Any update on the ETA of new patch?

[parmenio]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

We upgraded at the end of a cycle - ie the release of BFTB.

I was referring to patch/expansion pack rather than BFTB.

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

We had been on VS2008 for three years and VS2010 had been out for over six months.

I resisted going for it until SP1 was out. I had been waiting for some quiet time to upgrade (god knows when) but issues like yours means I think I'll wait for SP2.

[Arjuna]

Yeh probably wise. [:)]

[gabeeg]

Dave, If it makes you feel any better at work we updated to 2010 for an upcoming release and ran into so many compile issues and byte alignment issues we were forced to go back to our old compiler.... wasted about a month... you are not alone.

[Arjuna]

gabeeg,

Well on the one hand that makes me feel like I'm not alone but I really don't want to have to roll back to VS2008 and reimplement all the changes we have made since then. Either way it's PAIN!

[ulisin]

ORIGINAL: Wiggum

@ Arjuna

I just hope you guys will continue to make wargames (Command Ops series) !
After all im pretty sure that Panther Games is by far my favorite game developer and you have for sure done some of the greatest wargames of all time !

I agree

[vj531]

Any further news?

[Arjuna]

Not really. I took the plunge in desperation and installed SP1 for VS2010 despite there being a fair bit of flak about it on the dev forums. We're trying to resolve some project setting issues and until we get these done we won't know whether the SP1 fixes the corruption of the strings in the debugger which is the prime issue at the moment. I know it's frustrating and I am sorry for the delays.

[vj531]

Thanks for the update. Is there a "plan B"?
Looks like VS2010 may be a deal breaker?

It will the first anniversary of my first patch enquiry post soon. I stopped playing this great game last September looking forward to the patch. I'm starting to feel very glum BFTB wise.

[BK6583]

It will the first anniversary of my first patch enquiry post soon. I stopped playing this great game last September looking forward to the patch. I'm starting to feel very glum BFTB wise.

Well too bad! I also have been waiting for this patch which I had hoped and assumed would make a good game an excellent game. :-{

[vj531]

Thanks BK6583. I admire your patience. Mine is now to worn a little thin. I think it time for Dave & Co to sort this as matter of the utmost priority. As much as I can sympathise with ongoing software problems, I feel that the time this patch has taken is unacceptable.

[wodin]

Why should they sort it as a matter of priority...there aren't really any game stopping bugs..so anything they do do in the patch is upto them...they don't even need to release one if they don't want to...I think some of you think a patch to a game that is working is owed you for some reason...it's not...you get it as an added bonus...so I think you all should be grateful there is going to be a patch at some point in the first place...and quit this moaning...

[vj531]

I think this product deserves a better attitude than shut up and make do.

[Phoenix100]

Well, the patch is a nice idea, but it's the add-on I want. The arnhem scenarios were my favourite and I want to play them in the BFTB format. BFTB works so much better than HTTR, I think. I still haven't had a definitive answer - I don't think - on whether the add-on (for which we will be charged, and for which I will happily pay) is inextricably linked to the patch, but I wish it wasn't. because it's clear the patch is going nowhere fast.

And why should Panther do anything for us? To make money. So if they've got a better way of doing that they will. After all, it's only a game. It's seems pretty clear that they have other priorities right now and I can't blame them. I'm guessing, but I would assume no one makes anywhere near enough to live on by making niche games for a niche corner of a niche market. There's no obligation on them to do anything at all. Obviously. And also no obligation on anyone to be 'grateful' they are doing a patch or anything else. We paid good money (in my case, on every single iteration of the AA engine thus far) - I could moan, but I wouldn't have a clue why they would listen. On the other hand, since it's economics that decide whether anyone has the motivation to spend all their spare time producing patches and add-ons, I don't suppose that anything said by any of the handful of people still posting here about BFTB is going to make any difference to anything at all. So might as well let people moan.

That all said - as I understand it (and I'm really really grateful for this) - all the work on the add-on has been done, even the beta testing and balancing, so I'll just put in my moan and ask why we can't get it out and then Panther could at least make some money on that work!

[Phoenix100]

Now, if I were Bill Gates, I might say - hey Dave! How much do you need to do the patch and these six add-ons of my choice over the next year or so? Just give me the bill. I'd commission the tactical version too. That kind of talk might make a diff....

[vj531]

Its more bloody frustration than anything else.

If this going to take another six months or a year, then I will with great sadness forget BFTB.

[simovitch]

I suppose the HTTR scenario pack could be released half-baked before the patch but I really wanted the issues with exiting units looked at, since most of the new scenarios include this condition for victory points. There were a couple of other minor issues but no real gamestoppers and I would say the scenarios and UK estab overhaul are very nearly complete except for some final balancing.

It is indeed unfortunate that this VS2010 snag has disallowed final playtesting after I spent hundreds of hours over the last few years developing them. Alas they will come... it's just a matter of when.[:(]

[Lieste]

Depends on how long the patch can be expected to be.. if there is another month of VS2010 problems, and then at least a few more of fixing and tweaking/testing, then it might be beneficial to push the HTTR expansion sooner, and patch the scenarios if needed. OTOH, if SP1 has fixed the worst of the problems, and all tests as working as designed, then incorporating the two is easier and makes sense to revise the scenarios before release to use the modified code and subsequent balance changes.

[Panther Paul]

Well, some progress. One of the two issues has been resolved.

Fingers crossed the last issue is also resolved this week.

[Arjuna]

As Paul mentions we got the game project compiling now under SP1 of VS2010. I have just checked it out and it does not fix the string corruption problem. I have this morning gone back onto the MSDN forums to see if we can get MS to address this issue. In the meantime we are going to explore options for a workaround with the new SP1 version of Visual Studio.

[wodin]

I'd like to know whats so wrong with BftB at the moment that make you give up on it if no patch comes out? I for one can play quite happly...where are these game breaking experience ruining bugs?