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Game development and Design UI - priority - 11/7/2021 7:42:55 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

Is it correct that there is no one working on the title anymore and that the dev is focusing on a new title?

Plenty of people wants to know.

The game is great, too bad no one is even caring about implementing the results of the last poll or taking care of the many bugs published here.

< Message edited by wbonx -- 1/31/2022 12:12:06 PM >

Post #: 1

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 11/8/2021 12:03:02 AM

Zanotirn

Posts: 113
Joined: 3/12/2021
Status: offline

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=5084806

Vic is focusing on another title, yes, however that is until its release on November 18th.

(in reply to wbonx)

Post #: 2

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 11/8/2021 12:43:30 AM

Catasteroid

Posts: 23
Joined: 10/23/2021
Status: offline

Shadow Empire support will continue very soon once the developer has released another project of his in just over a week, in the mean time (not to toot on one's own trumpet too much) you can sample the smattering of gameplay mods I've made, and will continue to make for the foreseeable future.

(in reply to Zanotirn)

Post #: 3

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 11/8/2021 12:30:33 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

Let's hope it is not going to be as usual... other title deadline postponed 2 or 3 times... at the end too much time has passed for the dev to remember the old code and work on it.

It would have been better to polish shadow empire and only then start working on something else.

(in reply to Catasteroid)

Post #: 4

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 11/8/2021 8:09:03 PM

Clux

Posts: 411
Joined: 9/16/2018
From: Mexico
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: wbonx

Let's hope it is not going to be as usual... other title deadline postponed 2 or 3 times... at the end too much time has passed for the dev to remember the old code and work on it.

It would have been better to polish shadow empire and only then start working on something else.

Remember than Shadow Empire was a "Side work" for more than 5 years, imagine what other gems we could lose if he stops doing it?

_____________________________

Amateurs talk about strategy. Professionals talk about logistics!

(in reply to wbonx)

Post #: 5

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 11/8/2021 11:36:22 PM

mroyer

Posts: 914
Joined: 3/6/2016
Status: offline

I, of course, have no idea what Vic's business model is, but I'm pretty sure free upgrades and patches aren't keeping the lights on. I'm surprised at how much work he's done on SE gratis so far. Fixing bugs for free is one thing and expected, but adding entirely new features (aliens, air forces, new world types, bunkers, and so on...) is quite another.

I would be happy to pay for significant feature-enhancements and game-improvements if it would give Vic financial freedom to focus on Shadow Empire.

-Mark R.

< Message edited by mroyer -- 11/8/2021 11:39:47 PM >

(in reply to Clux)

Post #: 6

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 11/9/2021 2:09:05 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Clux

Remember than Shadow Empire was a "Side work" for more than 5 years, imagine what other gems we could lose if he stops doing it?

Side work? Didn't know the story, it looked to me like this was a commission from a publisher, isn't it?

True, game is great, I'm just disappointed that major problems, i.e. the Plane creation GUI, very simple to correct, are still left half done.
Same for a couple of major bugs.

For the rest, done this, the game could be considered completed and he could actually start working on a DLC to get a bit more money or on the sequel.

< Message edited by wbonx -- 11/9/2021 2:10:01 PM >

(in reply to Clux)

Post #: 7

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 11/15/2021 3:36:22 PM

Vic

Posts: 8262
Joined: 5/17/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Clux

Same for a couple of major bugs.

Will soon have time again for support work for SE.

Could you elaborate a bit on those major bugs ?

Please do so by opening a new thread in tech support

Would be much appreciated!

best wishes,
Vic

_____________________________

Visit www.vrdesigns.net for the latest news, polls, screenshots and blogs on Shadow Empire, Decisive Campaigns and Advanced Tactics

(in reply to wbonx)

Post #: 8

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 11/16/2021 2:55:30 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Vic

Could you elaborate a bit on those major bugs ?

best wishes,
Vic

Great, the game is really a gem and deserves some attention.

I do remember the screen not refreshing sometime when zooming in and out and something else related to the minimap. I forgot, has been a while.

But for sure the major point is the units design... and in particular the planes design. IMO ships are superfluos

(in reply to Vic)

Post #: 9

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/22/2022 6:31:13 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

.... 2 months after ... it would be great to see at least implemented a new design GUI.. creating new airveicles is such a pain..

(in reply to Vic)

Post #: 10

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/22/2022 6:39:00 PM

zgrssd

Posts: 3385
Joined: 6/9/2020
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: wbonx

.... 2 months after ... it would be great to see at least implemented a new design GUI.. creating new airveicles is such a pain..

Then turn off Airforces. No reason to play with this optional content, if you hate it so.

Also did you seriously push this thread 8 days after a new patch?

(in reply to wbonx)

Post #: 11

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/22/2022 6:45:42 PM

Emx77

Posts: 419
Joined: 3/29/2004
From: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Status: offline

Sadly, he is right. This game has a lot of potential but unfortunately development is very slow. Much more slow than before. Mostly minor bug fixes, at snail pace. No more talk about DLC�s or major improvements.

(in reply to zgrssd)

Post #: 12

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/23/2022 12:28:03 PM

Soar_Slitherine

Posts: 426
Joined: 6/7/2020
Status: offline

What nonsense. It's not a mystery what Vic is currently working on. There aren't rapid-fire bugfixes because bug reports are also coming in at a trickle at this point.

I do certainly hope the naval forces ship with a better model design UI, though! I've been willing to put up with the aircraft design UI so far, but I can see why people are annoyed about it. Naval models are probably going be somewhere between ground and air ones in complexity, so them using the same UI wouldn't be as obnoxious as with aircraft, but still pretty disappointing.

(in reply to Emx77)

Post #: 13

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/23/2022 1:10:28 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: zgrssd

quote:

ORIGINAL: wbonx

.... 2 months after ... it would be great to see at least implemented a new design GUI.. creating new airveicles is such a pain..

Then turn off Airforces. No reason to play with this optional content, if you hate it so.

Also did you seriously push this thread 8 days after a new patch?

Dude... not sure if you are a moderator or just someone enjoying writing 50% of the posts on this forum... but change your tone.

First there was no official patch posted 8 days ago... at least not on steam. Actually there was no patch at all in teh last months without considering minor bug fixes.

Second, the game needs some polish to be a finished product,... airplanes design UI is very bad... too bad actually.
Airplanes are a major component of the game not some addons to disable as you say.

In regard to having ships.. I really don't feel the need, it would just overcomplicate things and too much of a hassle for the dev.

< Message edited by wbonx -- 1/23/2022 1:11:10 PM >

(in reply to zgrssd)

Post #: 14

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/23/2022 2:00:53 PM

Soar_Slitherine

Posts: 426
Joined: 6/7/2020
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: wbonx
First there was no official patch posted 8 days ago... at least not on steam. Actually there was no patch at all in teh last months without considering minor bug fixes.

It wasn't posted in Steam news (and it doesn't look like the changelog posted on the Steam forums by the publisher is complete), but there was in fact an update bringing the features & bugfixes from the last 5 months of work on the beta patch to the live version.

(in reply to wbonx)

Post #: 15

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/24/2022 2:46:33 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

Ok, so there was an unreported synch of the beta branch with the official steam.. well I'm aware of the bug fixes on the beta/current update.

My complain is about the dev leaving unfinished the implementation of a new design UI, even after it was clear from the last poll that this was a major game breaker.
Personally I stopped playing the game waiting for this to be fixed to avoid ruining it.

A new design UI doesn't look to me like something hard to implement, it would have been enough from the dev to say that this would be done by a date or in a couple of months, instead of going fullpower on a new title leaving this in the void.

Anyway, again, I think the game is great (that's why it deserves some attention) and the dev has done a great job interacting with the community, at lest until now!

(in reply to Soar_Slitherine)

Post #: 16

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/27/2022 5:39:57 PM

ShadowVillage

Posts: 15
Joined: 9/13/2021
Status: offline

I have played this game far longer without a break than any other 4X game I can remember. I can live with a less than ideal GUI when the underlying game is so engrossing. Same thing with graphics - I don't care about pretty pictures, I care about game play. For what I paid vs. the amount of time I've played, this game is a huge bargain. I understand some people focus on how smooth a game runs or how easy it is to get things done and someone like that will be upset with this game. That's not me, however; I will put up with interface issues when the game itself is good.

(in reply to wbonx)

Post #: 17

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/27/2022 6:23:17 PM

altipueri

Posts: 869
Joined: 11/14/2009
Status: offline

Always check date of joining and number of posts.

Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted.

(in reply to ShadowVillage)

Post #: 18

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/27/2022 7:29:02 PM

eddieballgame

Posts: 676
Joined: 6/29/2011
Status: offline

wbonx
"Dude... not sure if you are a moderator or just someone enjoying writing 50% of the posts on this forum... but change your tone."

As you continue to frequent this forum, you will come to realize that 'zgrssd' is an invaluable asset to the Shadow Empire community.
Always willing to help & inform.
There are others...maybe you in the near future.

(in reply to wbonx)

Post #: 19

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/28/2022 2:00:22 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ShadowVillage

I have played this game far longer without a break than any other 4X game I can remember. I can live with a less than ideal GUI when the underlying game is so engrossing..

Agree that the game is anyway enjoyable and a gem in the genre...

My feeling is that the actual implementation of the design UI really breaks the flow to a point (air design), when it becomes easy to loose touch with the game. That's why I prefer waiting for this to be fixed and fully appreciate the potential of the title.

I'm a dev and my guess is that fixing it would take few hours of work, that's why I don't get why after the poll and almost one year it isn't finished.

Sticking with the OT.

(in reply to ShadowVillage)

Post #: 20

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/30/2022 3:49:02 PM

SamuraiProgrmmr

Posts: 353
Joined: 10/17/2004
From: Paducah, Kentucky
Status: offline

quote:

Dude... not sure if you are a moderator or just someone enjoying writing 50% of the posts on this forum... but change your tone.

All in my opinion:

1) zgrssd offers a lot of experience on how to play this game. I have learned a lot from his posts. Without him and a few others, I might not have stuck with it long enough to find out what a gem this game really is. Please do not ridicule him for 'too many posts'.

2) I don't think his tone in this message is out of line. He offered a suggestion on how to avoid frustration with air forces. He didn't attack you or ridicule you so why are you so offended?

3) Please note post #8 where the developer indicated he would be back to work on the game and ASKED for you elaboration and input.

4) Why do you feel that your opinions on priorities must be followed? Two months (see post #10) is not necessarily enough time to rework air unit creation from the ground up. (I seriously don't believe that simple UI changes will fix the problem. I could be wrong, but that (as a life long developer) is my opinion.)

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO THINK ABOUT...

Is this game perfect? No. BUT IT IS THERE TO BE PLAYED!

Major game companies do not seem to care about the kinds of games that many of us like to play. Whether we want to believe it or not, we are a niche group of consumers. Market forces have determined that the kinds of games we like to play are relegated to VERY small development teams (sometimes just one person) and with that relegation comes the need for patience and understanding for the scope and timing of updates.

If you disagree with that paragraph, I invite you to create your own game development firm and try not to go broke making hard core, semi-realistic hex based wargames. I hope you do and I hope you succeed. Unfortunately, I doubt it will work out.

Most of these games are labors of love. I don't think that the primary goal is to make tons of money but rather to earn a living creating something that the developers want to play.

I cannot think of a single game I have played that I didn't have a disagreement with what (or how) a developer implemented as game mechanics. Why should this be any different? There are several things I would do differently. BUT I haven't gone to the trouble of writing my own game. You might ask why. If you did, the truthful and correct answer would be that I don't want the grief of putting up with people complaining constantly that a) I did a bad job and b) I was taking too long.

That's one of the reasons I retired at 55. I was willing to have a lower standard of living through the rest of my life rather than listen to the complaints of those who do not always know what they are talking about and do not understand what it sometimes takes to make seemingly small changes.

IF you are not a programmer, you don't understand that last sentence. IF you are a programmer, I invite you the write your own game. (If it captures my imagination, I will even buy it.)

Until then, I suggest you continue to make suggestions but enjoy the game for what it is. As I said before, it is not perfect but at least it is there.

Good Luck!

_____________________________

Bridge is the best wargame going .. Where else can you find a tournament every weekend?

(in reply to wbonx)

Post #: 21

RE: Game development has been Abandoned? - 1/31/2022 12:11:00 PM

wbonx

Posts: 11
Joined: 11/7/2021
Status: offline

Not trying to dictate a schedule, but improving the design UI was one of the top outcomes of the last poll.

In my opinion it was left half done, or finished fast, and I think it would take few hours to improve it (I'm also a dev).
There is a good treadoff between hours spent and gain in gameplay.

But this is just my opinion.

For the rest, I saw the dev (Vic) posting about an update regarding oceans and ships, so let's just close this thread, I don't agree oceans will add much gameplay but that is just the way I see it and off topic.

Cheers.

(in reply to SamuraiProgrmmr)

Post #: 22