More information on the Minecraft 1.7.2 update

Discussion in 'Bukkit News' started by EvilSeph, Nov 15, 2013.

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    EvilSeph

    Things are progressing nicely towards our first development build of CraftBukkit for Minecraft 1.7.2. Although this update did not provide or add as much feature-wise as previous Minecraft updates have, this is probably one of the more complicated and larger updates we've had to work with from a mod development standpoint. With "almost all of [the code in Minecraft] having been changed - be it little or big" (according to Mojang), there has been significant shifting around of code and logic - to the estimated tune of ~220k lines changed - within Minecraft, resulting in our slowest and most involved update yet.

    Managing expectations - information about our initial CraftBukkit 1.7.2 builds
    Five days ago (on November 10th) I sent out a tweet trying to describe what our initial findings were regarding the impact this Minecraft update has on the project but it's frustratingly very difficult to communicate everything I want or need to in 140 characters. Nonetheless, sending out tweets is still our best form of communication that doesn't push other important topics out of view (like the potential structure loss PSA).

    The tweet was meant to explain that while we will definitely have development builds, our analysis and evaluation of the update (through reading the code and following Minecraft feedback/bug reports from the community) has revealed that there are issues in Minecraft that may prevent us from getting anything stable or reliable out. This was purely meant to assist us with managing expectations as to the quality, stability and reliability of any builds we're able to give out.

    As for the 'issues we cannot fix' aspect of the tweet, this is due to the nature and policies of the Bukkit project: it is not so much that we are unable to fix the issues ourselves (though this can sometimes be the case), but rather that the issues present are not the project's responsibility to fix and, instead, would be better addressed by Mojang. While we do sometimes make exceptions if we have a really good reason to do so (like to fix a security issue), we try and avoid altering the way Minecraft itself behaves and functions. This is both a conscious decision as a project and a necessity, as too many changes to Minecraft's inner workings can mean significant increases in the complexity and amount of work required for the update process.

    It's not so much that we choose not to fix these issues, but rather that we need to be fully conscious and aware of the impact doing so could have on the update process and our day-to-day maintaining of the project. If the fix for an issue touches too many internals within Minecraft, for example, it usually makes the update process significantly more complex, resulting in (what could be an avoidable) increase in the amount of time it takes us to update. As much as we'd like to fix every issue we come across, doing so would mean updating to new Minecraft versions will take even longer than they currently do.

    This is why we have the minimal diffs policy (a policy which eliminates unnecessary changes to the Minecraft code), it results in a speedier and less buggy update for everyone. Although it undoubtedly limits the developers in our project, I think you'll agree that it's a worthy sacrifice and limit to impose upon ourselves in order to ensure that the downtime of your server between updates is as minimal as we can possibly achieve.

    If we were not personally responsible for updating the core of our project, we'd have much more freedom to experiment. As it is, however, the Bukkit project handles updating, development and the maintaining of both a plugin API (Bukkit) and a Minecraft server mod (CraftBukkit) in order to produce the server you all know and love.

    To be clear:
    • There WILL be development builds; we're still working towards getting our first one out.
    • Due to significant changes in how Minecraft works, it will take us a while to get our Bukkit API updated. Hence, it is highly unlikely that all the plugins you are using will work on our initial development builds.
    • There will MOST LIKELY be promoted builds, but they'll be lower quality than you could usually expect from us due to issues we can't address.
    What does updating CraftBukkit involve?
    To give you an idea as to why this update is taking longer than usual, I need to briefly touch on what our update process involves. Every time a Minecraft update is released, we have to go through a repetitive, time consuming and dry multi-step process.

    A simple breakdown of the process is as follows: decompile the server -> learn the new names (they change with every update) -> figure out how they apply to Bukkit's naming system -> learn what changed/what's new in the update -> update the changes we make to the server to support Bukkit -> get the code to compile -> fix issues that come up.

    Since we're working with a code base that is unfamiliar to us, we can sometimes find ourselves having to jump back to a previous step. For example: we may come across a piece of code that we're not familiar with and once we're able to figure out what it does, we realise that we've named something incorrectly which we then have to go back and fix. It is this fluid and unpredictable aspect of the update process that makes it difficult to come up with a communicable ETA or any progress/status updates.

    Though this process may seem inefficient or ineffective, this is the same process that we've used and improved upon to get all of our updates out (even our fastest ones) over the 3 years the project has existed. Bear in mind, the overview provided here barely touches the surface of our update process and is intended to give you a remote idea as to what we have to deal with for every update. This brief and simplified breakdown of our 'steps' does little to explain the varying level of difficulty or complexity of each step, for example.

    How can I help?
    The best way to help us out is to get involved.

    If you're a server admin: once we have our first development build out, we'd appreciate any testing you could perform and any issues you can report. Please bear in mind that development builds are unsupported and should not be run on production servers.

    If you're a plugin developer: once we have our first development build out with proper API support, we'd appreciate if you could test the build out and report any missing or broken API to our bug tracker.

    If you're looking to help us out with the update, you'll have to work towards that goal by getting involved in other aspects of the project first. Due to the sensitive and extremely team oriented nature of the update process, we require that you build a relationship and demonstrate your commitment to the project before getting involved with updating will benefit the process. As the update process is incredibly repetitive and mundane, intense commitment is a key requirement for the team.

    We know this update is taking longer than usual but I assure you we are working our hardest to get it done. Thanks for your patience and continued support, it makes a huge difference and really helps us push onward!
     
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    caseif

    EvilSeph I don't fully understand why the Bukkit team can't directly work with Mojang when updating Craftbukkit. It would eliminate the deobfuscation process and likely greatly reduce the gap between a MC prerelease and a CB development build. That's not to say there isn't a good reason, as there certainly is. I'm just a bit curious.

    EDIT: Whoops, didn't see TheLecturer's post. :p
     
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    WestnightHawk

    Thanks for the update Bukkit. At least my Xbox360 is no longer a paper weight collecting dust.
     
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    Gamecube762

    Nice for these updates to be coming out every few days. Now less people will be asking if Bukkit is even working on 1.7.2.
     
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    DannySan626

    Thank you for this update EvilSeph. This will make my players and staff who have waited for my server to be up already (they didn't want to play until 1.7.2 came out because I was going to restart the whole map). This makes me less frustrated about this whole situation, but as sean_skroht and TheLecturer have said above, You guys really need to collaborate on how to make updates for servers faster and smoother. In reality, there are more players on multiplayer than on single player anymore. Multiplayer is the reason for the majority of sales (I believe feel free to correct me if I am wrong) that Minecraft gets due to many players using Mineshafter to get a free account as I did before I bought the game. Plus it would also be a great idea to work along side the plugin developers that have plugins used the most to ensure that servers will not have a hard time updating those plugins as well! I know I sound like this all seems easy, But I know it is not. Just would be a good thing for the future! Thank you Bukkit team and staff for keeping this all up and dealing with us server owners trying to get and ETA out of you and keeping your cool on the situation! Iwill be using Bukkit as long as it still exists! Bukkit for life!
     
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    RebzO1

    Totally appreciate the work being put in, I speak for most of the players on our servers @ cardinalcraft when i say we are very much looking forward to a dev build to test :)

    Keep up the hard work and don't let the negative feedback make you feel like the vast majority of is not appreciated and required for us to do what we do :)!
     
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    X_angelz_X

    This for the update! And look every comment seems to be " Thanks for the update " rather than.. " Hurry! " or something. ;)
     
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    maxben34

    I'll be sure to do my part in testing the API for bugs once it's released :). Good Job so far!
     
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    xgh

    hi i didn't waited craftbukkit it took so long time to be updated lol. Since the 28 oct i moded this vanilla (with obfuscated code) worldguard, worldedit, regionmarket,groupmanager, wirelessredstone and so on was ready in 1 week and today the server is really stable. I didn t saw many change with the last release, if you need some help call me ! see you
     
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    burnzz

    some of the 1.7.2 features look really cool. there are however mods that i run on my server that i will not update until the mod updates.

    i've posted that i will not update until Bukkit updates - that is a fact that peeps on my server will have to live with. i'm on the latest recommended build, and regardless of the texture pack or whatever, the server doesn't update until Bukkit updates.
     
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    Mike1022

    EvilSeph Why don't you have a chat with Mojang about all the problems you're having with this so they can include fixes in 1.7.2?
     
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    4am


    I'm pretty sure they do...ES used to work there and DinnerBone (one of the original Bukkit devs) still does, and does a fairly large chunk of the work on the game now.
     
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    mmulqueen10

    I only run a small server for a few friends and myself, and will be more than happy to test a 1.7.2 development build on my server and report any bugs I find once a development build gets released. :)

    On another note, thanks for giving us an update regarding the 1.7.2 update. :) I personally quite like to have a very rough idea about how things are going. :p Keep up the good work!
     
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    GriffonDefender

    Keep up the good work, team! I'll try and do my part as a server owner to test stuff, and report anything I find "off".

    Again, great work, we commend your dedication to the bukkit project.
     
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    Ryan987

    Will my precious beloved private plugins which I am honestly to lazy to update seriously brake? Over the past few updates my plugins have been working fine.

    Every time they say "Will plugins brake with this build?" and their response is "As long as your developers are updating them, they should be fine," well will any of the api be changed?
     
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    gameblaster64


    Not only that, this article here says they actually work at Mojang.

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...erver-mod-team-to-make-official-minecraft-api
     
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    ThunderGemios10

    i want Notch back to Minecraft
     
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    dramatech88

    totally joking here so don't take me seriously but less talk more work ;P can't wait!!!! Keep up the good work.
     
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    ViscousSummer88

    As he stated there will not be a working 1.7.2 API in the first releases, so any plugins which hook into said API will not work. If you've been running a bukkit server for the past couple of updates, you should have an idea what plugins will stop working. If in doubt ask the plugin dev :)
     
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    Cubby208

    Thanks for all this! I had a weird vision of what minecraft would be like without bukkit. Soo many servers use bukkit and would have to stay at an old version. This would probably cause lots of servers to shut down and many people would loose allot of work and investments.

    I don't know what we would do without you! As a person learning to program i know how frustrating reading and using bits of other peoples code can be. I hope all of these messages encourage you to as you go through the frustrating process! Best of luck!
     
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    vaderciya

    Whoo! keep it up!
     
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    UMadBro44

    Lol, I've been really bored of playing vanilla over the past few weeks, All my players are gonna be very exited about this update. Thanks for all the information on the Craftbukkit builds for 1.7.2 and thanks for all the work you guys over at the Bukkit team have been doing to push the first build out and up for download as fast as you can! Keep up the great work! :)
     
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    grid21

    Thanks! Also funny screenname! I like it! :)
     
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    bob7

    Is it true Minecraft introduced a new "magic" ID system, rendering getTypeId completely useless? If so, I'll begin updating my plugins to use enums now :)!
     
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    iCopyright

    great work, bukkit crew. keep up the good work:)
     
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    lme999

    What I'm wondering, is if we should be planning to see any stable build in the future? Or are the changes in minecraft (that the Bukkit team isn't going to fix) going to prevent us from seeing any fully stable build in the future?
     
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    TNTUP

    Is the upcoming 1.7.2 will fix teh /save-all lags because of structure saving? Cause im forced to use the other "unsupported" thing to disable structure saving :I Ill do tests if its fixed (when its released ill do) Sorry for my bad english
     
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    bjornos28

    Good job!!:)
     
  29. Offline

    Dr_Bunsen


    Just install addblock and donate them a few bucks :p
     
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    Nickx

    Awesome! Thank you guys for your hard work, I'm sure a lot of people (including me) appreciates your work.
     
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    Bobcat00

    One or two of them have since quit, and I don't think the others are actually working on the API. At Minecon, Jeb announced two new hires to work on the API which they have "high hopes" will be done in 2014, but "no guarantees".

    Turnovers, personnel changes, etc., usually indicates trouble with a project.
     
    danw3st likes this.
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