Interesting Vid by Blackened explaining MCoC Development & Patch Release Process
Posted May 31, 2017, 9:22 PM UTC
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I'm very excited about them splitting this up, the previous asset bundles were so jam packed with so much crap. I haven't had a chance to dig in but this is great.
To answer u/orvn 's question, the other unity assets were bundled at the map level (fight map) already, and typically assets like UI elements or items (like the button) did not need to be bundled up as unity assets. While if they have on-the-fly loading of files they might be able to apply it to anything, they didn't need to split those up to facilitate that.
I'm looking forward to seeing how they've handled hot loading of assets ... hoping to find some time tonight to dive in and see if I can add any more insight, great work blackened.
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Really great insight, thanks u/blackened-mcoc
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Great video. Thank you!
8:37 - Reorganization of Data Files in 13.1 11:20 - More frequent bug fixes
I made a post a while back explaining that according to a senior ios product developer working for a multinational software development company that bug fixes for ios apps can be approved and implemented quickly, I quote: "days. Maybe less than 24 hours. It's very fast now."
I think the video is great in explaining the situation which prevented Kabam from releasing an immediate bug fix and your explanation is excellent in explaining the changes to the organization of the files so that in future, bug fixes can be quickly implemented.
However, the situation or the elephant in the room is that not being clearly said is that due to Kabam's choice and design in handling the individual files and assets as a whole, rapid changes required for bug fixes to 12.0 - 13.0 could not be implemented due to this decision.
Considering that bugs and issues when updating games is common - de rigeur or par for the course - it seems to me that Kabam should have expected this 12.0 - 13.0 fiasco to eventually occur, which it did and have the foresight to see the limitations of the prior design choices.
I suppose you could say Kabam learned it the hard way.
Hubris? Maybe.
Whatever the reasons for their prior decisions, players certainly paid for it.
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This was such a good watch. I love how it explained the faster loading times (something I doubted before)
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Post like this are why players lose sight of the real issues. The development cycle is not an excuse for poor communication on the matter. Especially after being adamant about being more transparent.
The issue never was about how long it took to fix the bugs, it was about how long it took for them to say anything on the matter.
Things like this are why issues are cyclical and why the community becomes more and more disgruntled each time around - it throws smoke.
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You're not wrong. I guess I got a little distracted because I was nervous.
The first part of the video was intended to be a complaint about transparency. It's okay for Kabam to acknowledge the dev cycle and admit that things can't be fixed because the next version is already finalized. Waiting is fine (ish) as long as we know why.
Though I'm still hopeful for a more rapid release cycle, with more transparency as a result.
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I don't want my post to come off as unappreciative. Pointing out how the files are now packed was great information and is fantastic of speculation towards more efficient systems in place moving forward.
I would not hold my breath for more transparency. They STILL leave things out of patch notes and they still don't log developer comments within those patch notes. These are the most efficient and simple ways a studio can offer players transparency - and they cannot even do that.
As someone working with an indie developer, it is pretty interesting to see how much of a difference having a communication mindset is from simply not having one. Kabam seems to be thinking about communication and transparency as an after-after thought.
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Thanks for sharing this, and for the support!
I don't want to repost it myself, so I'm just going to hijack your thread if people have questions or feedback. I'll do my best to answer or clarify.
my pleasure and no problem.... good sir :)
Since you're here, did you look at the other game files and find more packages there too?
I wonder if questing content has also been redistributed into smaller files.
As DickSlug mentioned below, the levels and most other content were already bundled individually. It does seem to be split even further in this release though. For example, the UI fonts are now individually bundled, where previously they were all lumped together.
Very informative but watching it was a bit dragging, with the way you rambled like you admitted lol. For future videos I would suggest the presentation to ramble less like a professor giving a lecture but more like rambling in a boardroom meeting where you need to dish out the info so everyone can leave the meeting asap and continue working or do lines of coke in the bathroom if you're an executive.