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Early Access Builds - Release Notes [Latest: #40] [message #561]

Thu, 22 May 2025 12:01

Horemheb
Messages: 137
Registered: October 2022

Senior Member
Administrator

New builds are posted on the download page:
https://disciplinemaster.net/ss.htm
[Refresh the page if it is showing older builds.]

[Note: Build #40 will be the last until October 2nd, as our lead developer will be out for medical reasons for the next few weeks.]
[Note 2: As our developer is still out for medical, we are putting off new builds, for the next few weeks. Graphical updates, however, continue to be worked on. A significant graphical overhaul to a completely new, more retro style is planned.]

Build #40 - September 11th, 2025
-Fixed related to next day progression from Wednesday -> Thursdays occasionally freezing
-Fixed gambling wants not resetting day to day
-Schedule generation / P.E. class assignment fixes
-Prep for new graphics

Build #39 - September 4th, 2025
-Many misc. fixes related to next day progression

Build #38 - August 28th, 2025
-Simulation no longer stops after the first day, but now (in theory, no doubt tweaks and fixes will be needed) can progress indefinitely Monday to Friday

Build #37 - August 21st, 2025
-Many fixes related to weekly schedule generation (particularly for special/non-daily classes: gym, art, music and computers)
-Replaced several nested loops in school opening method
-More prep for progressing to the next day (sill not quite ready yet, but soon I hope)

Build #36 - August 14th, 2025
-Improvements made this week to taking/releasing control and how the A.I. would resume control on character release
-Addressed timing issues that would crop up on very lower-end systems
-Added more hooks for progressing to the next day (hopefully coming in the next build)

Build #35 - August 7th, 2025
-Smoking sceneplay reduced to 20 seconds
-NPCs will now go to different locations to smoke; behavior will vary if they are staff, prefect or student
-Fixed issue with npcs going to restroom sometimes being caught in a loop
-Fixed issue with npcs going to the restroom not actually going in
-Fixed issue with npcs who have exited campus still being visible
-Fixed issue with npcs who should eat in canteen not going inside

Build #34 - July 31st, 2025
-Fixed several more (fingers crossed the last) issues with SDL2 on latest version of macOS on devices using Apple Silicon
-Fixed issues with some students and staff not being sent to period 4, 5 and 6 classes
-Students and staff will now occasionally make trips to the restrooms; mainly this will occur between classes, but some may also get leave to go during classes (and staff not teaching can of course go any anytime).

Build #33 - July 24th, 2025
-Students now have unique seats for all classes (previously they were reusing their homeroom seats, which could make some odd bunch ups)
-Misc fixes to seating assingment generation at school opening
-NPCs now keep track of and can find the nearest restroom (logic for going to the restrooms will be enabled in the next build)

Build #32 - July 17th, 2025
-Updated quite a few areas of code and SDL2 to resolve issues with the latest macOS update
-Minor updates made to smoking sceneplays; not finished yet as macOS issues took longer than expected to resolve

Build #31 - July 10th, 2025
-Added 'scaffolding' for rest of day (much to be fleshed out over the coming weeks and months)
---Includes Period 4, Passing Period 4-5, Period 5, Passing Period 5-6, Period 6, Dismissal, Extracurricular Period and Closure
---Clubs/Extracurricular activities are generated upon school opening; students will be assigned to one or none
---After period 6, if students have no extracurricular activities they may opt to go home, or stick around to hang out, do sports, etc
---Those in extracurricular activities will go to them
---Any remaining students and staff on campus will leave during closure
-Arrival Period Reduced to 4 Minutes
-Lunch Period Reduced to 4 Minutes
-Reset desire to do some activities someone did them in arrival and it's later lunch (basketball keen students might play twice for example)
-Fixed some issues with activity desires during lunch break

Build #30 - July 3rd, 2025
-Lunch Period has been added
---As in real life, many students and staff will buy their lunch from the canteen, others will bring their lunch from home and a small minority (who live near the school) will go off campus to eat
---Some may choose to eat in the canteen, while others may opt to eat in their homerooms or offices (in some cases buying food at the canteen and taking it back)
---After eating there is free time until Period 4

Build #29 - June 19th, 2025
-Fixed Passing Period 1 starting a minute early
-Rewrote much of the code handling NPC y-coordinate (sitting/standing) adjustments between layers and zooming in and out; still not perfect, but should be improved
-Many fixes and rewritten code for period transitions; not finished entirely in time for this weeks release, but ideally mass freeze ups of NPCs should no longer happen nearly as much
[Known Issues: Students trying to take an illicit smoke break may jumble together on a tile and not move. This will be worked on for the next release.]

Build #28 - June 12th, 2025
-Academic Periods 1, 2, 3 and passing periods between them added
-Reduced homeroom period from 3 to 2 minutes
-Fixed NPCs not "standing up" when stepping right outside of their classrooms to hang out
-Fixed gambling "seats" code only being read in periods 1 and 2

Build #27 - June 5th, 2025
-Fixed issue with the same student on report meeting the D.M. over and over again in a loop
-Fixed issues with how cp was being administered by A.I.
-Fixed issues with passing period 1's initialization routine looping and causing NPC A.I. to reset over and over again
-Reduced homeroom time to 3 minutes; passing period to 2 minutes (can always be adjusted as more periods and features are added)
[We had some external assistance in the last couple weeks with rewriting areas of the code relating to pathfinding and AI loops that were just not cooperating. This should make development easier going forward and made the above fixes possible.]

Build #26 - May 29th, 2025
-No player facing changes this week beyond general feel/flow
-We've been making adjustments under the hood for better performance and also tweaking pathfinding

Build #25 - May 22nd, 2025
-Fixed taking control of characters from character editing screen to no longer check if the character if being highlighted
-Fixed issue with those who have solo offices being occasionally pulled into the sky
-It is no longer possible to take control of a character who is in the middle of a CP session
-Some students will start the simulation (Monday morning) already having demerits
-The D.M. will now meet with students during the homeroom who were put on report before the simulation started. The D.M. decides on the punishment (if any) and then dismisses the student.
-If corporal punishment, the D.M. will apply it. [This feature is still quite buggy.]
-If the D.M. is also a Headteacher he will leave his class after awhile in homeroom to go to his office and attend to the queue
-The D.M. will continue meeting students in Passing Period 1 if he needs more time
-The simulation now continues from Homeroom into Passing Period 1 [This feature is still quite buggy.]
-During Passing Period 1, students have some free time similar to arrival; they may engage in activities or head to their first period class. If the first period class is in the same room as homeroom (common in Asian-style schools), students may stay in their homeroom or step outside of fresh air while waiting.
-Teachers will eventually head to their first period classrooms.
-[Note: Students will use the same seat in their first period class as in homeroom; this will be adjusted in the next build.]

Build #24 - May 8th, 2025
-Game now progresses to homeroom period
-Headteachers will give daily briefing; monitor will take over if Headteacher is not present
-Students on report will leave a bit after homeroom has begun to report out to the D.M.'s office; if there is no D.M. office; they'll go to the Deputy Head's office; if he doesn't have an office, then finally to the H.M's office
*Meeting the D.M. himself, NPC or player controlled is still being implemented*
-Some students will be 'on report' when the school first opens (having been written up "before" the game started)
-Some students will now opt to chat in class before homeroom begins
-Fixed instances of NPCs not "exiting" a room while going somewhere else (and walking through walls)
-Fixed instances of NPCs occasionally walking in place due to thinking no stairs were accessible
-Fixed ordinary students having authority positions traits (which they should not have) being factored into decesion making
-Fixed instances authority NPCs logic from looping and then freezing up when encountering a rule breaker
-Gamblers should no longer attempt to gamble right outside the school gate
-Upon opening the school, if there is a office for the Deputy D.M., but none for the D.M. himself, the D.D.M's office be coverted to the D.M.'s

Build #23 - April 24th, 2025
This build focuses mainly on backend improvements with no major visual changes:
-We migrated the IDE used for development from Visual Studio 2019 to 2022 for better performance and easier development
-Many nested loops throughout the code were removed or optimized to reduce lag and lag spikes; this effort will continue in future builds
-We added new logic, character memory, and API hooks to support sending students to the hall, exercise punishments, teacher detention, work orders, and putting students on report.
-AI characters are now nominally enabled (pending further testing) to detect misbehavior and optionally punish or report students. Basic NPC-on-NPC corporal punishment is also implemented and enabled, though witness requirements, privacy requirements and palm/foot/calve targeting are not yet functional.

Due to the upcoming May Day holiday, the next build will be released on Thursday, May 8th. We aim to stabilize the new AI behavior and corporal punishment features and introduce a new standbox mode for experimenting with custom characters.

Build #22 - April 17th, 2025
-Fixed several issues causing immediate crashes on start on up on older macOS versions and some Linux distros
-Replaced high-DPI detection code from using Windows-specific user32.dll calls to multiplatform SDL
-Added significant updates and additions to A.I. logic for catching rule breakers*
-Added logic for copying, cheating, cutting, bullying, hacking and trespassing offenses*
[* - these are not visible directly in the current build, but will come into play hopefully in v23 when A.I. rule enforcement is turned on]

Build #21 - April 14th, 2025
*Internal, Mac Build Only*

Build #20 - April 11th, 2025
-Fixed a few areas of the game not reading the Chinese-language setting string correctly
-Added catch character (*) to the master font; this prevents the game from crashing if a character is used that the master font does not have (relevant primarily for languages that use non-Latin characters such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean)

Build #19 - April 10th, 2025
-Fixed character names being displayed in the wrong area on the character editing screen
-Fixed player-controlled characters not recognized as authority figures (when they were one), preventing them from executing authority commands
-Fixed a problem where a player-controlled character was not being checked for rule compliance
-Fixed public masturbation was not being counted as breaking the rules.
-Fixed where characters previously engaged in a scene play would attempt to exit CP mode on their own, causing odd behavior or getting stuck
-Fixed where non-student characters (teachers, etc) were incorrectly marked as breaking the rules for actions like smoking, causing odd behavior or getting stuck
-Fixed an issue where releasing control of a player-controlled character during an activity would cause the master A.I. to think the character was idle, causing odd behavior or getting stuck
-Added a check to ensure that CP mode, self-interaction menus, and interaction command menus cannot be open simultaneously and thus overlapping each other
-Releasing control of a character now automatically closes all interaction command menus
-Added a new debug output via the console "status" command. When entered this command generates two text files containing all current variables and values for (1) the currently controlled character and (2) the character being interacted with. The output files are be saved in the new 'debug' folder. These files will help us in future debugging; occasionally we make ask you to generate them submitting bug reports

Build #18 - April 3rd, 2025
-Added mouse over explanations for more command menu icons
-Prepared time indicator for future segments of the day; added localizations as well for non-English languages
-Fixed player character self-interactions almost instantly stopping after starting
-It is no longer possible to play sports outside of the gym; a message will tell the player to go to the gym instead
-Fixed player character being able to start a work order if they were never assigned one
-Fixed player controlled character being unable to break out of scene plays when starting to walk
-Fixed goto tile command being reset automatically to zero for player controlled characters
-Fixed keyboard keys for in/out of rooms and up/down stairs sometimes not responding after being pressed once
-Fixed NPCs playing basketball outside of the gym instead of inside it
-Fixed layering issues with actions
-Changed nearest staircase for each tile check to run once when the school opens rather then every few seconds (this appeared to be the source of some lag when the school was open)

Build #17 - March 13th, 2025
-Characters in build mode have been removed
-Remnants of old keyboard commands for character selection have been removed
-"R" key is now used to have a character enter / exit a room
-Updated in game control screen to reflect control changes since the first build
-When hovering the mouse over a build icon, the message bar will indicate what the icon is for [This will be expanded to all icons in a future build]
-Fixed interaction menu commands being read when cp mode is in progress (with it's own gui in place of it)
-Fixed character selection highlight not going away when cp mode is entered
-Various fixes for players using JCUKEN (Cyrillic) layout keyboards
-Added console command "norules" - this will disable all cp rules and allow any player controlled character to give cp; useful for testing or if one just wants to play around
-Most information bar messages are now displayed in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, German, Spanish, and French if that language was selected

-New Misbehavior System
[Currently enabled only for player controlled authority characters; A.I. for authority NPC figures is about 70% done and will likely be ready for the April 3rd build]

-Characters engaging in misbehavior can now be "caught" by authority figures (e.g., Prefects, Teachers, Admins).
---The authority figure must come within two tiles of the misbehaving character and be on the same layer (inside or outside a room).
---Once caught, the offender will be marked internally as "caught," stop their actions, and wait for further instructions
---If the authority figure is controlled by the player, the player can assign a punishment.
---When enabled, NPC authority figures will react based on their traits, the specific situation, and/or school policies.
---Authority figures can choose to ignore the offense by walking away (more than three tiles), moving to another floor, or entering/exiting a room. This effectively serves as a warning for the offender to stop their behavior. [You can also do this by telling the character to stop waiting via the command menu.]
---Once punishment has been assigned or the authority figure has walked away, the caught character will resume normal behavior and stop engaging in that misbehavior for the time being.

-Added a new internal character trait for authority figures for their willingness to corporal punishment (if allowed by your school policies)
---Most (~90%) authority figures are willing to use corporal punishment themselves
---A small number (~5%) are not opposed to cp, but will not use it themselves, preferring to delegate
---Around the same number (~5%) are opposed to cp, and will not use it

Build #16 - March 7th, 2025
-Added a message when attempting to place stairs above the ground floor saying one can expand stairs upwards by adding a hallway
-Fixed occasionally a selected character's yellow highlight not going away
-Fixed issues with students not reseting to the correct height when "standing up" after having been sitting
-Fixed issues with teachers reseting to the correct height when "stepping down" from the front of the classroom
-Fixed message panel disappearing when there were no messages to display
-Fixed player controlled character sometimes not animating while walking

Build #15 - March 6th, 2025
-In simulation mode, the menu has been expanded to handle character selection and interaction. The previous keyboard-based system has been removed and replaced with five new icons:

1. Take Control - Click to enable; once enabled, move the mouse over the character you want to take control of on the map (they'll be highlighted in yellow), and then right click to take control. To cancel and not select anyone to control, click the icon again.
2. Release Control - Click to release control if you are currently controlling a character.
3. Release Control & Wait - Click to release control if you are currently controlling a character; the character will also be told to wait.
4. Self-Interaction - If you are controlling a character, a self-interaction icon menu will appear.
5. Interact With Other - Click to enable; once enabled, move the mouse over the character on the map you want your currently controlled character to interact with (they'll be highlighted in yellow), and then right click to interact. A menu will pop up; to cancel and not select anyone to interact with, click the icon again. Your character and the one to interact with must be on the same floor within 2 tiles left or right of each other.

-A combined information bar has been added to the bottom of the screen, displaying the tile number, character interaction list, and messages. Room type information on rollover and the current time will also appear on this bar. For low resolutions (under 1920x1080), this information will appear in the upper right corner instead.

-Disabled the "load character" option on the load screen, as it was never intended to be enabled and was not functional in the code.
-Fixed an issue where so no character is ever assigned the number 0.
-Corrected the clinic placement check to verify if the right tile was occupied instead of the left.
-Fixed the display of save file names for slots 2-24 on the loading screen, which sometimes appeared blank.
-Fixed save slot 8, which was incorrectly identifying as slot 13.
-Corrected a misspelling in the English welcome message window.
-Revamped the font system for non-pre-rendered text; has font sizes 10-24 currently and supports non-Latin characters for localization/translation

Build #14 - March 1st, 2025
-Construction, including room assignment, is now entirely done via the right panel
-Character interaction (including self, and other with others), is now also done via the right panel
-You no longer need to have a hallway placed to place rooms
-You can place rooms of the same type, but with different customization on top of each other (it will simply change the customization type)
-The tile number indicator has been moved to the lower right; it will now also tell you the room and type the mouse is hovering over
-You will now see what characters you are controlling, highlighting and/or interacting with in the lower left
-To cycle through/highlight characters you now use the "T" key
-To release the currently controlled character and tell him to wait is now the "F" key
[Note: We will be replacing the keyboard based interface for character highlighting, selection and interaction soon.]

Build #13 - February 26th, 2025
-Fixed solo office space requirements (1 free tile)
-Save files that were renamed manually should now display correctly on the load screen
-A save file with a ready to open prebuilt school with all policies set is now included

Build #12 - February 25th, 2025
-NPCs who are hanging out should no longer bunch up together; if a 'hang out location' is full, they'll move a bit away
-NPCs who are called out of rooms will wait a bit, and then go back to other things if given no further orders
-NPCs who were waiting will go back to doing other things when told to stop waiting
-NPCs who were following the player will go back to doing other things when told to stop following
-NPCs who were dismissed from cp mode will go back to doing other things when dismissed
-Player controlled characters who are released from player control will now go back to doing other things
-You can now press the "T" key to release a controlled character AND tell them to wait
-Fixed an issue where NPC pathfinding A.I. would continue to function when the player assumed direct control, causing resistance to player inputs
-Fixed NPCs who were sitting having their legs cut off when called out or asked to follow the player
-Fixed crash after applying seven cane strokes

Build #11 - February 24th, 2025
-NPCs playing basketball/sport will now run/move around the gym and pause briefly when taking "shots" (eventually we will add specific animations/graphics for sports)
-Fixed on policy screen selecting Headteacher 'no' calves option incorrectly setting as 'yes'
-Fixed on policy screen selecting Gym Teacher calves 'no' option would also set an Administrator option

Build #10 - February 22nd, 2025
-Fixed major pathfinding issue where the gym and canteen were seen as blocking the path to the stairs; instances of stuck NPCs should be considerably reduced
-Fixed unusually high percentage of students wanting to gamble; gamblers should be rare overall but occasionally appear (students who want to gamble will look for an empty room or place outside out of eyesight to gamble in; they should no longer bunch up, though will be close together with backs turned)
-Fixed issue where some NPCs would start an activity (hanging out, smoking, sport, etc) but then almost instantly stop
-Fixed placeholder activity messages not going away when NPCs finish activities
-Fixed legs of students sitting in class appearing to go through the floor of rooms under them
-Characters who sit down and then get up should have their Y position readjusted
-Cleaned up debug info in the lower right corner

Build #9 - February 20th, 2025
-Added additional checks so that NPC characters are correctly inside or outside of rooms during certain activities or walking on campus
-Added wall collision detection for player controlled character when walking inside of rooms
(Reminder: use the "L" key to move a controlled character inside and out of rooms)
-Added a check to clear a previously selected room type placement if there is insufficient space to place
-Fixed mouse cursor being invisible if a build tool was selected when the ESC menu was opened
-Fixed not all character graphic components being drawn on the right layer when maximum room layers are peeled back

Build #8 - February 19th, 2025
*** Save games from earlier versions are no longer compatible ***
-Added NPC seat maps system for group offices (similar to classrooms)
-Fixed issue where saved game names would sometimes appear blank on the loading screen
-Fixed an occasional issue where character mouth, eyes and nose were still being drawn if the character had his back turned
-Fixed layering issues with right most panel of classrooms
-Fixed if an NPC was engaging in an action before homeroom, the action placeholder graphic would not go away when they finished
-Added a check that so that headteachers/teachers are not assigned a student's seat in homeroom and lessons
-Added logic for Headteachers to go to their classrooms before the end of the arrival period
-Fixed Headteachers not knowing what tile their homerooms were on
-Fixed an issue where sometimes too many or too few Headteachers were assigned

Build #7 - February 16th, 2025
-Some students and staff will now engage activities rather than going straight to their homeroom or offices
(Activities have some kinks to be worked out, including adding animations. That will be our focus this coming week.)
-Fixed stair tiles being considered inaccessible if there is only one stairwell in a building
-If the school cannot be opened due to an inaccessible tile with construction, the error message will now indicate the tile number

Build #6 - February 15th, 2025
-Fixed many NPC pathfinding/layering/overlapping/AI issues during arrival period
---All students should now enter the campus, go to their classrooms and sit down
---Staff should head to their offices
---Other activities have been temporarily disabled; once we validate everyone can get to their classes and offices successfully we'll start enabling other activities
-Fixed many deletion tool issues in build mode
-Added a final check before opening the school that there are no inaccessible tiles with construction on them (i.e - you have a multifloor school, but no stairs)
-When the school opens characters now spawn slightly off map and walk into campus (instead of briefly flashing into existence on tile 1-2 and then reappearing at the gate)
-Fixed character ethnicity occasionally not being assigned on character generation
-Fixed character names occasionally not being assigned on character generation
-Fixed character name generation not using certain names
-Fixed clicking on grade 1 when assigning classroom use causing the game to exit
-When highlighting a character, the highlight now will still show even if they are behind a wall

Build #5 - February 14th, 2025
-The view when zooming in and out should now gravitate towards the tile the mouse is on
-The map will no longer scroll left while the mouse is on the build or cp menus
-Fixed being unable to set preferred grade level for classrooms
-Fixed unused sports coach option for private office flashing on screen
-Fixed wrong option being highlighted when selecting Grade 1,2,3 teachers in a private office
-Added character information text for the character currently highlighted

Build #4 - February 13th, 2025
-Lots of A.I. choice/desire/pathfinding fixes; work will continue as issues still remain
-Fixed Headteacher calves option on punishment policy screen
-Fixed sexual orientation not being assigned during character generation
-Fixed Head Boy not being assigned during character generation
-Fixed missing texture for early access message about end of arrival period
-Fixed characters wanting to study in the library or computer lab if the school has none
-Fixed time from reseting/going past arrival period
-Disabled highlight on unimplemented options on pause screen (advance period, end school day)
-Added a catch that if a character somehow ends up in the air, it will be placed back on ground level
-Added debug info in the lower right corner for the currently selected character
-Added temporary catch for seemingly stuck characters
-Added functionality for high DPI scaling

Build #3 - February 12th, 2025
-Fixed sound and music on/off buttons in settings
-Fixed character list screen clickable elements triggering on hover instead of click
-Fixed character list screen name positions
-Fixed character list screen list generation issues
-Fixed character list screen name buttons not always passing NPC's role to editing screen
-Fixed character list screen buttons being clickable if no NPC was in the slot
-Fixed character list name buttons 5-20 occasionally thinking name button 4 was clicked
-Fixed game generating more than one Discipline Master and Deputy Discipline Master
-Fixed menu music continuing to play when off button is clicked in settings
-Fixed menu music continuing to play in game when the game was loaded from a save file
-Fixed unable to set administrators can punish on calves
-Added character name and info to character editing screen

Build #2 - February 11th, 2025
-Fixed not being able to set policy for gym teachers punishing claves (and thus failing policy check to open school)

Build #1 - February 10th, 2025
-First early access build

[Updated on: Thu, 02 October 2025 10:08] by Moderator

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