Mini Militia Classic Alpha Phase 2 Dev SITREP update with roadmap overview audio/docs

[Mini Militia Classic Alpha Force]

Hey all,

Time for the semi-regular MMC SITREP status update. This email goes over the following (i.e., here's the tl;dr):

• Phase 2 dev status update. Deep into dev. Phase 1 testing is going great, so far.
• Roadmap Overview (with links to shareable audio overview and images/docs)
• On the topic of reporting hacking:
  • Actual bugs in the game: e.g., the map loading error (still there, but reduced)
  • Some whoopins' are not hacking (most of them aren't; some are lag) Still we got work to do to reduce the perceptions and lag exploitation.
  • Lacking report details of the cheat or exploit is a way to get less action from us. We can't read minds, although we're working on it (ok that's an April fools joke right there 😉.)
• Repost of the last update at the very end (to replace deleted post... whoops.)

Phase 2 dev status update

Testing is going great. I don't think we've had servers this stable before... so that's pretty awesome phase 1 result. We've begun, in earnest, on dev for phase 2 (see below for the roadmap overview)

I am 'guessing we are 50% done on the Scores and Leaderboard portion. Its by far the most significant thing time-wise. It's a very technical piece and its probably not the last time we will need to sink time on this. It's a new piece to replace the Google and Apple leaderboards. Those are some really big shoes to fill. But when we do... and we will... it's the start of a new era for our player data.

Roadmap Overview (with links to audio and images)

We got a lot of questions about what is next. Here is a rough outline of our plan, plus audio that you can use and quote freely. Notice there is not DATES other than the day the plan was the plan and was as good as a plan can be at that moment in time. I can already tell you we've had slight alterations to this plan. mostly additive.

Link to the Audio overview and roadmap graphics:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hmliI_zXkL0frp-HwDK1O3C3ricNjvnI?usp=sharing

Roadmap image:

That is a lot to take in right there, but we are NOT done. When we nominally solve all this. we are ready for launch and beyond. This is a roadmap... A plan, plans can change. We're hoping for a a June release. We'll see how for we get and how fast. Maybe we cut some things, and there is things not shown there I know we will (or should) get too as well.

How to report hacking and things to consider before you do: I'd post a link to our new FAQ on reporting hacking if I had it online... but I don't (yet) I will endeavor to Soon(tm). But here is the gist of it...

• We got some bugs (loading the wrong map is a known one, reduced, but occurring.) Try to ask the person on the other end if they are the affected or if you are? If it is you let us know some details.
• Some players are INSANELY good (especially in this alpha) and a few are lucky. We aren't putting anyone into ranked rooms (that's inevitable once we launch.) There may be exploits we don't know about, yet. Sometimes lag is a real PITA giving us a different view than server reality. We have more to do there.
• IF you do report... give us details. Screenshots, videos, text explanations to the best of your ability, etc. If we need some language barriers, I got some fans who are really aware and I will get their help. A report with no details is a waste of your time and ours, we'll count it towards the general complaints though (so feel free to shout into the wind with us.) If you truly feel there is a cheat out there report it. We consider that as a data point of perception. If you want to be part of the solution do try to give more.

Repost of the last update (to replace deleted post). The last update we had, post 3 of 3 that update week to announce v0.1.2, got deleted on accident. Not a big deal since most of you get it from email, but rather than have ANOTHER email to repost it I decided to just add it to this update at the end of the week. So for prosperities sake look past the signature to see that post again IF you need/want it.

Thank you for helping us test!

Hunter (and Chad)

Appsomniacs

Here is that deleted post about the v0.1.2 release
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Mini Militia Classic v0.1.2 has been released to the wilds of the alpha plains (i.e., a new build is out!)

Hey all! 

Google says v0.1.2 is released... only 1/3 of my devices can see it so far... so it is out 'for some'. But it's compatible with v0.1.1 so it won't slow you down. Here is what its fixes.

v0.1.2: Fixes, Fixes, Fixes, and a few bugs we don't know about yet. 

-Fixed team scoring (maybe all of them.)

-Fixed Survival Solo game mode crash. 

-Fixed the intermittent blood splatters rendering in wrong places (this could have been around for a long while, we just never figured out why till now.)

-Fixed more server crashes. so many crashes.

-Added CTF back to v0.1.x client's reach now that team scoring is fixed.

-Fixed numerous server issues responsible for many disconnects and crashes.

Apple users, we had to kill the previous submissions, sadly a multi hour waste of our time, I think we learned a lesson, we need to wait till it is stable. I think this release illustrates why rapid iteration is not an Apple Testflight thing. Our best closed testing turn around was three days. But we're going to hit some stable weeks here, so we are going to submit and see what they say this time. I got a good feeling they can't complain about 'security' issues that third party libs raised (I think we fixed em all.) They have yet to approve any release we've had. So there is that doggin' us too. An Apple release is likely to a solo affair if the next release comes out and is not compatible... there is going to be a lot more of those coming up. The extra cost to bear isn't too bad, just make it worth our time in the end alright. ;) I'll keep championing for you.

The next update will not be focused on the core functionality (like scores, loadouts, profiles.) We will do some house cleaning, surface interface tweaks, and quality of life stuff that has nothing to do with the core changes we made. We need to lets these phase 1 tests simmer and produce data.

testingfeedback{AT}appsomniacs.com is always open (once you figure out how to turn that into an email.) But you can reply to this email too and it will be scraped (we are still not open to posting here. this is a one way public channel.) You can also use the Google Play feedback. We read those and reply when we can and if we need more info. We will often send you tot he testingfeedback{AT}appsomniacs.com email for more info.

Thank you all for testing! I really hope to not slam your email boxes more this week. But I think it is important to let you know that we have another release with fixes.

Thanks for helping us test. I am calling out King (Manzoor) really sent in a lot of great reports and solid info gathering in the last 48 hours. Keeping us busy fixing all kinds of odd stuff. Gamanzo was really helpful too (he was noob in that last email shoutout. ;D) All the people who left feedback and emailed us, THANK YOU!!! Your reports really helped. Our families are pitching in where they can. We had countless late nights of work (ok, several weeks worth,) and they stepped up handling email, support, and tasks we could delegate, to allow us to keep burning the midnight oil. This was a scary release for us. We had to grow a bit in how we deal with this much change in one release. As you can see even though we tested and tweaked for over a week prior. we missed stuff. and every fix can cause more problems (thats what knocked out survival solo...) We didn't do a full regression test after some tweaks, and those things slip through the cracks. but we fixed em now! Pretty sure... ;)

Ok I will do my darnedest to put out an updated Roadmap and do some outreach to people who have asked for more info to be shared. I'll make some public links to that information. Stay tuned to this group list for a Roadmap email... Next week... right now I am going go sleep for a weekend...

If you want to not receive all these emails remember you can change that on YOUR settings under the Google Group page: https://groups.google.com/g/mini-militia-classic-alpha-force

Sincerely,

Hunter (and Chad)

Appsomniacs

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