Erik

[Josh]

Well it won't be *under* my chrizzy tree, because it will be *in* my DVD player [:D]

[Gunhawk]

ORIGINAL: Barthheart

ORIGINAL: Gunhawk

...If it was going to be finished by the end of this year we'd know it by now as we would have seen the game go into beta testing.

I happen to know at least one beta tester so it's already in beta. [:-]

How long has this game been in beta testing?

[Barthheart]

ORIGINAL: Gunhawk

ORIGINAL: Barthheart

ORIGINAL: Gunhawk

...If it was going to be finished by the end of this year we'd know it by now as we would have seen the game go into beta testing.

I happen to know at least one beta tester so it's already in beta. [:-]

How long has this game been in beta testing?

That I don't know.

[Gunhawk]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Hi guys,

If we felt this would not get released, we would announce that and remove it from our site. While it is certainly taking much longer than we hoped it would, Mark is working on it and we do believe this will be a real release. I apologize for the lack of updated information.

Regards,

- Erik

Erik

Yesterday Barthart informed us that the game is now in the beta testing phase. Is that true? As we all know, when a game is in the beta testing phase it means that the software is completed and could theoretically be released immediately but is only being tested for bugs and glitches to lower the impact to users. If the game is being beta tested that would certainly fall under the category of "updated information" and I would have thought that you or Mark would have announced it as that means that barring some major unforseen problem the game will be released shortly.

[Arctic Blast]

ORIGINAL: Gunhawk

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Hi guys,

If we felt this would not get released, we would announce that and remove it from our site. While it is certainly taking much longer than we hoped it would, Mark is working on it and we do believe this will be a real release. I apologize for the lack of updated information.

Regards,

- Erik

Erik

Yesterday Barthart informed us that the game is now in the beta testing phase. Is that true? As we all know, when a game is in the beta testing phase it means that the software is completed and could theoretically be released immediately but is only being tested for bugs and glitches to lower the impact to users. If the game is being beta tested that would certainly fall under the category of "updated information" and I would have thought that you or Mark would have announced it as that means that barring some major unforseen problem the game will be released shortly.

Actually, Beta testing typically starts fairly early on in a game's development cycle. A game being Beta tested is no indication of an imminent release.

[undercovergeek]

i think 90 days is the average, i say average, dont go posting well blah blah blah took 4 years - its an average [;)]

[Gunhawk]

ORIGINAL: Arctic Blast

ORIGINAL: Gunhawk

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Hi guys,

If we felt this would not get released, we would announce that and remove it from our site. While it is certainly taking much longer than we hoped it would, Mark is working on it and we do believe this will be a real release. I apologize for the lack of updated information.

Regards,

- Erik

Erik

Yesterday Barthart informed us that the game is now in the beta testing phase. Is that true? As we all know, when a game is in the beta testing phase it means that the software is completed and could theoretically be released immediately but is only being tested for bugs and glitches to lower the impact to users. If the game is being beta tested that would certainly fall under the category of "updated information" and I would have thought that you or Mark would have announced it as that means that barring some major unforseen problem the game will be released shortly.

Actually, Beta testing typically starts fairly early on in a game's development cycle. A game being Beta tested is no indication of an imminent release.

I very much disagree. Here's the definition from Webopedia:

"A test for a computer product prior to commercial release. Beta testing is the last stage of testing, and normally can involve sending the product to beta test sites outside the company for real-world exposure or offering the product for a free trial download over the Internet".

There are other similar definitions on wiki etc. that state essentially the same thing, that the product is ready for commercial release but needs to be tested first. If a product is being tested "fairly early in a games' development cycle" then it's "alpha testing".

Given the history of this game we might very well find that it's being beta tested for the next five years, but *normally* when the software is being beta tested it's almost ready to go.

Barthart might *think* that it's being beta tested while it's actually still being alpha tested. When I said that the product wasn't even ready for beta, so it wasn't going to be released this year, he used an admonishing icon when he told me that he knew "at least one beta tester". That's why I'm asking Eric if it's actually being beta tested.

[Arctic Blast]

Yeah, I've been a part of a couple of Betas, Gunhawk. Both started at least 5 months before the game was slated to go Gold. Alphas frequently start a lot earlier than that, when the base code is just laid down.

Again...a game being Beta tested means nothing when it comes to 'releasing soon'. More companies have gone with longer Beta periods to (hopefully) have more testers find more problems before release.

[Gunhawk]

ORIGINAL: Arctic Blast

Yeah, I've been a part of a couple of Betas, Gunhawk. Both started at least 5 months before the game was slated to go Gold. Alphas frequently start a lot earlier than that, when the base code is just laid down.

Again...a game being Beta tested means nothing when it comes to 'releasing soon'. More companies have gone with longer Beta periods to (hopefully) have more testers find more problems before release.

Ok. I think that we're on the same page here. When I said that being in Beta meant that it would be released soon, I meant "soon" for this particular game, which would be by the end of this year, or 4 months before going "gold". When we're talking about *this* game we're talking about an entirely different set of standards than we're used to, so to say "soon" means that we might actually see it before 2012. Barthart doesn't know how long the game's been in Beta, but just to hear that it *is* in Beta is a good thing...we hope. It would be nice for Erik or Mark to confirm that it's in Beta, but I'm not gonna expect miracles. [:)]

[undercovergeek]

Jonas Jacobsson What's the progress of Heroes of Stalingrad?
Heroes of Stalingrad
www.locknloadgame.com
Friday at 6:34am · Comment · LikeUnlike · View Feedback (5)Hide Feedback (5) · Share · Flag

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Lock 'n Load Publishing I say this with nothing but love, but... I answer this question daily. Maybe no one reads the answers, maybe folks think that by constantly asking they will some how speed the process. It doesn't. Of all of the projects LNLP has, HOS is the only one that gets daily attention. Computer games are huge endeavors, please be patient.
Friday at 10:18am · LikeUnlike ·
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Justin Harper
I watch a lot of video games for PC and Consoles and some of them have been in development for five years or more before release so take your time on a good product.
I am quite excited for the game and if it's a hit hopefully more expansion...s and theaters of war will follow. See More
Friday at 10:57am · LikeUnlike ·
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Jonas Jacobsson Thanks for the answer. I think.
Friday at 11:17pm · LikeUnlike ·
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Jonathan Carruthers still good for a Christmas release as per your previous comment?
12 hours ago · LikeUnlike ·
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Steve Isaak will you release a board game equivalent of this?
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike ·
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facebook from a few days ago

[jimbo12]

Ok maybe its just me, but...... If the forum is here then the intent is to publish here. If that is the case doesn't it make sense to communicate here. My only point is that it take very little time for an update once in a while! I would think that a designer would want to keep the interest high. I agree with not setting times for a release having been around all of those complaints but an update, please!!!! I guess if the games comes out Mark knows that we all flock to buy like cattle and all will be forgiven. ERRRRRRRRRRRRRN!! Is that how to spell cattle talking?

Let's see how about " Guys we are working on it and it going ______ !

Jimbo

[Arctic Blast]

ORIGINAL: Gunhawk

ORIGINAL: Arctic Blast

Yeah, I've been a part of a couple of Betas, Gunhawk. Both started at least 5 months before the game was slated to go Gold. Alphas frequently start a lot earlier than that, when the base code is just laid down.

Again...a game being Beta tested means nothing when it comes to 'releasing soon'. More companies have gone with longer Beta periods to (hopefully) have more testers find more problems before release.

Ok. I think that we're on the same page here. When I said that being in Beta meant that it would be released soon, I meant "soon" for this particular game, which would be by the end of this year, or 4 months before going "gold". When we're talking about *this* game we're talking about an entirely different set of standards than we're used to, so to say "soon" means that we might actually see it before 2012. Barthart doesn't know how long the game's been in Beta, but just to hear that it *is* in Beta is a good thing...we hope. It would be nice for Erik or Mark to confirm that it's in Beta, but I'm not gonna expect miracles. [:)]

Aaaah, yeah we are on the same page. [:)] When I see someone say something is releasing soon, I usually assume they mean within a month or so. Sorry about the confusion.

[Gunhawk]

ORIGINAL: jimbo12

My only point is that it take very little time for an update once in a while! I would think that a designer would want to keep the interest high. I agree with not setting times for a release having been around all of those complaints but an update, please!!!! I guess if the games comes out Mark knows that we all flock to buy like cattle and all will be forgiven. ERRRRRRRRRRRRRN!! Is that how to spell cattle talking?

Let's see how about " Guys we are working on it and it going ______ !

Jimbo

I disagree that an update would be good enough. It should be easy enough to tell us if the game is in the Beta testing phase or not. Just to say "guys we are working on it" doesn't do us any good. We've been hearing that for years, and for all we know we we'll be hearing it far into the future.

[undercovergeek]

not being pro LnL or anti LnL - i just want the game, but i think that LnL itself has such an active community and on facebook that there probably seems like no point posting here.

In my above post Mark complains about people asking him everyday - well thered be one way to solve that wouldnt there - issue an update!!!!! Im not a dev and i dont know what goes thru their mind, having recently watched the development of elemental where there is an open forum and the designers and developers are on there everyday - that would seem to be the best way to do this, but if youre behind do you upset the fans by admitting it, if youre ahead do you increase anticipation too much - its a fine line i suppose - i dont neccessarly want an ETA just a 'before christmas', 'at christmas', before Easter - and we have a before christmas promise so far!

[lparkh]

Might want to look at Battlefield academy. Same scale albiet a pretty different game.. but it is more sophisticated under the hood then it looks on the surface. Kind of Steel Panthers Lite.

[undercovergeek]

thanks, but no - i want an immersive experience whereby i feel attached to my troops, i even have a leader counter with his name and portrait on, immersed in the feel of hiding in the tractor factor, running across open ground guarded by MG42s, close quarters combat - all the stuff faithfully shown in the great screen shots - but thanks for suggesting

[Gunhawk]

ORIGINAL: undercovergeek

and we have a before christmas promise so far!

No offense, but I wouldn't exactly call the statement a "promise". As I've said before, we've already heard that tune. You'll notice that we didn't get a response when I said that i'd like to see a confirmation from Erik that the game is in Beta. When either Erik or Mark say that the game is in Beta, *then* I think you have a shot at seeing it this year.

So, Erik? Mark? Is the game in the Beta testing phase?

[Erik Rutins]

It is being tested, but it is not in what we would call final beta and therefore not yet on the "release track". We are also hopeful that it will be finished by the end of this year, but there are no guarantees. The main point to make is that it is being worked on and we do not expect it to take much longer before it is ready for final beta testing.

[Gunhawk]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

It is being tested, but it is not in what we would call final beta and therefore not yet on the "release track". We are also hopeful that it will be finished by the end of this year, but there are no guarantees. The main point to make is that it is being worked on and we do not expect it to take much longer before it is ready for final beta testing.

Thanks for the update.

I'm sure that I speak for all of us when I ask if you would let us know when the game goes into the "final beta testing phase" and again when it becomes a release candidate.