1. We have a dedicated Player Test Environment on our QA server available for player use. This server will be kept open with periodic database resets, when we will copy the database from the live server. The server database will be updated at least twice a month during a scheduled maintenance window.

    Though players are welcome to use the QA server to experiment or test anything they wish, we will post patch notes and testing directives in this area. Players testing new content, features and systems will greatly help in reducing post release bugs and making the game better.

    To assist players in helping us make the game better, the Test Server will award login bonuses in CotOs and Gold coins to allow players to purchase resources or anything they may need to test from the Crown Store and/or from the in game vendors. In Addition, the Developers will announce dates/times when Dev Assisted Player Test Events will occur on the QA Server.

    Please use the Test Environment Bug and Feedback forums for QA Server activities only.

    You can help test by downloading a new SotA Launcher(QA) installer to download a separate QA copy of the game. It exists independently from the regular live version of the game and installs to a separate folder. To use the Player Test Environment, please download the QA Server client here:

    Windows: https://d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/Installers/SotAInstaller(QA)-1.2.0.exe

    Mac: https://d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/Installers/Shroud of the Avatar - Installer(QA) 1.1.0.pkg

    Linux Package: https://d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/Installers/shroud-of-the-avatar-launcher-qa_1.1.0_amd64.deb

    Linux tar.gz:https://d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/Installers/shroud-of-the-avatar-launcher-qa_1.1.0.tar.gz

    For information on installing the Steam QA client, click here.

Testing Directives on QA: Castle Wall Decoration Surfaces

Discussion in 'Player Test Environment (QA Server)' started by Elgarion, Sep 18, 2020.

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  1. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Howdy decorators! Pushing in to QA soon if not already will be changes to all the pieces of each castle wall set. I've enabled decoration surfaces on these which should provide players a LOT more deco surfaces to show off their deco etc. I'd imagine I'll be continually fielding input on these even after they're off of QA, but here's what I'm seeing so far:

    Horizontal Surfaces: these are looking REALLY good. Keep in mind, I put down each set and dragged deco across a lot of the horizontal surfaces on each piece. Things are sharp for sure already, but perhaps there's an entire walkway, ground surface missing. This will be what I'm most concerned about. Read more below.

    Vertical Surfaces: these are looking fairly good! I'm noticing though, we have a lot of deco that's set up to be on an interior wall or exterior wall of a house but NOT on the vertical surface of another decoration. So with that in mind, I'll have a few things to mention below.

    Testing Directive Summary:
    • Please report significantly sized horizontal castle wall surfaces not accepting deco:
      • Any deco that allows you to place on top of another deco should work for this testing.
    • Please report deco which does not place on horizontal castle wall surfaces:
      • Please keep in mind, items which cause the player to path, or use the nav mesh such as NPCs etc will not be currently considered for enabling since there is no nav mesh across these surfaces. Perhaps I'll make some Inky NPCs in the future which do not path with behaviors/twitches which will work nicely atop the castle wall sets.
    • Please report significantly sized vertical surfaces not accepting deco:
      • Please do not test with equipment such as cloaks or wall mounting of swords etc, please test with regular deco such as wall mounted lights. I've found that the Diagonal Muntin Wall Light works very well. Keep in mind, it wasn't originally set up to be used as a wall light mounted to another deco, but with the same patch with enabling castle wall deco surfaces, it was enabled to work on such surfaces. The reason I recommend testing with a wall mounted light? You get to see what you're doing especially at night or when shadows are being cast upon the surface you're testing.
      • Please keep in mind, all wall mounted deco (for the most part) I'd like to enable for working on these walls, and most especially to start with would be things you'd EXPECT to see on Castle Walls. We can get fancy later on.
      • You'll notice, some walls vertical surfaces are a little squishy! If you know anything about me, you know I like squishy decoration that lets you do a little bit of blending. This means that it could provide some neat/creative advantages for some types of deco. Other deco might seem less effective with this squishiness. We'll treat squishy surfaces on a case by case situation. Ultimately, if it's squishy, but not squishy enough to hide a heraldry banner, I'll probably be happy with that.
    • Please report deco which does not place on vertical surfaces but is a no-brainer obvious yes, "this needs to be allowed on castle walls" type deco:
      • Don't worry about reporting CROWN STORE wall mounted lights, ivy or heraldry banners, I'll try to get all those today or Monday. (Actually, most of the Ivy should work with this patch as well, keeping in mind the fancy Ivy pieces which work in special spots are a bit picky and could be a down the road thing. For crafted wall mounted lights, I'll do my best to find those, but a list of them would be greatly helpful to me in this endeavor.
    • Please do not waste time testing or reporting vertical surfaces that are along the edge of the piece which joins to another piece.
    • Remember, if you try to place a deco on one of these surfaces and it doesn't place, be sure to mention which deco you were using. Not all decorations will currently work on these surfaces (but we'll knock these out).
    Reporting:
    • Simply reply to this thread. NO reason at all to create separate bug threads (please don't). I'll use the second and third posts in this thread to track other items, such as a to-do/already reported list and a completed list. I'll be knocking out the fixes as the replies go live, and working off of a single ticket.
    • Bug moderators, I've got this one and related stuff all at once :) Any bugs you see that are related to a deco not capable of being placed onto another deco, you can simply link in a response to this thread, and I'll review those at the same time and merge or treat separately depending upon the situation.
    Again, thank you all for any help you can provide! FYI, as I was testing each and every piece (quickly), my initial feel was they're good enough for live and continual improvement as time goes on, but let's take advantage of SOME time on QA to perhaps get some more wall'ish type deco working on the surfaces. Likely, any broken deco surfaces will be handled in a more slow fashion as I learn how to fix, but I'd very much like to get this on live so people can start playing with the functional surfaces ASAP :) The horizontal surfaces were looking REALLY good :)

    Happy testing Avatars! Also, please use this thread to communicate to other bug brigaders with coordination efforts. One centralized location to talk about who's testing which wall set would be highly beneficial and might help reduce overlap in efforts :)

    Please assist Bug Brigade! Shroud of the Avatar needs you! Thanks again! Feedback welcome!
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2020
  2. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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  3. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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  4. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    I did get confirmation from Chris that this isn't patched in quite yet to QA. He's working a QA build now and should be on QA soon :)
     
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  5. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    I moved thread so you guys could reply. Thanks for the input, @Anpu :)
     
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  6. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Alrighty, I cleaned up the main post a bit. I'll post more info today in the 2nd and 3rd posts.
     
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  7. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Chris just said the new QA is live :)

    If anyone needs castle pieces, please let me know. I'll try to jump on soon, tomorrow morning at the lastest and place a ton of them in a public access chest on the QA fishing expedition (as well as put more mounts if they are no longer there or have depleted).
     
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  8. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Castle wall sets are now at fishing expedition in a public access chest on QA. You really just need the crafted ones since you can simply purchase the other sets on the COTO store, but I put those in too. I'll get to the golden ones (seed invest) at some later point. The distribution of those was much less, but I'll still get them in the chest for you asap.
     
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    Ravalox Chief Cook and Bottle Washer Moderator SOTA Developer

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