After four months of planning, programming, and publicizing, an official release date has been set for AMX Mod X 0.20! Here is the time line:
- July 24th: AMX Mod X 0.20 will enter a "feature lock" for final stability testing. If you have any last feature requests, post them on www.amxmodx.org now.
- August XXth *updated*, 18:00 GMT: There will be a public Question and Answer session on IRC for the upcoming release. Channel: #amxmodx @ irc.gamesurge.net (1PM EST, or 19:00 GMT+1).
- August XXth, 21:00 GMT *updated*: AMX Mod X 0.20 packages will be released to the public. There will be a public IRC "release party" on #amxmodx @ irc.gamesurge.net (4PM EST, or 22:00 GMT+1).
This release is huge and breaks many old ties with the AMX Mod 0.9.6j source base. The entire module implementation has been redone from scratch as well as many core internal interfaces. We are announcing the release early to give the public a "head's up" on what is going to change and to alert developers to necessary plugin changes. As of 0.20, the AMX Mod X Core has greatly suprassed the original AMX core in functionality and efficiency.
On the release day the on-site compiler will be reset for 0.20 so any plugin that does not compile will not be downloadable. These notes are by no means the full changelog, these are the
most important changes that you will be immediately affected by.
PACKAGING CHANGES
The most noticeable changes have to do with packaging. AMX Mod X 0.20 will be mod independent. There will be a "Base package" that contains the core files needed to run AMX Mod X on any mod. Then there will be separate mod "addon packs" which add special functionality for each mod, such as stats or weapon restriction.
The "custom" folder has been removed, and any plugins using it will need to be recompiled using the new includes and then its config files moved to the "configs" folder. Plugin writers should switch to using "get_configsdir" instead. Binary config files will now be stored in a "data" folder ("get_datadir").
If you would like to maintain a mod package (a mod package contains files from the AMX Mod X base that were changed to support your mod), please e-mail [email protected]. Maintainers already exist for these mods: cs, dod, tfc, esf, ts, ns. WON packages will no longer be built.
CORE CHANGES
The biggest change is how AMX Mod X interfaces with Metamod and interacts with modules. Instead of attaching modules to Metamod and AMXx, the AMXx "FakeMeta" engine acts as a router between modules and Metamod. This removes many old problems including the infamous Listen Server crashes. For developers, AMX Mod X now features a complete MDK/SDK for easily and quickly building modules under a unified interface. Modules using the new interface will end in "amxx" instead of "amx".
The heart of the AMX Mod X core has been replaced with an implementation in pure assembly (a "Just in time" compiler). This should increase performance by enormous factors.
MODULE CHANGES
The second biggest change is the SQL driver. Completely rewritten from scratch, backwards compatibility was sacrificed in order to improve the databasing interface. All plugin developers should visit this forum post on the SQL changes and make sure their plugins compile under the new interface.
SQL Changes
Plugin authors should be ready to swap in new code when 0.20 is released.
The last biggest change is the introduction of a module which will eventually replace "Engine". Dubbed "FakeMeta" after its AMX Mod X core counterpart, it is a module forged from a number of sources and ideas and allows for nearly unlimited access to the Half-Life engine (hooking, calling, and changing any data). Plugin writers should study the power offered by FakeMeta once it is released and work to convert their plugins, as it will offer optimization in code, better looking source, and faster development time.
This about wraps it up. Please ask all questions in this news post to keep things organized. Plugin developers' questions get a higher priority. Remember, there will be a Q&A session three hours before the release in the official IRC channel.