accelerated by repeatedly pressing MENU-DOWN.
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Michael Martin
Core Team
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Posts: 387
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I have now uploaded Release Candidate 2 to https://sourceforge.net/projects/sc2/files/UQM/0.8/ based on the feedback here and elsewhere. It may take a little while for SourceForge to get it out to all its mirrors.
- When telling SDL2 about entering/leaving text mode, make sure that this only happens on the same thread responsible for drawing OS windows. (This is expected to address a crash seen on some Mac OS machines.)
- Attempting to enter text from beyond the Basic Multilingual Plane will now insert the Unicode Replacement Character instead of nothing or hanging
- The first time you edit the Captain or Flagship name while in orbit around a planet, the flashing rectangle will no longer be in the wrong place.
- Win32 uninstaller will now correctly uninstall Remix Pack 4
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TheVidmaster
Zebranky food
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Nameable save-games, how could I ever life without those!
RC2 looks good on my Windows here thus far... Note that I lack the time to do a full playthough right now 
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« Last Edit: January 02, 2021, 04:01:38 pm by TheVidmaster »
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TG
Zebranky food
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Posts: 3
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I have now uploaded Release Candidate 2 to https://sourceforge.net/projects/sc2/files/UQM/0.8/ based on the feedback here and elsewhere. It may take a little while for SourceForge to get it out to all its mirrors. - When telling SDL2 about entering/leaving text mode, make sure that this only happens on the same thread responsible for drawing OS windows. (This is expected to address a crash seen on some Mac OS machines.)
- Attempting to enter text from beyond the Basic Multilingual Plane will now insert the Unicode Replacement Character instead of nothing or hanging
- The first time you edit the Captain or Flagship name while in orbit around a planet, the flashing rectangle will no longer be in the wrong place.
- Win32 uninstaller will now correctly uninstall Remix Pack 4
Thank you for the update. I can now enter text and press enter without it crashing, but unfortunately I can no longer control the ship at all. Everything else works including the in-game menus, star map, conversations etc. except I can't steer the ship or fire.
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