There are currently 
![[Powered by Blogger]](http://www.s3dconnector.net/images/links/bloggerbutton1.gif){kind=small}
 |
Monday, June 08, 2009 |  |
|---|
Cities Online 0.9.7 now available... This version is jam-packed with goodness. A lot of work went into several nice new features, some to make the client equivalent to Sea3D, and some that are brand new just for Cities Online: * Keyboard shortcuts have been added for every command in the game. Additionally, players can remap their own shortcuts using Settings->Keyboard. * Rolling the dice now has its own separate button. No more accidentally ending your turn on a double-click (and you can just use the keyboard shortcut anyway!). * Lots and lots of stats have been added, which are visible from Panes->Stats while in-game. Some aren't visible until the game is complete. * Performance has been improved. The UI should be snappier in response. (Note that while playing network games, your command has to go to the server and back before you see it occur on your machine.) * Layouts have been drastically simplified. Now there is just a default for the current game setting which players can override or restore using the Layouts menu in-game. * Players may look at their cards at any time, even on other player's turns. * Popups look a lot better, and now show keyboard shortcuts for build commands. * A variety of bug fixes. Here is the new installer: Cities Online v0.9.7 installer How To Play Cities Online: How To Play Here are the release notes: Cities Online v0.9.7 Release Notes |
|||
| 0 comments |
|
Monday, April 27, 2009 | |
|---|
| Cities Online 0.9.6 is now available...
I've been working on the Cities Online site quite a bit recently. With this latest version, you can now look for games based on Map, Ruleset, Game Options, and Number of Players. It's getting very close to what already exists in the Sea3D client. Not only that, I've created a page that will help everyone overcome the short learning curve for playing Cities Online. It has everything you need to know in a step by step order on how to join the Cities Online site and play games: Take it for a test drive and see what you think! |
|||
| 5 comments |
|
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | |
|---|
| Welp, I'll be honest, I was pretty surprised by the outpouring of support for the site after my last post. Apparently there are still a lot of you out there who love playing here. :) Donations have poured in to add another 7 months to the reserves. That's enough for me to not have to think about taking the site down for the time being, so I'm going to leave it as is for right now.
That said, I still have no plans for maintenance or upgrading the site. I haven't looked or touched the Sea3D client code in over seven years. It's poorly written (even if it looks and plays well), and based on technology that is almost a decade old now. I don't even have the code that connects with the site anymore, which means that even if I wanted to, the effort of upgrading the Sea3D client would be entirely not worth it. (And I don't wan't to anyway.) That brings me to what I do actually like working on, and that is the Cities Online client and site. For those unaware, Cities Online is a complete rewrite of the Sea3D client (though very similar in UI and graphics), but which also includes all of the rules for Cities and Knights, as well as being a much better foundation for adding new rules as well as being (theoretically) cross-platform. The Cities Online client is essentially done (though still needing some polish), and most of my time, when I have it, is spent working on the site, http://www.settlersonline.net. Right now it's pretty basic, but I have started adding to it again in the last couple weeks. I'll be clear: my ultimate goal is to replace s3dconnector.net with settlersonline.net, moving the new site to the dedicated server here and sunsetting the current site. There are a wide variety of issues with s3dconnector.net that aren't ever going to go away, because the problem is with the Sea3D client, which can't be updated. Cities Online is several orders of magnitude more secure than Sea3D, and the new site is designed to relieve some of the systemic issues with Sea3D, like finding hosts, cheating, multiple nicknames, etc. So, the long-term is Cities Online at http://www.settlersonline.net. For those looking for a specific date, you should know better by now. ;) I don't have a concrete timeline, because a lot of it depends on how much time I can devote to the site, which is rather cyclical. I am devoting time to it right now, though, and Cities Online is seeing some real progress. I encourage people to check it out and give the new client a try. Cities & Knights is a lot of fun, and the site itself is much better integrated into the client than s3dconnector ever was or will be. Thanks again to everyone who has donated (and, of course, Klaus Teuber). My goal for writing this implementation of the game has always been to create a place where people can have fun together in a worldwide community. Keeping it free and user supported is just the right thing to do. |
|||
| 6 comments |
|
Monday, April 06, 2009 | |
|---|
| Well, it's been a pretty good run. This site has been up and running in various forms since about 2001, much, much longer than I ever expected it would be.
Unfortunately, it's now at the point where we don't have enough in the donation bank to continue to keep paying the dedicated server fees. It's actually negative right now, and I can't afford to pay out of my own pocket month to month. Donations have slowly trickled over the last couple of years (not unexpectedly), and it seems like we're at the point where it might be a good time to lay the site to rest.
As I do not have time or inclination to maintain the site any more, I can see a few options: I have the site paid through the first week in May, so there's about a month here for someone to try and put together something. If you are interested in contacting me, please feel free to send me an email (s a l a d y e a r s @ g m a i l . com). |
|||
| 13 comments |
|
Friday, July 25, 2008 | |
|---|
| In keeping with my tradition of twice-yearly posts...
Cities Online 0.9.4 is now available Yep, what was once called Cities3D is now known as Cities Online. Ryan and I have been working very hard on a brand-new site for it, located at: Right now, the site is (barely) operational, and it allows for matching games between users of Cities Online. We'll be working on expanding the features in the future. Cities Online 0.9.4 is fully integrated with the site and uses strong encryption to keep everything secure. Currently, a limited number of testers are helping to find bugs with the site. If you are interested in helping out, please visit this link in the forums: http://www.s3dconnector.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6456 To download Cities Online 0.9.4 and view the Release Notes, visit the Trac page at:
|
|||
| 3 comments |
|
Monday, January 21, 2008 | |
|---|
| Long time, no post, eh?
Well, a lot of stuff has happened recently. I'm no longer living in Chicago and working for EA Chicago. I now live in Colorado and work from home, so I've finally been able to catch up on a lot of S3D backlog. All of the donation information is now up to date and I have re-enabled donations for the site. I apologize for the general freakout that occurred when it looked like the site was going to go under. I am now able to update donations much more regularly so if you do decided to donate, you will see your entry within a day or two instead of the months it took me previously. |
|||
| 18 comments |
|
Tuesday, May 08, 2007 | |
|---|
| Cities3D 0.9.2 now available Cities3D 0.9.2 is now available for download. It has a completely revamped UI, supports Unicode for language translations, and has numerous bug fixes. Follow the links on the Cities3D Project Homepage to see Release Notes, download the new version, and learn how to report bugs. NOTE: You must uninstall any previous version of Cities3D, including removing player and game databases. If you don't do this, Cities3D 0.9.2 will crash on startup. IMPORTANT: If you receive an error that says, "This application could not start because the configuration is not correct. Reinstalling the application could solve the problem", then you need to install the Visual C++ run-time package (2.6 MB) from Microsoft. Use this link to download and install the run-time. |
|||
| 34 comments |