Yes, I understand this - but it was relatively easy in HL1. Part of the problem is that the interface name and version are concatenated as one string, which makes it more difficult to request older versions iteratively.
It's not really a problem requesting things from the engine, since that is assumed to be okay... it's from the GameDLL where it's a problem. And if mod developers and even Valve aren't updating the GameDLL interfaces to their own SDK, it makes sense that an updated engine with old GameDLL interfaces could also break. (Although that's not the case here, since I don't think Engine uses IPlayerInfo).
All I'm saying is, it would be better to separate the version/name of interfaces, and that it would be nice if when Valve did update API, they recompiled their own mods (to at least set forth good policy for mod developers). What's the point of releasing public API changes if you're only going to half-support them?
But you're right, in the end, the burden is on the Server Plugin author. Which, as I said, rather invalidates the useful-ness of them. Oh well.
~dvander
jeff broome wrote:
On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 11:42:22 -0500, David Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I don't like bumping threads but this issue is rather important, as if Valve isn't even going to comply with their own API then server-plugins are essentially doomed.
I'm not sure I fully understand the problem. Are you attempting to have a single plugin that can support any MOD? (in this case you're saying a single plugin can't support CS:S and HL2DM because it either accesses version 001 or version 002, but not both)
My understanding of the Interface version stuff was so that Valve could upgrade the engine interface without breaking old MODs that didn't want to update to the latest SDK (and API). If this is Valve's intent, then that puts the burden on you, the multi-mod plugin creator, to properly handle the engine interfaces used by each MOD.
Valve probably should be able to make CS:S and HL2DM both use the same engine interface versions, but this would require "lock-stepping" the releases so that if CS:S requires a new engine interface, the CS:S upgrade wouldn't be released until the HL2DM team had also done everything necessary to support that engine interface (and vice-versa). Once you add Day of Defeat:S and TFC:S, the updates become fewer and fewer since each update is waiting on the others.
Since Valve has no control over outside MOD teams (Natural Selection:Source and others), you would still have to support whatever version of the engine interfaces those MODs are using.
Jeffrey "botman" Broome
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