2 months to release and the game feels like pre-alpha and is a letdown. Please delay the release.

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by larse, October 27, 2013.

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  1. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    I think it's also a case of people just not understanding Uber's process and don't seem to grasp the idea that just because something isn't in the Build we get as testers doesn't mean it isn't being worked on.

    Jon has said repeatedly in Live Streams and on the forums that they have a lot of work to do on the UI, but because people aren't seeing it in the Live Builds we get they wrongly assume it's not being worked on for example. People need to realize that we on;y see things in our Builds when they're ready, to hazard a guess I'd say we don't see things unless they're about 70% "complete/functional". I'm sure you guys do all kinds of work that never even makes it tot he live builds because you try things early on and rule out the ones that don't work but we don't get to see that and it confuses people.

    Mike
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  2. unconsumable

    unconsumable New Member

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    Hmm.. I dont know the exact rules about kickstarter and wether people will be allowed to cancel their funding when the product gets (significantly) delayed. Anyway a delay will mean higher costs till you get some more cashflow....

    The thing thats scary to me is that it tries to be big, bigger, biggest than anything ever. This comes with alot of concerns and questions about how you are supposed to handle it. I can only remember a couple games with a spherical playfield and none where concerned about realtime conflicts on multiple parts of the maps with thousands of units.
    Questions about a good interface naturally arise, and there are tons of ideas and possible solutions but I dont think you can easily plan a good coherent UI and add it on a day. I would expect that this should be something that you push onto players as early as possible to get feedback and further iterations (or plain drop some stuff that didnt work). Right now you are in beta and everyone would accept big changes and experiments. When you are in release you will have a large group of players that:
    a) want a working good solution right from the start (or they will leave very soon)
    b) dont want be involved in testing, experimenting and big changes every week.

    This concerns are multiplied by the fact that the UI right is extraordinary spartanic to the point that this cant be just for the "lack of time" to add more functionality IMHO.

    Anyway, thanks for responding to the thread and best of luck to the team.
  3. LavaSnake

    LavaSnake Post Master General

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    Can't wait. I'm sadden to see people doubting Uber like this. They know what they're doing and we just need to be patient.
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  4. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    The good thing about his in regards to PA is that They' have stayed consistent on their goals, PA was always about fighting on multiple spheres right from the word go, it wasn't something that came up late in the KS Campaign or midway through pre-production, it was always the goal and the game was designed accordingly.

    Add to that the fact that not only are many of the guys at Uber Industry veterans, but they are the industry leaders when it comes to making Large scale RTSs and I'm fine with all the progress that has been made considering they started with next to nothing a little over a year ago. Which is SUPER insane compared to the "standard" dev cycle for even medium sized games.

    Mike
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  5. archcommander

    archcommander Active Member

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    I guess the issue is people presume what they haven't seen yet isn't being worked on. Which is false of course. It is all being worked on; just not ready to be put into the game. The 'panic' in this thread made me think 'maybe that is a short time and maybe they might have to hold part of it off.'
    I think you guys will handle it. As long as you guys aren't stressed I'm not concerned.
  6. neutrino

    neutrino low mass particle Uber Employee

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    I'm going to start another thread to talk game status, was going to post here but I want it in a more positive thread.
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  7. paulusss

    paulusss Active Member

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    Great Garat were highly concerned, would love the info!! Thnx
  8. unconsumable

    unconsumable New Member

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    Well, if they are INSANE that explains alot =)

    It doesnt erase my concerns about the UI and other stuff though. Exactly because they are veterans and because we are in beta we should have some important stuff even if its just an early prototype or stopgap.
    Talking about a chatserver/game launcher, more information in the games list... and UI features.
    Bear in mind that this is my preference of whats important, Id love to have some information about ubers ideas and schedule for this - I dont understand why its lacking and why info about it is lacking.
  9. archcommander

    archcommander Active Member

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    Glad to hear it... a little more positivity would be good.
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  10. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    Well they use an iterative process, things like that just aren't as high on the priority list as things like refining Orbital/Inter-planetary Gameplay(Unit Cannon, Teleporter and such) and they do only have so many people. But the smaller things gradually climb the list as things get knocked off the top of the list and some people work solely in specific areas.

    Again, it comes down to the point that people need to realize just because something isn't present in our Build, doesn't mean it's not being worked on or that it won't be done.

    Mike
    Last edited: October 29, 2013
  11. menchfrest

    menchfrest Active Member

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    No wonder people are so grouchy as we've moved along
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  12. slywynsam

    slywynsam Active Member

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  13. unconsumable

    unconsumable New Member

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    I dont think our conversation is heading anywhere.
    For my understanding: UI is complex, aint getting done soon, aint getting done right in the first try. Possible reasons we have a spartinic UI right now:
    Variant a:
    Uber is working on UI in the background, not releasing their current state state if its done -> I doubt it will be perfect from the start, no feedback from the community,
    Variant b:
    Uber is working on something else, UI is "not important", will be worked on later -> Game is hard to control right now, interplanetary will make it just harder. Good UI makes or breaks a game of this scale, its the worst area to skimp early research and feedback.

    Either aint a good place to be in, and its probably one of the primary reason why there arent any competetive games right now.

    As Software Dev you know the saying: "the first 90% of the work are simple, the second 90% can kill you".
  14. slywynsam

    slywynsam Active Member

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    They just said(If you look at the link I posted) that the UI is being completely redone.
  15. arsene

    arsene Active Member

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    I don't understand this "they are professionals, stop doubting them" nonsense. It doesn't preclude their games from not suffering from any delays, as delays are somewhat of the norm in this industry. The uber PR person telling you that everything is fine is hardly the best evidence for the game's well-being, given that many people on this forum actually have access to the game and don't think it's too close to a release version. They only have a month left to finish the game, even if there are many features waiting to be rolled out while they finalize the next beta build, much of it will still be untested and unpolished come release.
  16. slywynsam

    slywynsam Active Member

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    You should probably really read the link I posted.
  17. lokiCML

    lokiCML Post Master General

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    I always assumed from the get-go that there could be delays but to pledge or pre-order nonexistent to semi-existing game you have to trust them in order to do it. What is important here is that they have a complete picture. Were just grasping at straws because we don't have the complete picture. Again you have to trust in order to do something like this.;)
    Last edited: October 30, 2013
  18. heyiisrandom

    heyiisrandom New Member

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    this ^
  19. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    So on what basis should we be doubting them then? It's not like any of us are 20 year Industry Vets that have worked on almost every single Large Scale RTS ever created right?

    Nobody knows PA like the guys at Uber, and if they say you guys are over-exaggerating and imagining the worst possible scenario don't you think they should be listened to because they have a full understanding of the project where as we're all just looking through a tiny keyhole?

    Mike
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  20. radtoo

    radtoo Member

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    Some or many people are probably over-exaggerating.

    But when you can only look through a tiny keyhole and see things are amiss behind it with flames, smoke and ember, what do you think people are going to do? Blindly trust everything is okay because the professional firemen are probably close to extinguishing the fire? Or evacuate the building and tell people not to enter?

    I think a window or two that gives a bit better sight on the situation -including the efforts made to combat the fires- and maybe some means to assist in extinguishing the fires (participation in design-making beyond faction and commander naming- even if it's not perfect) would calm people down quite a lot.
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