ORIGINAL: Richie61
Probably not going to be liked over these views, but I have bought FPRS.
You and I have been friends a long time, you know I have never shied away from anyone ever saying how they feel about any project I've ever done. Now is not the time for me to start.
I agree about adding new content to FPRS, but everything should work instead of backwards fixes like don't do this or manually control this or that because the game function is broken. Not sure how patches can break a feature after time spent on beta testing and the general buying public picks up on these broken or not working correctly pieces of a game.
I can't tell you exactly how when you fix one thing you break another. If you've ever done any beta testing for a computer code you will know that's exactly what happens. Not just every so often but almost every single time. A period in one spot of 500 pages of code makes a difference. That's pretty close to my entire knowledge of coding these days.
I have spoke with a few other gaming buddies and they agreed that having another FP series complete or broke doesn't leave future purchases with the warm & fuzzes. I almost bought the first FP series but was told by others to past on it because of broken items or because the game was incomplete. I won't call out other companies, but I can purchase other PC games in a series and they are complete and working. Be it Eastern Front, WWI, Vietnam or European conflicts. I think Flashpoint should be along the same lines.
First and foremost, FPC isn't broken. It plays better now than the day we released it.
Second, there will be bugs in any computer code the day the last of that codes developers pass away. You never get them working 100% the way you want.
Third, what I'm saying we need to do is stop adding features to this game at this level or there will never be anything but what you have on your computer now. There will be no Vietnam, WWII, Eastern Front or any other theater or time because we will still be working on this part of the code. Nobody is saying we are walking away from supporting what we've put out and we will fix any bug that causes a crashing issue or stops game play but to think that we can get this to a point where it make everybody happy isn't going to happen. Every single one of us has a different idea of what perfection is.
I think the series has lots of potential and could be a great title years down the line, but it should be fixed/ patched/ updated to perform correctly before looking to do another title. Maybe it's a money thing or upper management looking to future games? I just feel that leaving titles in this state to product another title in the same era & landmass does make future PC purchases knock down your door to buy your product.
What do you think is broken?
Even when we released this game it was very stable. No crashing bugs. We didn't release a Beta version on the community but one we had tested for months to make sure it was in a state that we would have wanted to buy it if we were on the other side of the counter.
I for one look
at pass games now after getting sucked into the Panzer Command Ostfront game. [&:] I should have really based my purchase on the past titles that were released to sell "improved" features/ content and said "past" on PCO [:(]
Sucked into Panzer Command Ostfront....hmmmm....
I have no idea how you think that game sucked you in. We gave the game away free for weeks after we released what was supposed to have been a patch. Did so much work on it and added so much content to it that it became a game of it's own. Far better than either of the original games in that series. If we hadn't lost the coder it would still be going and may well raise it's head again.
Now a PLUS side [:)]
Talking to people, we feel the graphics are good and adding content like more Nations and weapon systems is key.
You have people redoing maps and counters already, so why not expend on content [:D]
More content? I have given you 2 campaigns and extra scenarios. All at no cost to you. There is to be another free scenario included in the next patch.
We have supported this game as much as I've ever seen one supported. We will continue to support the game, however, I don't intend on stopping with this game in the series. To make more games at some point we need to say this one is good. Catch whatever little things that need caught and add those fixes to the next game in the series.
Unless you want us to stop right here, right now we have to move on at some point. The game plays well has enough free features added to it that it is almost a completely new game at this moment from the one we released last October.
I think you're right I think your view that we don't move forward isn't going to be popular. To support your view though we do intend on continuing to create content for FPC. It just won't continue to be our single commitment to the series. We've already stayed with FPC so long that it's pushed the next game in the series out by about 6 months.
Time to let this game play and work on the next one.
Good Hunting.
MR
