Monday, December 17, 2007

RealRestraint update 1.12

Finally ! I've been quiet for a while, working on my stuff for this update and finally released it last Saturday. Well first of all let me explain what an update really means. As I use my stuff a lot (even if not always the prims I designed), I immediately spot weaknesses and things I would want to add. And customers sometimes send suggestions (okay, a lot of them send a lot of suggestions :p), so an update is the result of a long process.

When I decide to go for it, I start working on it relentlessly until everything gets ironed out, it usually lasts two weeks. And then, notecards to write, is everything there ? Have I not forgotten anything ? Let's check again. No I did that. Did I ? Shoot, what is the version of this script again, did I compile it or is it still on my local hard drive. I check. Oh noes SL has crashed again ! And so on. It can drive you nuts, really.

Finally, the big jump, the day of release. Usually I try to release at the beginning of weekends so people have time to enjoy the new features, and I have time to correct mistakes when there is any (I say "when", not "if"). But it's a loooong process. Let's see : there are 11 items to update, every one of them being quite different from the other. Some require a new Leash script, others require a new RealKey, some require new scripts, and some even require a new build. Now, every content creator knows that SL must not be trusted. It crashes, it rolls back, it reverts permissions, a pure joy. Each product is a list of items contained in a folder, that must be put in a box, the box needing a notecard which embeds another one, and a landmark. Each box goes into the sales server and voila.

Only... this is an update, not a new release. This means that all the items must be put into the update servers (the white mushrooms), and this is where it gets funny. The Police handcuffs are in 3 versions (basic, elbows, belt), the shackles have 3 parts (of 4 items each average), and the other items are quite scattered and heterogeneous. And my inventory is a mess. lol. So it's not easy. Not mentioning that there is not 1 server but 15 scripts, each almost identical to the others, but different enough to recognize the footprint of the item to be updated.

So there are several thousands ways to make mistakes and to only spot them after the update, and it took more than 8 hours to process it all. Busy day. But not rushing, being patient and double-checking every double-check helped. Now the update 1.12 is out.

Hah ! You really thought I would go technical and put release notes here, right ? You wanted to be bashed with "Fixed this and Changed that" lines, just for your geek pleasure ? You perv. This is a well-educated blog, you know. Check my shop for details. :p

3 comments:

lexi said...

gawd, that is an awefull lot of work, just out of sheer curiosity, you manage to stay sane how? ;)

I haven't updated yet but great work regardless!!

*hugs*

lexi

Marine Kelley said...

Awe ! Thank you Lexi :) Well it's been a long time my sanity has gone. One must be a little crazy to stare at a computer screen all day. lol

Velicia said...

I love the new update! Updated everything (except the shiabari, which I forgot... and the iso suit :) ). Great work, lots of new improvements. :)