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[Swjosdotschka]

There are no factual numbers of what was promised, so in the end it will still all come down to what a person thinks of it for their own.
I think 3 variations per animal would be enough, while somebody else would say: no 12!

Three would be absolutely enough for me. Okay, maybe the llamas and flamingos could need 5 or something like that, but tigres and lions and such? Light, medium and dark shade and I'm fine with it. It's the animals that live in bigger groups, where the lack of variation lets me cringe.

I don't think "in a large batch" means all at once, though. Maybe four or five batches? Wouldn't count on the all at once update, but in the end, it doesn't matter too much. Still think that it was a bad decision to not include feedback in paidcontent right from the start. People who not followthe forums or social media regularly don't even know they are working on something. So what they think is "onlywhite llamas? That's cheap, not worth buying."

 

[LN]

Three would be absolutely enough for me. Okay, maybe the llamas and flamingos could need 5 or something like that, but tigres and lions and such? Light, medium and dark shade and I'm fine with it. It's the animals that live in bigger groups, where the lack of variation lets me cringe.

I don't think "in a large batch" means all at once, though. Maybe four or five batches? Wouldn't count on the all at once update, but in the end, it doesn't matter too much. Still think that it was a bad decision to not include feedback in paidcontent right from the start. People who not followthe forums or social media regularly don't even know they are working on something. So what they think is "onlywhite llamas? That's cheap, not worth buying."

I'm no programmer, so I wouldn't know. But I guess it's not so easy.
To me it looks like mostly some base code (where they pick textures / colors) that needs to be adjusted, but that would be guessing from my side, which is pointless.

And 3 is a good number, I agree.

 

[giu94]

The bigger work is the code for the logic behind the whole thing, and then a smaller amount of work for every species, but for sure this isn't the first time somebody does something like that for animals (or other things) in videogames, so if the wait is gonna last for long (let's say other two month) I would be surpised if it won't be really really great (many colors or offsprings color basing on the color of parents maybe?), but no one asked for something this big, five/seven variant for every specie would be enough (and again, the work is not on how many colors, is about the logic behind choosing one of them, five or 1000 probably is the same coding complexity).
Probably three variants would be useless (let alone developing this whole engine only for three colors) since you will end up with many identical animals for the ones that lives in big groups, so I don't want to be too demanding but if we have to wait I hope is gonna be good. This whole thing is about faking to have unique realistic animals through colors, so I guess three would not be enough (but hey still better than one).

 

[marcnesiumHH]

but for sure this isn't the first time somebody does something like that for animals (or other things) in videogames,

Frontier has already a system in place: there are already variants (giraffe, zebra) and many 'albinos' in the game and they already have used an identical system with their game engine in JWE. They already know how to do it, they already have it in the game, the problem is that they announced to have variations from release on.

 

[giu94]

Frontier has already a system in place: there are already variants (giraffe, zebra) and many 'albinos' in the game and they already have used an identical system with their game engine in JWE. They already know how to do it, they already have it in the game, the problem is that they announced to have variations from release on.

Are they trying to make something better? Or different? Would it be too heavy to add variants with this system for all animals?

 

[NZFanatic]

Frontier has already a system in place: there are already variants (giraffe, zebra) and many 'albinos' in the game and they already have used an identical system with their game engine in JWE. They already know how to do it, they already have it in the game, the problem is that they announced to have variations from release on.

In the same sentence you say that it is already in the game and that it's a problem that they announced it. I'm not entirely sure what the problem is.

There are different patterns to some animals. Zebras and giraffes come with different coat patterns. They aren't as noticeable as most of us would probably like but they are there.

In any case, coding isn't the entire job - they need an art team dedicated to designing the new skins and rendering them, and then they need to make sure they actually work in the game.

 

[NL_Mutso]

The bigger work is the code for the logic behind the whole thing, and then a smaller amount of work for every species, but for sure this isn't the first time somebody does something like that for animals (or other things) in videogames, so if the wait is gonna last for long (let's say other two month) I would be surpised if it won't be really really great (many colors or offsprings color basing on the color of parents maybe?), but no one asked for something this big, five/seven variant for every specie would be enough (and again, the work is not on how many colors, is about the logic behind choosing one of them, five or 1000 probably is the same coding complexity).
Probably three variants would be useless (let alone developing this whole engine only for three colors) since you will end up with many identical animals for the ones that lives in big groups, so I don't want to be too demanding but if we have to wait I hope is gonna be good. This whole thing is about faking to have unique realistic animals through colors, so I guess three would not be enough (but hey still better than one).

A while ago a few people mentioned the wolves, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't settle with only 3 coat variations for wolves.
But variations for crocodiles or other reptiles, if they just add 3 variations to those - i think a lot of people wouldn't be bothered by it.
Swojdotschka also mentioned the lions but mane coat/pattern variation was requested some time ago as well. (I agree with Swojdotschka - for me 3 or 4 coat variations would be fine as well)

I mentioned Ark Survival in a previous comment, but a lot of people breed in that game - sometimes also for colour variation. It's a really good game-mechanic which would fit in really well for PZ. To me, that would be the best solution to variation - but it's also the most extensive one.
The coat/skin is divided in multiple regions and approx 10-15 colours, which can be used for every region - almost every animal in that game has a different colour set-up)
And the offspring take the variations from both their parents - the offspring most times looks the same.

Personally hoping for this option, that would end the coat/pattern variation discussion.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

@NL_Mutso Wolves are a problematic topic, as it's not even sure that Timber wolves are in fact a subspieces or not. Therefore there is no solution to the debate of how many color variations are realistic, as that depends on your definition of Timber Wolves to define how different they look. In my favourite zoo IRL the whole pack of timber wolves look the same, when I look at wild life pics, there is a huge variety.
When we look at the eurasian wolve though, three would be enough in my opinon. Especially if in the future there would be personality added (they never sad they work on it, but here is hoping. It's frontier.), which would add to making the animals feel more unique.

By the way, when you break your fingers typing my name, Swjos in short is fine as well ^^. I understand, my username is complicated when you never heard it. It's just never taken in forums

 

[NL_Mutso]

By the way, when you break your fingers typing my name, Swjos in short is fine as well ^^.

Haha, yeah. Had to look it up twice to type it..

Wolves are a problematic topic

I will take this part, because I agree with your comment. I think all animals with a large coat/skin variation (also future animals with similar problems) will be a discussion later on.
Countless coat variations for the Timber wolves - I don't see this happening (ofc) - that's why I mentioned the game Ark Survival Evolved. While it's limited to a few colours, the coat regions mix, makes it feel unique. In a pack of 10 wolves, none of them are the same. Don't expect this amount of variation - would be pleasantly surprised if they did.

Quite a few people requested coat variations but almost nobody explained what kind of feature they expect? Just 10 colours? or the region variation? I don't think commenting : "We need colour variation" is the best way to request a feature. At least try to give us more insight in your expectation.

When they add coat variations, and it's only 3 variations for the wolves - how many people will complain ? I know, there are always complainers but I picked wolves - because they are mentioned often in these discussions. So I expect the backlash to be larger when compared to other animals.
Basically, how much coat variations will be counted as variation from the POV of some players ?

 

[giu94]

I mentioned Ark Survival in a previous comment, but a lot of people breed in that game - sometimes also for colour variation. It's a really good game-mechanic which would fit in really well for PZ. To me, that would be the best solution to variation - but it's also the most extensive one.
The coat/skin is divided in multiple regions and approx 10-15 colours, which can be used for every region - almost every animal in that game has a different colour set-up)
And the offspring take the variations from both their parents - the offspring most times looks the same.

Personally hoping for this option, that would end the coat/pattern variation discussion.

Yes this would be really good.

Does anybody have an idea of how many zebra/giraffe models are actually in the game?

 

[giu94]

Countless coat variations for the Timber wolves - I don't see this happening (ofc) - that's why I mentioned the game Ark Survival Evolved. While it's limited to a few colours, the coat regions mix, makes it feel unique. In a pack of 10 wolves, none of them are the same. Don't expect this amount of variation - would be pleasantly surprised if they did.

The regions thing seems smart and not too heavy, I would love it, even if is not possible for all the animals

 

[NZFanatic]

@NL_Mutso Wolves are a problematic topic, as it's not even sure that Timber wolves are in fact a subspieces or not.

The problem is more that the in-game timber wolf isn't actually a timber wolf, it's just a generic grey wolf with the name 'timber wolf' slapped on. I'm not entirely sure if people use 'timber wolf' generically in common speech, but the 'actual' timber wolf is the Northwestern wolf (a North American subspecies). This wouldn't have been so much of a problem if they hadn't given us the Arctic wolf, which is a subspecies of the in-game 'timber wolf'. Going by the game's own logic, the Arctic wolf could easily be a variant skin of the timber wolf, since they are technically the exact same animal.

As I've said before, if they simply re-specified the timber wolf in-game to something like the Eurasian wolf or, if they must, the Northwestern wolf, I don't think it would be quite so problematic, because then it isn't the same thing as the Arctic wolf but in a more generic form. Currently, the timber wolf represents every wolf subspecies, including the dingo and the domestic dog.

 

[ChicagoZohan]

There are literally dozens of us reporting this issue since 4/7. What is your plan for fixing the game? It is completely unplayable for us and it has been nearly a month now with nothing from Frontier.

webapp

issues.frontierstore.net

webapp

issues.frontierstore.net

It has become clear that Frontier has little interest in actually fixing the issue, though of course they'll post empty platitudes about how they're working on it.

I don't want to send you save files when I've explained multiple times the issue occurs in the main menu. When you request save files despite this it makes me think you are not actually reading my case and just responding so that you can mark the case as "resolved".

 

[cheuk18me94]

The problem may be so rare (less than 1 in 1000) that frontier cannot even reproduce the issue

 

[NL_Mutso]

There are literally dozens of us reporting this issue since 4/7. What is your plan for fixing the game? It is completely unplayable for us and it has been nearly a month now with nothing from Frontier.

webapp

issues.frontierstore.net

webapp

issues.frontierstore.net

It has become clear that Frontier has little interest in actually fixing the issue, though of course they'll post empty platitudes about how they're working on it.

I don't want to send you save files when I've explained multiple times the issue occurs in the main menu. When you request save files despite this it makes me think you are not actually reading my case and just responding so that you can mark the case as "resolved".

The infinite loading-bug took 2 months to fix. Not all issues can be fixed easily.

If you don't want to send in your save file, well what's the point of this? Frontier asks for help on this issue, you don't want to help?
Apparently you already determined it's not the save-file - imo if it crashes in the main menu it doesn't excludes a bug in a save-file.
We don't know which proces is running in the background of the main menu.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's really bad that after a month, this isn't fixed yet. But not trying to help, doesn't do anything helpful.

The problem may be so rare (less than 1 in 1000) that frontier cannot even reproduce the issue

I get your point, but there are more people complaining about crashes etc. Steam has a few topics about it as well.

 

[ChicagoZohan]

The infinite loading-bug took 2 months to fix. Not all issues can be fixed easily.

If you don't want to send in your save file, well what's the point of this? Frontier asks for help on this issue, you don't want to help?

No, thats not the issue. The issue is that when I describe the issue as "the game freezes constantly in sandbox, franchise, and the main menu" and Frontier's response Is "can we get the save file you experienced this issue with" that means they didn't read my email.

Apparently you already determined it's not the save-file - imo if it crashes in the main menu it doesn't excludes a bug in a save-file.
We don't know which proces is running in the background of the main menu.

I work in software, and I determined it had nothing to do with the save file after many hours of troubleshooting, the details of which can be found in both my Issue Tracker report and my Support ticket.




As for this taking time -- absolutely. No problem at all. But you can't just put out a patch that completely breaks the game for paying customers and then do nothing. Let us roll back to a prior version in the meantime. Or give us daily updates about your progress. But based on the emails both I've been getting as well as the many emails that are getting posted on the steam forums -- they have no idea what the issue is and no plan for a fix.

 

[ChicagoZohan]

The problem may be so rare (less than 1 in 1000) that frontier cannot even reproduce the issue

Then they need to remotely connect with users experiencing this issue, or they need to run debugging logging software while the issue occurs, or they need to use Steams beta option to let us roll back versions like so many other Steam games do. What's not acceptable is ignoring us while we can't play the game we have given Frontier $80 for.

 

[ChicagoZohan]

And they've just essentially told me that they're giving up. Great. Can I have my $80 back if you're not gonna fix your game?

 

[marcnesiumHH]

And they've just essentially told me that they're giving up. Great. Can I have my $80 back if you're not gonna fix your game?

they did tell you what, excatly?

 

[ChicagoZohan]

they did tell you what, excatly?

They've asked me to Uninstaller some programs I did not have installed and never have; then they asked me to reboot with all programs other than basic windows ones disabled which also didn't help; finally they told me they've tried everything they can think of.