Version 1.0 is content-complete

[Tynan]

Hey all. Version 1.0 is now content-locked. That means we'll only be changing it if there's a serious bug to address.

It's on the Steam unstable branch. Please, everyone who wishes, take it for a test run! It should be less buggy than Beta 19. We focused on bugfixing, so the only notable new feature is the food restrictions, which you can use to control what people are allowed to eat. If you do find a bug, please report it in the Bugs forum.

To enable the unstable branch, open your Steam library, right-click RimWorld, click Properties, go to the Betas tab, and select 'unstable' from the dropdown menu.

Modders
Modders, it'd be great if you could update your mods and make a version for 1.0. In general mods should require few to no changes to work for 1.0 - mostly just a recompile if you're using code.

The Beta19 release caused a lot of anger as some mods were updated in-place, while other mods weren't. So a lot of people had their savegames broken, often irrevocably. Heartbreak and anger, and it was pretty justified. As a player I certainly don't expect updates to trash a treasured save with no warning. Even going back to the old version didn't help if a mod was updated in-place to the new version.

That's why this time I'm placing the game up content-locked for a period before release, and recommending that modders please do not overwrite your Beta 19 versions of mods with your 1.0 version. It would be better to upload them separately onto the Workshop, to prevent breaking peoples' games when they change versions. (Many modders already do this but if everyone does, the mod version confusion disaster will be solved).

I won't enforce this in any way, of course. It's a request, motivated by a desire to not break that implicit "we won't trash your game" contract with players.

(EDIT: Backstory and reasoning why I'm requesting this).

I'm still working on selecting an exact release date. But the day is coming closer.

Translations and creative content

Though I hope to not update the code if possible, to preserve compatibility, I will be continuing to update the translations and creative content both before and after 1.0 release. This kind of content doesn't break compatibility. So translators and people entering creative content can continue to enter content without worrying that it'll be left out.

[saulysw]

Congratulations on this major milestone!

Your game is much loved... but you know this already. 

[bbqftw]

Undocumented change/bugfix: thrumbo base manhunter chance upon harming increased from 35%->100%

[5thHorseman]

Very very awesome. I can't wait to take it for a spin!

[YokoZar]

Can you post a changelog dump of the bug fixes?  When you've replied on the bug forum it's not immediately clear if a given bug is fixed or not in 1.0.

[wooaa]

This is amazing! I have been playing rimworld back before we had stockpiles. This game is an absolute masterpiece  and you are a genius programmer.

[Albion]

@Tynan: just in general I myself and probably a lot of other modders would appreciate a short announcement before 1.0 actually hits the shelves. Maybe not weeks in advance but a few days so we can scramble and crunch through some additional features we want to release or fixing to get the mod release ready in time.
It's an odd system to wake up in the morning and check the forum or steam every day to see if it has been released yet.

[Tynan]

You'll know the date before it comes out.

Anyway, this is the announcement. The unstable version right now is 1.0, unless we find an important bug that needs fixing. And even if we do fix a bug, it probably won't affect mods. So you can pretty much go all in on developing for 1.0 now, the actual release shouldn't disrupt you at all.

[Alenerel]

Is there a changelog?

[zizard]

Does this have the change with bullets passing through layers of body parts reducing damage? I tested it and the body part damage looks the same as B19.

[Mehni]

Modders
Modders, it'd be great if you could update your mods and make a version for 1.0. In general mods should require few to no changes to work for 1.0 - mostly just a recompile if you're using code.

Please do not overwrite your Beta 19 versions of mods with your 1.0 version. Upload them separately onto the Workshop, to prevent breaking peoples' games when they change versions.

I have my reservations with this approach. How do you envision this?

I'd much rather update my B19 mods to 1.0 when the time comes. ~0.1% of users might complain because their saves broke but I would rather ignore a few rude people than inconvenience the 99.9% that have to search for a new version.

In the interim, those that really want a specific mod during an unstable testing can hunt down links from GitHub etc. From my experience unstable players are the die-hard fans who generally don't mind the extra step.

[HexCube]

Damnit Tynan, I have my final exams for school coming up in the next 2 months and you're probably releasing 1.0 soon? Shame on you for sabotaging my results :p

[vzoxz0]

Mods are for the weak. Real men play Merciless vanilla.

[Tynan]

Modders
Modders, it'd be great if you could update your mods and make a version for 1.0. In general mods should require few to no changes to work for 1.0 - mostly just a recompile if you're using code.

Please do not overwrite your Beta 19 versions of mods with your 1.0 version. Upload them separately onto the Workshop, to prevent breaking peoples' games when they change versions.

I have my reservations with this approach. How do you envision this?

I'd much rather update my B19 mods to 1.0 when the time comes. ~0.1% of users might complain because their saves broke but I would rather ignore a few rude people than inconvenience the 99.9% that have to search for a new version.

In the interim, those that really want a specific mod during an unstable testing can hunt down links from GitHub etc. From my experience unstable players are the die-hard fans who generally don't mind the extra step.

Please don't update in-place. In practice it just makes the game 100% unusable for people who want to continue an old save for any reason. This is much more than 0.1% of the population, and it's pretty awful to lose a 30-hour save with no way to recover it.

Many players play with many mods. So if just one mod author updates in place, the save becomes unusable. We cannot count on every mod author being as diligent as you, so it's better to take the safer and more controllable route. Automatically trashing thousands of peoples' savegames with no warning is not cool.

There's also a lot of value in going back to old versions, even for historical reasons. You destroy all of this if you wipe the old version of your mod.

It's easy to upload a proper separate version and it's easy for players to re-subscribe. Much better than having your long savegame trashed and there's nothing you can do about it. Please do not wipe your mod out from under everyone; please do not irrevocably ruin everyone's savegames. Upload a versioned copy.

[notfood]

Users who know how to switch to unstable are savy enough to get their mods from github. The rest will see their mods in red and will choose to play without them.