*Offensive* The direction of NS2 why no alpha
TrC
Join Date: 2008-11-30 Member: 65612Members
Join Date: 2008-11-30 Member: 65612Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Is this what UWE wants? reason no for alpha?</div>We all have been waiting for NS2 anxiously for years now, and they have playable alpha now. While I understand that with a team of only few people and very limited resources they cannot possibly advance much but isnt that a reason to let us help?
Judging from the small leaks they have let us know I can see the game heading toward casual gaming more than the competitive one. Gameplay is going to change from the NS1 one and there will be few major changes like infestation and powergrid. In order to make these they have to cut some flexibility out of the game because it wouldnt attract casual players as this is the major part of NS players.
Now what I fear is that the game will flop completely on competitive side and they are harvesting money out of all pre-orders only to release a decent FPS/RTS game and begone with it within an year after (confirm please think they said it somewhere).
Reason for they are not releasing alpha is completely mystery to me. I mean first NS was probably pre-alpha compared to the currect one. I have come up with few theories and I would like to hear yours. First the game could be too buggy to play, alright good enough but wouldnt it be a good idea to give out alpha and with limited maps (1), limited weapons, limited skills etc and add things little by little. When finally coming to the point of every expected skill/tech start working on the balance which is very important.
The reason they would not do this would be that they are afraid that it will halt the pre-orders and giving them no income they are actually working on. Why I have come to this conclusion is that the way they advertise, its ridicilous they have started to release small pieces of information and almost every one of them includes "please pre-order" in exact or other words. As a tactic of selling the pre-orders they released pics to show that they have an actual game (that was my reason for pre-order) and later they released an editor that needs a key and many other things.
My another fear is that it actually takes more from computer performance as they say. First of all the old ns barely works on those requiments as I have double of the requiments or more but still cant run ns perfect even with decent settings. Also the editor requires better computer than I currectly have as I fail to run it with GT 6600 128mb (if someone has it working with this please post).
There is a lot of expectations for this game let us help with the development. Whether if they release it now or in 1 year could make difference as they cannot release game that would please everyone without giving us something.
I would like to hear your opinions why they are not releasing and quickly about the direction and everyone is welcomed to do so troll,casual,comp.player or flowerhat ladys (game haters).
Judging from the small leaks they have let us know I can see the game heading toward casual gaming more than the competitive one. Gameplay is going to change from the NS1 one and there will be few major changes like infestation and powergrid. In order to make these they have to cut some flexibility out of the game because it wouldnt attract casual players as this is the major part of NS players.
Now what I fear is that the game will flop completely on competitive side and they are harvesting money out of all pre-orders only to release a decent FPS/RTS game and begone with it within an year after (confirm please think they said it somewhere).
Reason for they are not releasing alpha is completely mystery to me. I mean first NS was probably pre-alpha compared to the currect one. I have come up with few theories and I would like to hear yours. First the game could be too buggy to play, alright good enough but wouldnt it be a good idea to give out alpha and with limited maps (1), limited weapons, limited skills etc and add things little by little. When finally coming to the point of every expected skill/tech start working on the balance which is very important.
The reason they would not do this would be that they are afraid that it will halt the pre-orders and giving them no income they are actually working on. Why I have come to this conclusion is that the way they advertise, its ridicilous they have started to release small pieces of information and almost every one of them includes "please pre-order" in exact or other words. As a tactic of selling the pre-orders they released pics to show that they have an actual game (that was my reason for pre-order) and later they released an editor that needs a key and many other things.
My another fear is that it actually takes more from computer performance as they say. First of all the old ns barely works on those requiments as I have double of the requiments or more but still cant run ns perfect even with decent settings. Also the editor requires better computer than I currectly have as I fail to run it with GT 6600 128mb (if someone has it working with this please post).
There is a lot of expectations for this game let us help with the development. Whether if they release it now or in 1 year could make difference as they cannot release game that would please everyone without giving us something.
I would like to hear your opinions why they are not releasing and quickly about the direction and everyone is welcomed to do so troll,casual,comp.player or flowerhat ladys (game haters).
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
You being angry will not change this, in other words: The game will be released when its done or at least in some alpha form for the preorder peeps.
Preordering atm is more like showing support for the guys and might not get you an alpha game for a while... Also if it is an alpha release it is most likely not a full game, but more like a platform to test mapping, lua and modeling stuff on. So the community can start trying out stuff
I'm not going to start commenting on the competitive vs casual stuff. Mainly because there is no use, we simply do not know what NS2 has in store...
Plus, as just a way to control media attention / public perception it would be a horrible idea to release an actual alpha to 5,000 some people who may very well blast your game thereby dooming it before it ever takes off.
It's safer to just call the first fun, playable, and somewhat feature complete build the "alpha" as opposed to how an "alpha" is defined in traditional game development.
That's worrying, when I had a similar system to that I had no problems running Half Life 2 or Call of Duty 2 on high, trivial sure, but maybe there's something up with your machine perhaps? Maybe something that won't let you run the editor?
Alpha = Game is feature-incomplete but playable in some form, where many core features are missing but a few are in place. Alphas can be fun in some ways, but are far from the final game. Imagine a car-chase game where, in the Alpha, you can drive the car around the environment, but not partake in the chases.
Pre-Alpha = Game doesn't even meet Alpha standards yet. Generally not yet 'fun' to play whatsoever.
When does a game move from pre-alpha to alpha? Completely at the developer's discretion. NS2 is at a pre-alpha level right now.
I'm sure when they release the Alpha / beta, we'll all love it.
That's worrying, when I had a similar system to that I had no problems running Half Life 2 or Call of Duty 2 on high, trivial sure, but maybe there's something up with your machine perhaps? Maybe something that won't let you run the editor?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It works alright but in competititive having 100 fps and having below 50fps in crucial moment where screen is filled with laggy stuff like PG's and spore + moving ######, diffence as good as heaven and hell
Theres nothing wrong with my computer, I remove every unnessery programs and stuff and have tweaked NS to perform better.
As for the editor it just may be something specific at my computer that rejecting it since no-one else seems to have same problem and google gives unclear answers.
Sorry for harsh language
have you pre-ordered? :)
It is my first pre-order ever; I even created a pay-pal account just for ns2.
But I was also looking forward to the tools, especially the map editor, which was promised and also promised to work on my system.
While I'm getting more and more pissed that I still can't map after those patches, because lighting doesn't work and textures/props are just black, I still understand that they can't fix everything at once and quickly with such a small team.
Now imagine a buggy alpha with a whole new dimension of bugs compared to a little editor, and players sending in bugs getting angry or disappointed that they can't enjoy the alpha and that it takes the small team so long to fix them.
I also think it's pretty obvious that they have to focus on the casual gamer.
Considering how much you can change with lua, everyone can still be satisfied kind of..
The only issue I see is that there might be different "competitive mods" for different leagues and even "pro mods" for public servers, which re-introduces the whole mp_blockscript issue (for example) on a whole new level.
Alpha = Game is feature-incomplete but playable in some form, where many core features are missing but a few are in place. Alphas can be fun in some ways, but are far from the final game. Imagine a car-chase game where, in the Alpha, you can drive the car around the environment, but not partake in the chases.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You're a bit off there.
Beta = feature and content complete. All features and all content (maps etc.) are in the game. After this point you should just be testing and fixing bugs. Extra gameplay tweaking might also be done after this milestone, but essentially at this point the game is "finished". (Beta is usually only hit a month or 2 before ship).
Alpha = feature complete. At this stage the game should be fully playable, all gameplay features should be implemented. After this stage there should be lots of content generation going on, as all the tools should be mature by now, so lots of map making, prop making, refining earlier placeholder models that needed to go in quickly to test features etc. but as far as coding goes it should mainly be fixing bugs and tweaking gameplay.
I have as I said
Gee I hope they DON'T release the alpha yet. Seeing as I can't render anything in the editor, I think it's safe to assume I wouldn't be able to render anything in the alpha as it stands now. That would make me very sad for investing in the special edition.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I understand your point but if it is that buggy how can (4?) people do anything about when they cant handle the editor either. I rather not wait years cause graphics will be old and that will lower the fanbase thus making competititve scene small.
Is it a conspiracy to generate more income? Are they putting up a front and hiding behind vaporware? <i>Really</i>?
This false sense of entitlement is absolutely out of line. There's never been a more determined group to put out a game of quality then UWE, and I've never come across one that's been more open and honest to the community.