wdolson
Posts: 10398
Joined: 6/28/2006
From: Near Portland, OR
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cavalry
Dear Erik,
Thanks for that . I have only one issue and that is I hope whatever it is it can upgrade games in progress as I have less and less time for gaming and I have spent 18 months just on one game already with another at 12 months .
I hope you will have had a complete overhaul considering all the free playtesting - feedback there has been and that you considered all the mods / maps ,etc etc and come up with a definative version .
It is one thing to have the mods but its even better to have a game where mods are not the best version !
Regards
Michael
Modifying games in prgress is unlikely to happen. If something like that was publicly available, cheaters would be able to modify PBEM games. It would make no difference to games against the AI though.
Maybe WitP II is in the works? That would be nice. But who knows. We should be finding out something within 2 months. Just hang back and appreciate that Matrix is still supporting this game at all. That's pretty rare in the computer gaming world.
As for the complaints about the quality of software. A computer is probably the most complex piece of machinery that most people deal with on a daily basis. A car is a mature technology. The core technologies in a car have been around for more than 100 years. Computers are much younger and more complex.
One thing that drives the bean counters mad is that software is still a large degree of art. There is science to it, but the quality of the output is still, in large degree, dependent on the quality of the people doing the work. A programmer has to contend with minor differences in hardware, things out of his or her control within the operating system, as well as what other programmers may have done before on that project. There are lots of variables that cannot be predicted ahead of time.
The bean counters also usually push schedules so the programmers don't have the time to do the job to their own satisfaction. Schedules almost always start out overly optimistic and go downhill from there. Few managers are willing to deal with the reality of how long a project is really going to take.
The technology continues to evolve too. In the computing world, the need to be backwardly compatible makes operating systems more complex. If you look at the evolution of aircraft from 1930 to 1950, you will see a massive change. Planes went from fabric covered biplanes, many still made with wood frames, to mach 1+ jets in that time.
By the late 1950s, the technology began to mature. The layout of the airliners we have today took form then with the 707. Military aircraft stabilized later, but the US military today are mostly flying designs from the 1970s, along with some much older aircraft, such as the B-52.
Aircraft didn't require backward compatability. Super sonic fighters of the 1950s didn't have to support technologies from the 1930s. What was not needed was discarded. In the computing world, we are still carrying baggage from the MS DOS days in Windows Vista. (Not much anymore, but it's still there.)
It's a miracle PCs work at all. What's in there makes a car look as complex as a pointy stick.
Bill
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WitP AE - Test team lead, programmer  |
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RE: Im-Possible WITP News - 
Basket case? Perhaps. But you haven't always "been cool with Matrix". I don't need to reserect your quote. But consider this ..in a capitalistic soceity is there a better way to get someone who is trying sell something attention , then to say , I'm not buying because? Next time you have a problem with a car dealers service department , don't scream at the service manager , take a walk over to the SALES manager. Tell HIM that you won't buy a car from him again because of his service department. 9 times out of 10 you will get prompt service. What I'm trying to say is if this REALLY bothers you , do something about it. Let Matrix know that you are unhappy. Unless you are simply content to b-tch and whine and take what ever you are given. THAT seems to me to be more "lemminglike", then standing up on my hind legs and saying "NO". Rat like , but definately not lemming. My assumption was that if people were so unhappy with situation that this rant fest should threaten to over take the "thread" in volume , then perhaps , maybe people might like to do something about it. I can't speak for anyone else , nor would I presume to. I simply said that I won't buy any more games till this and the Harpoon fiasco are sorted out. If nothing else , I feel that I've gotten the moderators attention , and perhaps they will pass my concerns along. A little bit different that the usual "Oh gee this S-CKS! " See you at the botton of the cliff Buck.
Err....I thought that wa former Marine? I had understood that there are no "ex-Marines". Of course I'm only an ex-squid. 
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