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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Author Topic: 4 years....  (Read 34541 times)

Sproginator

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #15 on: April 30, 2016, 02:39:12 PM »

You've been on the forum since May 05, 2012.

Just click on your name from one of your posts.

Damn, that long? Thanks for the help :D

Anyway, on topic,

Alex is one dedicated dev, I've seen this game progress from the Starfarer days of just a single sector with no phase ships and barely any real mechanics, followed him since before Total Biscuit's video and loved the game ever since. Do i still play dedicated non stop? Nope, but that's the beauty of a PC game. You aren't shelling out £/$40+ on a single game so you can easily afford to switch between countless. I love nipping in from time to time to see his amazing progress! Threads like these always down-hearten a developer, please understand that progress ALWAYS takes time. Better things take more time. Therefore, for something that is taking longer that 4 years, we can be CERTAIN the finished product is going to be LEGENDARY, not simply great :)
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Aik

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #16 on: April 30, 2016, 08:05:08 PM »

If all work on Starsector stopped tomorrow, I'd consider that I got my money's worth.

This game is a really good fit for the early access model - an update comes out -> play with it, have fun -> get bored and do something else -> repeat. Every time there's some interesting new thing that spices up the game and keeps it fresh. I've gotten far more time out of it than if I'd just bought the complete version. Slow releases aren't a problem - there are plenty of other things to do.
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Linnis

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #17 on: May 02, 2016, 06:28:14 AM »

Sure it is developing really slowly. But considering is only 1 person full time working on this. It is still amazing progress.

 ??? ;D
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Jonlissla

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #18 on: May 02, 2016, 08:17:34 AM »

Four years.

And the Buffalo Mk2 is still the worst ship in the game.
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TJJ

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #19 on: May 02, 2016, 08:37:20 AM »

Four years.

And the Buffalo Mk2 is still the worst ship in the game.

Kite(S) ?
Construction Rig?!?  ???
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Draken

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #20 on: May 03, 2016, 11:04:26 AM »

Honestly the biggest issue is that at the time (and as recently as last October) the FAQ very specifically said that it would not take this long.  If memory serves it said something "we're not Blizzard, so this doesn't mean 5+ year development cycles" under release date.  It has now been more than 6 years.  I like the game but I agree, the pace of development is far too slow.  The game is good and hiring a small team to finish in 2-3 years would have been the correct choice.  I got more than my monies worth out of it, but it absolutely did not live up to its promise in terms of development time.
« Last Edit: May 03, 2016, 11:08:49 AM by Draken »
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Alex

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #21 on: May 03, 2016, 11:50:59 AM »

It did indeed say that. Which, if anything, serves to underscore how every time, it's not a good idea to talk about specific timeframes. Everywhere else, I've been very diligent about sticking with "soon(tm)", but had forgotten the bit in the FAQ was there until someone had brought it to my attention not too long ago. Very much my mistake.


(Regarding the "hiring a small team" bit, that... well, it wouldn't work for a large number of reasons. I feel like this has come up before, but here's a quick list: 1) not nearly enough money, 2) can't just find good people with a similar vision quickly, which ties into #1 and makes things take longer, 3) it's a creative endeavor and throwing more bodies at the problem is more likely to hurt than help in terms of overall quality, even if - and that's a big if - that helps it reach a "finished" state more quickly.)


I really appreciate all the support here, by the way. Thank you!
« Last Edit: May 03, 2016, 11:56:25 AM by Alex »
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CaptainWinky

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #22 on: May 03, 2016, 01:32:33 PM »

This game is the best $15 I've spent on vidya in a while.  I got it a few months ago and I'm still playing it a lot.  Mods help of course, but there's plenty to enjoy even without the mods and I look forward to seeing what else Alex adds in the future.

Four years.

And the Buffalo Mk2 is still the worst ship in the game.

Kite(S) ?
Construction Rig?!?  ???

Speak for yourself.  I have a Construction Rig as my flagship with 2 Kite(S)s for escorts.  ;D

The Buffalo Mk2 is an easy kill when I see one in a pirate fleet, but I'll still capture it if I get the option because it is a halfways decent missile boat to escort a carrier.
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Auraknight

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #23 on: May 03, 2016, 07:16:12 PM »

Didn't buffalos used to be affectionately called 'piñatas?'
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Steven Shi

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #24 on: May 04, 2016, 12:16:21 AM »

I think I bought the game in 2012 (v0.4x or something). Basically I thought back in 2012 the combat was good enough and universe crafting would follow shortly; what followed was more or less 4 years of  combat polishing.

I check back every month or two now and haven't really touched the game for a year. I don't regret the purchase but I can't shake the feeling that Alex hit a wall with the non-combat aspect of the game and have been struggling to get those features up to the level of the combat mechanics. The longer SS stays in development, the greater the pressure to ensure the final product is financially successful and the more time is spent in development to ensure that happens and....

Anyway, as long as Alex doesn't run out of funds, I'm okay. Looking forward to xmas 2017.  ;D
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woodsmoke

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #25 on: May 04, 2016, 12:58:28 PM »

I don't begin to remember how long Mount&Blade was in beta. I do remember throwing money at TaleWorlds... long before it was done. .5-something, maybe; back when the Swadians and Vaegirs were the only factions, Zendar was the ostensible starting town and the Dark Knights (Black Knights? I can never remember which it was) were the unholy terror of Calradia.

I've been playing the game off and on for over a decade now. I don't know how many hours that amounts to but I should think it's easily in the thousands. I finally took the plunge and picked up Warband a couple years ago; in that time I've played it at least as much as I was playing vanilla and I still feel like I've only barely scratched the surface of all the game has to offer.

As far as I'm concerned, Starsector is essentially Mount&Blade in space. And the fact Alex is only charging $15 for it almost feels like a crime. I could spend $500 on this game and I'm confident the ultimate value::investment ratio would still be ludicrously overbalanced in my favor.
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TJJ

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #26 on: May 04, 2016, 01:54:45 PM »

I don't begin to remember how long Mount&Blade was in beta. I do remember throwing money at TaleWorlds... long before it was done. .5-something, maybe; back when the Swadians and Vaegirs were the only factions, Zendar was the ostensible starting town and the Dark Knights (Black Knights? I can never remember which it was) were the unholy terror of Calradia.

That's indeed going back a while! :D

I also remember when they expanded the world, and added the capability to capture castles. Though it was before you could join factions, so it was you as an independent vs the world.

I recall if you captured every* castle on the map the game would immediately drop to <1fps.
What I assume to be a pathing bug caused by the lack of any valid destinations for the remaining uncaptured lords.
(*an incredibly arduous task, as you had to leave a garrison large enough to counter any reconquest attempt)

Fond memories  ;D
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VuNut

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #27 on: May 04, 2016, 02:09:29 PM »

Didn't buffalos used to be affectionately called 'piñatas?'

Sure did, but they have always been capable of being dangerous if taken lightly. Not particularly worth buying but they're not unusable.
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Kevin Flemming

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #28 on: May 04, 2016, 06:47:57 PM »

I waited (and still waiting, I might add) for well over ten years (pfft, could it even be fifteen now?) for another game to even get out of Alpha and add some more content. That's done by two blokes. So the fact that SS is still going strong after four years, with one developer at the helm (ship reference, aw yiss), I would say progress has been great. As it is, the game is more than playable with some downright amazing mods to compliment that fact.

Four years is nothing for a solo project of this size really and there are many other (more expensive) games in much worse of a state.

Besides, developers have things to do other than sit in front of their PC coding all day and night. They're not robots. Sure, four years. But how much of that time is actually spent working on the game. Roughly half of that is designated to sleeping and relaxing (provided you have a normal sleep pattern). That's down to two years already. Given that, development has been bloody awesome when you think about it.

Okay, ass-kissing over. I'm off to bed lol.
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miljan

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Re: 4 years....
« Reply #29 on: May 05, 2016, 04:09:57 AM »


(Regarding the "hiring a small team" bit, that... well, it wouldn't work for a large number of reasons. I feel like this has come up before, but here's a quick list: 1) not nearly enough money, 2) can't just find good people with a similar vision quickly, which ties into #1 and makes things take longer, 3) it's a creative endeavor and throwing more bodies at the problem is more likely to hurt than help in terms of overall quality, even if - and that's a big if - that helps it reach a "finished" state more quickly.)



This is really a shame. Maybe when you release on steam (if you gonna release in early access at some point) you may get more income to hire another programer to help you out. Generally I agree with OP, that development is going extremely slow and that is not exactly a good thing.
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