anyone else about read to give up??????

[Jimmer]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

When I say that we will be enhancing the AI after we get through with fixing the serious bugs, I'm not calling the AI a new feature.

I can vouch for this being true. I started posting here the very day I found out about this game. Which just happened to be the release day (12/5, I think).

From the very first time Matrix said anything at all about priorities, they (you, in most cases) plainly stated the obvious: Bugs must be fixed first. Game-stopping bugs at the top of the list. Rules mistake and other bugs below that.

Only AFTER those were fixed was there any thought going to be given to the other two major areas:

Interface corrections and changes
AI enhancement

Virtually everybody who posted in response agreed with that line of thinking. In fact, it would crazy to think otherwise (and we said so to the small number of people who disagreed). One can't upgrade or enhance until the game actually works.

The one point I would debate is that I think there HAVE been both interface corrections and AI enhancements. In fact, this may very well be part of the reason for the ongoing instability.

In a perfect world, I would like to see absolutely NO changes to interface or AI until the major game-stopping bugs are all gone. There are only maybe 30 of those, so it should be relatively easy to make the list. Sticking to it could be more difficult.

This was the original purpose of 1.01, but some "features" crept into that release, and they may very well be part of the reason for the ongoing issues count to be going up.

Write me an email some time, and I'll explain what we used to call "a release manager" when I was coding for mainframes. The principles still apply, and could be very useful to this project (and, other projects). The basic idea, though, is that a different person, completely unrelated business-wise to ANY developer, tester, etc., is "god" when it comes to release. The RM says "We're releasing this version on mm/dd/yyyy." Then, he puts a timetable together for the release cycle.

There are checkpoints in the process. Once a particular checkpoint is crossed, ONLY the release manager can override the decision of what code is to be included in this release. Developers are not allowed to do ANYTHING to the code other than fixing bugs in code already included (i.e. bugs that crop up during testing).

Further, if someone claims that "we absolutely have to include this", the reason why must be ascertained. If it's because of a problem elsewhere, then instead of adding the new code, the old code is removed, and saved for the next release.

[Jimmer]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

You can do it either way, since the comprehensive update will overwrite with all the updated files. If people have been applying multiple beta updates it might be safest to start with a clean install + update but it _shouldn't_ matter.

Regards,

- Erik

Let's say we do decide to clean-install with the next release.

Are there any folders and/or files which are safe to keep? I'm specifically thinking of saved game files, setup files for nations, that sort of thing.

Typically, when I scratch-install an application, I blow away the directory structure at the same time. But, for games with saved information, this isn't a good idea.

By the way, as a suggestion for future games: Have all of the saved games, etc. stuff be in the user's profile, rather than in the same folder as the game is installed. That way, the game CAN be purged completely, but the saved information still exists. You can also include options customizations in this.

[anarchyintheuk]

ORIGINAL: tevans6220

ORIGINAL: Tater

BTW...

To those who are ready to give up...what are you waiting for...get 'er done...and spare the rest of us the whining. [:D]

Tater here's an idea. Give me the $69.99 that I paid for the game or personally fix the game for me. Otherwise shut your trap. People have a right to complain about a purchased product that doesn't work.

He was talking about people who were ready to give up. Doesn't sound like you're ready to give up so the comment doesn't apply to you, does it?

Apparently the game works fine for you. So why are you even in this thread?

The thread simply asks if anyone else was ready to give up [on this game], from his comments it would appear he's not.

Nobody forced you to read any of this so you're either a troublemaker or an idiot looking for your moment in the spotlight. Either way your smartass comments aren't appreciated and bring very little to the discussion. So either grow up or shut up.

Ditto for your comments.

To answer the thread . . . no, I'm not ready to give up.

[tevans6220]

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

ORIGINAL: tevans6220

ORIGINAL: Tater

BTW...

To those who are ready to give up...what are you waiting for...get 'er done...and spare the rest of us the whining. [:D]

Tater here's an idea. Give me the $69.99 that I paid for the game or personally fix the game for me. Otherwise shut your trap. People have a right to complain about a purchased product that doesn't work.

He was talking about people who were ready to give up. Doesn't sound like you're ready to give up so the comment doesn't apply to you, does it?

Apparently the game works fine for you. So why are you even in this thread?

The thread simply asks if anyone else was ready to give up [on this game], from his comments it would appear he's not.

Nobody forced you to read any of this so you're either a troublemaker or an idiot looking for your moment in the spotlight. Either way your smartass comments aren't appreciated and bring very little to the discussion. So either grow up or shut up.

Ditto for your comments.

To answer the thread . . . no, I'm not ready to give up.

True nobody forces anybody to read anything. The difference is that people were discussing. Tater brought absolutely nothing to the table to add to the discussion other than some smartass comment that he thought was funny. If he thinks the game is fine and that this is all just a bunch of whining then he really need not respond other than to say he's not giving up. Instead he told people to go away because he's tired of the whining. Who the hell is he to tell people to go away? Some people aren't happy with the state of the game and have a right to complain. I gave my money to Matrix not to you or to Tater. Which is worse the so called whining or those complaining about it?

For the record I haven't made any wisecracks or looked for a moment in the spotlight by saying something stupid. I stated my opinions on the game and shared those opinions with others. Sorry if you feel that's worthless but it's a lot better than telling people to go away because you don't care for their "whining". As I suggested to Tater either fix the game, give me back my $69.99 or keep your trap shut. I'm giving Matrix feedback on what I consider to be a bad purchase. And I don't give two hoots what you, Tater or anybody else thinks about that. Don't like it, tough.

[Grell]

I uninstalled the game and will never play it again because of the huge learning curve.

Regards,

Greg

[David Heath]

Hi Guys

Everyone please lets calm down a little.  Marshall and I are now looking for someone to replace Richard and we are going to be picking up some extra beta testers.  Our plan is to go back to the tried and proven method of development and playtesting we used in the past.  This allows the whole team to work with us and improve the game as well as take customer feedback and apply it more better into the game.  We will be starting a new thread on this shortly.

   

[borner]

I agree that any conversations on this thread need to be civil. When I started this thread, it was to maybe blow off some steam, and see if anyone else out there felt as I did. Now I am just plain concened. If I read this right, ya'll are going back to playtesting a game that many of us have already paid for? Please say I am not understanding something right! Yes, long term I am sure that this new/old approach is a great idea, but to me that is the same as admitting Matrix released an inferior product. At this point I am not really sure what I would want, or even what to say, but I hope that you understand when I say I feel somewhat cheated by Matrix in general. I do wish you all the luck in the world on fixing this, if for no other reason that to get the quality of product I feel was fair to expect.

[David Heath]

Hi Borner
 
Every change of code needs to be tested as we try our best to make sure we do not make a new code problem.  Most of the time this is does not happen but the only way to try to catch it is to test every patch/code change.  I said this before but to be clear.  I fully understand that is game has more issues then any of us would have liked and I am not happy with this either.  Matrix has released many products and this is not how our other games are released.  Marshall, Erik and myself are here answering questions and working to get the game to a better state so it can be enjoy by everyone.  I am locking this thread so we can move forward.
 
David