Creating a New Release

Whenever a major change is made, a new release should be created so that people can test and play the game on their computers. You can view past releases here.

Here are the steps which should be taken to create a new release:

1.) Make a pull request to merge branch develop into branch master. This can be done here. Include relevant information about the version, and make sure branch develop is ready to be merged into branch master and be released.

2.) Let others review your pull request and weigh in. As a rule of thumb, you should not approve your own pull request--let others decide if branch develop is ready to be released.

3.) Once the pull request is accepted and the branches are merged, compile the code into an executable jar in Eclipse. Compilation instructions are here. Find the appropriate libraries (DLLs, etc.) and package them in a binary file (preferably .zip) along with the jar file. Test out the result by extracting the binary file into a folder and running the jar file. If everything goes well, Dirtbox should pop up in a new window. Otherwise, the game was likely improperly compiled, or the code was not release-ready. Eventually we will set up information on how to create an installer, but for now, this will work.

4.) Create a new release here. In the field labeled "tag version", include a version tag. Information about proper formatting can be found here. The tag usually should be as follows: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH. For a major version change which is not backwards compatible, increment the MAJOR version number by one, while resetting the MINOR and PATCH version number to zero. For a minor, backwards compatible change, increment the MINOR version number by one, while setting the PATCH version number to zero and keeping the MAJOR version number the same. For a backwards compatible bugfix, simply increment only the PATCH version number by one. Change the target branch to "master", and fill in the other fields with relevant information about the release. Attach the binary file created in step 3 at the very bottom. If the version is not ready to be fully released, simply tick the "pre-release" checkbox at the bottom of the page. Once everything is done, hit the "publish release" button, and you're done.