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'Bug-Fix Build'

mbzdmvp
Explorer
Hello,

So I hope I am not the only one confused about the latest email. What is considered a 'bug-fix build' ?

What prevents people from adding new content in the next week? Wasn't this the whole point of the deadline?

Reddit discussion: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments ... extension/
VR Jam 2015: Inside The Human Body Forum Post: viewtopic.php?f=77&t=23266
37 REPLIES 37

dnhkng
Honored Guest
OK, I was one of the people who wrote to the VR Jam administrators to ask for a bug-fix/testing option.

I saw this in the rules:
Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, the Judges may (in either round of the judging process) contact Entrant to request a bug fix or other minor modification to the Software to address a functionality or stability issue (any a “Bug Fix”) or implement any Big Fix provided by Entrant after the Submission Period and may, in judging an Entry, consider the Software as modified by any such Bug Fix. However, the decision to request or implement any Bug Fix is within Sponsor’s sole discretion.


Well, I don't have a GearVR to test on, and I will be away and completely unavailable for bug fixing during the judging period, so I wrote to the Judges:
Would a preliminary judge be able to test my build today, to make sure it runs? It should be fine, but I would like to be sure before I leave for peace-of-mind.


Anyway, I spent the last 40 hours of the VR Jam trying to get my build running on the Gear VR (it ran on PC and Mac fine...), as you can see if you look at my posting history, so I also lost lots of time I could have used spending on getting my submission description polished.

However, I think I have a good solution for everyone. How about anyone who uses the Bug-fix option HAS TO release patch notes. That way they have to document what changes have been made, and the judges can quickly see if the changes are legitimate bug fixes.

If they cheat, and fail to mention the extra levels/artwork/design changes they have made,they would be caught as all winners entries MUST be compared to the submission made on the May 11th. That would be easy to do, as there winners list is not so long. It also means the judges don't have to check all 300+ entries.

rjmig88
Honored Guest
I hate to be that guy but I'm eternally grateful Oculus is allowing us a bug fix build. They can easily compare old and new builds and so I don't think any of the finalists will risk it. I had a Exynos Note 4 which had a ton of issues working around and I didn't think of to test the Snapdragon version. Players on snapdragon have reported that my button mappings don't work and I can't figure out why that would be. I didn't find out until after the game jam when more people were testing it. I'm super glad Oculus is giving us a bug fix chance and so I'm next day airing a snapdragon note 4 to test on 4.4 kitkat for my issues.

I did reach out to Oculus. I didn't ask them directly for a chance to bug fix but I did mention that they may have to try a key remap program if my buttons don't work for them. I'm thrilled that they are listening to the community. And I've crunched every night and put in over 100 hours for optimizing graphics, bug fixing, etc too.

Anticleric
Expert Protege
"rjmig88" wrote:
I hate to be that guy but I'm eternally grateful Oculus is allowing us a bug fix build. They can easily compare old and new builds and so I don't think any of the finalists will risk it. I had a Exynos Note 4 which had a ton of issues working around and I didn't think of to test the Snapdragon version. Players on snapdragon have reported that my button mappings don't work and I can't figure out why that would be. I didn't find out until after the game jam when more people were testing it. I'm super glad Oculus is giving us a bug fix chance and so I'm next day airing a snapdragon note 4 to test on 4.4 kitkat for my issues.

I did reach out to Oculus. I didn't ask them directly for a chance to bug fix but I did mention that they may have to try a key remap program if my buttons don't work for them. I'm thrilled that they are listening to the community. And I've crunched every night and put in over 100 hours for optimizing graphics, bug fixing, etc too.


Will it take you 5 days to fix this issue? And how exactly can they compare the new build to one that does not run?

The original rules allow for this issue regardless. They state that if the judges can't get the build working, they can request a fix from the entrant. I'm completely fine with that.

mbzdmvp
Explorer
"rjmig88" wrote:
I hate to be that guy but I'm eternally grateful Oculus is allowing us a bug fix build. They can easily compare old and new builds and so I don't think any of the finalists will risk it.

So you're saying it will be easy for Oculus to test 61 builds twice and make sure they are not significantly different?

"rjmig88" wrote:
I had a Exynos Note 4 which had a ton of issues working around and I didn't think of to test the Snapdragon version. Players on snapdragon have reported that my button mappings don't work and I can't figure out why that would be.

This is the exact scenario where an Oculus employee would specifically reach out to you for a bug-fixed build, compared to most people who don't have such issues.
VR Jam 2015: Inside The Human Body Forum Post: viewtopic.php?f=77&t=23266

dnhkng
Honored Guest
"Anticleric" wrote:
And how exactly can they compare the new build to one that does not run?


Hahaha, well, you are right in principle, but its a pretty funny idea :lol: . Can you imagine the type of Diabolical Developer who would deliberately submit a broken build because they *knew beforehand* they could get other people to convince the Judges to allow an extra week of development time after the cut-off date? If they we're that evilly brilliant, I guess they deserve to win the gamble they took.


Seriously though, it does raise some questions. I had a tutorial at the beginning of my game. It was just a quad attached to a pivot, who's angle changed with the OVRrig's orientation. It was used to show new users of my game where to look to solve their first puzzle. The code ran fine on Win and Mac, but not in my Gear VR builds, so I had to take it out just a few hours before the competition closed. I believe its posted on an earlier version of my submission. Would I be allowed to add it back in, if I could make it work? Would that count as a feature addition or not?

dignifiedweb
Protege
I didn't have the ability to test on different Note 4s, but I was thankful to someone on the forums here to try my build. I had someone try my build a week before the deadline though. I was frantically testing building with the global signer as soon as I could. Isn't that part of the challenge? I feel like there are a lot of Jam entries that didn't even submit final APK files and are currently now disqualified because they couldn't bare to send their incomplete APK files. I'm speculating, I know, but what about those people who couldn't make the deadline initially? I feel it's a bit unfair to them too no? But seriously, everyone is telling me my game is awesome, but I have a sinking feeling in my stomach that it's crap because I put my best efforts into this...

I personally rushed my video editing, because on Sunday night before deadline @ 10:30 PM my time I made the call: "I've got my final deliverable product here whether it runs on their phone or not, it runs on mine, I'm submitting this, need to make a video now."

TL;DR: Isn't it it unfair to the people who couldn't make the initial deadline? Can we get some clarification on what is being tested in the builds currently submitted? If a build does not run at all, but the video is awesome, will it make it past the qualifying round?
Check out my Mobile VR Jam 2015 title Man Overboard! - Try the DK2 Version if you don't have a Gear VR

Nilspferd
Honored Guest
"dnhkng" wrote:
"Anticleric" wrote:
Seriously though, it does raise some questions. I had a tutorial at the beginning of my game. It was just a quad attached to a pivot, who's angle changed with the OVRrig's orientation. It was used to show new users of my game where to look to solve their first puzzle. The code ran fine on Win and Mac, but not in my Gear VR builds, so I had to take it out just a few hours before the competition closed. I believe its posted on an earlier version of my submission. Would I be allowed to add it back in, if I could make it work? Would that count as a feature addition or not?

If you start testing on the real hardware a few hours before submission, then sorry but it's your own fault. I bought the equipment only for the jam one month ago and tested and optimized from the second week on for the hardware. I believe most of the others participants did it in a similar way. This is a very time consuming process and I would say that at least a quarter of the whole development time our game went on trial and error research on the gear vr - performance and bug wise. That's part of the process of developing for such a platform (especially such a new one). It's the rules we all agreed when participating in the jam, it's just absurd to change them now.

JaninaWoods
Honored Guest
"Nilspferd" wrote:
It's the rules we all agreed when participating in the jam, it's just absurd to change them now.


It's absurd to make us all sign the rules and then change them... just like that.
Check out my 2013 VRJam finalist game: http://shinyvr.com/

branditoson
Honored Guest
Sorry all, we made a mistake when trying to address some launch crashes. We said we would allow a bug fix build re-submission per finalist, but since this cannot be executed fairly, we will not accept additional builds at this point. If you’re a finalist and your build doesn't launch, we’ll get in touch with you and help you resolve it.

mbzdmvp
Explorer
"branditoson" wrote:
Sorry all, we made a mistake when trying to address some launch crashes. We said we would allow a bug fix build re-submission per finalist, but since this cannot be executed fairly, we will not accept additional builds at this point. If you’re a finalist and your build doesn't launch, we’ll get in touch with you and help you resolve it.


Thank you branditoson!

I really appreciate the fact that you considered community feedback.

It takes a great deal of courage to admit a mistake!
VR Jam 2015: Inside The Human Body Forum Post: viewtopic.php?f=77&t=23266