ETA on Playable State?
Lowe
Join Date: 2010-07-22 Member: 72661Members
Join Date: 2010-07-22 Member: 72661Members
Comments
+1.
So, all I'm saying is that it just makes it very hard to give a precise ETA on when the issues will be fixed and when the next patch will be out. I can say that we are hoping there are some fairly easy and quick things that can be fixed that make a big difference, and that we can get this next patch out next week sometime.
In the meantime, while Max is hard at work on fixing the lag, the rest of us are able to continue to crank on getting the rest of the game in shape and adding lots of new gameplay items, art, and bug fixes.
--Cory
+1
It's not like Halo servers for PC could ever cope with those 32-64 (or I saw one that was 128) player servers without ridiculous lag. So for anyone out there trying to run 32 player servers... it's probably going to be laggy with that number of players until servers and client PCs are on average good enough to cope.
+1
So, all I'm saying is that it just makes it very hard to give a precise ETA on when the issues will be fixed and when the next patch will be out. I can say that we are hoping there are some fairly easy and quick things that can be fixed that make a big difference, and that we can get this next patch out next week sometime.
In the meantime, while Max is hard at work on fixing the lag, the rest of us are able to continue to crank on getting the rest of the game in shape and adding lots of new gameplay items, art, and bug fixes.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Good to hear you are fixing lag before releasing other changes. Was wondering if outsourcing this problem might help you in the long run. Cause you know, time is money. In my field it is a great advantage to outsource small parts of a project that would take a lot of time to do (i.e. dna sequencing, fine-tuning hplc on complex samples), and money is saved in the long run even if you paid up front for the service. Just wondering if that was even o possibility for that part of your project.
Agreed, I usually ran a 6-8 man server for this reason, because it was quite manageable.
Public "testers" are under no obligation to be doing real testing. The purpose of an open test is for people to simply jump in and play the game. All they have to do is report any bugs they encounter and they're doing great. There's no point in guilt tripping them over not wanting to play when the performance issues are too debilitating.
Generally an alpha test is simply bug reporting and actual testing, usually destruct testing, trying to break the game in every way possible, I wouldn't expect gameplay out of it, usually an alpha version of a map I make is hardly finished, usually with walls missing or drops into the void all over the place, but I run around and try to get stuck in the geometry that's there already, and try to break any scripted sequences, you don't play it, you just smash it against the wall a lot and note down exactly where the cracks form.
I think the problem is that the 'alpha' part and the 'public' part are at odds, an alpha is by definition very shaky, a public release is by definition very polished, and at the moment the alpha is winning. My entirely uneducated opinion would be to try and make it a bit more polished and playable just to get your very public testers a bit more inclined to test. Public anything is more like sheep herding, you poke them with sticks and dangle carrots at them to make them do things, asking nicely very rarely works because half won't hear you and half won't care.
To get people to do stuff you generally need to give them a reason to care, with internal testers it's because you're paying them and/or they are invested in the game because it's something they've been working on for a long time. With public testers they don't have any real investment in it, if you buy a game the prevailing attitude is that you are owed everything and have given all you need to when you paid, so if you want people to test you probably have to make it fun, or offer them something for it like prizes or first access to a really popular franchise and thus bragging rights, or something else.
Reporting bugs is entirely optional.
<!--quoteo(post=1797356:date=Sep 3 2010, 02:23 AM:name=Chris0132)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chris0132 @ Sep 3 2010, 02:23 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1797356"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Generally an alpha test is simply bug reporting and actual testing, usually destruct testing, trying to break the game in every way possible, I wouldn't expect gameplay out of it, usually an alpha version of a map I make is hardly finished, usually with walls missing or drops into the void all over the place, but I run around and try to get stuck in the geometry that's there already, and try to break any scripted sequences, you don't play it, you just smash it against the wall a lot and note down exactly where the cracks form.
I think the problem is that the 'alpha' part and the 'public' part are at odds, an alpha is by definition very shaky, a public release is by definition very polished, and at the moment the alpha is winning. My entirely uneducated opinion would be to try and make it a bit more polished and playable just to get your very public testers a bit more inclined to test. Public anything is more like sheep herding, you poke them with sticks and dangle carrots at them to make them do things, asking nicely very rarely works because half won't hear you and half won't care.
To get people to do stuff you generally need to give them a reason to care, with internal testers it's because you're paying them and/or they are invested in the game because it's something they've been working on for a long time. With public testers they don't have any real investment in it, if you buy a game the prevailing attitude is that you are owed everything and have given all you need to when you paid, so if you want people to test you probably have to make it fun, or offer them something for it like prizes or first access to a really popular franchise and thus bragging rights, or something else.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I don't want to sound rude but you don't seem to grasp the concept of "public". Something that is public is what is open to everyone, which this alpha isn't.
Reporting bugs is entirely optional.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well arent you useful to the development process.
<!--quoteo(post=1797355:date=Sep 3 2010, 01:14 AM:name=Zek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zek @ Sep 3 2010, 01:14 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1797355"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Public "testers" are under no obligation to be doing real testing. The purpose of an open test is for people to simply jump in and play the game. All they have to do is report any bugs they encounter and they're doing great. There's no point in guilt tripping them over not wanting to play when the performance issues are too debilitating.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No guilt trip intended. What I was implying was that in my opinion, half the people in the Alpha didnt even bother with the "report any bugs you encounter" part and just jumped straight into moaning about how its not "playable".
GO GO MAX NETWORK BUG SQUASHING!
I am sorry, but I bought the special edition to help fund the company, if that's not useful then please sue me.
(Don't hit me please)
They finished all chars except female model of rine which is easy for them. They finished many development tools. Except bugs this alpha is really good to play after the bug fix state.
So November 2010 is a good time (first version also relased at Hallowen) to release beta or final. I'm sure after this release there will be many players playing NS2.
November 2011 is really far away for this game. lool.
This will be the hardest part. They can't even take one of their wifes as model...
Hahaha.
Are they married? May be they are far away from female species for a long time. No discos, no beaches ....
Just Bears and keyboard sounds. Rofl What a life :)
Are they married? May be they are far away from female species for a long time. No discos, no beaches ....
Just Bears and keyboard sounds. Rofl What a life :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Did you forget the money?
So many pre-orders... :P
It was meant more like "she should have boobs like this" - "are you crazy more like this" - "no like this" - "dude, this doesnt fit to the waist" - "you call this a waist?"
female species for a long time.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Aren't we all just Terran, I mean human!
So, all I'm saying is that it just makes it very hard to give a precise ETA on when the issues will be fixed and when the next patch will be out. I can say that we are hoping there are some fairly easy and quick things that can be fixed that make a big difference, and that we can get this next patch out next week sometime.
In the meantime, while Max is hard at work on fixing the lag, the rest of us are able to continue to crank on getting the rest of the game in shape and adding lots of new gameplay items, art, and bug fixes.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
In other words: When it's done?