2-3 Years 100+ devs and this is what we get?

[CMDR Maxus]

100 people isn't that many to work on a game. They are not all developers, some are in marketing, some are in audio, some are in graphic design, some in finance etc.

Having said that I still expected more than this half arsed garbage. But most AAA games have thousands of people involved, think movie credits but more time and man power.

 

[St0rmFury]

GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND

Grind... grind never changes.

 

[Ryuto]

Grind... grind never changes.

Wow, so glad I haven't put on any attachments yet.

 

[Lone_star]

100 people isn't that many to work on a game. They are not all developers, some are in marketing, some are in audio, some are in graphic design, some in finance etc.

Having said that I still expected more than this half arsed garbage. But most AAA games have thousands of people involved, think movie credits but more time and man power.

Hello games has like 26 people. It's all about project management, design and vision.

 

[SpaceDad]

Evochron series is developed by ONE man who is probably not even mortal anymore. For years.

Just saying.

 

[CMDR Maxus]

Hello games has like 26 people. It's all about project management, design and vision.

Don't disagree, and hello games isn't even AAA its indie developer.

 

[Wonko_The_Sane]

I think what many people are missing is that while they still call it their proprietary cobra engine this is a 100% new engine. That is what is causing most of the game play issues. I would fault them for not having enough test resources but the dev work that went in to it was significant. The fault rests 100% on the management that forced a release. It is also not known what features were planned and what was cut to make the targeted date.

Its it buggy as hell? Yes.
Does it have very little that the majority of the player base actually wanted? Yes.
Is it the devs' fault? No.

 

[Lone_star]

I think what many people are missing is that while they still call it their proprietary cobra engine this is a 100% new engine. That is what is causing most of the game play issues. I would fault them for not having enough test resources but the dev work that went in to it was significant. The fault rests 100% on the management that forced a release. It is also not known what features were planned and what was cut to make the targeted date.

Its it buggy as hell? Yes.
Does it have very little that the majority of the player base actually wanted? Yes.
Is it the devs' fault? No.

I personally think they should have left the engine mostly alone - it's very, very clear they just couldn't handle upgrading it in the time they had. Horizons graphics are fine, in fact I think they still look quite good.

 

[Prolak Grey]

Looks like that 100+, sequential, employees came, saw, and quit when they realized they couldn't do what needed to be done.

 

[Wonko_The_Sane]

I personally think they should have left the engine mostly alone - it's very, very clear they just couldn't handle upgrading it in the time they had. Horizons graphics are fine, in fact I think they still look quite good.

I do not think that it would have been able to do the FPS that they wanted. I think that their new engine can't to the FPS in VR and will need even more development to do that. They needed a bigger team or a much smaller scope. They would have been better off with new engine and then expansion later.

 

[Lone_star]

I do not think that it would have been able to do the FPS that they wanted. I think that their new engine can't to the FPS in VR and will need even more development to do that. They needed a bigger team or a much smaller scope. They would have been better off with new engine and then expansion later.

Well I also think adding FPS was a huge mistake. We'll see if I'm right long term; IMO the juice is nowhere near worth the squeeze. They should have built on what they already had (more SRVs, enhanced SRV gameplay, etc). It would have cost them way less and still would have sold quite well.

 

[Trollymctrollerson]

I think what many people are missing is that while they still call it their proprietary cobra engine this is a 100% new engine. That is what is causing most of the game play issues. I would fault them for not having enough test resources but the dev work that went in to it was significant. The fault rests 100% on the management that forced a release. It is also not known what features were planned and what was cut to make the targeted date.

Its it buggy as hell? Yes.
Does it have very little that the majority of the player base actually wanted? Yes.
Is it the devs' fault? No.

Yeah pretty sure its a case of the bean counters throwing the rank and file code writers under the bus. The stuffed suits who get their bonus from the initial sales. Even if the case was made that the code writers were lazy/incompetent/ineffective, its still Managements fault. Its the job of leadership to attract and retain good talent, train and support the employees and address deficiencies in output before the product goes live.

 

[Wonko_The_Sane]

Well I also think adding FPS was a huge mistake. We'll see if I'm right long term; IMO the juice is nowhere near worth the squeeze. They should have built on what they already had (more SRVs, enhanced SRV gameplay, etc). It would have cost them way less and still would have sold quite well.

Honestly all their FPS is is a reskinned SRV. You do not walk out of you ship. You select a menu and are suddenly out on foot. You run to the circle and hit the button to be loaded back in to your ship. Change out the helmet screen for the SRV cockpit, same thing.

 

[Ughkoff]

They stated back when they first started making this DLC that they had a team of 100+ working on the new update. and frontier has alot more employees then you think not to mention the team working on planet coaster or what ever isnt working on elite at all completely diffrent developers.

Somewhere I have already heard this story, about 350+ employees ... hmmm, like in BioWare in Austin. I do not know how their development is arranged, besides what FDev officially declares, but I know for sure that in addition to the Elite and the Amusement Park, there is a Jurassic Park, there is a grant for some kind of F1 simulator, plus social programs. We know that they are constantly recruiting new specialists and on the one hand it is good, fresh blood, fresh ideas, on the other hand, people who come with the knowledge of Unity or Unreal Engine need time to get used to the unique Cobra Engine.
I think FDev has already drawn conclusions and saw their mistakes, and now they are correcting them, I see no reason to press them into the dirt, otherwise we will lose another good studio for OUR entertainment, loyal to the players

 

[Lone_star]

Somewhere I have already heard this story, about 350+ employees ... hmmm, like in BioWare in Austin. I do not know how their development is arranged, besides what FDev officially declares, but I know for sure that in addition to the Elite and the Amusement Park, there is a Jurassic Park, there is a grant for some kind of F1 simulator, plus social programs. We know that they are constantly recruiting new specialists and on the one hand it is good, fresh blood, fresh ideas, on the other hand, people who come with the knowledge of Unity or Unreal Engine need time to get used to the unique Cobra Engine.
I think FDev has already drawn conclusions and saw their mistakes, and now they are correcting them, I see no reason to press them into the dirt, otherwise we will lose another good studio for OUR entertainment, loyal to the players

Good studios who are loyal to their customers don't release software that is 6-12 months from being release quality for full price.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

But it’s a kickstarter from a little indie team, pretend it’s your child they will build it later.

Hmm. Doesn’t work anymore. Frontier probably were assuming it still would.

 

[CommieMittens]

Honestly all their FPS is is a reskinned SRV. You do not walk out of you ship. You select a menu and are suddenly out on foot. You run to the circle and hit the button to be loaded back in to your ship. Change out the helmet screen for the SRV cockpit, same thing.

My group call it 'foot ships', since you still have to drop shields with lasers and use kinetic on the fleshy 'hull'.

 

[Andreus]

GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND

There is no earthly reason to have grind in any game. It's a failure of design.

 

[Ughkoff]

Good studios who are loyal to their customers don't release software that is 6-12 months from being release quality for full price.

I do not think that 100+ employees will work just for food or for a big human thanks for 6-12 months. I don't think server owners will keep the game client just for an idea. There is no subscription fee in the game, we do not pay $ 100 for a cobra, $ 500 for a cutter and $ 1500 for a Panther Clipper that will appear someday. Considering that this is a space simulator, the Elite is unlikely to exceed hundreds of millions of copies. We don't know how much people spend on cosmetics, but something suggests that ARX is not overwhelmingly popular. If you play around with numbers, you will find that the company's income is very modest by the standards of the gaming industry. For example, EA would hardly give you the opportunity to get Horizons for free, not to mention other things.

 

[buzzx]

Talk about glass half empty. There so many great things also. Why are people so hung up on the old planets. If youve been playing for the past 7 years youve seen just about every variation a thousand times. I couldn't stand how bumpy ever planet use to be and the ice worlds were just plain horrible. There's problems with the new tech and not much variation at the moment but Im excited to know its in place and will only get better. Personally I think the lighting looks much more realistic than before.