RTB v3.3 has been released. I honestly can’t remember what I’ve changed since v3.2 since it’s been such a long time, but there are lots of bug fixes.

The main new feature is the add-on grouping. This can be accessed either via Start a Server > Add-Ons (the Groups button) or by clicking the “Groups” tab in the Your Mods section of the Mod Manager. Grouping allows you to create a group which contains specific add-ons and you can then enable/disable these groups from the Add-Ons menu as usual.

Just restart/open Blockland to get the update.

You can post any bugs/issues/questions in this thread or on our forums.

RTB now allows you to submit files which you can choose to hide from the general public. This means it won’t show up in searches and people will not be able to view or download it. You can set your files to private either during Stage 2 of the upload process, or by editing the file information via the FileCP.

The Private Files features the following:

• You can specify up to 20 BL IDs that are allowed to view/download your file.
• When you add someone, your add-on will be visible to them both in sections/search results but also in the Private Mods category.
• Users will also be informed that you added them in their activity stream on the FCP, as well as via the News Feed.
• Private Mods do not have to be approved before they can be downloaded, since the risk of something dangerous spreading is minimal - and people accept this risk when they download unapproved private mods.
• Mod Reviewers will have access to your private mods - this is something you’ll have to deal with. We’re not going to let you upload stuff to our service without us knowing what the hell it is.

Enjoy, and please report all bugs or issues you find on our Forums.

As most of you know, the RTB wiki was recently taken down. Nobody seemed to use it, it wasn’t very organized and it was infested with spam bots. We’re working on getting it up and running again and better than before. The biggest change is that this will no longer be just an RTB wiki documenting RTB, but an RTB and Event wiki, complete with a database of event contraptions uploaded by our users.

We would like to invite the community to come help set it up. This isn’t for general use yet- there’s lots of rough edges. We’ve got a skeleton main page, no help section and only a couple of articles. You will need to use special pages and the search tool to navigate, we don’t have a finalized structure yet.

If you have a skill you think would be valuable, please mention it. Include a sample of your work: links to tutorials you’ve written and would like to upload to the wiki, any work you’ve done on other wikis, or if you’re interested in layout, a website with a nice table you made using CSS. However, you are not required to have any of these skills in order to participate, if you’re interested in just writing some articles and helping out in general, you’re welcome to apply.

At the moment we are only looking for around ~5 people but we will slowly expand this group. Eventually there will be a beta to invite the general community to come and upload their own guides.

Your job will include writing articles, templates, and tables. Your work will ultimately determine the organizational structure and the look of the final public release.

When your application is accepted you will be added to the RTB wiki usergroup, gain access to the RTB wiki sub-forum, and get permission to view and edit the rtb wiki itself shortly afterwards.

To apply, please post in this thread.

So RTB 3.2 is out and you can grab this off the auto-updater when you start up Blockland. Here’s the list of changes:
Changes:

- RTB Web API now runs faster/uses less memory (speeds up mod manager)

I’m glad to say the release went smoothly and everyone is now enjoying the bug-free RTB 3.2. Comments that suggest otherwise will be deleted.

So, you may have noticed that it’s “just the Mod Manager” that is changed. I also forgot to mention the GUI Downloader which is now working. Anyway, a lot of the development time was spent updating the online Downloads System. I think it’ll take some time before you really appreciate just how much easier the new Mod Manager is to use, it’s faster and more sleek and actually works.

Apart from this, most of the core RTB code has been redone and optimized to work much better. This allows me to push out future updates much faster. The server backend of RTB has also been redone to allow for more scaleability and it uses much less of our server resources which is always a bonus.

On the topic of RTB4, you can expect this much sooner and faster than RTB3 took - I’ll have more information on the development of this system later on. Anyway, try out the new RTB and see how you like it.

RTB3 is finally available. It features a totally overhauled Mod Manager. Instead of me explaining the new features to you it’d be best for you to just go ahead and download it! You can grab it either by starting up Blockland or via the Downloads page of this site.

Enjoy!

So, as you may have noticed - it is August 1st and there is no RTB. How can this be?

Well basically we found a bug during testing that required a nasty C++ fix which has been added into version 13 of Blockland. Sure it’s annoying when I give you guys a release date but these are just estimates. So essentially, We’re going to continue improving RTB3 in beta and maybe adding a few new features that were not going to be in the initial release while we wait for Blockland v13. I am told its not too far away so it may not be such a long wait. There are also a couple more bugs that need a bit more attention and more time than I had planned for. Either way we’re not quite done.

Because of the delay I will be re-opening the RTB3 beta to 30 more people since only half of the beta applicants actually downloaded RTB3. You can apply at http://beta.returntoblockland.com/

Time for a progress update I think. As a couple of you may remember - this Saturday the 25th of July is our RTB3 release date. We’re cutting this pretty close (but not that close considering its a release date I just pulled out of my ass). At the moment the following features have been cut from the initial v3 release to be added in the following weeks:

• Viewing add-ons by user-configured “groups” instead of by add-on category.
• Viewing/submitting comments for add-ons via the Mod Manager.
• Steam-like overlay for ingame toggling

The plan is to integrate each one of these each week after v3. So the following saturday after v3 release we’ll be releasing a bugpatch for any issues found (there will be many) and also the ability to view add-ons by groups. The following week we’ll release another bugpatch followed by comments, then another bugpatch with the steam overlay. (Then more bugpatches) Currently I am re-working the server control to be easier for multiple people to edit, and to fix a nasty bug that limited how many prefs could be set using the server control. It also fixes a number of issues and re-works the basics of the system to allow for later extensions. The final task is making the “Welcome Wagon” which is not actually a wagon at all. When you start up RTB3 for the first time you’ll get a few slides of information (complete with an assortment of gesturing minifigs) explaining changes to RTB, and why you should immediately sync your add-ons (need to make the syncing feature too). Once that’s done - we have RTB3.

And that’s the plan. Oh - the bad news is we’ll probably miss our RTB3 release date by a week. I’ll see if I can get it out on time but it will mean foregoing any testing.

So, The RTB3 Forums & Download System are live and minus numerous small bugs, there have been no system-crippling issues (yet). The RTB Mod Bot has also not hijacked the forums yet so I’d call this release a smooth one. I’ve also noticed there is much confusion over RTB3/RTB2 and all that jazz that I will try and sort out. First off, it was just the RTB3 Forums & Download System that were being released on Saturday - not RTB3 itself. Secondly, the RTB you use on Blockland right now uses the RTB2 downloads system which people have stopped submitting things to, and RTB3 uses the RTB3 downloads system. It makes sense really, but it can be a little confusing.

Anyway obviously this is a bit of an awkward interval between RTB2 and RTB3 since nobody is submitting stuff to the old system (and rightly so, once you go v3 you don’t go back … generally) and honestly, RTB3 won’t be “ready” for a couple of months so here’s the plan:

Despite you guys voting that you wanted a full RTBv3 release I have decided that you really don’t want to wait for it and instead I am going to wrap up everything, get it tested speedily and release it lacking quite a few minor and a couple of major features. Once this is out I will be attempting to add these minor/major features on a weekly basis. That way you can enjoy the new system sooner, and still get everything promised in v3. Feel free to criticise my violation of the system of democracy (like politicans don’t do that every day!) in the comments section or the RTB Development Thread.

Oh and just to put the pressure on, Lets set the RTB3 release date for … July 25th, 2009

Yep, the forums and download system for RTB3 are now open for you to register and upload your add-ons to. Please report all bugs in the Helpdesk forum, and enjoy toying with the new system.

http://forum.returntoblockland.com/

http://mods.returntoblockland.com/