TWGS has been buggy when running as a service under newer Windows versions. I just finished some fixes that resolved some obvious issues under Vista and Server 2003. The main problem was related to running TWGS interactively, where you can open the GUI and configure games and the server while it's running. Windows Vista and above (and that seems to include recent service packs for Server 2003) no longer support interactive services because it's a security issue (what isn't?). So TWGS is running under these OSs as a service, but cannot be accessed through the GUI, only through remote admin connection.

I really need some people to jump in there and do some additional testing now that it's running as a service, just to make sure that's stable.

This was the last thing on my "must fix" list, so I'm ready to release this very soon. Just need a few days of testing to make sure nothing's obviously broken. I'm going to work on the change list and post it here, then hopefully release this over the weekend or early next week. And of course, once it's released, I intend to continue tracking down bugs and problems, as well as working on the gameplay changes that we've been debating on here. So this isn't the end of the beta. Just a milestone.

Thank you John!

So JP,

“changes” are all changes Still optional or are you being misleading again?
Heard something about a “buffering” cap? That will effect the commands set?
Could you please explain what that means and or why it was added to beta software as it apparently will be effecting a fair amount of scripts.

Everything is optional unless it is bug (as compared to a change in designed behavior) like the mail file fix, or it is related to performance, like some new load balancing code. I'm not aware of a "buffering cap" off the top of my head, but it's possible someone is referring to something they're seeing in the beta. I'm tracking down a bug right now that's causing the game to hang on a move command, and I could see where that might look like some kind of pacing or buffering cap, though it's definitely not intentional.

Once this is out there and people begin to test it better, I will consider all complaints and do what I can to make sure I'm not breaking anything for anyone. Honestly. I'm not lying.

One of the problems I've had on the beta is that when sending a large
burst of commands, they seem to get capped at some point.

I've confirmed this happens subspace messages, corp messages, a
large burst of moves, and product movement burst. It probably also
happens on avoids, but I haven't tested that yet.

Since you brought up movement, I'll see my experience is related. If
I burst a macro of 1000 sectors, only about 150 actually get done. The
rest is just dropped, even if I have turns.

Definitely sounds like a bug. Let me take a look at it.