Problems with new maps?

[Frost]

Not long after the main server updated to send the new CSV-format maps, someone asked me why their screen was "crazy." I'm worried that there might be a problem with the latest maps.

Reported: manaplus and mana on Linux Mint.
Experienced: mana 0.5.0 on OSX 10.6. Screenshot attached.

I cannot reproduce the problem on WinXP with either mana 0.6.0 or manaplus.

Update: The CSV change has been reversed while we gather more information and identify who would be affected by that change. There are good reasons to move to a standard textual data format, but we don't want to abandon players.

[baseballboy]

If you still use client 0.29.1, please update to 0.6.

maybe it needs to be client >= 0.6

[Chicka-Maria]

Maybe the client didnt load properly. I know this happend before with a friends client.

Regards,

[tux9th]

this happens when the client doesn't load the maps because it can't find it in the right directory.
I think this happenes when you don't run the update.

(happens to me when I use the Testing Server atm with update server gone on my new VMware Linux)

ask if s/he ran the update.

[Frost]

ask if s/he ran the update.

The person who reported a problem on Mint said she got the update.

In my test with 0.5.0, I got the update. I removed the updates.themanaworld.org directory, downloaded all client-data again, and had the same problem.

[Crush]

So it's obvious that the 0.5.0 client can't handle CSV-formated maps yet. Possible solutions:

• Tell people to upgrade. This is hard for people who use operating systems with hundreds of distributions which can not argree on a universal software packaging format. Linux is awesome, isn't it?
• Tell people to download the Windows installer and run it in WINE.
• Provide a customdata zip with the maps in the old format.
• Roll back the map conversion until 0.5.0 is no longer widely used.

[Ablu]

• Tell people to upgrade. This is hard for people who use operating systems with hundreds of distributions which can not argree on a universal software packaging format. Linux is awesome, isn't it?

We have up to date packages for Fedora, Ubuntu / Debian / Mint / ..., openSUSE.

that should catch 99%

Best regards
Ablu

EDIT (Jenalya asked me to put this here): http://doc.manasource.org/client_installation
EDIT2: Without branding of course!

[4144]

In my test with 0.5.0, I got the update. I removed the updates.themanaworld.org directory, downloaded all client-data again, and had the same problem.

Not all versions marked with 0.5.0 support csv maps. Some early version not support it.

Also to manaplus support for CSV was added between 1.1.2.6 and 1.1.2.20 versions.
Latest version can be downloaded from here: http://manaplus.evolonline.org/

[Ablu]

Not all versions marked with 0.5.0 support csv maps. Some early version not support it.

To be precise only 0.5.0 does not support it. It was added with 0.5.1 (not sure why it happened in a bugfix release)

[Crush]

(not sure why it happened in a bugfix release)

On Mana, a minor version increment does not mean that it's just a bugfix release. Some projects maintain separate support and development branches, but Mana isn't one of those. When a new minor version comes out, it includes everything which is in the git repository at that moment, no matter if it's a bugfix or a new feature (or even a half-finished or experimental new feature which isn't used yet). The major version number increments when there are enough new features to justify it.

[Ablu]

(not sure why it happened in a bugfix release)

On Mana, a minor version increment does not mean that it's just a bugfix release. Some projects maintain separate support and development branches, but Mana isn't one of those. When a new minor version comes out, it includes everything which is in the git repository at that moment, no matter if it's a bugfix or a new feature (or even a half-finished or experimental new feature which isn't used yet). The major version number increments when there are enough new features to justify it.

Hm we did it different for 0.6. We created a branch for bugfixes only. So i though it was always done this way.

Best regards
Ablu

[Frost]

In the discussions I saw, it was known that changing map format to CSV would require those player still on 0.29.1 to upgrade. Until now, I did not hear that all versions prior to 0.5.1 would be affected.

Several people have mentioned in the game that the maps are now unusable.
Another Mac user has asked me whether there is a way for him to continue to play.

With this new information about client versions, I think we need to consider whether the benefit of changing map format is worth the cost of dropping support for some players.

Current state of clients*:
Windows: 0.6.0 (http://www.themanaworld.org/downloads.php)
Windows: 0.6.1 (http://manasource.org/downloads)
MacOS: 0.5.0 (http://www.themanaworld.org/downloads.php)
Fedora: 0.6.1 (http://manasource.org/downloads)
Ubuntu et al: 0.6.1 (http://manasource.org/downloads)
OpenBSD: 0.5.2 (http://ftp5.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD ... ages/i386/)


*It appears that many Linux distros include outdated and now unusable client versions. If someone tries the game and finds it hopelessly unplayable, they are less likely to log on to IRC to ask for help, and more likely to conclude the game is just that badly written. We might lose more players than we expect.

[Socapex]

For OS X, please try compiling from source. Instructions: https://github.com/Socapex/mana/wiki It probably (surely) wont fix the map problem, but if there is ever going to be a TMW up-to-date OS X client, testers will be needed...

Update: It seems compiling from source (nightlies) does fix the problem. You can try my instructions it's pretty darn easy on OS X.

[tux9th]

For all who have problems with the new cvs format I redid the maps and converted them back to gzip format.

You can download the whole mappack here http://sagdas.net/download/maps.zip. Just overwrite the tmx files you find with those and you should be fine.

A fix on the server will be online soon anyway.

greets

tuX

Edit:

FAQ: What do I do with this zip.
Well I don't know exactly too lol! But: In my case (Ubuntu 12.04, WIN 7) go look for the directory where the mana updates are downloaded. Then open the latest .zip file (update-8af4270..678b7c0.zip), browse to maps, and replace all the tmx-files in the directory maps with the files above, then start mana, click on "Skip Updates" (or something like that) and enjoy playing.
I couldn't test this on Mac OS with mana 0.5 because I simply don't have one, but I think it should work in a similar way.

If you don't know where to find the updates then type "/dirs" into mana in chat and browse through the directories you get listed there.
I hope this works for you!
btw. this is a very dirty fix. In the very near future there will be a update through the usual update server to provide those changes automatically. Sorry for the inconvinience

[o11c]

Huh, I guess testing this with 0.5.1 was not enough.

Still, the real fix is to update the Mac OS build (there are threads with 0.6 builds, what do they need to do to be blessed?), and file bug reports against any slow distros - they can't afford to ship outdated and buggy software (new and buggy software, on the other hand ...).

Putting a big fat warning in news.php would be a help. Hm, can I return some kind of HTTP error so the client hopefully won't ignore it?

Here today, gone tomorrow; will take a look at this next week, though there's a miniscule chance that I'll have time to edit news.php tomorrow. Hm, does the test server have mod_php installed?

4144, how do I identify old versions prior to being branded as ManaPlus?