Beta testing starts on New Control Mechanism

[Chris]

There has been a slight change of plan - originally we intended to start beta testing the new demo today. Unfortunately the new demo is taking (far) longer than expected, and it just isn't ready yet. However, the new control mechanism used in the new demo is ready, and today we will begin the beta test on the full game patch that includes this new control mechanism. We will be testing the win32 version for now.

We have already selected 100 testers from the applicants list, and notified them by email of their selection. Any phase2 testers (people who helped us to test the full game before its release) who have applied have been automatically accepted, and the remainder of the testers have been selected completely randomly from the applicants list. To view the full list of selected testers, click here.

If you are a selected tester you can download the new patch (1.3) here. Simply unzip the downloaded zip file into your Darwinia game folder, and you should be good to go. The new control mechanism will be selected by default. To get started, press the TAB key to bring up the Task Manager. You can probably work out the rest yourself. It's worth pointing out the help system still talks about the old gestures system, so please ignore it.

Please report all bugs found in the Beta Testers Discussion forum. We have made this forum readable by everyone, but only the new batch of testers are permitted to post. As well as the bugs we want to know what you think of the new control mechanism - do you hate it? Do you prefer it? Any ideas on how we can improve it?

The same test group will be used when the new demo is ready. We are still accepting applicants for the beta testing, and we will be selecting another batch of around 100 after the initial test is done. If you wish to apply you can still do so by clicking here.

We will all be in Edinburgh for much of this week, so the expected demo beta start date is now 22nd August. Thanks to all those involved for helping us.

[prophile]

Woo! I think I'd prefer the old gestures system, but if it makes Darwinia sell better it's fine by me.

[elDiablo]

Yay! And I'm in America till the 20th! So I get a nice surprise when I'm back!

[xander]

Woo! I think I'd prefer the old gestures system, but if it makes Darwinia sell better it's fine by me.

If it makes any difference, my understanding is that the gesture system will still be available.

Chris: when will testing of Mac 1.3 begin? or is that still too far off into the mysterious future for comment?

xander

[prophile]

Yes, I know the gesture system is still going to be available, but I still think it's better.

[D Dude]

oooh its pretty cool, nothing has broken, will give it a longer test a bit later.

[Dr4goN]

Woo! Yay! Woo! 1.30 applied! Hooray! I'm the beta tester!!!

[ttm]

*sigh* Typical, it's almost 50% new people with zero posts that are probably not going to bother reporting any bugs they might find. That's what you get from apparent random selection

[unlucky_13]

good... (and wierd) but won't beat the original

[Lord_Doskias]

yay im a tester! this new control mechanism is odd compared to the old one, not sure if i like it yet...

[Starfyre]

I liked the swiftness of the old one. You could execute actions with a snap of the wrist (that sounds painful); with the new one you have to click around a lot in order to get things done. But I guess it's a preference thing, and it's very thoughtful of making the old system available to all who prefer it.

[martin]

Grr, My dad never told me I had email, I was sitting here thinking I'm not a tester. Sniff then I was happily informed by the list that I was a tester.

[martin]

How do we change back to gestures? just delete the unzipped file or is there a way to change preferences yet?

[Starfyre]

How do we change back to gestures? just delete the unzipped file or is there a way to change preferences yet?

Under "Input options" you'll find two entries that let you choose between Gestures and Key input.

[martin]

Thanks