Development

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1999
Dec The closed beta of Allegiance was released.
2000
Jan The open beta of Allegiance was released.
Open beta changelog
Mar 29th Public release of Allegiance.
May 19th Version 1.1 released.
1.1 Code changes
1.1 Balance changes
May 25th Version 1.11 released.
1.11 Balance changes
Jun 19th Version 1.2 released.
1.2 Code changes
1.2 Balance changes
Jun 26th Version 1.22 released.
1.22 Balance changes
Jul 3rd Version 1.23 released.
1.23 Balance changes
Sep 26th Version 1.24 released.
1.24 Code changes
2001
??? Spunkmeyer released Special operations core.
Feb 18th SOV_Vencain released SOVRoute
May 15th Microsoft announced that it had decided to stop supporting Allegiance
Apr 27th SOV_Vencain released SOVShowCG
Jun 9th SOV_Vencain released SOVGuard
Jun 16th The final patch, Version 1.25 was released
1.25 Balance changes
Sep 1st SOV_Vencain released SOVLog
2002
??? Pook released Zoom core.
Jan-Jun Allegiance Wars 3 (AW3)
May 2nd Spunkmeyer released Allegiance + core.
Jun 21st SOV_Vencain released SOVLogin
2003
Jul 17th Open beta of ASGS released by Pook.
2004
Feb Noir released Dark Nebulae core.
Feb Vlymoxyd released Race core.
Feb 5th SOLAP persuaded Microsoft to release the source code for Allegiance.
Apr DrStrnglv released Rock Paper Scissors core.
Apr 27th FAZ Beta officially started.
Aug Hawkwood released Edge of Reality core.
Sep Paradigm released Good old Days core.
2005
Sep Pook released Pook core.
2006
Apr Weedman released Star Wars core.
Mar 1st FAZ R1 released by Dev team.
Aug 1st FAZ R2 released by Dev team.
Aug 17th Grimmwolf released Good old Days II core.
Dec 14th FAZ R3 released by Dev team.
2007
Mar Apochboi released Warp core.
Sep Gappy released Valley of Saturns core.
Nov 1st FAZ R4 released by Dev team.
Nov 1st Andon released Battlestar Galactica core
2008
May 17th Community Core released.
2009
Jul Development and design of CSS started
Nov 16th FAZ R5 released by Dev team.
2010
Nov CSS goes into closed beta phase
2011
Jan NightRychene released eXtreme Core
Feb New Installer makes installation easier
2012
Feb ACSS enters the public beta phase
May 14th FAZ R6 released by Dev team.
Oct 15th ACSS replaces ASGS

As you know, Allegiance was originally developed by Microsoft back in 2000, 2001. They released seven patches to both update the game code and to balance the gameplay. These changelogs are maintained in the archive section of this wiki and, if you wish, you can access them by following the links within the timeline to the right.

When Microsoft stopped developing the game players couldn't fix the game code, but they could attempt to balance the gameplay by using KGJV's ICE program to edit the factions' stats. Many independant developers sprung up, each with their own idea of how to balance the game which led to different versions of Allegiance, with subtle but important differences. These were called cores and had an ugly side-effect of creating "Core Wars", where players tried to force others to play on their personal favourite.

When the source code was released by Microsoft in 2004 the community founded the FAZ project - Free Allegiance Zone. The goal of the project was to fix the many bugs that had been discovered and documented, to update the network code to ensure ease of installation, and to begin upgrading the game with new features. This is an ongoing process, with work currently (August 2008) being done for the fifth release of FAZ.


Development process

The core of Allegiance, including the game client, server and lobby code are being developed by the FAZ Development team in an open source project led by the Development Zone Leader. Note that you don't have to be an official member of the FAZ team to help develop - anybody is free to download, examine and offer patches. For your patch to be included in an official build it needs to be submitted to the Development team for approval.

The ASGS system is closed source for security and licensing reasons. However, some trusted members of the community have access to the full ASGS source.


For each release a set of goals are created. All members of the development team are free to submit patches to a SVN repository for review and inclusion in beta builds until a feature freeze is made (usually when the development team feels enough improvements have been made). Patches that have a clear affect on gameplay are taken to the community for voting.

Beta builds are run on a special development lobby to weed out bugs. Towards the end of each development cycle public weekly beta games are held to stress test the new releases and find the final bugs.

It is important to note that only pre-approved builds are accepted by ASGS when logging on for play. Therefore you can not build your own client and play on the normal servers.


Current Development

Additional wiki articles concerning development:


Mods

There have been many patches that aren't part of the official build for various reasons.

Historical Development


Code changelogs

Note that these are different from Game Balance changelogs, you would need to look up the appropriate core to view those.

FAZ Development
About Free Allegiance Zone
Releases: R1 · R2 · R3 · R4 · R5 · R6  · (current)R7
Allegiance R8: What's new? · Build it!
Testing Beta: Overview · Testing procedure
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