Reading this thread I can see the usual group dynamics in discussions for games, especially those in development or newly released. As one user said, it's normal for the negativty to subside over time and that is IMO mainly due to the so called 'haters' moving on. I'm glad to see a dev speaking out about the issue and would like to add my two cents. (Not being a navtive speaker please bear with my orthography and grammar.)
As a former developer I'm aware of the two extreme groups, either pounding the game and its studio or praising it to the skies. Neither group I think has got it right and both contribute to a very toxic community. I think it's best to keep it straight forward, honest and on topic.
That being said, I'm very happy about many aspects of the game. The art style is wonderful, as is the amount of detail that's to be found. The animations and behaviour of the animals is nothing short of amazing, sounds are great and performance seems acceptable. The degree of micro-management is a delight to those who enjoy the genre. However there are some aspects to the game that I find extremely frustrating. Take the following for example: Construct a barrier of 20m wall length with 90° angle snaps, forming a perfect square. It does not work. The last wall fails to complete, messaging 'Panel to long'. This does not make sense and begs the question, how did this this pass beta?
Another example is the quarter rounded, flat glass roof. There's only one and it needs to be rotated to fit either the left or right corner of a buildling. The issue is there is no left/right hand piece, resulting in the textures not lining up with the rest of the construction. Pathways behave in odd ways, seemigly dependant on the the order they're buiilt in. Sometimes they'll line up nicely with a (rounded) wall, sometimes they'll protrude on the outside. The same goes for some wall elements, such as the sloped roofs / walls that seem to snap on top of a given wall or clip it by different marigns.
The interaction of path building, construction and barriers is very finicky and often dictates the outcome of the build, instead of being able to build the project one would expect to achieve with the given elements. Furthermore, there seem to be objects missing one would normally expect. For example, there seems to be only one guest gate, it being a wooden one. Nothing to match the material used for the barrier, say glass or metal. The barrier walls can be lowered to 1m, which is wonderful - but no gate is half sized and they're set at 2m. These are not game breakers per se and just off the top of my head, but they do not live up to the the otherwise polished state of the game.
There are many more issues I could list, but I have no intention of turning this post is to a rant. Quite the contrary. It's the amazing detail and the sheer potential the game promises, that makes these matters, that appear half baked, incredibly frustrating. I've spent many hours reading in forums, asking other players and watching guides before posting here and really want to love this game, sink many hundred hours into it - but not finding workarounds and loosing my last hairs trying to get things to lineup, snap or match symetry.
The overall impression is that of a work of love, with dedicated developers that was cut short a tinge before perfection. Sadly the issues present make the game so frustrating to me, I quit playing until they're fixed.
Hopefully there are many fixes and addtions in the pipeline, as well as an active communtiy providing the tools that might ultimately not be included. (The Cities Skylines community is a good example in respect thereof.)
Thanks for listening.
