Re: [Josh] Friday, August 17, 2018
Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 2:48 pm
I'm here to... to... erm... why am I here? Nurse, nurse!
That's all I've ever wanted, mcsven. I know LT will be much more in its final release but I would be more than happy with a limited version of this nature.mcsven wrote: ↑Sat Sep 08, 2018 1:38 pmI'm convinced that Josh has the capability to release a procedurally-generated Freelancer clone with better graphics. I'm talking fixed prices/no dynamic marketplaces. I'm talking finite universes. I'm talking no research. etc. etc. This could easily be LT v0.5. (I made the same point here 18 months ago.)
I'd be satisfied with the Victor versionVictor Tombs wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:25 amThat's all I've ever wanted, mcsven. I know LT will be much more in its final release but I would be more than happy with a limited version of this nature.mcsven wrote: ↑Sat Sep 08, 2018 1:38 pmI'm convinced that Josh has the capability to release a procedurally-generated Freelancer clone with better graphics. I'm talking fixed prices/no dynamic marketplaces. I'm talking finite universes. I'm talking no research. etc. etc. This could easily be LT v0.5. (I made the same point here 18 months ago.)
This is, fortunately or unfortunately (Depending on your view) not what Josh is like.mcsven wrote: ↑Sat Sep 08, 2018 1:38 pmI was reading this earlier today and figured that Josh would probably sympathise with much of it.
With regard to the question of how much is left to do, my only real - criticism is a strong world - suggestion to Josh is that he doesn't need to release the entire game at once. We've seen an alternative model from plenty of smaller devs over the years: release game as a beta and incrementally improve.
Where I'm coming from here is that, based on what we've seen, I'm convinced that Josh has the capability to release a procedurally-generated Freelancer clone with better graphics. I'm talking fixed prices/no dynamic marketplaces. I'm talking finite universes. I'm talking no research. etc. etc. This could easily be LT v0.5. (I made the same point here 18 months ago.)
And of course, it should go without saying (but I know from experience that, sadly, it needs to be said): that's not me advocating that he doesn't eventually release v1.0 that meets his obligations to his Kickstarter backers. Just that endlessly squirreling away for "total perfection" when the tools are at hand to deliver "good start" would be a shame if it pushed LT's eventual delivery many more years.
There is a specific difference between a larger Team and a small or 1-man team when developing a game.Black--Snow wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 7:27 amReleasing an unfinished product as a 'beta' (Really, that's an alpha at best) is not a business practice that I find admirable, even if the game is taking ages to come out.
I'm not suggesting no beta or that releasing a version to test is necessarily wrong (I'm a backer at the LT beta level anyway). But it would erk me if a game was released as an incomplete product.Damocles wrote: ↑Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:45 am
There is a specific difference between a larger Team and a small or 1-man team when developing a game.
And that is early feedback. In a larger Team, the early and later stages of the game can be played internally by dozents of different people, for professional reasons (QA, Designer, Developers) or a player perspective (administrative staff, other inhouse teams, guests, peer-group testers). All while keeping details internally under an NDA.
There is way more potential feedback on problems, especially by people who are not so close to development that obvious problems can blend out.
Now a tiny team is usually only the ones directly involved in the development.
Objective and Subjective Feedback is just not the same here.
And thats why I think those teams profit a lot more from having early versions out to gather feedback ... something that is not needed in a large game company.
Blizzard or Bethesda can very well polish a game by internal playtests only. They have enough people to do that internally.
And I think that development model is completely acceptable WHEN:Black--Snow wrote: ↑Tue Sep 11, 2018 3:54 amI don't like "early access" on Steam, because it's not usually meant to get beta testers, it's used as an excuse to gather money on a product that is not completely finished.
I second this. All alone again and soooo silent.... should we worry?jonathanredden wrote: ↑Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:38 amcould we expect a devlog this week?
also, Josh is Kill!
Yeah, I've been poking him to make a post for a while now. I'm not actually sure at all what's causing the lag in communication, but I'm trying to get him to post something, somewhere, ASAP. It would hurt him (and us) for him to fall back into the old habits of silence.Hyperion wrote: ↑Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:58 pmWell I know Tal is valiantly trying to get him to communicate with us, that it's not working is worrying. Josh should know by now we don't need anything fancy just a quick few notes, maybe a pic or two.
If he's showboating, just say it will be worth the wait. If things aren't going as planned, we also want to know. This shouldn't be like pulling teeth.
Let no one say the LT community feels Josh can do no wrong... As some communities are known to.
--Warren Spector, from his keynote at the 2017 Midwest Game Developers ConferenceThe discipline of sticking to a schedule -- even though I have never once done so in my entire life -- is probably important because you don't want to work on your magnum opus forever.