RE: 2560x1600 resolution problem
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:06 pm
Hi Lieste,
All very good points, and thanks for replying.
I do realize this affects only a small portion of the user community, and I apologize if I made it seem a bigger issue than it is. There are not a lot of people who have this large of a monitor at all, and even smaller portion that both have this monitor and also want to play BFTB in full 2560x1600 native resolution glory. I can't speak for the ultimate profit they make on each copy sold either, but your numbers sound reasonable. I also don't have a clue how many total copies of BFTB will be sold to amortize any of the "costs of doing business" over, nor how large this company is. 2 people? 20 people? 200 people? Don't have a clue.
I guess part of it is the game is supposed to work at this resolution, it's documentation states that it does, and there's a select button for it, but it doesn't, and from the sounds of it, it was never tested. Sure, bugs happen, and clearly this was an unintentional bug, so no problem there. I work in software development, so I know how that goes. They have limited resources, and they need to devote those resources to fixing the "high payoff" issues, I get that. They run a business and have to make a profit. But besides how many people are affected, one other part of the equation in determining whether to fix a problem or not is how much it costs to fix it. if it's: "few people affected and expensive to fix", that means it doesn't get fixed. if it's: "lots of people affected and easy to fix" that means it gets fixed. I think we're more in the: "few people affected and relatively easy to fix" category (obviously my guess, I don't know). From Dave's post, maybe the size of some buffers need to be increased?
Do I think this deserves a special release to fix this one problem? Of course not. All I ask is that they put it back on their "to do" list (ok, fine, near the bottom), and at least take a shot at fixing it. Clearly this isn't seen as a high-priority issue at Panther, since it's been around for a year and a half. However, this is an important issue to *me*, and that's why I posted about it. If customers don't post about what is keeping them from purchasing a product, how would developers know? If I'm alone in thinking it's important, then it will never get fixed, they will lose 1 single sale for this title, and life goes on, no big deal.
In fact, if Dave or any of the developers at Panther Games really cannot find a 2560x1600 resolution monitor to check if their fix works, and that's really (really?!) the only thing holding them back, then I'd be glad to be their beta tester for this fix.
- Kevin
All very good points, and thanks for replying.
I do realize this affects only a small portion of the user community, and I apologize if I made it seem a bigger issue than it is. There are not a lot of people who have this large of a monitor at all, and even smaller portion that both have this monitor and also want to play BFTB in full 2560x1600 native resolution glory. I can't speak for the ultimate profit they make on each copy sold either, but your numbers sound reasonable. I also don't have a clue how many total copies of BFTB will be sold to amortize any of the "costs of doing business" over, nor how large this company is. 2 people? 20 people? 200 people? Don't have a clue.
I guess part of it is the game is supposed to work at this resolution, it's documentation states that it does, and there's a select button for it, but it doesn't, and from the sounds of it, it was never tested. Sure, bugs happen, and clearly this was an unintentional bug, so no problem there. I work in software development, so I know how that goes. They have limited resources, and they need to devote those resources to fixing the "high payoff" issues, I get that. They run a business and have to make a profit. But besides how many people are affected, one other part of the equation in determining whether to fix a problem or not is how much it costs to fix it. if it's: "few people affected and expensive to fix", that means it doesn't get fixed. if it's: "lots of people affected and easy to fix" that means it gets fixed. I think we're more in the: "few people affected and relatively easy to fix" category (obviously my guess, I don't know). From Dave's post, maybe the size of some buffers need to be increased?
Do I think this deserves a special release to fix this one problem? Of course not. All I ask is that they put it back on their "to do" list (ok, fine, near the bottom), and at least take a shot at fixing it. Clearly this isn't seen as a high-priority issue at Panther, since it's been around for a year and a half. However, this is an important issue to *me*, and that's why I posted about it. If customers don't post about what is keeping them from purchasing a product, how would developers know? If I'm alone in thinking it's important, then it will never get fixed, they will lose 1 single sale for this title, and life goes on, no big deal.
In fact, if Dave or any of the developers at Panther Games really cannot find a 2560x1600 resolution monitor to check if their fix works, and that's really (really?!) the only thing holding them back, then I'd be glad to be their beta tester for this fix.
- Kevin