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June Catchup

Hey guys, how have you been? We haven't posted a devblog for a while.. and I'm going to blame discord. We talk to the community there. I hate it. You shouldn't have to lurk in discord to get updates.

So lets start doing this again. Here's our current priorities.
The API section was cleaned up, to make it easier to discover APIs you don't know about.

We've got a Developer Documentation site that we've been trying our best to keep up to date. Please shout at us if it's not.
We've had instances where we broke shipped games. We shouldn't ever be doing this now. We should be bending over backwards to avoid it.


We now have a system as part of our build process, where it checks a list of games, and if they don't run it won't let the new build build.

We also added version upgraders for the component system, so if we change a component, we can add code to take older versions to the new version, which should avoid any issues.

If we break a game you shipped then please shout at us so we can fix it before people start relying on the new behaviour and we can't change it back without fixing another game.
Where possible we've been deleting and reducing to create more clarity. We've merged this site with asset.party, to become this site. One site instead of two.

In the editor we previously let you open a bunch of different projects at once. It was confusing and we got ourselves into a mess. You can now only open one project at a time. This is aligns with expectations and simplifies everything massively.
We added a library system

Instead of downloading some compiled assembly from somewhere and not being able to edit it, we opted to download source code into your project folder. 

This has a few advantages. Like you can view the code, so you know how to use it. And you can edit the code if it's not doing what you want. And finally, it's never going to change without you changing it.
We've been getting better, incrementally, every day. The community is doing a fantastic job at finding and reporting any issues that they find. The editor is getting prettier and more stable every week.
As well as Libraries, we've added a bunch of nice things to the editor. From simple things to multi-select editing, to more complex things, like in-scene map creation.

We recently improved the editor with the scene tab system and multiple viewports.
We've converted the sound system to an Audio Mixer system. This system lets you play particular sounds through a particular mixer. This mixer can then have its own volume and other processors.
For example, you could have a mixer called "Weapon" as a child of the "Game" mixer. You could decide that all of your weapons are too quiet, so turn up the volume of your Weapon mixer. But then you might want to add some echoey reverb to all the game sounds in your scene, but not affect music or ui sounds, so you can add a processor to the "Game" mixer.

This system is still a work in progress, but it's infinitely more configurable than what we had previously.
We've been looking at the game itself recently, and trying to find ways to keep people online.

One of the problems is that we're shoving all of these broken, shitty games in people's faces. So we've added a Featured section, which allows us to hand pick a bunch of games to show people.

Another problem is that you think people are playing (because of the player count), and you click the game, and they've already stopped playing. So now we have a new section on the main game's screen, called "Active Servers", which is at most 5 seconds out of date.

We added a party system to the bottom left of the screen. This allow you to create a small group and drag them with you into and out of games.
But generally, everyone playing the game right now are using the editor.. so we still have lots of work to do to get people to keep playing. There's a few things we're going to be trying over the next few weeks.
Our performance isn't terrible. Sometimes it's actually quite good.

We're working on a benchmark system in an attempt to target specific metrics and track how they change over time. We want to make sure that what we do has a positive impact on performance, instead of a negative impact.

The benchmark system will be used to prove performance issues, and then prove their fixes.
One of the things we're going to be doing is getting rid of the invite system. It worked, and it was fun, but it's too much work.

It's time for us to be brave and open up access a bit more. In the new system you will be able to sign into this site and grant access to yourself.

It's still a closed preview, because we can revoke access at any time, but it's an open closed preview. 
I'm going to make more of an effort to post these updates more regularly. We're doing a lot of stuff in the background, enough to fill a devblog every week/month, so there's no excuse other than laziness.

Comments

Sep, 9 2021
0
It's all cool and clearly not for nothing. But please:

- Server-side code protection
- Dedication servers
May, 5 2021
2155
Please don't do another contest within the next two months.
Thank you.
Jul, 7 2021
60
> We now have a system as part of our build process, where it checks a list of games, and if they don't run it won't let the new build build.

What list of games? Is it a hand-picked one by you guys or an internal list of Facepunch created games?
Oct, 10 2021
300
wow! thanks garry
Jul, 7 2022
390
Thank you Garry! But my main problem's that UI performance is kinda bad specially on the main menu 
Oct, 10 2021
0
Delegate 1 - 2 people to UI instead of everyone chipping in whenever they create something, design is fantastic in some areas but extremely weak and out of place in others. Make sure they have an an artist background with proof of good UI. Basics like material design concepts would also benefit.
Oct, 10 2021
150

Food is Yumka
Oct, 10 2023
0
Wow its me...
Jul, 7 2022
160
Nov, 11 2022
260
😊
Aug, 8 2022
100
Amazing as always!
The build we see on the website and news seems different from the one we have access to, are there many differences between these versions?

Regarding player retention, in my case at least, the games that I liked to play the most are broken or were removed after an update. Unfortunately, the ones that remain are mostly at a very early stage or not even the foundation and gameplay cycle are consistent yet.
As games are completed and there is a better quantity of quality games, retention should naturally increase.

By the way, bring Zombie Survivors and Boomer back, Facepunch! Tnx! 
Sep, 9 2022
760
"Our performance isn't terrible."
Jul, 7 2021
0
performance would like to have a word
Aug, 8 2023
0
cool
please return the sandbox mode!
Jul, 7 2022
0
Hey I think the documentation has been missing info about game menus for a while. Has it changed? I assume the asset system moved stuff around a bit. Also UI rendering is bugged on CPU.
Jan, 1 2023
0
Sandbox when? Or you are waiting till someone else going to remake that? 
не устраивает
Jul, 7 2021
420

𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓿𝓻𝓸

Aug, 8 2022
0
Would be nice if you added back the ability for games to load assets at launch (for example addons to games) instead of now basically having to make a whole new game to add your own new content. 

Not sure why you removed that when you ripped out the entity system. 
Nov, 11 2023
50
fix libraries
Please