What is a PTE?
Public Test Environments are publicly available builds for testing upcoming changes prior to release as a stable build.
A PTE can contain any of the following:
- fixes
- enhancements
- new features
- new content
- new units
How do I access a PTE?
You can install a PTE using papatcher via a PAnet account:
- modern-pte (modern Public Test Environment for modern CPUs)
- legacy-pte if available (legacy Public Test Environment for older CPUs)
What is a Legacy Build?
Legacy builds are publicly available stable builds for older CPUs like:
- AMD Phenom
- Intel Core 2
They automatically target the current stable servers.
How do I access a Legacy Build?
You can opt-in to a legacy build via Steam or papatcher via a PAnet account:
- legacy (stable for older CPUs that automatically targets stable servers)
Steam (Windows / macOS / Linux)
- Open your Steam library
- Right click Planetary Annihilation: TITANS then select Properties
- Select the BETAS tab
- Select the legacy build from the list
- Click the CLOSE button and Steam will download any changes for the legacy build
Outside of Steam
papatcher using PAnet accounts
Download papatcher.go from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/planetary-annihilation/papatcher/master/papatcher.go
Install golang from repo (Linux) or https://golang.org/
go run papatcher.go --stream=modern-pte --update-only
Legacy PA Launcher (Windows / macOS prior to Catalina 10.15) using PAnet accounts
- Open the PA launcher and sign in
- Click on your username then select Build Options… from the list
- Tick the PTE or legacy build you want to install then click SAVE
- Change the stream from stable to the PTE or legacy build you want to test
- Click VERIFY to install or update the selected PTE or legacy build
Windows Dependencies
For Windows you may need to install the latest Visual Studio 2019 64 bit runtime: https://support.microsoft.com/en-nz/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads
Linux Dependencies
- libsdl2
- libgl1
- libstdc++6
- libcurl
- libuuid
On Fedora / NixOS the following environment variable may be needed:
SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt
Clean Testing with Multiple Copies of PA
You can start multiples copies of PA using the --localstorageurl command line option with a different name for each copy:
--localstorageurl=localstore-test1
A separate directory for settings will be created in your Planetary Annihilation Data Directory.
This can be used to separate testing from your stable build and is required when running multiple copies of PA at the same time to avoid data loss.
Playing on Stable Servers with PTE
For most PTEs you can play on stable servers using the --version command line option:
--version 115958
Remember to remove or update this when a new build goes live.
Crash Dumps
PA generated crash reports with logs (and dxdiag on windows) are usually automatically uploaded to our crash reporting system.
When reporting crashes it also helps if you include the crash ID from your logs (same as the filename of the generated minidump):
xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.dmp
The default location for crash dumps generated by PA is now the logs directory in your Planetary Annihilation data directory.
The environment variable MINIDUMP_DIRECTORY can be used to change the location where PA crash minidump files are saved and will also generate more detailed (and larger) minidump files similar to the new --enable-detailed-minidump
Windows Error Reporting (WER) and macOS may also generate different crash reports:
- WER: https://planetaryannihilation.com/support/windows/#WER
- macOS: https://planetaryannihilation.com/support/macos/#crash-dumps
Steam Command Line Parameters
- Open your Steam library
- Right click Planetary Annihilation: TITANS then select Properties
- Click Set Launch Options…
PA Launcher Command Line Parameters
- Open the PA launcher and sign in
- Click on your username then select Build Options… from the list
- Additional command-line options
Steam Installation Directory
- Open your Steam library
- Right click on Planetary Annihilation: TITANS or Planetary Annihilation in your list of games
- Select Properties
- Click the LOCAL FILES tab
- Click BROWSE LOCAL FILES