First, lemme start off by saying Beta wore me out. Being that I'm not a beta tester by nature (this was only the 2nd time I've ever taken part in one), after all the tickets and repetitiveness of Beta 1, I essentially sat out 2 and had to summon the energy to put in work for 3. By 3.5 I was doing more galaxy map browsing than actual flying, trying to plot out what destinations I'd set out for on 12/16.
3.9 and Gamma thoroughly surprised me. Suddenly the game felt optimised, the world became limitless, and I felt like something was actually going on within it.
That said, I'm in the same boat as many others who feel that if this is the game that's going to be released to the public, it might not go over so well. I get that this is a "Long Term" game in which the foundation is more important than the feature list and I'm not ashamed to say I've never played a game that was built this way, so there are people who are more aware of the situation than I.
I'm also in the boat that saw the jump from 3.5 to 3.9/Gamma, what with several features and optimisations that I'm pretty sure weren't mentioned in the newsletters I scour through every Friday, and think "Why can't they do this for release as well?"
There's a lot to be fixed by release, and the way FD has churned out updates (I'm sitting through one as I type this), I'm confident that this "foundation" will be more solid than the house I'm living in and I expect there will be several more interesting things that will come with the release that the team simply doesn't feel like spoiling the surprise on.
It wouldn't surprise me if on 12/16:
Sidewinders, Haulers, and Eagles were all labelled "Starter" ships and each is offered upon a new game depending on how you want to start, while kickstarters have their deserved access to their Cobra or Viper.
Starting locations are selectable or randomized a la a 4X game. Technically that's already in the game.
NPC's are given a class in how to drive their large ships through the letterbox--something that was fixed and broken again in gamma but should be fixed before release.
There's more dynamism and diversity within individual star systems and stations, even if they fall under the same economies.
There's a ton of lore to read and experience in-game, since this is as much a fantasy RPG as everything else this game gets labeled as.
There is another marked jump in diversity of content within star systems, like lights on the dark side of populated planets (That's actually the BIG thing I'm hoping and waiting for.)
Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if the team has some sort of temporary design scheme for the holidays, like decking out the lights on a starport to mimic christmas lights. Not counting on it, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Yes, I do feel this game will get ripped to shreds if it's released as it is now. Thing is, there's still 3 weeks to release, and these guys and gals are working hard. They're also intelligent individuals. I don't know, because I'm not a beta tester by nature, but I can't wrap my head around a dev officially releasing the same game it released a month prior as Gamma. Just because it may not be getting talked about openly doesn't mean it won't happen. I wouldn't be surprised if we're all pleasantly surprised on 12/16.
3.9 and Gamma thoroughly surprised me. Suddenly the game felt optimised, the world became limitless, and I felt like something was actually going on within it.
That said, I'm in the same boat as many others who feel that if this is the game that's going to be released to the public, it might not go over so well. I get that this is a "Long Term" game in which the foundation is more important than the feature list and I'm not ashamed to say I've never played a game that was built this way, so there are people who are more aware of the situation than I.
I'm also in the boat that saw the jump from 3.5 to 3.9/Gamma, what with several features and optimisations that I'm pretty sure weren't mentioned in the newsletters I scour through every Friday, and think "Why can't they do this for release as well?"
There's a lot to be fixed by release, and the way FD has churned out updates (I'm sitting through one as I type this), I'm confident that this "foundation" will be more solid than the house I'm living in and I expect there will be several more interesting things that will come with the release that the team simply doesn't feel like spoiling the surprise on.
It wouldn't surprise me if on 12/16:
Sidewinders, Haulers, and Eagles were all labelled "Starter" ships and each is offered upon a new game depending on how you want to start, while kickstarters have their deserved access to their Cobra or Viper.
Starting locations are selectable or randomized a la a 4X game. Technically that's already in the game.
NPC's are given a class in how to drive their large ships through the letterbox--something that was fixed and broken again in gamma but should be fixed before release.
There's more dynamism and diversity within individual star systems and stations, even if they fall under the same economies.
There's a ton of lore to read and experience in-game, since this is as much a fantasy RPG as everything else this game gets labeled as.
There is another marked jump in diversity of content within star systems, like lights on the dark side of populated planets (That's actually the BIG thing I'm hoping and waiting for.)
Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if the team has some sort of temporary design scheme for the holidays, like decking out the lights on a starport to mimic christmas lights. Not counting on it, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Yes, I do feel this game will get ripped to shreds if it's released as it is now. Thing is, there's still 3 weeks to release, and these guys and gals are working hard. They're also intelligent individuals. I don't know, because I'm not a beta tester by nature, but I can't wrap my head around a dev officially releasing the same game it released a month prior as Gamma. Just because it may not be getting talked about openly doesn't mean it won't happen. I wouldn't be surprised if we're all pleasantly surprised on 12/16.
