Matrix Games Forums

Is there an updated time frame when this game my be available? I'm definitely looking forward to playing!

Check previous posts for specifics... Should be done in the next couple months.

Hi Guys

I going to give what I feel is a safe date but its NOT a promise. Matrix and 2by3 are working extra hard to do this one the right way.

I really do not see this making a Christmas release. We really did try but its not going to happen. I think we can say End of Jan or early Feb. Again its not set in stone but at the stage we are in its a good bet.

[ November 01, 2001: Message edited by: David Heath ]</p>

Ah, so Mr. David Heath guarantees release by end of January. <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> Sorry, I couldn't resist. I work in IT and it continually amazes me that statements like "We hope" or "We'll try" become dates written in stone. But, I am eagerly awaiting this one, along w/the megacampaigns, and the Napoleonic games, and...

Understood David. While I certainly want this title in my Christmas stocking, I would much rather you wait and release when you are ready.

I will buy it (and War in the Pacfic) whenever they are released. <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

I have a feeling anyway, that the audience these titles cater too, will do the same. <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

While we are on the subject, the "Development" section lists the due date for Campaign for the South Pacific as Spring 2002, which now seems about right. However, it lists War in the Pacific as Winter, 2002. That would be Jan, Feb, March, 2002, would it not, before "Campaign..." What do you actually mean? Maybe referring to speculative availability as 1st Quarter, etc would be clearer.

Paul

Originally posted by David Heath:
Hi Guys

I going to give what I feel is a safe date but its NOT a promise. Matrix and 2by3 are working extra hard to do this one the right way.

I really do not see this making a Christmas release. We really did try but its not going to happen. I think we can say End of Jan or early Feb. Again its not set in stone but at the stage we are in its a good bet.

[ November 01, 2001: Message edited by: David Heath ]

---

Being a programmer I can't believe for as long as this project has been in development you haven't finished yet. But then as I recall all the posts of Matrix adding this game and that game to their list of games in "DEVELOPMENT" I feel you people are not very professional. As a matter of fact I doubt very seriously if this game will ever be released. My quess is that you will go belly up before that happens. If you had been working for coporate America on this project you would have been FIRED long ago. Perhaps that is why you and your staff are in the game business, because you couldn't hack it anywhere else. I no longer will visit your site or waste my time in waiting for you to release something that should have been released by Christmas of 2001. After all you have been advertising this for quite some time. You have continually bumped the release date each time you have failed to meet what you "HOPED" to be the date. I have no intrest in your company anymore. No wonder this part of the wargaming hobby refuses to grow.

aaaaah I sometimes forget how loving the public can be. To the rest of the faithful gamers present I wanted to remind you that you can buy Matrix Gift Certifcates for a Christmas and the games that we are releasing in time for the Holidays can be gift wrap as well.

Hey Catdaddy,

Your a programmer? And you never missed a deadline?
D O N T L I E T O U S ! ! !

You are a whining sniveling snot, Go away and dont play in this sandbox anymore!

I have patience, I HAVE waited and I will wait until its done,
David & Co. mark of quality has been thier upfront manner in dealing with delays and schedules. If you really "worked" in commerce you know that software publishing means you dont put all your eggs in one basket... (which unfortuanately is done way too much- bug-patch, 2nd bug-patch, etc) He has repeatedly said "when its done we'll release it" NOT
"it will be ready for X-mas"
Note the difference!

Now quit yer bitchin and get in line or get out!

Hello...

Catdaddies apparent distress over the progress of the game and decision to avoid this site saddens me. It is for he and you, our gentle end users, which we labour.

At this point, Keith, Gary and I are programming as quickly as possible. The project is an ambitious one and we have included features never before attempted in a game on this scale. The basic game is completed and we are debugging and adding a few more features from our wish list. That list was developed by our development team and included everything that Gary, Joel, Keith, David, Rich and myself had ever wanted to see in a game of this type. It also included everything we had wanted, but failed to find in other games, such as Pacific War or Pacific Tide. That wish list has been extended by desires expressed here, in this forum. Some of your ideas have made it into Uncommon Valor. Others will have to wait for War in the Pacific. This is because some of our clientele have become a bit impatient and want to play a new game, right now. I can understand that impatience, as there are few games like Uncommon Valor on the market, from which one might choose.

We have also added several new artists to the project and new art has been added; we have recoded some of the executable to include this new and improved art. Not part of the original design, we have added and are adding a significant amount of animation for your viewing pleasure. These animation sequences hit and burning ships and aircraft hit by anti-aircraft artillery, flak bursts and exploding land based targets. Each takes 81 to 222 frames of art. Our artists are also working many long hours.

We have also been working with the sound routines to insure as much compatibility as possible with as many computers as possible. We are using advanced sound routines that allow panning in stereo and have increased the number of sounds available by the hundreds. David, our sound effects and Foley man, has put many hours in creating and editing these sounds.

It is our intention to provide you with an exceptional gaming experience with a minimum of bugs and untoward features and with a maximum of smooth, user gaming ease in an exciting war game that is visually appealing and filled with ambience. It takes time for we mere mortals to attempt such a divine endeavour.

In direct response to Catdaddies issues, I might make the following comments. My reply is not made to invalidate his concerns, but to help explain our situation, so that you might better understand our position.

I, too, am a programmer. Programming a large project, such as this one, is the process of creating something new from nothing and, because of this, software development travels at the speed of software development. If our estimates as to completion of a game are not always accurate, we share that with the entirety of the gaming industry. Joel Billings told me, the other day, that out of the 90+ games over which he supervised development, while at SSI, none were ever completed in the allotted time.

With regards to our going "belly up", before finishing the game, we are currently fully funded, in no small part due to the Mega Campaigns, for which I thank our devoted end users.

We are a corporation and, therefore a part of corporate America. I feel our business model is solid and will see us through the lean times. Other, larger war game companies, such as SSI and Talonsoft have not been able to survive these times, because it is very difficult to run a company that primarily produces war games, a rather small, niche market.

We have worked for less than one year on this project and in spite of the improvements we decided to make to the game, midway through development, I expect to finish the game in mid January, after 12 months of work. Building a new game in one year is not an unusually long development period.

In conclusion, I would pray that Catdaddy and others, who might be anxious to start playing, might be patient a bit longer. Having expended three years of my life on Steel Panthers: World at War, I am confident that spending another year on Uncommon Valor: Battle for the South Pacific will yield another camp of happy gamers.

Your Servant...

Michael Wood
Lead Programmer,
Matrix Games
____________________________________________________________________________________

Originally posted by catdaddy:


Being a programmer I can't believe for as long as this project has been in development you haven't finished yet. But then as I recall all the posts of Matrix adding this game and that game to their list of games in "DEVELOPMENT" I feel you people are not very professional. As a matter of fact I doubt very seriously if this game will ever be released. My quess is that you will go belly up before that happens. If you had been working for coporate America on this project you would have been FIRED long ago. Perhaps that is why you and your staff are in the game business, because you couldn't hack it anywhere else. I no longer will visit your site or waste my time in waiting for you to release something that should have been released by Christmas of 2001. After all you have been advertising this for quite some time. You have continually bumped the release date each time you have failed to meet what you "HOPED" to be the date. I have no intrest in your company anymore. No wonder this part of the wargaming hobby refuses to grow.

---

[ November 22, 2001: Message edited by: Mike Wood ]</p>

Hey Guys,
these sort of attacks count for nought.

as they say, "in the end, the proof is in the pudding".

so keep working on that code.....

you can rest on your laurels when your finished and the average wargamer out there is singing your praise. (i hope)

<img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Holly cow,
now that´s some motivation for the next row of long nights.

In 8 years of working I´ve learned something. That deadlines are there for one reason, to keep the guy that has to meet it under pressure, but it´s definetly not there for beeing met by the hour. I´ve never seen any project (and I´m not only working in the gaming industry) meeting it´s so called deadline. Also I never saw David or any other of the staff posting a definite deadline here.
Since I got involved in working with the other buddys on UV I ´ve seen many many changes and I´m quite impressed what features got added (although the original engine wasn´t able to cope with them) and how much new and brilliant ideas got in the game.

Catdaddy beeing a programmer tells us that he allways met his deadline (I assume that because he still is a programmer and is not unemployed <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> ), I wonder what he programms, Excel makros ?

On the other hand I think this is merely a low flamming attempt. He registered in Nov2001 and has added the fantastic amount of 2 !!! posts to this community , no email either. Typical Troll IMHO.

Have a nice day

Good things come to those who wait. I'm a patient person and will wait for the day this game is released. Take your time and do it right. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

I'm just amazed you gave that guy such a measured response. Waiting eagerly for the game - as I am sure most lurkers here are. Don't care when it comes out - but I will certainly be sending my pounds your way when it does.
Cheers, Chris

My response.....<g> lets just say I have been giving a lot of pratice since we opened Matrix Games.<g>

Back to Uncommon Valor.... trust me both teams are making this 100% effort. This will not be a game played for a few weeks and dropped.

I wonder what he programms, Excel makros ?

---

Hey! I missed a deadline once on an Excel project <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

Of course the behemoth did have about 600 lines of code once it was done. <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

A message for all programers at Matrix:

Thanks for your on the mark response to CATDADDY (or was it catbaby?)concerning the release of Uncommon Valor. I have been waiting since the first day I played Gary's Pacific War for a more expanded version of that type of gaming experience. Did't think it was possible, but then found the Matrix site one day and your new version was out. To now know there is a still more expanded version of this type gaming is great and I will wait until you have it the way you want it, since your company has not disappointed me yet. Again, thanks.

wzh55 william_hawthorne@hotmail.com

[ November 26, 2001: Message edited by: wzh55 ]</p>

Hi, Guys. Just back for a short visit after a long absence - been kind of busy with family matters - my mom died - and starting a new church - which can be a little time consuming. And, so far, not one deadline (or completion target, as the architect says - has been anywhere near correct. There's always some one who doesn't get the word - and it always shows up at the wrong time - so Mike, David, Gary - I've been waiting since 1992 for a follow-up to Pacific War worth its salt - keep focused on the mission, guys, and not on the bovine scatology.

*Reclusive Fool slaps catdaddy with a trout*

BACK! BACK UNDER YOUR BRIDGE YOU TROLL!!!!

Just my $0.02. I play games - lots of 'em. What's the first thing I look for before I go buy a game? Why, I look at the company first. Who are they? Are they committed to their products? Their customers? Are their products of good quality?

There are only two companies who I will buy wargames from: Matrix and BTS. Let's face it: you guys may not have many games out now, but what a line-up!

I tried getting my own business up and running (not a game co.) three times. It's hard. What I do know is that Matrix has far more potential than most of the smaller designer/publisher companies out there. The triple threat idea is solid, too. I'd expect you gents to be around a very long time.

Let's not forget: in what game communities will the designers/admins actually talk to you and/or listen to the ideas of their fans? Mmmm... Why, Matrix and BTS!

Nice job guys.

Sorry for the rant. Just couldn't resist. <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> Some people need a kick in the ass or they'll never grow up. But then again, he's probably just flame-baiting. <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0">

Nathanael

I've been in the software biz for over 20 years. It's 'only' been a year. Not bad considering what you're trying to do. Circumstances arise, 'feature creep' (which we end users will appreciate by the way) and your time being interrupted by other projects always tend to stretch deadlines. Most managment sets a date and then defines the project! You guys do great work. We appreciate you keeping us updated (which by the way takes away from coding time)! We are all looking forward to this one. But I think I speak for most of us when I say release it when it's done not because a date has come and gone.