Somebody has already created a replay program, now. (Link: http://www.leaguereplays.com/
) Yes, it does work. and it's 100% legit, in that it uses only Riot programs to play it.
Meanwhile, you are still working on it. Now, it's just getting silly. You guys clearly have the technology and method to do it, but still nothing comes. I know it's not easy, but you have had TWO YEARS (more or less) to do this.
The language used in the Riot posts seem to me to mean = We don't even know to go about making work. That's very troubling and would explain the silence on this topic. I hope it's not the case.
EDIT:
RIOT POST:
Quote:
Guinsoo:
We definitely plan to make replays!
That's...really frustrating. You guys have said that you have the problem, you acknowledge our solution, but don't have any sort of actual progress or even technical plans of action. You just...PLAN. Riot, this should be high on your priority list. Right now, it seems:
Champions
Skins
PvP
Balance
Bugfixes
Everything else.
New content + stabilty/balance should be first. But not champions. You are trying too hard to produce new champions every 2 weeks, and this is really draining any power you have to do anything else. I know- "different people work on different things-" but either you guys are unbelievably slow and lazy or you are simply working too hard on the wrong things. It doesn't take 2 years to make a replay system, and if you still "plan," then I think you just haven't been doing it. THAT'S what we want, Riot. Don't even bother with giving us details if you aren't going to work on it.
Quote:
jmccaffrey:
What happens when we patch the game and change the map or champion stats, how does it work then? This is the principal problem with replays, not actually replaying the data but instead creating a system where we can not have all of the old replays be invalidated every 2 weeks.
...
That's the problem?
You...host different, older versions of the client.
A la Blizzard.
In fact, since it seems you already have a replay program, you just create a new one every single patch. Then, the replay has the relevant data, and the game loads the older patch accordingly. I'm serious, this would take like a few hours max, plus testing, few days. (I don't know if there is extra involved but the base coding itself, for sure, would take this long.) It's not acceptable that you take this long when apparently you don't have a problem.
Problem solved.
Quote:
Guinsoo:
That is a good way to solve the problem, however it is far from easy and farther than far from a few hours of work.
Please...elaborate. Assuming the replay program is actually programmed and not some wild simulator (Ex, as in it runs a copy of the game using data it receives from a file instead of a server, not just a really dumbed-down version of the game, and would thus be a really bad program if you planned it for replays) you just log the changes each patch took. If that is not how it's programmed, then never mind me. I don't think anyone can help you if people don't work to solve the problem themselves. I will admit that it's not easy, but you've had replays on the table since day 1 of beta and it's been FAR more than enough time to have them designed. At least in THEORY.
Quote:
Guinsoo:
But what about if you have a player who's trying to view a replay from an older version that he never had locally?
Essentially with this system you need to build a patcher that can patch all versions of the game at the same time. Plus, this system needs to self-update itself with each new patch. It's an extremely complex piece of software.
Yes, it's doable, but it's really hard to do without taking tons and tons of disk space.
As for the "build replays that only work for 1 patch" - that's an upper management decision. We made the choice that we'd rather do it right the first time. Other games that try to implement replays in waves have trouble.
Checked the "replay" program currently being used by the 3rd-party program. It's using a program that is about 6mb. x how many patches you have, and it's not really that impressive. Certainly if we can handle a 300mb Air update a few 6mb programs are fine. Then phase out (or give the option to delete) the programs that are for really old patches. Or even just download each program from the cloud respectively if you want.
The point is it's not a lot of data and not complex if you code it right.
Also alternate method assuming that 6mb program is actually just the face for more massive programs, have programs (like the ones described above) in place that each have instructions to patch certain parts of the game. That's not hard. And even one program that holds all the patch data, + the cloud servers, is not a lot of data nor complicated. You already patch it every two weeks, yes?
I understand it's more complex than I know. but "stfu Riot doing" isn't a legit answer anymore. These posts going into the current process seems to imply they are trying to make it backwards compatible. Hundreds of viable solutions have been posted over the past 2 years. Some are in place in popular games. Riot doesn't have a good excuse anymore. They simply have not been working on it, and that's that. As far as I can tell. :S
The point is this: We were promised replays 2 years ago. That's more than enough time, no matter what circumstances. Especially because they were set to release just after launch.
We appreciate the dialogue, but I see why we often don't get it. -_-
P.S. Please load health data for champions/minions even if they aren't onscreen. The only functional replays it seems we'll ever get need them in case the recorder wasn't looking at the fight at the time.
.
