The time it takes for me to finish a port is proportional to the magnitude of the changes made per version. Yeah, 6.54 came out quickly because the changes between it and 6.53 were minimal, and 6.53 came out only shortly after the official map because 6.52 took me so long that by the time I finished it, 6.53 was out already (and the changes between 6.52 and 6.53 were also minimal).
6.55 is more like 6.52, so a gap of time between when 6.51 and 6.53 ports is probably roughly indicative of how long this will take.
Also, I've been meaning to do a complete framework reconstruction on the map to improve compatibility and stability, and now that several systems have been rewritten (including the bloody game clock), now seems as good a time as any to do that. I started it yesterday, but it means this will take even longer...but hopefully the end result should be more stable than what we've got now.
On the upside I did finish updating the terrain and regions. =) AI can move normally around the new field now.
Update:
Wow, i think BMP is made great progress, here is his latest statement on 16 October:)
An update, for those who are curious about progress:
-All terrain and unit locations have been updated, and AI can move around normally.
-All item recipes have been updated (though new items have not been completely implemented yet).
-Roshan aura routine implemented
-Admiral Proudmoore and Windrunner implemented
-Implemented assisted neutral killing routine (if single hero assist on Sentinel/Scourge kill), but gold distribution has not been updated yet
-Implemented bonus gold/XP in AOE of hero death
And my personal favourite:
-Updating much of the map framework resulted in -dm working properly again (to the best of my knowledge)
And yes, I am working with 6.56.
Yay. Still much to do, but I'm sleepy now. =P
Progress is coming along nicely...I'm actually working quite a bit faster than I had anticipated. Who would've guessed?
Update part 2
Here is his another statement on 18 October :)
Still to do:
-New BKB and Scroll of Town Portal
-Bounty mechanics (towers, mostly)
-New game timer
-Creep spawning mechanics
-New visuals
-New commands (-quote, -ha, -fr, -cm, -trees, -itemswap)
-AI for new heroes/items (though unlikely for now)
-New -rd mode (maybe later)
-Move fun taverns
-Replay stuff (low priority)
What's done:
-A few extra bug/typo fixes (bugs and typos that exist in official 6.56 also...but I'll fix them anyway)
-Updated AI behaviour for new terrain/spawnpoints/itemcosts
-Most everything else in 6.55/56 changelogs that's not on the "still to do" list
Yayayay
Wow, i think it will finish next week. Stay tune in this post, i will tell you when it's done :)
Update part 3: (23 October 2008)
It has come to my attention that there are a LOT of fake AI maps floating around on the internet, and as far as I can tell, they don't work. And they're definitely not from me.
I figure most of you already know that, but I just want reiterate it in case we get another repeat of an idiot posting about how "the newest map doesn't work".
Again, I will update here (DotA Allstars forums) as soon as I have a map, so stay tuned and tell your friends the same.
Also, I've finished all the item work (BKB, Scrolls, Couriers not being able to use Wards), and as far as I can tell the AI should use these properly (though I've been wrong before about that, heh). I still need to update visuals and tower bounty mechanics, which should be fairly straightforward. The game timer/creep spawning will take a little more work, so depending on how well it goes I might just drop it for Rev. 1 and implement it in Rev. 2.
I'll probably have some people do some beta testing in about a week and then a release somewhat shortly thereafter. If all goes well I'm hoping we can see something in ~3 weeks (if not sooner!).
Thanks for everyone's patience.
Hmmm, that's great news. Let's just wait a little more shall we. But i hope he will dropped Dota-Allstars 6.56 AIplus v1.52 Rev. 1 first, so while waiting for Revision 2 we already can play with AI :)
Update part 4: (24 October 2008)
I've finished with the tower bounty mechanisms and visuals (most of them), along with some bugfixes. Really the only thing left is that bloody game clock, which when I tried to implement yesterday (again), broke the AI (again), so I promptly undid those changes (again). I've changed the creep spawn times to how they are in 6.56, but I might just manually address the new powerup/neutrals/Roshan/supercreep times with the existing game clock. You'll all just have to wait for the countdown timer, unless I somehow come across an amazing breakthrough that makes everything work.
Also, don't expect new -cm or -rd modes to make it anytime soon. They're a pain.
If I somehow find it in me to work as much on the map today as I did yesterday (for about 6 hours after work...I'm such a loser, haha), then I expect I'll have a rough beta done by the weekend.
Update part 5: (28 October 2008)
Right you are.
I never said anything about releasing this week; I said I would have a rough beta out (which I did, and it was rough), and now there are a few gamebreaking bugs that I need to address. One of which is currently very, very difficult to locate and driving me crazy.
I also didn't get a chance to work on it much this weekend, because I actually did stuff in real life. If you expect me to apologise for that...don't. =P
Ugh, i think this is bad news.. Let's hope BMP can resolve it quick. I already ask him about that major problem, and it can cause 4 from 5 games ended with fatal error :(
