Update 2.5.2: Small update

WarLight has just been upgraded to version 2.05.2! This update fixes a few bugs, notably the cursor-disappearing one, and adds a few other small enhancements. Here’s a full run-down of what’s changed:

– Changed the way flash ads work to prevent cursor-hiding bugs.
– In real-time games, the clock now shows up even when the right column is collapsed.
– The dashboard now shows all ladders in tabs. The real-time ladder is now shown as well.
– The real-time ladder now records “best rank” and “best rating” columns, just as the other ladders do. These fields only get recorded from this point going forward — past records do not count.
– A trophy can now be earned for getting rank #1 on the real-time ladder. Just like the other ladders, you must be rank #1 when a data point is recorded on the graph (around 0:00 GMT every day).
– In a game that uses a scenario distribution and manual distribution, at least one pick is now required. Previously you could commit with 0 picks, which was easy to accidentally do.
– Local deployments can now be added to the highlighted section of the settings panel. To enable this, visit the Highlighted Settings sub-tab under the Settings tab. Note: This won’t be highlighted in the iOS or Android apps until the next time they’re updated.
– Introduced some fixes to make ladder updating, auto boot, and AI processing more reliable.
– The Maps page under the Home tab now shows maps without a rating as “TBD / 5” instead of “0.0 / 5”
– The clan invite page now sorts friends correctly.

I also want to apologize for the slow development of WarLight so far this year. This period has been, by far, the least progress WarLight has made since it was introduced in 2008. Some of this has been because I was working on back-end architecture improvements that weren’t visible (I talked about the move to the JVM in previous blog posts), but I’ve also been distracted by real life. A few months ago, my father passed away, and then just a few weeks ago my mother was diagnosed with cancer and then she passed away from it two weeks later.

It’s not all bad news for WarLight though. Things will soon get back on track, and I have some big features planned for this year and next. I’m currently working down a roadmap that involves three major projects. I don’t like to reveal what they are so far in advance, but I will give a teaser: The first is 80% done, but it’s mostly designed to attract new players to the game and won’t be exciting to the WarLight community. However, the next two are major updates that I’m really excited for. I’ll just say this: major core gameplay changes.