Matrix Games Forums

A pre Xmas release is looking unlikely. I'm still squashing some minor bugs at the moment but am waiting on Paul to finish off some code that will fix a major bug in the event processing introduced when we sequenced events by the formation order of march. He hopes to finish this off next week. Monday, however, is our sign off deadline for a preXmas release and even if Paul finishes this code on Sunday we won't make it. I still have to do the tutorial movies yet. Given that Matrix shuts down over the Xmas break for a few weeks, the earliest the game could be released would be early February.

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

A pre Xmas release is looking unlikely. I'm still squashing some minor bugs at the moment but am waiting on Paul to finish off some code that will fix a major bug in the event processing introduced when we sequenced events by the formation order of march. He hopes to finish this off next week. Monday, however, is our sign off deadline for a preXmas release and even if Paul finishes this code on Sunday we won't make it. I still have to do the tutorial movies yet. Given that Matrix shuts down over the Xmas break for a few weeks, the earliest the game could be released would be early February.

Seriously though, we'll still be here. [:)]

Rob.

ORIGINAL: Pergite!

...or it could be a great gift for the chinese new year, around 14th February?

Ah, I knew that fortune cookie wasn't lying to me [:D]

That's fine, I haven't learned COTA yet. [:)]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

A pre Xmas release is looking unlikely. I'm still squashing some minor bugs at the moment but am waiting on Paul to finish off some code that will fix a major bug in the event processing introduced when we sequenced events by the formation order of march. He hopes to finish this off next week. Monday, however, is our sign off deadline for a preXmas release and even if Paul finishes this code on Sunday we won't make it. I still have to do the tutorial movies yet. Given that Matrix shuts down over the Xmas break for a few weeks, the earliest the game could be released would be early February.

dang february? what happened to the month of jan? busiest time of the year for matrix i would have to imagine. take a break in july or something[;)]

good luck, will check back in a couple of months!

Hi all,

Paul finished off the event sequencing code and we have just started uploading a new beta build for our testers. It's looking pretty stable so far ( touch wood ). I'm going to start work on the tutorial movies tomorrow.

SITREP Friday 4 Dec 09

We put out a new build earlier this week with Paul's new event sequencing code. However, it didn't work out all that well. The forces were jerking around in stops and starts. Overhauled it again today and now it moves pretty smoothly...a lot better. Fixed numerous scheduling bugs this week including some nasty ones that were preventing assaults from kicking off for complex attacks. I uploaded replacement game exes for the beta testers. Autotesting so far has produced only one error out of seven completed games, inlcluding one of the really big scenarios. So that's very encouraging.

Now that we have the game playing well, the beat testers can finally get to polish off the scenarios. I will start work on the tutorial movies next week. Things are looking up. [:)]

Arjuna,
 
Thanks for the update.
 
I am sure it will be worth waiting for, and I for one would prefer it to be properly finished before release, rather than dealing with endless patches.
 
Brendon.

ORIGINAL: sabre1

That's fine, I haven't learned COTA yet. [:)]

Haha, I was just thinking the same thing. [;)]

sounds great Dave.........still possible by the 9th or is this Feb. 2010 present??/

ORIGINAL: Slick Wilhelm

ORIGINAL: sabre1

That's fine, I haven't learned COTA yet. [:)]

Haha, I was just thinking the same thing. [;)]

Well, get to it then! Crete is not going to invade itself now is it? [;)]

We're definitely not going to make it for 2009.

Keep working in serenity, no rush, and thanks for the heads up, Arjuna.
[8D]

Thanks for the heads up. Best wishes, a definite buy when it's available.

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

We're definitely not going to make it for 2009.

No problem. Just keep going [:)]

Are the movies planned on being made available for the full game, demo, or for everyone? Any hope on getting them released before the end of the Matrix sale? I'm trying to sell some people on the series.

The plan at the moment is to provide the following movies:

• Welcome - talking head ( mine [:)] ) explaing the options.
• What's New - for those who want to see the major new features since COTA.
• Quick Start - for those who just want to dive straight in.
• Game Concepts - for those used to traditional turn based hex wargames or those new to wargames. It covers pasuable continuous time, force structures, decision planning process and orders delay.
• Assess and Plan - how to assess the situation and develop a plan of action.
• Issue Orders - how to issue orders, including the various task options and coordinating multiple tasks.
• Fight the Offensive Battle - how to advance and attack.
• Fight the Defensive Battle - how to delay and defend.

All will come with the full game. The demo will include the Welcome and Quick Start and maybe the What's New ( depending on file sizes - these movies can be quite big and we need to try and keep the download to a minimum ). If we don't release the What's New with the demo, then I'll see if we can make this publically downloadable as a separate file.

I'm currently spending half of my day on the movies and half on squashing bugs. I've finished the Welcome moview and am currently two thirds of the way through the storyboard for the Quick Start movie. Hopefully I'll have that finished this week. Not sure how long exactly it's going to take to finish off the rest. Hopefully we can finish them by Xmas.

With the extended wait, I wish I was still able to do another digital download of COTA. But my 2 year download period is long since up and my old computer bit the dust. Any chance you can put in a good word with the "suits" to keep us diehards locked in on Panther products? I'd love to try COTA on my new PC and bigger monitor... and it would certainly help make the wait a touch easier.

loyalcitizen,

I've asked Erik to look into it.

Those sound like useful videos. It would be a good idea to have them easily accessible for mass consumption as well though (such as youtube), so that potential customers see what they could look forward to.