PeaceIsland
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This is not the update I wanted to type, today...
🕑 Added 2019-09-06 18:57:12 +0000 UTCSo, after six 11-hour days of work, the conversion of the Peace Island 0.7 alpha is unfortunately no closer to release, than it was one week ago.
I wanted to put that up front, in bold, so I cannot be accused of being anything but honest with our Mac supporters.
Trust me- it sucks on this end, too. Again- the last Mac alpha conversion only required 8 hours of work, and was released almost concurrently with the PC version. I assumed that since there had been no substantive updates in either Unity nor any of my assets since then, the conversion this time would be similarly swift.
Unfortunately, not so. For the past six days, each attempt at conversion has inevitably collapsed into an unworkable heap of disjointed code and compiler errors. It is frustrating on many levels- primarily so because for every 11-hour day that is spent trying to get the Mac Alpha to work, the project as a whole is delayed.
It is also frustrating, because it is currently primarily on one person to get this conversion done: Me.
Now, don't get me wrong:
The Mac community is nothing if not dedicated to their favorite machines, and I've gotten dozens of offers of assistance - they genuinely want to help me "fully understand the features that I might not be familiar with." (I think that's Mac for "bug," but I digress...)
Unfortunately, only one out of five of such people use the Unity engine. Those who have Unity experience on the Mac platform have never really worked on a project of this size, and their assistance usually equates to them asking the usual vague questions, followed up by the inevitable request:
"I can't really figure out what's going on here, without seeing the project source..."
Erm... Sorry- I'm just not comfy handing over 45 gigs of source to someone without their signature on a non-disclosure agreement.
So- where does that leave us?
The first thing I want to assure the Mac folks out there of is that I am still working as best as I can, on getting the Mac alpha out as soon as I can.
Having exhausted all of the remedies I am aware of, my next step is to methodically go through each compiler error - no matter how small or insignificant - and trace it back to its origin. I will then need to consult with Unity support about each of these, until we finally localize the one or two conflicts that are preventing a stable mac build. The main problem with this is that the turnaround on each bug is a few hours.
Now- as I do this, we MUST proceed with development of the game, as a whole. During the long stretches between responses from tech support, I am going to proceed with working on integrating the new animations/models/controllers, refining the landscapes, adding features, and coordinating the efforts of all the other folks who have joined the team in various capacities.
Now, I have learned my lesson: NEXT TIME, THE PC ALPHA WILL NOT BE RELEASED, UNTIL THE MAC ALPHA IS 100% READY TO GO, AS WELL.
If any Mac user who contributed feels they have been treated unfairly, please accept our sincere apologies. As frustrating as it is for us, I know it must be doubly so to you. If you wish to get a refund of your contributions, please message us, and we will work things out.
That having been said, we also hope that the Mac users out there understand that we value their support and patience. Our decision to release Peace Island on a Mac wasn't an afterthought. We've been wanting to release on both Windows and Mac since day one.
What is more: the Mac has always served as a compliment to PC development. Their interdependence is hard to describe - It is analogous to the relationship between the pencil and pen, in the context of illustration.
So- Again, we appreciate everyone's support and patience.
We'll have jollier news, when next we speak - and again: the moment we have a workable Mac alpha, we will post it here!
Comments
Also a Mac user, 0% mad, just excited for this whenever I can get it, and I would rather it be the best it can than have you hurry
No problem for me, we can wait longer.
