Do you think they are going to release a bunch of new stuff on release?

[TiberiuS]

I don't know, but something I'm sure of, they have a different (more advanced) build in house than what we have now. Its been this way since the beggining.

THIS
I also think they currently have some kind of (currently unfinshed?) beta 4 which will be released on 22nd as the "preview build" (or gamma) which is the release candidate. So I'm sure there will be more features that go directly into gamma. They had 2 weeks since the start of beta 3 and still have 1-2 weeks to put additional features in for gamma release.

 

[sbdags]

Yes we don't really know.

I cannot for the life of me imagine any company adding new features this close to a go-live. I work in IT and my Dev team would now be thinking of locking everything down and final defect fixing. Get all the show stoppers out of the way.

What I do know is that the internal testing process is not very robust as release 2 and 3 have shown us. Often more bugs are introduced than fixed. Things that have been working fine for months suddenly break. So it would be remiss of them to not get the next release right.

However the game as it stands right now, excepting server networking issues and the graphics stuttering, feels 95% complete to me. I don't care what the DDa or DDF state - I cannot see more features being added.

And that is fine by me as the game is great now.

What concerns me is the amount of frenzied hope being raised on the forums that there is a lot more to come. There clearly isn't folks - we might get the odd tweak here and there; some new ships, larger galaxy, more mission types, few more commodities, bounties fixed, fines tweaked, etc... but those are all mechanics that are already in the game now.

Of course I don't know this and I'm happy to be proven wrong on Nov 23rd / Dec 16th. But given the track record I doubt we'll be happy bunnies if they have added loads of new untested stuff for preview.

 

[Shoklar]

Who knows!?
Personally I think we have 95% of the game now and it will be bug fixing from now on. I'm happy with that.

I think we have around 35% of the game. Much of the rest will be in the pre-release version and then more in the release on Dec 16th with more to follow after that.

Shok.

 

[sbdags]

I think we have around 35% of the game. Much of the rest will be in the pre-release version and then more in the release on Dec 16th with more to follow after that.

Shok.

Have to disagree. No way new features will be added after the 22nd. They will be pressing the game for release as they have promised a box release for this right? You can't release 65% untested. You just can't.

Well you can but it would be disastrous to say the least.

 

[Defacto]

Have to disagree. No way new features will be added after the 22nd. They will be pressing the game for release as they have promised a box release for this right? You can't release 65% untested. You just can't.

Well you can but it would be disastrous to say the least.

The game will not be completed at launch.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Have to disagree. No way new features will be added after the 22nd. They will be pressing the game for release as they have promised a box release for this right? You can't release 65% untested. You just can't.

Well you can but it would be disastrous to say the least.

In the good old days games were mostly tested internally without the help of the community. Sure games are more complex now but I don't think it is impossible to think FD did some testing themselves on some content.

The main thing to get right which needs huge numbers is the net code.... I must admit I am surprised we have not seen beta get more updates on that

 

[Snyperal]

I'd be amazed if there was much more to come. Tweaks and ships, sure. Not much else though.

 

[sbdags]

The game will not be completed at launch.

Yes I get that and I know there are potentially years of dev to come. I'm just stating that the game you are playing now will be essentially the same game you are playing on Nov 22nd and Dec 16th imo.

 

[Chob]

I am optimistic about this, and i have faith in the developers.

 

[Elessarus]

Have to disagree. No way new features will be added after the 22nd. They will be pressing the game for release as they have promised a box release for this right? You can't release 65% untested. You just can't.

Well you can but it would be disastrous to say the least.

Dont forget FD has a good Q&A testing department, we are not the only one 'testing' here. FD maybe just decided to not let us see it and save all the goodness . I certainly dont expect alot of new features but we will see

 

[sbdags]

Dont forget FD has a good Q&A testing department, we are not the only one 'testing' here. FD maybe just decided to not let us see it and save all the goodness . I certainly dont expect alot of new features but we will see

Er.... with all due respect to FD, their beta release process has been a disaster when it comes to Q&A

 

[OldSalt]

Define completed! After ten years of playing IL2 and it's successors the developers still said there was more to do. I am not expecting much more than we have now for release, a little but not much more. FD are welcome to prove me wrong but it would be a real curve ball if they did.

 

[Defacto]

Yes I get that and I know there are potentially years of dev to come. I'm just stating that the game you are playing now will be essentially the same game you are playing on Nov 22nd and Dec 16th imo.

That seems unlikely considering the pace at which the game has been developed and what we have been told of the development in the near future.

 

[Bumbles]

I think they're saving some features for Gamma. there's major stuff like passgengers, persistant NPCs and player alliances that were mentioned in the DDA but sill haven't been added and lots of minor additons to exising mechanics (like preforming micro-jumps within a system).

I expect gamma's going to more or less be feature complete, execpt for maybe a few ships or still being confined to a bubble.

 

[shreddog]

*nevermind silly post

 

[Swan]

Bearing in mind that we've been playing snippets of the game and it has been in development long before the Kickstarter started, I think there is going to be a HUGE amount of extra content that'll knock people's socks off.

 

[akaliel]

That seems unlikely considering the pace at which the game has been developed and what we have been told of the development in the near future.

The whole purpose of a beta is to add features and content. That's why every beta added a bunch of new stuff. "Gamma" is meant to mean that it's feature complete, and you're now removing bugs, improving performance, increasing stability and handling issues like that. They've allocated about a month for the Gamma to do that cleanup before release. There won't be any new big content or feature additions to the game between Gamma and Release. That's just a recipe for disaster. Most game reviews will hit at lunch, the last thing Frontier wants is to introduce a showstopper bug and get a bunch of bad reviews. That'll kill this game right in the cradle. I dislike most review sites too, but there's no denying that they have a lot of influence on a lot of gamer's, and sales are definitely tied to the score on the reviews.

I feel that there's a lot of gamer's on this site who don't work in software. The words alpha, beta and gamma aren't just random words we've made up. They do serve a standard purpose.

 

[Sterlino]

I feel they should delay release a year at least. In that time redesign the flight model and supercruise. Major overhaul of the soundeffects is also needed, the ships don't sound like spaceships but futuristic floor cleaning machines. I got sick of hearing my Sidewinder after just a few hours. It shouldn't be like that.

Also it should release with the walking in ship and stations, including lively npcs. It simply needs more soul! Right now it feels lifeless to play, almost as Space Engine with ships and lazors kind of..(only Space Engine is 10 times more realistic and enjoyable)
It needs soul to attract more buyers.

...yeah... sure... and a robot that will serve you a cup of coffee before the take off...

..come on... -_-

 

[Gorodd]

I am not being negative, emotions are at times difficult to express through the written word. That being said, honestly, why are some expecting massive in roads to be made in such short time?

I understand hope. I functionally understand what a Beta entails, and realize Frontier is actually running a Beta process and not a glorified demo. I know what the newsletters and DDA state, and have witnessed with each iteration, more has been released. But what can be done in a month and a half's time? People keep talking about how were only seeing a vertical slice, where has this officially been stated? And if so why have they really held so much back? Why not let us test it?

Please enlighten me, there is most likely a disconnect somewhere that I am not getting.


p.s. I enjoy what ED is currently, obviously it can always become better. And I want the game to succeed, and I try to keep up to date, but there are only so many hours in a day. Thank you.

Being a s/w dev manager myself...I would assume that they have either 'switched off' functions that are not 'load' based (or non-functionally challenged) or made separation in the code tree and branched a good couple of months ago for the new functionality that we are not seeing (or both of these.

Any bugs found in the Beta release are fixed not only in the beta code but in the separate branch also. Of course, they still run the risk of new issues occurring once live with the full release - but EVERY game has bugs at release - it just should not have fundamental game breaking bugs. That being said, I have witnessed (as most of us will have) a few real corker bugs in big online games which required rollbacks to everyone's despair!

My tuppence worth, yes - FD tend to push the boundaries so it would not be entirely shocking to see a host of new (or expected design as not yet seen) features at Release.

 

[Vandaahl]

I feel they should delay release a year at least.

A year from the gentleman on the left. Who offers 2?