Vapourware That Which Sleeps - Vaporware Strategy RP

[Irenaeus III]

Launch a second kickstarter

 

[Lucky]

Not really. No one's going to flip out when they read "worked on XYZ bug, tried methods A, B, and C to solve it," and again, that should take all of 5 minutes to write. If people get mad, it's going to be because the game is delayed in general. Lack of communication is going to make people more upset, talking about what features you're working on less.

Now granted, if you have month after month of updates that only consist of "remade the dragon graphics; the last one still didn't feel quite right," people are going to worry, but really, in that case they should be worrying.

If it were that easy, everyone would do it. Now part of this can be attributed to industry size and inertia, but if such a cheap, low effort solution was really viable then it would become common practice relatively quickly.

I think we can all agree that total silence is the worst of all strategies. But I can understand why people in their position would be reluctant to talk, they are probably feeling a lot guilt and embarrassment over this.

It's probably a combination of guilt and wanting to focus on producing something tangible, as that would basically solve everything.

 

[almondblight]

If it were that easy, everyone would do it. Now part of this can be attributed to industry size and inertia, but if such a cheap, low effort solution was really viable then it would become common practice relatively quickly.

"If exercise really made you healthy, then everyone would be doing it. If such a cheap, low effort solution was really viable then it would become common practice relatively quickly."

Eh...not a terribly compelling argument, particularly since we do have examples of people who update frequently (Telepath Tactics, Overgrowth, Rust, etc.).

Rust is actually a good example. They gave very infrequent updates, and every time people asked them to make weekly updates they gave the same excuses you did (people aren't going to be interested in the day to day internal progress, they'll make assumptions, etc.). The playerbase complained enough that they finally started releasing them to show the players why weekly updates were stupid (with the first ones having disclaimers like, "Yeah, these are all stupid bug fixes, but you were the guys who thought you wanted this stuff"). Except the players really appreciated it, the weekly updates became the norm, and development actually took off after they started them (my guess being because it's easier to avoid being sucked into months-long black holes of "well, this feature might be cool" when you have to tell people what you're working on each week).

 

[Hobo Elf]

If he can't produce something tangible in 5 months for a game that was supposed to have beta right around the corner, chances are pretty high that no work has been done.

 

[Infinitron]

Oh, heh. I actually noticed that Vordrak guy's blog a few months ago but dismissed him as another Celerity-like obsessed loony toon and didn't post about it here.

Let's hope things turn out okay and he isn't vindicated.

 

[Irenaeus III]

An unfortunate cautionary tale of feature creep so extensive it buried the project under its sheer size. I'm sad.

 

[almondblight]

Yeah, I think if they had only just made the $12,000 goal if might have been released now. But the number of stretch goals they added were crazy. How many months were they talking about the new map they had to make because of the procedural generation stretch goal?

Now one of the two developers is saying that the other one (the programmer) has stopped talking to him, which...isn't the best sign.

 

[Lightsinthesky]

Internal memo’s aren’t meant for public viewing, though, especially when development is encountering difficulties. Most people lack the ability to distinguish between the regular kind of major issues that projects encounter, and the signs that they’re heading for disaster.

What internal memos. Fenicks is bitching in the beta forums that he's barely heard anything from Josh and what he's heard he doesn't believe. When both KDG's public face and owner are publicly casting doubt on their developer's competence like that what hope is there that the project hasn't already become a disaster

 

[Lucky]

"If exercise really made you healthy, then everyone would be doing it. If such a cheap, low effort solution was really viable then it would become common practice relatively quickly."

Eh...not a terribly compelling argument, particularly since we do have examples of people who update frequently (Telepath Tactics, Overgrowth, Rust, etc.).

Rust is actually a good example. They gave very infrequent updates, and every time people asked them to make weekly updates they gave the same excuses you did (people aren't going to be interested in the day to day internal progress, they'll make assumptions, etc.). The playerbase complained enough that they finally started releasing them to show the players why weekly updates were stupid (with the first ones having disclaimers like, "Yeah, these are all stupid bug fixes, but you were the guys who thought you wanted this stuff"). Except the players really appreciated it, the weekly updates became the norm, and development actually took off after they started them (my guess being because it's easier to avoid being sucked into months-long black holes of "well, this feature might be cool" when you have to tell people what you're working on each week).

Except exercise takes time and effort, while taking 5 minutes to copy bits would be much more convenient and less expensive than hiring someone to take care of that. Not to say that companies don't unnecessarily waste money, but if there was profit to be made from simply firing people and having a programmer do the work then there'd be more companies at least trying that approach.

As for the examples, I haven’t heard of any of them hitting a serious issue that they went public with as it happened, though it’s possible I missed it. Either way, Telepath Tactics put more than a token effort in being informative and spreading the word, but still wasn't successful so it's hard to see that as being indicative of anything either way. Rust and Overgrowth then are both in early access and playable, which is a very different situation. All I know about Rust is that it's a DayZ clone with crafting, did they start doing those weekly updates before or after there was a workable build? As for Overgrowth, I think it’s more the footage they’ve consistently been putting out that’s kept the faith that it’ll be released someday.
Mind you, I'm not saying that regular progress update can't be be a benefit, just that doing it right isn't as easy as it might look.

Man, development started on Overgrowth in 2008, not counting the time spent on Lugaru 2. I remember how fast they put out that alpha and thinking that maybe we'd even see a release around 2011...

Yeah, I think if they had only just made the $12,000 goal if might have been released now. But the number of stretch goals they added were crazy. How many months were they talking about the new map they had to make because of the procedural generation stretch goal?

Now one of the two developers is saying that the other one (the programmer) has stopped talking to him, which...isn't the best sign.

I assume they had to redo a lot of the game in order to fit in that procedural generation stretch goal. In retrospect, they'd have been better off switching it out for something like an extra old one and making procedural generation part of a meaty expansion. It would have pissed off their backers, but helped production in the long run. Hindsight and all that, though.

 

[Beowulf]

Heh. And to think that I didn't back it because of the anime graphics in the kickstarter trailer.

Anyway, sad to hear that it's going through hurdles and the devs dropped communication (at least with the public).

 

[Irenaeus III]

Devs are communicating through natural disasters and riots, just keep reading the news for signs.

 

[Vordrak]

Oh, heh. I actually noticed that Vordrak guy's blog a few months ago but dismissed him as another Celerity-like obsessed loony toon and didn't post about it here.

Let's hope things turn out okay and he isn't vindicated.

I would like not to be vindicated actually Infinitron. The game seems like a really cool, novel idea to me and if it came out I would buy it and give it very forgiving reviews. However, sadly, you do not always get what you wish for ...

What internal memos. Fenicks is bitching in the beta forums that he's barely heard anything from Josh and what he's heard he doesn't believe. When both KDG's public face and owner are publicly casting doubt on their developer's competence like that what hope is there that the project hasn't already become a disaster

 

[Irenaeus III]

Who is Fenicks and who is Josh?

 

[Galdred]

Who is Fenicks and who is Josh?

Fenicks is the guy taking care of the business side of things, and Josh the developer.

 

[Destroid]

That arrangement never makes sense to me. Josh posted here as KingDinosaurGames .

 

[Irenaeus III]

KingDinosaurGames was last seen:
Nov 1, 2015

 

[Hobo Elf]

At least it was a nice dream, if only a fleeting one.

 

[agris]

I think he'll pull through. He's just dealing with the stress of being late the wrong way.

 

[Beowulf]

I wouldn't mind if they went back to "static" map and original pitch idea, at least to release a working version.

 

[Lightsinthesky]

So after much nagging and yelling Fenicks managed to get some screenshots out of Josh. http://imgur.com/a/ODTGk However as was expected the thing Josh is so busily working away at is that the AI doesn't fucking do anything.

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

It is alive?

Enviado de meu SM-G3502T usando Tapatalk

 

[Got bored and left]

Looks like it. Fingers crossed.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Wtf happened to this message...

 

[Sranchammer]

Its dead, Jim.

 

[Space Satan]

Spoiler

At least something. Priestesss of God of Sex is surely worth waiting for.