A few members of the community have been running play tests pretty frequently, but were coming up against an issue where the server would crash at unexpected moments because of certain interactions or objects. This was causing problems for users attempting to build houses together, so starting now in the release builds all exceptions in SimAntics threads will be caught, and objects that throw them will be reset or removed depending on the circumstance.

We also now have a new client, with the FreeSO logo. This client has a completely changed namespace setup and now builds to “FreeSO.exe”, so make sure to start the correct version when testing!

The latest version enables buy/build online, and by popular request, adds the most important feature by far… “Go Here”! To get these working I had to implement a special variant of object that I’ve dubbed a “Ghost Object”, which only runs its init function and deliberately sandboxes itself away from all other objects, to prevent causing desyncs with the server when these objects are controlled in real time on client only by, for example, the mouse cursor.

Buy mode has also now be changed to act more like the original game. When picking up an object on the lot, you actually pick up a duplicate of it as a “ghost object” which only exists on your side. Changes are only confirmed when you finalize the placement.

The video above is of a play test Zack Casey ran earlier today, where he and other users collaborated on and interacted together on an initially blank lot. Hope you enjoy!

Welcome to the FreeSO blog! Here the main contributors (currently only me…) will post development updates and information on official events.

Hopefully we can bring back TSO together!

Rhys