SFO Update Process

Hello Everyone!

Venris here!

It is that time of year! New DLC is coming and all mods will require an update to work. Many of you don’t know what this looks like so I want to write this little guide and info about what will be happening with SFO in the coming weeks.

1. Vanilla gameplay

The day of the dlc release. BE SURE TO BUY IT AND SUPPORT CA!

On this day I will likely be streaming vanilla gameplay and make notes live on: https://www.youtube.com/c/VenrisSFO

It's a thing that I always do before any update. It's very important to feel out the new content and determine what needs changes. SFO is not a mod to make changes for changes sake so context is very important. For first time gameplay I’d enjoy experiencing it with all of you together so be sure to follow me on twitter as it is where I keep everyone updated the most!

Note: Keep in mind that I usually play very fast to get to the next point asap!

2. Making the mod work

This is the most important part. New game updates, dlcs etc. changes many files and how stuff works. SFO as a mod, is based on vanilla files that if changed, will crash the mod or do other strange stuff like pink Archaon! Usually, it required for us to find what was changed and remove all of the outdated files from the mod. In most cases it will be 25%-50% of the mod tables. After removing these, the mod usually can be launched! What's more to do then? Well most stuff is empty, buildings don't have effects or units any stats or abilities.

Example: mod uses a vanilla effect that is named “super_effect” but in update it was changed to “super_uber_effect”. It does the same thing it did before, but it’s missing from the tables. So the new name needs to be added because the old name doesn’t have a reference in vanilla tables anymore.

3. Adding and updating all outdated tables again

This is quite simple, all the stuff removed and outdated needs to be added again using new table changes from the update. It takes a lot of time and requires me to usually check the whole mod content. It's also important to first remove and then add new tables to see if the game crashes.

4. Checking update changelog

This links to point 3. The time comes when all changes for old content need to be revisited. As I said already SFO is not a mod that does changes for changes. It’s important to look at what good things CA has added and check if those fit SFO balance. In most cases many changes are adopted from the vanilla update.

5. New content

Once everything works as before the DLC, and all tables have been updated, it’s time to look at the new content. SFO over its long history has added many new systems and content to all factions. So all of those need to be compensated for the new faction. That includes new lords skills, unit abilities, technology, buildings, stances, events etc. Quality of the last new faction being very good would mean not many big changes would be required on it for SFO launch.

6. Beta

This is the last stage. It has two phases: Patrons and Public. Those are quite important because both are the best way to check for bugs and balance. That’s to ensure full public release is at the best SFO quality, and that all of you play happily without game breaking bugs :).

7. Release

Grand release, everyone is happy, we play some games and Venris sleeps, a lot!

HOW TO GET INFO ABOUT UPDATE?

Latest news and progress % will be always posted on twitter https://twitter.com/VenrisSFO

and SFO discord: https://discord.gg/ETaUQNk

Of course Patrons gets info more often with some cool bits like polls about new content!

The Steam page will also be updated with latest news, and the mod’s name and picture will be changed to include UPDATE IN PROGRESS.

Updating SFO to the newest DLC is a very important thing for me. I want to give all of you the best experience possible so I would like to again encourage all of you to buy the DLC, support the devs, and have fun with the vanilla game without ANY mods before turning mods back on.

P.S. Everytime someone asks when the update is coming out adds +1 day to release time :).

Venris out!