Matrix Games Forums

Thank you very much[;)]

I go away for 2 weeks, and this is the news I come back to....

I was going to post my own long reply, but take Shannon's point about cutting this thread, so will try to stick to the topic (as I understand it).

For my 2 cents, I wouild like to say that I am disappointed that a deadline I thought would be met looks like nowhere near. I had also not thought the AIO final coding had so much to go. One poster (not unreasonably) suggested doubling time estimate and then moving it to next "level", so a "4 month" delay would then equate to 8 years.... I don't mean to be rude/antagonistic, but I do work as a developer, and we expect to give and be held to better release date estimates.

ORIGINAL: JonBrave

I go away for 2 weeks, and this is the news I come back to....

I was going to post my own long reply, but take Shannon's point about cutting this thread, so will try to stick to the topic (as I understand it).

For my 2 cents, I wouild like to say that I am disappointed that a deadline I thought would be met looks like nowhere near. I had also not thought the AIO final coding had so much to go. One poster (not unreasonably) suggested doubling time estimate and then moving it to next "level", so a "4 month" delay would then equate to 8 years.... I don't mean to be rude/antagonistic, but I do work as a developer, and we expect to give and be held to better release date estimates.

I understand disappointment in release dates. However for way too long the customer has held the financial burden of release dates. Atari holds well to release dates even though their software is usually the worst in the industry. Microsoft too, although theirs is also buggy at best on initial release. Game companies, way too many to list. They stick to a release on time and expect the paying customer to be a beta tester. In some cases it should be called alpha testing. You stick to a release date and I'll stick to quality.

I just found this post at the start of the forum. It's dated 5/19/2005:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

But to answer the question directly, we have MWIF scheduled for release as a download in the spring of 2006.

There are some who say that degree of optimism just proves I am out of my mind. Actually, I am shooting for early spring 2006, but even I concede that depends on a whole lot of things not going wrong.

Credit to Matrix/Steve/Shannon for not removing it. And maybe it's not very tactful of me to requote it. Truly I don't want/mean to be rude or impolite. But it gets frustrating keep coming back here.

I understand you do not mean to be impolite. The reality is the game has slipped several times and optimism has been very high. However many of us believe in quality and are tired of being victimized by poor games and software. I've probably said this more times tham I care to admit and it does sound old and tired. The game will be ready when it is ready. However, please note Matrix's release date for the game and the Fan Site converge on the same time frame. I doubt they would release copyright materials for my use on that site if it were to be severly delayed as they do not control personal articles, opinions, and editorials there.

ORIGINAL: abj9562
However, please note Matrix's release date for the game .......

OK, so what is Matrix's release date for the game, and where does it say so, please?

Why not be a tad more tactical regarding release date? [:)]

"We are hoping to release WIF sometime in 2009, this is however a tentative date that may be adjusted."

such an estimate can be given once each quarter and when the project clearly is getting closer to completion it will be possible to say thay we're aiming for release in e.g. 4th quarter of 2009 - but again a tentative date.

very sad that threads got so very far off topic.  What is the latest intel on when this will be released?

Steve posts monthly updates on or around the 1st of each month

excerpt from post 1025 this thread (his last update)

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

Project Management
Too many bugs and too many other tasks remain to meet the planned July release date of MWIF product 1. I expect to be finished by the end of September, but Matrix Games needs a few weeks after I submit the finalized code to package the game for distribution. Also, publication has to be scheduled into all their other projects. At the end of this post is a summary of the tasks that remain for me to do.

Oh nooo! Not end of September!! In October there is the Spiel 2009 fair  at Essen.
All my savings will be spent to buy new boardgames.[:D] 
A better date for release is December because I could (hopefully) save enough
money for MWiF and I can tell my wife its a Christmas present (for me )... [:D]

ORIGINAL: AbeSimpson
Oh nooo! Not end of September!! In October there is the Spiel 2009 fair  at Essen.
All my savings will be spent to buy new boardgames.[:D] 
A better date for release is December because I could (hopefully) save enough
money for MWiF and I can tell my wife its a Christmas present (for me )... [:D]

Probably putting you in the smallest minority here. Those wishing for a release delay. [:-]

Interesting point of view, isn´t it? [:D]

JonBrave

I just found this post at the start of the forum. It's dated 5/19/2005:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
But to answer the question directly, we have MWIF scheduled for release as a download in the spring of 2006.

In defense of Steve (not that he needs it really), I feel his pain on this issue.

Development on "WiE" started in March '04, and I set an initial public release date of "December '05". By mid '05 it was obvious the original target had been wildly optimistic and I revised the schedule to "late '07". In mid-'07 a Demo was posted, and I contacted a number of press outlets to advise that "Early '08" was now the target. Throughout '08 final testing and documentation took far longer than expected and I simply stopped giving out a date (other than "soon as possible"). We shipped on march 30, '09 - almost exactly 5 years after the project began, and 3 and a half years later than the first publicly announced date.

If Steve, by some coincidence, also happens to run 3 and half years over his initial public date, he'll release in "Autumn '09" - which is roughly his current estimate. I'm anxiously awaiting late '09!

ORIGINAL: AbeSimpson

Oh nooo! Not end of September!! In October there is the Spiel 2009 fair  at Essen.
All my savings will be spent to buy new boardgames.[:D] 
A better date for release is December because I could (hopefully) save enough
money for MWiF and I can tell my wife its a Christmas present (for me )... [:D]

My thought exactly Abe.December 1st looks good.

ORIGINAL: cwie
If Steve, by some coincidence, also happens to run 3 and half years over his initial public date, he'll release in "Autumn '09" - which is roughly his current estimate. I'm anxiously awaiting late '09!

Well, and this highlights something that Erik Rutins, among others, has confronted (and been forthcoming enough to discuss, however briefly, in these forums) concerning "ports" of cardboard-and-paper wargames into computer versions.

Several years ago, there seemed to be a tacitly accepted notion that such conversions were a piece of cake. Turns out, they are as big a conquest as Monte Cassino - or even bigger.

I think the problem to be that taking the simple meaning of a short paragraph of wargame rules and turning them into working software routines - then integrating them with hundreds, if not thousands, of others - has turned out to be not just a can of worms, but an entire 55-gallon drum of snakes. Then, to superimpose a credible AI on that? You've got to be kidding.

Steve is laboring magnificently. I extend my congratulations - and condolences - to the likes of Marashall Ellis (of EiA fame - or notoriety, depending on how you see it). I respect CWiE, although, as noted, the market is limited due to the lack of an AI opponent.

We gotta be careful, men, lest no such undertakings ever be undertaken again (sorry, my best friend is an undertaker, so I try to play up his profession whenever I can). Let 'em be. Wait for the product. Encourage by your kind forbearance the efforts of other aspiring developers to "electronicize" some of those great old titles we love (I'd sure like to see such an effort with some of the old AH "classics," like Tactics II, Afrika Korps, Waterloo, or even Air Assault on Crete/Invasion of Malta).

Teaches me more respect for some of those early attempts, like AH's run at Third Reich, which I still have and fool around with from time to time (although, admittedly, CoS-FE is way better from the ground up - for me).

I'm waitin'. I'm buyin'.

I must say I didn't think that after setting a close date, like July, 27th, there would be substantial additional delays, but I know Steve would like to end ASAP, because it's then when he will get ( most of?) his money. If he has not done yet it is because he cannot (full stop).

That said, after the serious morale hit, I want to thank Steve for caring about the quality of the game. The really important matter is that the game works well and with the minimum and smaller possible bugs, I prefer a completely ready game than an unended one that will be patched for years.

ORIGINAL: pasternakski
Then, to superimpose a credible AI on that? You've got to be kidding.

In my opinion, the quality of the AI at first is not going to be the measure of the eventual success of this game. I may be mistaken, and Steve can correct me if I'm wrong, but his investment in this project has been momentous, and his eye has always been on the ball of the AIO. Perhaps the rudimentary AI will at first not be impressive, but because of the groundwork laid for the general structure of it (especially the modability), subsequent patches will substantially increase the strength of the the computer's play. In this way, the target market may start with hardened WiF fans, but will grow along with the capabilities of the AIO. This process, begun by dedicated beta testers before release, will continue with feedback from all of us based on our experiences with the initial product and subsequent updates.

This is not a bad thing. Players new to WiF may find the initial AI to be a sufficient challenge to help them learn the fundamentals of the game, and their play can improve commensurately with the strength of the AIO. I personally will be more than impressed if the initial release plays a passable Barbarossa or Guadal Canal. Even these relatively simple scenarios offer human players a rich universe of possibilities to demonstrate their skill and creativity. I do hope (for Matrix's and Steve's sakes, as well as for all of ours) that as feedback from the initial versions flows in from the public, the game acquires well-rounded techniques to handle a wide range of styles from players, techniques it must have if it is to play the longer scenarios and not become vulnerable to certain approaches.

So (still only my opinion), it is not that Steve is programming a strong computer opponent, but rather, that he is programming an easily tailored computer opponent with enough diversity of strategic and tactical possibilities so that its potential to be made stronger is impressive. With this in mind I await, patient and confident that MWiF will emerge eventually with all the diverse features we have clamored for, and that it will appeal to an increasingly wide market of WWII enthusiasts.

All this over a couple months delay...

Ya gotta be kidding me...

Ray (alias Lava)

Hearts of iron 3 will soon keep me happy for another year or so, so take your time and do it well

Yeah, and you cannot discard a new release of the Sims or Super Mario Bros. [:D]