KalOfTheRathi
Nec Tributis
1258
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Posted - 2014.04.29 12:04:00 -
[1] - Quote
DeathwindRising wrote:they hot fix stuff that has almost zero impact on anyone, but then they hot fix a bug to cloaking where switching suits would drop your cloak? with all the issues surrounding cloaks why would they do anything to seemingly improve their functionality?
There are several types of bugs in Dust.
First there are the map/mesh bugs that were done in the level (aka map) design process. Those would normally get referenced in the map feedback forums and I have had quite a few repaired after reporting them.
Then there are UI bugs, which are coded in C++, Unreal Engine 3.5+ and possibly some middle-ware. Those have always been a real low priority with CCP/Shanghai. Some of those are related to server/network architecture/client issues and are more difficult to debug and locate.
Next are database or text file types of bugs. We don't know what they are using but they must be doing something to generate the various red lines in maps. I have noted before that both sides have their own red lines nor can they see the opposing teams actual red line. It is an elegant solution to what is normally a difficult problem, aka determining the actual play boundary of a map without having to redo the actual map.
Then there are server issues. When Dust was first in Beta that code was in Ruby as was all the server code for EVE Online. Ruby is a miserable language that is useful when you need someone to work on a server that has no real software experience, knowledge or education. But that is just my opinion. 
The good-ish news is that well designed ruby code (that concept is nearly impossible to grasp frankly) should be quick to debug and update. Well, the update should be fast anyway.
The next server news issue is that once Dust started running they upgraded some of the server functionality to C++. A mixed bag as now server functions are faster, debugging is slower as are updates. Also the base server functions to the two games might well be tied together. If Dust has problem that connects to the shared code from EVE then good luck for us getting it fixed cause EVE will always have the higher priority.
Network architecture issues will never be solved by CCP, under any condition I can think of anyway. The architecture refers to how a client connects to the server to login then getting passed on to the server running the game/map/battle/whatever. After that is done the architecture is how the various messages from the clients get sent to the server as well as received. Think Client 7 fired 13 rounds of D damage from W weapon at the player on Client 31; The clients have to send, receive and update the other players in their field of view. How that is all setup is interesting. However, the network was designed to support EVE Online, not Dust. EVE can handle 200ms ping times and, in fact suggests that it is a reasonable ping time. For EVE, a point and click PC game. It is not for Dust, a lobby FPS that has significant lag and hit detection errors. But again, that is just my opinion.
Lastly to the system but first to us Mercs is the client software. It has several layers not limited to but including the login system, the quarters system with its interrelated market, suit fits, vehicle fits and the infamous Battle Finder (aka Not A Matchmaking System). Then the code is either swapped out to load the game system itself or most of its textures (this results in having loading screens between quarters, the war barge and the actual maps).
So that leaves us down in the actual game software. It is limited as the PS3 is an old system that has a maximum of 512M of memory available. 256M of which is video ram. Unreal Engine typically comes with source code (C++) and it may well be modified by the client (CCP/Shanghai) although nothing is known about such. What is known is that is where hit detection, targeting and quite a few of the bugs you listed above reside in. Issue that require the code to be changed require clients to download new code. Bugs in text files or databases require the 'synchronizing' messages we get from time to time. Or some such solution.
My suggested way to look at it is one of two solutions. They are maxed out in the current capabilities and have difficulty tracking down graphic bugs (see tank turret cut off distance bug unfixed for six months), network timing bugs (get killed in a warbarge strike but the weapon shown is a SMG) and state errors.
State errors are those bugs that are special to C++. It is an object oriented language and can be quite elegant but is more commonly a hacked up mess. In particular when the code base (Unreal Engine 3.5+) is modified by others (Not Unreal Engine coders). Finding what is exactly modifying an object when it shouldn't is difficult in a multi-tasking system. The PS3 has three PowerPC cores at its disposal. I believe the fourth is for the OS but I could be wrong on that.
One wonders at what the resource allocation is between programming, artists and QA? It is a common problem in the game development business.
TL;DR.
Well, it is CCP/Shanghai after all isn't it? To them Fanfest is the fire. Nothing in game is. Since New Eden is based in CCP's universe Fanfest is what matters. Cause they say so. 
The fixing of a bug is tedious and often difficult. And it is less rewarding to put 'fixed that stupid bug' in your resume versus 'implemented cloaking in a FPS'. Which might well be all it takes to leave us out in the cold.
Welcome to Dust, such as it is.
And so it goes.
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