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Expected lag in Mac App Store release?

GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Looks like the long awaited 2.5 patch is due for release next week (barring late-breaking bugs). Yay!

In order to set realistic expectations :) what is the expected lag to the patch landing in the Mac App Store?

@JuliusBorisov Should we expect to see it just a couple of days later (current average approval time according to http://appreviewtimes.com), or is it likely to be the subject of an extra round of release work just for App Store validation, arriving some time after the BGEE 2.5 release catches up as well?

Previous patches have seen me anxiously checking for updates daily for months on end, which does a great job of killing all enthusiasm and positive vibes, so I'm trying to avoid starting that loop unless we really do expect an imminent update with the other platforms :)

Comments

  • MonotremataMonotremata Member Posts: 78
    edited June 2018
    Yep even after Beamdog sends it out, it still has to wait to be approved by Apple. Not really sure how quick that is cause the few things I have installed are either games which are long gone (like Neverwinter Nights 2) that dont ever get updated, or freebies like The Unarchiver and UnRARX which I never pay attention whether theyre current or not as long as they work. I could be getting the updates for those months later, and Id never know it hehe. I mean you guys are still stuck on 1.3, somebody hasnt updated it in 4 years. At least on GoG Im up to date, just no access to betas.

    EDIT: Wow didnt Icewind Dale already get its 2.5 patch?? Im pretty sure thats what my GoG just recently updated too! The Apple Store is still on 1.4, and the patch came out what, last month or the beginning of this month? GOG was updated that day or the next!
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    Yup - we know the Icewind Dale patch will be delayed to sync up with the BG patches, and I suspect the BG2EE patch is going to be similarly delayed, simply because it is so long since this code went through a Mac App Store review that the guidelines have likely changed in significant ways (such as no longer accepting 32-bit code) so it would make sense to batch all app-store specific updates into one block of work at the end of the process.

    It took around 2 months for the BG2EE 1.3 patch to the App Store, but at least we heard about different submissions and rejections (even if not the reason for rejection - not our business). The 1.2a patch was more problematic - released due to game breaking bugs within a week of launch (it would corrupt save games, among other issues), it was over 3 months of pinging folks here before they admitted that they had simply forgotten, and it was too late now, so we had to wait for the release of the next patch (essentially 12 months later). THAT is the process I am trying to not repeat :)
  • MonotremataMonotremata Member Posts: 78
    Ouch. Thats why I don't like the App Store hehe. I bought the last Lego Star Wars game when I got this Mac a couple years ago, and go figure when Sierra came out, the game just crashed. Everyone else got the update, but those of us that bought it through the App Store on sale had to waaaaaaaait.
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    Well, the infinity games crash on transitioning from one map to another since El Capitan due to a change in the way the sound driver code was compiled for that release (using C++11 vs. C++03) so we have to play with many sound options disabled - that was fixed in the 2.0 release over 2 years ago, but still waiting for it to reach the Mac App Store (other sales channels have that update and more). At least the game is still playable (mostly) in the meantime waiting for the patch though.

    ('mostly' as I have given up on Black Pits 2 locking up instead of awarding bonus items after a fight)

    No idea how long your Lego Star Wars wait was though?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,723
    edited June 2018
    I don't know the firm answer to this question, but I'd like to use the example of the 2.5 patch for IWD:EE.

    It's hasn't been released on the Mac App Store yet (to wait till the 2.5 patching for all games is done), and it is understandable that Mac App Store players are unhappy. But the current reviews on Steam show there is one extra problem with MP in IWD:EE 2.5, which will be addressed at the end of the 2.5 patch cycle (even if the 2.5 patch for IWD:EE is already out). I think the intent here is (since the Mac App Store didn't get patches in years) to provide a Mac App Store build as stable as possible. So most likely Mac App Store patches will arrive some time after the BGEE 2.5 release catches up as well, yes.
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    Thanks Julius - just trying to get that info out /before/ the patches start landing for everyone else, and Mac App Store customers are left hanging without any info. It is a lot easier to handle when we know to not expect the patch first time around, but confirm it is definitely coming.
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    Unless Apple asks for more digital smoke before they allow it... :wink:
  • MonotremataMonotremata Member Posts: 78
    edited June 2018
    GreenWarlock said:

    Well, the infinity games crash on transitioning from one map to another since El Capitan due to a change in the way the sound driver code was compiled for that release (using C++11 vs. C++03) so we have to play with many sound options disabled - that was fixed in the 2.0 release over 2 years ago, but still waiting for it to reach the Mac App Store (other sales channels have that update and more). At least the game is still playable (mostly) in the meantime waiting for the patch though.

    ('mostly' as I have given up on Black Pits 2 locking up instead of awarding bonus items after a fight)

    No idea how long your Lego Star Wars wait was though?

    Ouch! Makes me even more glad I got em from GoG haha! Hmm I can't remember how long Lego Star Wars was. I know it was awhile maybe 3-4 months? Maybe longer? Im assuming they had submitted it, since the patch and all the info was up at their site about it, and if you bought it from them or one of the other outlets, they were all updated. It just never showed up at the App Store for months.

    Heh for all we know, the app approval process is an automated thing like they use when you stupidly enable two-step verification on your Apple login, and don't have access to the email/phone# you setup for the second verification step. You have to jump through hoops just to be able to request your account be reset to a new phone number. Then you just have to wait until the robot decides its your turn to get processed, and THEN they'll finally send you a text, or a call saying you can now reset your account at blah blah URL.. Mine took like three weeks before I could use the App Store or download iTunes artwork after I turned off the cell phone I setup for text messages, but Ive read horror stories of it taking months to happen.
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    Unfortunately, the App Store gauntlet is real. Previous reasons for rejections that we know of include Apple changing the requirements on the icons used for the game. Yes, a patch got rejected because Apple insisted on new artwork for the icon following updated guidelines. Also, it looks like you don't get all the rejection issues the first time you submit, once they have an issue or two they reject, you fix, and then they will look for and report on the next issue, so it may take a while for an app that has missed 3 or 4 OS updates (and continuously revised guidelines) since the last patch.

    I am not too worried (yet!) about App Store updates as we know it will be a trickier process than we would like. I just want transparency to set our expectations, so we can keep the faith in the meantime. That's why I kick off threads like this every time it looks like we are getting close to another patch cycle landing ;)

    [It took a while to discover that the 2.x series was going to all other Mac distributions BUT the Apple store, for example]
  • oakheartoakheart Member Posts: 65
    I was anxiously awaiting the IWD EE 2.5 update (delivered via GoG), only to find it unplayable on my MacBook Pro due to a weird trackpad bug. Since I didn't have a backup of a working version I ended up purchasing IWD EE 1.3 (again) from the App Store. So a win for the publishers, of a sort. The bug was also present in the v2.5.10 BGEE beta.

    The good news is that the bug has been fixed in an internal build of the game, but no news regarding release dates. So the moral is, if there is one...be careful what you wish for, I guess!
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,723
    The 2.5 update for BG:EE, SoD, BGII:EE and IWD:EE will come to the Mac App store after all the patches are completed.

    http://blog.beamdog.com/2018/07/july-13-livestream-recap.html
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    JuliusBorisov said:

    The 2.5 update for BG:EE, SoD, BGII:EE and IWD:EE will come to the Mac App store after all the patches are completed.

    http://blog.beamdog.com/2018/07/july-13-livestream-recap.html

    For those watching the stream and wondering if they missed it, on the youTube version it is around the 21:45 mark, where Trent brandishes a sheet of paper with all the talking points on it. Julius quote is the second bullet under "Beamdog news" (bottom left), but is the only bullet that did not rise to the point of being actually mentioned in the live stream itself. You will probably need freeze-frame to spot it :)
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