State of Dev and Why are our Patches so BIG???

[@shinygems739]

It's been said a thousand times, but CSS has the BEST Community Manager Team. Even if it's a 1 person team. We love you, Snutt! Thank you for giving us such great, transparent information

[@m_t_t_]

bald

[@sva8420]

CSS ? This mean many things

[@hezekiahhendry5527]

Being a programmer myself, I read CSS as Cascading Style Sheet.

[@diagnosedwithgoofy]

​@@hezekiahhendry5527same

[@Thebatness]

​@@sva8420the name of the channel can be abbreviated as CSS, Coffee Stain Studios. It's called context. Something you should have learned about looking ago.

[@codepwnedOG]

If you weren't aware... your communication and interaction with the community set the gold standard in the industry. You may not realize that fact... but be proud of that. Blizzard could learn a lot.

[@bionicm22]

I'll 2nd that!

[@capthavic]

Yup, it's why even though they took the Epic deal I couldn't be mad at them. Just open and respectful to the players.

[@noha4309]

whole game industry could learn something

[@69revalations69]

Fact..... Also @warzone needs to take a crash course

[@TriflingToad]

Id say relogic (terraria) has the 2nd best

[@ArtBlade]

Thanks Snutt, you're the undisputed #1 community manager :) Keep up the good work!

[@NotHappening-b8t]

i feel like he not telling the whole story. they hired 3 and said fight it out amoungst urselves on who gets to be in charge. i guess we see who won the fight. lol

[@friendofp.24]

@@NotHappening-b8t Nothing appears to suggest drama. Jace clearly was "winning" by simply interacting with the community more via KZbin, but he left to pursue his own goals. Ilayda, the other manager, well I have no idea to be honest. Posted one video and left the team, probably realized she made a mistake by taking on a big role and wanted to lay low.

[@AbiRabb1t]

He clearly won by blackmailing jace into leaving...

[@atle853]

@@friendofp.24 No, Snutt just knows his way around a bowie knife just a little bit better than the others.

[@PhoonBucgeneMY]

When there is only one candidate, there's only one choice.

[@woLfdarksky13]

As a Software Dev I'm laughing at the descriptions of your guys time guesstimates, like as in laughing along because I feel your pain. You guys are awesome and I love the game!

[@okachobe1]

Lol told my boss today it would take me 4 hours to override some fonts and thought I was overestimating at 4 hours. Now I have a bunch of questions for stand-ups on Tuesday instead lol...

[@itsjuststan1373]

That is why I am glad I am in a team that doesn't do deadlines and estimates anymore. It's done when it's done. Can't tell you in advance how long it takes.Glad the higher ups learned to accept that... And I'm glad to see ccs is trying to go for quality over speed as well!

[@No0bD3sTroYer]

You’re most certainly the best community manager at coffee stain studio by far!

[@azrae6308]

Sadly also the worst :(

[@alfonsneumann1878]

... and always has been ...

[@LabTech41]

He's certainly THE community manager.

[@JohnJRM]

About a year and a half ago, the coworkers I worked directly with left, and I was left as my only team member until just a few weeks ago when we finally hired new folks. I know how stressful and sometimes lonely it can be to go from working in a team to working solo. Hang in there Snutt, it gets better!

[@project_swift]

Of ALL the community managers at coffee stain studios, you are certainly one of them!

[@bouncethemoonofficial]

This is by far a comment!

[@combycat]

and this is a reply

[@KimpaTheCool]

Maybe hire Jace as a consult to make a stable 8 release video it would be really nice and fun. Atleast hire him for the fullrelease video :D

[@3lapsed]

VAMONOS!

[@Mtshaw1103]

It would be absolutely awesome to see Jace in a video for the final release of the game!

[@playnothack]

Jace coming back for final release would be amazing

[@Dr_Mel]

I love the details, I love the confidence this shows in your customers. It's making me very excited all over again for what the 1.0 release of this game will become with this much attention paid to it in early access.

[@annarooma]

It's great to hear how it's going with the update! (Also, the weird physics on the vehicles you showed were hilarious) Also, I have to say that the way that you explained Steam (& Epic) handling patches was really interesting, and it does make a lot of sense.

[@KimpaTheCool]

Im very happy if stable 8 is out by christmas coz i usually take up satisfactory once a year!, awsome update and information.

[@Dydreth]

Really appreciate the effort you guys put into keeping the player community up to date.

[@Alphay01]

Thank's Snutt, very helpful!

[@hypnotwist8943]

🤨

[@AusSkiller]

Delta patching can take many forms, originally Steam only did delta patching at the file level, so if a file changed that whole file would need to be downloaded, change a single character in a 1gb file and you would need to download 1gb. Some time in the past few years it seems to have changed to operate on a binary level, so it only sends the data that changed within files (along with metadata about where that in the file the change should be), change a single character in a 1gb file and you only need to download a few dozen bytes. You can also do something in-between based on the structure of a file, many game files are actually just large zip files containing many smaller files, so you can just replace the changed smaller file within the zip file, but I doubt that is what Steam is doing because it requires an understanding of how the files for a game are specifically structured which would add a lot of work to setup every game added to Steam to be able to patch it in this way. One of the reasons patches can be so big even with the binary level patching is that many compression algorithms use prior data to determine what the next data should be, so a single character change at the start of the file can propagate data changes throughout the rest of the file making the data different for the majority of that file and potentially necessitating downloading the entire file for the patch even though only a single character got changed. You see artefacts of this commonly in videos where one frame will have a small error in the data, and then every frame after it gets worse and worse until a key frame in the video completely replaces the area where the error happened. Even though it was probably only a couple of bits that got messed up in a single frame of the video it can drastically change the output of many subsequent frames. This sort of thing can be even more prevalent in encryption algorithms which are sometimes used to hamper attempts to data mine the game files for information that might spoil the game or allow it to be easily tampered with (which is usually a concern for competitive multiplayer games). I'm not sure exactly how Unreal packages its data but I'd wager it does some compression and encryption that make small changes propagate differences throughout more of the file than that change alone would otherwise necessitate.

[@BeardGrizzly]

Man, having these updates it just stellar. As someone that plays Warframe and getting their updates too, I'm stoked to have another game that matches that level of commitment to their community. Thanks, Snutt!

[@Sephyricon]

With the competition dealt with, Snutt is now the reigning facial hair champion of the coffee stain community managers.

[@AlastorMustPlay]

Hey! Love the game and the content!! Keep up the good and great work on the game. U guys got this!!!

[@JudgeRightly]

Thanks Snutt! Helps a lot!

[@brightorangemango]

Thanks Snutt, helps a lot! This is probably the clearest explanation of how build numbers work I've seen, so thank you for that

[@doctord5916]

thank you guys for these update videos! im super pumped for the next stable release and will gladly wait!

[@jonasrichter2306]

Just a few days ago I checked if there are new Dev updates and here you are! You heard my need for more info. Thanks. Cant wait for update 8 to be released. (But please take your time).

[@AlanThomas1]

Thanks Jace, helps a lot.

[@antares8826]

Loved the technical part at the end!

[@HeronymoSondar]

That delta encoding explanation was wonderful and explains the few issues I have had with steam. Many thanks for the description!

[@lucimon97]

As a Total War player used to months of radio silence, thank you for communicating regularly and clearly whats going on

[@andrewt.5567]

It is always nice to hear the devs say "we are still here doing stuff". A lot of games end up abandoned with no notice so we are left wondering.

[@Franimus]

One day, the satisfactory dev diaries and patch notes videos will be the prime subject of study for future community management degree majors

[@OkerlundTV]

I always chuckle at people when they can't understand why the patch notes so small yet patch size so big. I used to educate, but realized you educate you person and then next patch 10 more pop up. It is a never-ending cycle! But educating is still a good thing even if it is a never-ending job. Cheers for another great video.

[@AntonChekhoff]

At some point the people you've educated will start educating others. So keep up the good work but don't stress yourself.

[@bradcox2750]

Thank you for the regular updates! Love watching the vids and getting to see your face! Oh, and learn about the new things coming and how things are going... yea that too

[@Art_of_ignorance]

Snutt is the final boss of community managers lol

[@fjayrockst4411]

i really like snutts new promotion to The Community Manager. well deserved brotha

[@The_True_one]

Thanks for the updates Snutt.

[@bouncethemoonofficial]

Thanks for the update, as always! I'm working on Ascension 20 in Slay the Spire, so take your time. It may be a while. I'm sitting at A4 😂😅 see you in the next one!

[@pitamuller]

You're an awesome community manager!! I would love to hear a detailed case of where 1 simple line of bugfix was actually the whole team sweating and vice versa 😂

[@greggaming0988]

Even after the tenth time rewatching this video my ass was clenched just waiting for any new info to magically appear. Every week since the experimental branch release I have been rewatching all the satisfactory info on this update.

[@aeroandspace]

Hey, I'm sorry you lost Elida (sp?), she seemed really cool! I hope you get some relief soon, but you're doing a great job on your own! Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

[@P1XeLIsNotALittleSquare]

Shifting SemVer to the right is a brilliant idea. We was thinking of transitions to semver but doing it normally would break a lot of things... Thanks for sharing)

[@TechnoWave4ever]

all the numbers transition effects were dope 👌🏻👀🔥

[@KipataSensei]

Huge fan! awesome to see the interworkings of a studio!

[@evrail4449]

Lol that segment with the broken physics was a hilarious tangent.

[@bronsdog]

Keen to play once update 8 goes onto stable, love seeing the progress keep it up! :D

[@TmanDelport]

Thanks Snutt, we appreciate all you do :D

[@circeciernova1712]

Forgive me if this was answered long ago, but is there any chance of a fluid truck being added? It doesn't seem like it would require new physics, model+truck physics+fluid storage tank Doesn't seem game-breaking, trade off being able to carry one type of fluid for not being able to carry regular solid cargo. Maybe make it just a later unlock than the truck, or have it be hard drive alternate recipe. It could even be built from the existing truck model as a starting point. Sure, maybe they need their own depots - I'm not suggesting it would be so trivial as to be done in an hour. But it seems doable. Has there been a solid answer on this? If so, does anyone know what it is? To me at least, it doesn't seem that improbable to have a tanker truck carrying small loads of acid or other fluids.

[@LouPliml]

Thanks Snutt, helps a lot.

[@CJordanNicholson]

Love the information on the version numbers. Thanks for explaining that!

[@XconeArtist]

I'm always getting into a good mood when you post. Even if it's sad news I have to wait a month for more patching/updating to happen. Ah well, the risks of running experimental, I guess :D

[@SouthernFried]

Thanks for the update ! I didn't get either version of either game !!

[@aeriumfour6096]

You're not the only community manager, you're the _lead_ community manager. CV tip!

[@AdamSaxton]

we feel for you Snutt! Keep doing great work!

[@flech3025]

Thank you for explaining everything to us! I wish more game studios did community stuff like you guys. Keep up the amazing work, I am looking forward to update 8 or whatever number you are going to call it now. Lol

[@johnfrian]

Snutt holding the fort like a champ, keeping up the positive tone, delivering just the right amount of dumbed down information, sprinkled with just the right amount of laughs. It was well worth my time, taking a break from [recently released video game]!

[@TheSasquatchFTW]

Super informative. Can't wait for stable!

[@pilotdawn1661]

Excellent presentation. Thanks for the info and VERY interested in DEDICATED SERVERS. Also thanks for not obliterating the lovely area on the south side of the big falls.

[@SuperJclone]

Thanks for explaining how the downloads work and packaging. Really puts into perspective of what is needed to make games happen and how it differs between you and the platforms!

[@furrepanther]

That was very enlightening. Thank you, brother Snutt!

[@JangelDangel]

I love all of these transparent videos about what's happening. I feel so taken care of. I have even bought 6 other people satisfactory a few times a few on epic and on steam. Cuz epic joining is weird and some of us but on steam we can all fuck around. Thank you and keep on keeping on.

[@firefly2472]

Thanks Jace, helps a lot 👍🏼

[@UrdnotChuckles]

Ah, the joys of version control. :) I'm eagerly awaiting full release of the game before playing it again, but it is still nice to see update info from time to time.

[@malumphasma]

As always, thanx for the heads up and insight. I still am not expecting 8 out until November at the earliest, and now sounds like it may push later. If it does, I for one will be fine with it because I know you will keep us in the loop Snutt.

[@DouglasWatt]

A someone with multiple Steam releases, the simplest aspect is to package the game in a format with minimal use of large compressed archives that Steam cannot break apart. Delta updates are done a per-file basis. So even if 1 bit on a single small file is changed, if that file is included in a 3GB archive that Steam can't separate out into constitute files, then the "delta" is "replace the 3GB file" instead of "replace the single changed file".

[@DesignMeSilly]

Please show more dev footage! Closest thing to a blooper reel I've ever seen in video games

[@LCTesla]

make the patches bigger. if I have to download them overnight for 16 hours it will be worth it.

[@reallyanotheruser7290]

My two favourite game devs uploading almost back to back, nice timing 👌

[@bowi1332]

Thanks for giving us some info about the previous third CM.

[@thisiscompletelyreta]

Thanks for the update. You guys are a great company. All I wanna say is I’m totally happy to wait. There’s no rush. We want something good, not something soon and broken. I’m on experimental and liking it glitches and all. Having fun building on a new save. Looking forward to your next major update, but feel free to take your time to get it working. Not going anywhere. :)

[@Maverick_Mad_Moiselle]

I love your technical explanations

[@eriewerts4269]

Well done! I'm excited, but understanding.

[@nookschreier]

Thanks Snutt, handy information! (we need a "helps a lot" catch phrase for you)

[@Thameno]

Thanks Snutt and keep up the awesome work!

[@prebenkul]

don't forget the dangle spires iron node that's there but also not. Been there for a very long time, its like underground or something.

[@MrHaggyy]

You get THE hug for beeing THE best community manager for THE game with THE greatest community.

[@chiseledmedal2634]

YALL GOT THIS KEEP UP ALL THE GREAT WORK!

[@referee7285]

I'm not playing any other games, only Satisfactory! And I can't wait for Update 8, so hyped. ❤ Great community managament, by the way!

[@chefnerd]

Thanks, Snutt - helps a lot! :)

[@TesseractionUK]

Thanks as always for these updates, and for making it entertaining every time!

[@PlebNC]

The best part of being the only member of a team is when you want your arguments in meetings to have more weight you just say "the entire community management team is in favour of my idea".

[@hedonisticzen]

I appreciate the notes with patches so I know what's going on. Most people sleep 6 hours a day and most patches aren't impacting my world strategy or inticing me to start a whole new save. Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to 8.2 and stable.

[@willfrei8592]

It seems from one of the videos I watched on an experimental that the copper node has a cat ore chuck Spawn on it inside the miner and somehow that causes the limestone. Once the cat ore is mined and the miner is replaced it functions as intended

[@Hazardius]

I'm not playing Starfield nor BG3 right now. But I like to watch such videos just due to being a dev. Really nice way of explaining semdev, and building and distributing your project.

[@DonaldSubert]

I really appreciate this level of transparency, and technical detail. I'm enjoying update 8 quite a lot, as well.

[@Ruggedpig]

Still like to see power load on wire grids to make use of the new power lines. You guys are doing a amazing job !!!

[@HeroWillHD]

Maybe as an additional game modifier, I would like it too but I get that some people don't!

[@LostLagoon]

Great video! Love the transparency from you guys! I have never experienced anything like it from other game studios!

[@Naultarous]

It's definitely running better. Thank you

[@Thoran666]

Thanks for explaining the update system.

[@cybersteel8]

Thanks for keeping us in the loop Snutt! Awesome community manager right here!! I haven't seen this get a lot of attention, but clients on servers are having big foliage desync issues, and trees are flooding factories when they're actually already cut down, so they're not able to be removed. The issue already has a handful of upvotes on the questions website, but I really hope that during the Update 8.2 patch cycle this can be looked at, because it's actually crazy annoying XD

[@aoifezebra]

Always have time for you :D

[@cherrymountains72]

You are the BEST current community manager of the entire team Snutt! 😜

[@reneherzberger445]

I am still a big fan of your game and happy you still go on. All the big Studios should follow your example in terms of communication with your community.

[@minikretz1]

Great explanations as always

[@kiereann]

Sounds good

[@shigaraja]

you guys just keep on keeping on. love your work, your game, and your community .

[@delroyclarke1989]

Thanks Snutt for the updates on the patch, you are one of the best community managers by far even if CSS has only 1 , we as a community love you loads

[@Subjectivity13]

I was so desperate to play more that I broke down and redesigned everything on the map several times. Unfortunately I can't even imagine any more improvements to make, so now I'm really just waiting for the next update. I'm even worried that I improved my system so much that any new manufacturing projects will be way too easy to implement.

[@skenvoy1749]

Thanks Snutt, makes sense!

[@BradenJohnYoung]

I like this Snutt guy. He should be the Community Manager for Coffee Stain Studio!

[@BeeHouseful]

I rly hoped for faster progress and a final release back in the days when i bought the game

[@FastTquick]

I can tell Snutt and the other members of Coffee Stain saw ImKibitz’s latest Satisfactory video as one reason how they found that rogue copper node producing limestone.

[@aczbdk]

Here is what I think: - At least finish that S.A.M. ore and those orb thing, make them useful or remove them completely. - A factory manager that can be accessed from the computer inside the hub. - A ridable drone for long distance travel late game and elevator for inside factory, I don't really like using hypertube/hypercannon and that green pool, I think they just doesn't make sense. - Make Programmable Splitter able to control item/min, otherwise it is too expensive for what it can do currently - Don't allow flushing dangerous liquid such as sulfuric acid ....

[@gregritferdjr]

Ok number one is for 1.0. All of the rest except for the last one are TERRIBLE ideas. But I agree on the no flushing bad liquids

[@mockier]

Why yes I am playing Starfield, thanks for noticing! It's pretty rad :D Taking a break for dinner, and saw this update. Since Starfield was coming I binged playing Satisfactory during the week. I'm looking forward to going back to it in a few weeks/a month.

[@vmbi5213]

Thanks Snutt! Very helpful!

[@macserv]

Awesome to hear that you based your versioning on SemVer and your numbers have meaning, as opposed to the "sentimental" versioning used by so many teams... "Yeah, this just *feels* like a 2.0, y'know?" Of course, ideally, it would be preferable to stick to the integer triplet, and convey any additional information using the "build" and "metadata" fields; e.g., `8.0.1-experimental`. Just gotta let go of the "dot-oh" fixation- nobody's gonna riot if the general release's version is `8.0.1224`. 😉