Steel Beasts 5.0 Thread

[Rinix]

Copying and pasting graphics on the map is one of the objectives for version 5.0: https://www.steelbeasts.com/topic/17753-steel-beasts-content-wish-list/page/361/#comments

[Rinix]

https://www.steelbeasts.com/topic/17346-version-5-state/

I like to draw the analogy of a construction site. For a good while you might only see a placard "Soon, here will be a building!" while the architect is drawing plans and the owner is collecting permits, securing the bank loans, selecting the construction firm, and in our case, we also have to build the road to connect the builting to the nearest city, and have plumbing and electricity lines connected as well. One day the excavators arrive and start digging a hole for the foundation, and that's kinda the point where we are. It's still not very impressive - a muddy hole. Even when concrete has poured, it's a hole with a concrete slab in it, and nothing happens while it cures. At some point though the bricklayers come and things are starting to take shape. But you still need to erect the outer walls, inner walls, add a roof, windows, doors, and let's not even talk of interior design. Nevertheless, the foundation is essential. you really want to make sure that it's done well because everything rests on it.

So, what can I tell?
We've hired a number of additional team members. There have been a lot of short-term requests coming in from the other customers - understandably so, one might add, given the global political situation, but of course the demand for short-term adaptations takes away development hours from version 5. So, the overall schedule has slipped by about six months per my estimate. Which isn't so bad, but given that V5 is a strategic priority, I'm not entirely happy about it either.

Now, the general plan is to develop a number of small applications first that use the V5 code framework and which are designed to be network compatible with SB4. This will bbring some fundamental new features faster, and it  allows for a gradual transition from V4 to V5 as more and more V5 features become available and V4 elements get converted. SB4 is too massive, we can't just convert it within a year or two. So, the military customers at least will have to use SB4 and SB5 in parallel for a transition period. That requires network compatbility, and for that, we developed a network bridge. This has no practical relevance for you, at least not at this stage, and probably never. But it's an essential element for the overall development roadmap.
With this network compatibility, we can develop the kind of features that would otherwise be too time-consuming under SB V4; two of them are scheduled for this year, one of which might be made available to you - a new map editor. While primarily designed for V5, it can read V4 data, and it's supposed to export into V4 format as well.

The 3D engine will be based on Vulkan Scene Graph. VSG has the advantage that it's less platform dependent than DirectX, so, yes, there will be a Linux version of SB5. We're currently in the selection process for the sound engine, and we want start the integration work on it in the second half of this year. In parallel, there's work going on for an internal tools.

The first 3D application I expect for 2028. Then there'll be conversion work. You want, I assume, at least 80...90% of the current feature set available before we can release SB5 to you.

[Rinix]

https://www.steelbeasts.com/topic/18382-the-future-of-windows/

So, Microsoft makes less than 10% of their annual revenue with sales of Windows licenses. Consequently, they seem to shift the purpose of the operating system as a funnel for other services, using consumers as beta testers, and for locking in customers to a walled garden like Apple's --- except with less privacy and less class.
Personally, I can live with "less class" as long as I keep my privacy, can do the work that I want, and play my games. But given the trajectory they are on, local user accounts are something they clearly want to get rid of, and one can expect that future Windows versions are going to make it harder and harder to work with this operating system unless you sign up for a Miccrosoft account and hand over your payment details and abolish all pretense of privacy.

Maybe my sentiments are an outlier, though I don't think I'm entirely alone here.

SB5 is being developed to work not just with Windows. Linux, which was chosen as an emergency alternative a good while ago when we defined the specs of what we wanted to do looks increasingly like a Plan A, with legacy Windows support as Plan B. Valve is going to release their Steam console later this year, running entirely on Linux. Most games that are on Steam already work on Linux these days.

But what do you think?
Are you still fully committed to Windows?
Have you thought about switching to Linux? Can't you wait to make the switch, or do the cons still outweigh the pros?

@Ssnake if I may, and I know it is early, but what sort of Linux distro are you leaning towards for development? Arch (like SteamOS)? Debian? Ubuntu?

We haven't decided yet, and won't for a while. We might even experiment a little ourselves before settling on one. Probably something that is close to what Valve will be using. After all, this is about maximum performance and compatibility for games.

For me, if Steel Beasts doesn't support Windows, I will not play it.

Yeah, no doubt; there'll be many people continuing to use Windows, and of course we won't abandon it. However, recently the cases where Windows updates bricked the machines receiving them have increased substantially. Since we're more organized like an anarcho-syndicalist developer commune rather than a corporate software behemoth, we cannot profit from the relative calm of Windows Enterprise license owners, so our developer machines may very well be affected by a future Windows update. If that happens often enough (remains to be seen, of course) that will affect our ability to keep developing for this platform. And if more and more on the team make the switch to Linux, our ability to test inn Windows and to render tech support will also gradually shift away from Windows and a bit more towards Linux.

I don't really want to give up on Windows, I'm just concerned if we can keep doing what we do without becoming wholly dependent on Microsoft. If anything, independence is what makes up the DNA of this company. It's independence that made the PC platform attractive in the 1980s and 90s. If I wanted to live in a gilded cage, I could have made the switch to Apple long ago. But I'd rather be somewhat miserable and free, than seek the relative comfort of captivity.