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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: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.  (Read 18892 times)

mendonca

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #45 on: October 16, 2014, 10:52:54 PM »

Nitpicking here, but I think it's important conceptually for these types of discussions:

This is not a 'delay', the development of the game is bang on programme - in that development is going as fast as reasonably possible.
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c plus one

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #46 on: October 16, 2014, 11:08:22 PM »

Thank you - excellent insight there. I have become aware of this prior to your post, and previously adjusted my personal feelings to the extent possible. If I created an opposite impression about said awareness in my previous post, I apologize; such was not my intent.

The 2014 update-drought causes a wide spectrum of emotional responses in players. Rather than deplore that further, I want to say that I really do feel for the dev team. I'm confident they want the game creation to advance faster just as much as we customers do; I don't envy them. They do have my best wishes for a giant triumph of a future 1.0 release, and the latest upcoming version is another stepping-stone to that happy goal.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 11:10:03 PM by c plus one »
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Okim

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #47 on: October 17, 2014, 12:01:36 AM »

Personally I'd prefer all the core systems got put in - all of them - and then all the units, assets etc got added, and finally the game went through a polish phase for the final release. That polish/bug quashing phase would be long, but overall could it save a long time off development?

I strongly disagree here. I have a negative experience with Xenonauts - a fairly nice game that released unpolished updates almost each month in order to get new features to the players. Most of these updates had serious stability issues and were subjects to further patching leading to the point where playing Xenonauts early (and, unfortunately - even later) releases was a high risk of getting a major unavoidable crash.

I abandoned this game several times during it`s development getting back to the testing once in a long while only to get a new crash and leave in frustration. So I fully support Alex and his decision to polish every new update.

superhotdogzz

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #48 on: October 17, 2014, 12:37:51 AM »

Personally I'd prefer all the core systems got put in - all of them - and then all the units, assets etc got added, and finally the game went through a polish phase for the final release. That polish/bug quashing phase would be long, but overall could it save a long time off development?

I strongly disagree here. I have a negative experience with Xenonauts - a fairly nice game that released unpolished updates almost each month in order to get new features to the players. Most of these updates had serious stability issues and were subjects to further patching leading to the point where playing Xenonauts early (and, unfortunately - even later) releases was a high risk of getting a major unavoidable crash.

I abandoned this game several times during it`s development getting back to the testing once in a long while only to get a new crash and leave in frustration. So I fully support Alex and his decision to polish every new update.

And still, that game have some unsolved issue which has been left out after the game finished the development. It's a decent game with good potential, yet mixed with some bitterness that never goes away.

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Okim

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #49 on: October 17, 2014, 01:11:39 AM »

And still, that game have some unsolved issue which has been left out after the game finished the development. It's a decent game with good potential, yet mixed with some bitterness that never goes away.

Guess my intuition was correct by telling me 'nah, give it more time' each time I saw the game in steam library after the release...

bills6693

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #50 on: October 17, 2014, 01:36:32 AM »

Again I have to disagree back  :P I guess we will never know, but I wonder how long Xenonauts would have taken to release if they had instead balanced, bugfixed and polished every update, only to unbalance it again, create new bugs and scuff it all with the next one. There would have been less of a fix/polish phase at the end but I would have thought the game would be slower overall to come to completion.

Also I have to say that I had an amazing experience with Xenonauts (at release). I bought into early access to support development but didn't play it until V1.0 and I have to say that I found it to be a great game. Especially with the UI enhancements the dev-endorsed community edition brings (which you get by going to the 'betas' tab in the game settings in steam, or download if playing DRM free version). I'd recommend you give it a go now personally. But thats off track.

I think the key thing here, at least in my view, is that there are two or three different schools of thought here:

1) Wanting the game to be finished (1.0, feature complete and bug tested). This doesn't rule out expansions/updates post-release but reaching a 1.0 as a priority. This is my personal preference.

2) Wanting a great experience of these early versions. This means that each release is polished and bug-free, and really a limited scope but 'finished' game within its own right. This is what has been generally happening with development.

3) And I think there are those that want regular updates to keep the game fresh and fun and to experience new content/mechanics in this game on a more frequent basis.

These aren't including aspects such as mods (which generally would fall into band 2 I would imagine) but I feel maybe covers the bases. Thus really it just depends what you want out of this process - if you are wanting to get to v1.0 as fast as possible, are wanting polished up and fun alpha releases, or want more new stuff more frequently, even if it is in smaller doses. There are certain merits to all 3 approaches, and I'd be the first to say that I really have enjoyed, as basically full games, all the versions the game has gone through since I bought it. I would not say I'm unhappy with the process and can certainly see why many people prefer how it is now to the alternatives. I just would, personally, prefer the first approach I listed.

But each to their own, and I don't mean that in a spiteful way. Alex & team can't give everyone everything they want, and it really is up to them how they prefer to develop the game, and how they feel they best serve their customers, and as I said I really have enjoyed what they have produced during the alpha stages, so all the best to them!
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Xeroshiva1029

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #51 on: October 17, 2014, 02:48:21 AM »

Did you read what it says on the "Buy" page? Because that pretty much sums it up.

I bought the game years ago. You'd think it'd be done by now.

get on my level.. google reciepts email says i bought this game on 2/20/2013

Order receipt from BMT Micro, Inc.
Order ID: 5685809


i bought it back when it was still called star farrer.

patience i got.. other games come out.. you work at the pace you need alex.. but dont forget that your best marketing tool is us the current players of the game. when a friend asks me if the games live supported.. what do i tell them..?  i see the size of the patch notes and i am impressed.. but you are deploying layers of patches. april, june, september.. are these updates that litterally cant exist without the final piece put in or are there minor things to PATCH the game with as we go.

i look forward to the release of .65 and would gladly greenlite vote this game on steam to help you out but eventually a dog will want its bone.
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jupjupy

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #52 on: October 17, 2014, 08:36:38 AM »

I had to find my login details just to post this, so I guess I may as well join in the discussion.

I agree with many of OPs points, and likewise share his belief that Alex and the team are doing their darndest to produce the game. I think that 10 months (A year?) is frankly a little crazy to be waiting for an update, what I would have preferred would be perhaps three-month or so updates, such as the trading system first, for example.

I understand that this may break things and cause bugs that were never meant to occur, but for some reason I would still have preferred it. At least you could have gotten some player feedback, kinda like with the CR system. And it'll keep your players interested and waiting for the next update (I guess).

That being said, I don't want to sound self-praising, but I think Alex really needs to thank his fanbase. I dont know many people that would stick around this long to wait for a game that has, frankly, blog posts that are few and far between.
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TJJ

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #53 on: October 17, 2014, 09:15:04 AM »

My only concern with the long update cycle is that it's a long time to be without user feedback.

It runs a greater risk of widespread disappointment if the new features aren't what players expected / wanted.
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ValkyriaL

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #54 on: October 17, 2014, 09:26:53 AM »

what we "want" is not something we can expect to happen, its not our game, but what we get might actually turn out better than what we wanted in the first place. ;D

CR for example, nobody expected it, a few hated it, but in the end, everyone loves it. :)
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Gothars

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #55 on: October 17, 2014, 11:11:48 AM »

My only concern with the long update cycle is that it's a long time to be without user feedback.

It runs a greater risk of widespread disappointment if the new features aren't what players expected / wanted.


I share that concern, feedback to blog post can only do so much. Usually there is the post release patch where user feedback is incorporated, though.
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Megas

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #56 on: October 17, 2014, 11:41:11 AM »

I still dislike CR as implemented with a passion, but so far, that problem is moot because excess loot is a bigger problem.  Once the loot problem is fixed, I will pay more attention to CR, especially when twice is much is lost from hull damage than before (and no more deploy all exploit to mitigate CR costs).  I will certainly play out 0.65 when the time comes and give feedback.

As for Starsector updates, I have plenty to do in the meantime.
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acantoni

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #57 on: October 17, 2014, 12:40:53 PM »

My 2 cents.:

Bought this i do not know how long ago.. 3 years?

The most vivid memory about this was me in March 2012 (that is 30 months ago!!!) playing this while traveling in Japan and wondering why the hell wasn't already released and had thousand and thousand of people playing.
Since then i played a little bit on some major released but really i cannot imagine even a single reason why this have not been released.
The game was spectacular in 2011.. the more time it passes the less spectacular it will seem and with the influx of money that could have been generated and the exposure we could have now a better polished game, more modding (though the modding scene is AWESOME) and potentially work on a new v2 version with even more goodness.

While i can understand the research for "perfection" i am pretty convinced that this will become an obscure title noone knows...

Hopefully there will be an unexpected turn like what Matrix did with DW : Universe....

Anyway Alex really gratz on the game: it is really awesome and well made !
Fabio
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miro

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #58 on: October 18, 2014, 05:45:02 PM »

i don't really mind long update cycles, if we let Alex do his thing, the game is going to become much better.

The update will be ready Soon (tm)
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Rec

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Re: I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous.
« Reply #59 on: October 19, 2014, 10:12:27 AM »

i havent visited here in a long time, before the CR was implemented (and im waiting for the new update so i can dig into it), bought the game on

12/05/2013

and while i can say that waiting for the long period of times for updates IS dissappointing as a person who wants to play it, all i can say is, as a gamer, i am not dissappointed.

i have bought several alpha development games (one of those kenshi, a good game too), but all those games, they crash at some point, have some bugs or were not finished properly (im looking at you stardrive *shakes fist*) but not all, they are still in development (except the stardrive), but one thing i can say:

during the entire time i've played starsector, i have not once crashed, at least not while playing the game normally, the only time i crashed, once, was because i alt tabbed to check something and seems the game didnt like that, but ever since that, it really never crashed.

so yea, it sucks that the period of times between updates is long, but make no mistake, Alex and his team ( i always thought he did this all by himself) are doing a damn good job at it.

so if Alex feels that he needs to extensively test to make sure the game  remains this bugfree and crash free, let the man (and his team) do their job, so far they've done a far better job in keeping the game in a high quality state than even triple A companies.
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