Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

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Watermelon
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Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#1

Post by Watermelon » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:41 pm

We're all familiar with the jokes passed around how each Zandronum version will be the next Duke Nukem: Forever. I'd like to bust up a few myths though: What would you say if Zandronum 2.0 has been done for a few months? What if the only reason it's not out is because almost no one tests it? Sadly that is the truth. Torr has fully backported Zan 2.0 (so we're at ZDoom 2.5.0 or 2.5.1, I forget which). Why isn't it out? We need testing. Nothing more, nothing less.


Developing and releasing buggy software is something we only do when we have no choice. Zandronum 1.3 was sort of like this. We basically had no testing team helping us, and had to do a blind release and just hoped that nothing went wrong. Luckily, everything is great thus far, but we can't be that lucky all the time -- especially with 2.0 due to how many things have been upgraded. Some of you may be asking 'why don't the devs test it?', which we do. We test every release before releasing it. We cannot however test with multiple people and test over every single wad known to mankind since we don't have enough knowledge about the popular mods or what people play to do so.

Furthermore, some of the items getting into 2.0 are massive. You guys are used to seeing us increment slowly and add major features one at a time. This new version though is going to quite a new level. We have 1 ridiculously massive upgrade (ZDoom 2.5.x), and some awesome upgrades to the engine that needs major testing. Remember that you won't be seeing some new epic interface, the core of the game is stable and will remain so, it's the new features, tweaks, and bug fixes that there is so much of (ranging from minor to major).

Therefore, due to the massive size of this upgrade, it is not getting released until we get people testing it, unless it goes on for a year or more and we have no choice. Releases are only done in an untested state if the apathy of testing is so large that we can't wait any longer. I would rather not wait another full year for 2.0. In fact, I'd rather see it out this year if we're lucky. Wouldn't it be a nice December 25th present if 2.0 came out? I think it would! :wink:

Before I reach the testing options part of this post, I want to let you guys know that there are still major features incoming over the next few months, so one testing session won't cover it.

We cannot release without testing, and therefore... we need you. Testing is not meant to be a chore. Testing should be enjoyable, and this is what you can do to help us:




Option 1: Join the testing team
- Join up in #zatesting
- Let myself or Arco/Qent know you are interested in joining the testing team
- In hopefully 2-3 weeks we will be doing testing sessions on the weekends. We will only need an hour of your time at most. The more you give the better, but it's completely optional
- Maybe there's a forum tag or something that comes with this or some kind of voice/hops in #zatesting
- You cannot be banned on the master server
- Should have a tracker account to report bugs (not mandatory as long as you inform myself or another lead tester)
- It is mandatory to attend these testing events, if you join the testing team and never show up... that's bad. Obviously RL events that prevent you from coming are okay.



Option 2: Testing at your own leisure
- Just test a 2.0 build we will be posting
- Pick your own wads and report any bugs you find
- You may attend testing sessions if you want (highly recommended!)




We will be aiming to set something official up for the weekend. Right now this thread's goal is to get people thinking of what they can do to help test Zandronum 2.0. If you are interested, check out #zatesting and we will be providing a plan on the weekend.






FAQ:

Where can I get the 2.0 binary?
There will be an official post very soon.

What do we test?
- Test your favorite wads (just play them and see if it plays normally)
- Test new features
- Test your favorite wad offline
- We will provide a feature list for people to try out soon!
As a note, we do have to go through all the gamemodes and make sure they work normally. Expect to cover each game mode, doom[2], heretic, hexen, strife, and maybe some other things.


How can I host? I am lazy.
Because you are as lazy as I am, I'll be working over the next 1-2 weeks to set up hosting on BE with 2.0 so you can whip up any server for easy testing.

A feature is missing on the wiki... I don't know anything about feature X.
Let me know and I will add it to the wiki

I found a bug.
Post it on the tracker (or PM me on IRC).

Will this make Torr Samaho happy?
Yes.

How often will there be testing sessions?
I'm hoping for one every two weeks on either Saturday or Sunday.

Do I have to test until I am bored?
No. This should be fun, if you don't like testing -- this isn't the place for you. Sometimes it may be tedious, but I'm going to try to make the wads enjoyable as possible with what I have to work with.

I have a feature request I want in 2.0! Am I too late?
No, but hurry up and post it on the tracker so it doesn't get left until 2.1 or possibly 3.0.





As a parting note, this should be fun. You will be testing new features and helping Zandronum 2.0 come out to the masses. We will get to play a wide array of mods and hopefully generate some good laughs together. Anything you contribute will go towards 2.0's release. Remember, even finding nothing is a success, because you tested something and found out it was bug free!



Suggestions?
Comments?
Ideas?
Want to join?

Post!


Note: I need a list of popular mods, if you know them, please provide them so I can add it to the list of wads to test.

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Doomkid
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#2

Post by Doomkid » Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:09 pm

Due to my timezone situation I probably won't make an actual testing session, but I'll certainly be happy to test it with all my favorite WADs when you have a link ready :) I'm eager!
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ForrestMarkX
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#3

Post by ForrestMarkX » Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:15 pm

I have my own servers running using the latest if anyone is interested in trying out stuff

http://zandronum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5379
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#4

Post by Slim » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:12 pm

I'd be game (if some force isn't preventing me at said testing sessions), I'd like to get the long overdue 2.0 out and finally make huge headway towards getting up to date with Z-Doom (not to mention that horrible NVidia drivers hiccup where going back several drivers was required).
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#5

Post by Lollipop » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:30 pm

Good luck with this, though school gives too much pressure on me.
I am working on some things though, if there are any hickups only in 2.0 I will let you know.
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#6

Post by Monsterovich » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:36 pm

How about that "Missing more than 1024 packets" bug when connecting? Will it be fixed? I am interested in testing it. I've already mentioned this problem here.

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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#7

Post by Watermelon » Wed Oct 29, 2014 7:55 pm

Monsterovich wrote: How about that "Missing more than 1024 packets" bug when connecting? Will it be fixed? I am interested in testing it. I've already mentioned this problem here.
Testing can only be done when a developer fixes it (if possible even).

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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#8

Post by MrSetharoo » Wed Oct 29, 2014 10:04 pm

I can join the Testing team. The only thing that really stops me from attending the tests are:

1) I have to use my mobile data to play via tethering which doesn't take much if I download the mods before hand on my actual internet, so sometimes in the later parts of the months I might not be able to play.
2) Homework, but I mostly do this on Sundays and Mondays. Saturdays and Fridays are pretty much a 90% chance for me to show up

I can record as well If need be and my computer can generally run Doom well, though my computer does have over heating issues Doom has never caused a problem in over heating especially on OpenGL and with models.

Also, a good mod to try for 2.0 would be the Russian Overkill port.

Not sure what GMT I'm in but I live on the East coast of America
Last edited by MrSetharoo on Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#9

Post by mifu » Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:29 pm

Hey lads, I'll sign up. Im Free on the weekends (except for Saturday mornings) Timezone is GMT +8
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#10

Post by Watermelon » Thu Oct 30, 2014 12:18 am

We got a lot more people than I thought we would. I plan to make a big update on Saturday. Hopefully most of you can be on then.

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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#11

Post by FateLord » Thu Oct 30, 2014 2:33 am

List of Popular WADs
.. Most of these are sadly popular but
- PropHunt
- Zombie Horde
- bagel horde
- who dun it
- PsxDoom
- Complex Doom
- Brutal Doom
- Gvh
- Hopefully we don't care about mm8bdm
- Icon of Party
- Deathrun
- Samsara
There are more
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<Exciter> Global broadcast sent.

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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#12

Post by jwaffe » Thu Oct 30, 2014 2:40 am

I really wish I could help out like I used to but unfortunately my work schedule is too insane... sorry. I can probably help out more in.... January?
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#13

Post by Fluttershy » Thu Oct 30, 2014 4:45 am

If things go as planned for me in late December (likely after Christmas), I should definitely be open for joining a good few of these sessions when they're made available. Until then, I'm very limited on this toaster I'm having to live with for now.

Yeah, you heard me... a toaster.
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#14

Post by Cruduxy » Thu Oct 30, 2014 10:45 am

Watermelon wrote: hexen, strife, and maybe some other things.
Dunno hexen is very annoying to play until something is done about reflected projectiles :P.

Oh I always forget to report this. Sometimes all monsters\items become invisible on maps players travel to a lot. Happened on that stupid world of steel during 3 regular gameplays. -It usually bugs when its time to do the crushers part, so thats like 2 hours of testing needed just to see that happen lol.
Last edited by Cruduxy on Thu Oct 30, 2014 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Watermelon
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#15

Post by Watermelon » Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:07 pm

Cruduxy wrote:
Watermelon wrote: hexen, strife, and maybe some other things.
Dunno hexen is very annoying to play until something is done about reflected projectiles :P.

Oh I always forget to report this. Sometimes all monsters\items become invisible on maps players travel to a lot. Happened on that stupid world of steel during 3 regular gameplays. -It usually bugs when its time to do the crushers part, so thats like 2 hours of testing needed just to see that happen lol.
Are both of these on the tracker?

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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#16

Post by Cruduxy » Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:32 pm

The reflected desync : http://zandronum.com/tracker/view.php?id=1665 . Easiest ways to test it is vs centaurs\Heresiarches, Cannot be tested offline.
-It happens in 2.0 even if that is about 1.2.

I can't find anything about the invisible items\monsters though. Its also a very hard one to notice because it needs a long amount of playing. Also from what I recall it happened on Heresiarch seminary. But with less travelling between maps than world of steel.


Edit : Decided to add other irritating bugs already on tracker.

1)Mage's arc of death : http://zandronum.com/tracker/view.php?id=723
Beside what is reported in this, monsters hit by arc of death might appear in a wrong position until they shoot. It can also be used to desync allies view.

2)SV_UnblockPlayers : http://zandronum.com/tracker/view.php?id=1318

3)Fighter Desyncing fists : http://zandronum.com/tracker/view.php?id=1894

4)Cleric can crash all players : http://zandronum.com/tracker/view.php?id=1895
This seriously should be flagged major because cleric is very popular.

5)Flechette : http://zandronum.com/tracker/view.php?id=796
Flagged as major. Very old and might be absolute. -pre 1.0-

Not reported :
1)Minotaurs -Dark Servant- desync, zdoom has a topic about it I might later post it here -its easy to find with search. Edit : http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f= ... nt#p681617
1A) Minotaurs who use charge attack on decor -unshootable but blocking actors- might get stuck indefinitely in the charge.

2)Heresiarch hates doors : Doors sometimes remove the heresiarch's power cubes, rendering him unable to cast any spell. This might be intentional am not sure.

3)This happens very rarely. The position frozen actors -by mage's 2nd weapon- isn't necessarily the actual frozen statue position. Shots just pass them but its noticable they desynced when you get blocked by an invisible actor.

4)A lot of artifacts are missing the +NoGravity Flag
http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f= ... en#p723524
Fixed in : http://zdoom.org/Changelog/62ffe7e4e267 ... d639/files
Only decorate text files were modified. No programming done.

Suggestion :
A server command to disable http://zdoom.org/wiki/A_ClassBossHealth . No idea who at hexen thought this is good for coop.

Sorry for the editing-fest :P
Last edited by Cruduxy on Thu Oct 30, 2014 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Konda
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#17

Post by Konda » Thu Oct 30, 2014 6:25 pm

I'd like to recommend a mod called "Bosses From Hell" because it utilizes the hub system which is supposed to be buggy online (or so I heard) but it's quite the contrary - I've been playing this mod for a while online (sometimes with as many as 12 players) and never have encountered a single bug. I think it would be convenient to see if new bugs occured with the hub system by testing this mod in 2.0.

Code: Select all

<Synert> fuck
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#18

Post by ForrestMarkX » Thu Oct 30, 2014 6:56 pm

Konda wrote: I'd like to recommend a mod called "Bosses From Hell" because it utilizes the hub system which is supposed to be buggy online (or so I heard) but it's quite the contrary - I've been playing this mod for a while online (sometimes with as many as 12 players) and never have encountered a single bug. I think it would be convenient to see if new bugs occured with the hub system by testing this mod in 2.0.
I have started a server using that mod, feel free to test it as you wish

http://zandronum.com/forum/showthread.p ... 8#pid73788
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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#19

Post by arkore » Thu Oct 30, 2014 8:12 pm

There are two bugs I'm aware of, with the hub system.
1) If players rapidly use the teleports (moving from map to map within the hub), eventually the server will crash, with the infamous error:

Code: Select all

*** Fatal Error ***
Address not mapped to object (signal 11)
Address: 0x7fff29720e08
But then again, this error is infamous for occurring in situations where a hub isn't be used.

2) When killing the Terminator boss (map 19), then exiting the map. When you re-enter the map again, the server crashes. It was my theory that the Terminator's head, or arm is what causes the crash. This is why I changed it so that the gates close after the map is completed.

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RE: Testing team needs you for Zandronum 2.0's release!

#20

Post by Watermelon » Fri Oct 31, 2014 3:55 pm

As a note, everyone should try to be on IRC tomorrow (around 5-6 pm EST).

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