PC Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

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This is exactly my point. Thanks man.However, there is a crucial difference between too much interaction (and the resulting backlash), and the current state (or lack thereof) of communication. For such a crucial Alpha in the grand scheme of things, I find it a bit worrisome that our main source of information comes A) from Twitter, and B) comes in the shape of mostly concept art drawings.
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You won't see me disagreeing there. I just know what happens when you publicly state these views. The fanboys come out and rip you, or you get told this is the way it is and that's that. So why bother?

I would love more interaction. I miss it. Its why I was attracted to both this game and this forum. I watched the building slowly burn down when 16 released and you could SEE the desire to post here slowly fade away by Devs as each argument went on and on. This community tends to be VERY passionate. And sometimes that is both a positive and a negative. For this past Alpha it turned out to be a negative.

 
Who puts in the Steam achievements for this game?
I just got one for traveling 250 kilometers and it says Marko Polo. The thing is that it is represented at a covered wagon.

Well Marko Polo was best known for sailing around the world (in a ship). Not a wagon.
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So true. Clearly no history majors at TFP :)

I am hoping for more and fun achievements like most chickens killed.

- - - Updated - - -

I would love a block that is lockable that looks like a hand held tool box and /or a standing/ stack-able tool box. like a mechanics tool box. I mean we have so many tools and not a tool box!
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a tool box that you can carry that has tools in it and is lockable. you would need to put it down to open it but maybe it has like 12 slots for tools only stuff like Oil, Repair Kits, Tools, springs, mech parts.

 
Agreed... This weird little social experiment Joel is giving really further degrades the purpose of this thread, and as a result, this forum.

Natural forum interaction evolution, like no longer giving release dates is one thing, but, and this started with giving the experimental to the streamers first, this new non communication thing, and having to rely on Twitter (where lazy people go to give info) for development info is another nail in the communication coffin /for this forum/.

Now, of course it's their prerogative to do so, they did create this rabid fan base of forum members not just soley on their kick ass game but through the interaction of madmole et al, and taking it away stings. Plain and simple.

Granted, he probably made the decision in order to keep his sanity, but it doesn't make the void feel less... Voidish.

It is what it is though, and like a zombie created in a lab, the forum is an entity of its own and will thrive until killed.

 
Hi Guys, I just wanted open up discussion of Alpha 17. Sorry we have been tight lipped about it, but I wanted to try something different this time where we talk about finished or work in progress features rather than stuff we simply planned. This leads to less frustration because usually once something is started we finish it, where its easy to plan a bunch of stuff and have it slip through the cracks, which is disappointing for all of us.
I will say we're ramping up the team, we've hired two new senior programmers, a concept artist, an environment artist, a designer, and we have about 5 new full time world builders. I'll begin showing stuff on youtube real soon. I have two keyboards hooked up at the same time now so I can annoy people if I want, or use the quiet keyboard if I want :)

A17 News

Wallpaper and Trader Bob Images

Trader Bob Compound Concept Art

First look at bicycle

First look at THE HOG

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Glad you dropped the Behemoth. Hopefully its permanent.

 
They are just extremely busy and talking on the forum is simply not his priority right now. If you go back to the OP and follow the news links to those times that he posted he still has the same tone as he ever has had. He isn't offended or shy about posting here because of some negativity or that people didn't like the super early access the stream team got. He just doesn't have a lot to talk about yet until the multiple projects that everyone is working on get to point that stuff can be showed.

They spent a good amount of their time transitioning to the newest Unity engine which had a whole list of problems to overcome and much of it dependent upon the speed at which THEY could get answers from the Unity customer support. Joel mentioned that they had updated to the new engine but glossed over the absolute headache and time sink of it all. But they have divided up officially into teams for all the official A17 projects they plan to complete and the pace should pick up again. Once features are far enough along to be greenlit for A17 Madmole will be on here answering questions and interacting and shooting videos again.

But here is where the main problem lies and it is one that will require a shift in expectation from us.

Always in the past the focus of the community has been on the future and potential of this game and it was great because anything seemed possible and Madmole entertained a lot of these types of questions with "maybe" and "I hope so" and "If we can" type answers because at the time future features not spelled out in their kickstarter list really did seem possible and dreaming and wishing is fun and of course they want this game to be the best it could possibly be.

But now it is close to the end of adding new features before the game goes gold and they are focused 100% on their original list of features so while WE like talking about this or that new feature that would make the game fantastic Madmole isn't going to engage in that with us any longer. He and the other developers are only interested in finishing up their obligation to the kickstarter so that the game can be released.

There will be updates and additional features added after the game releases (They plan on supporting the game for years post release) but he isn't going to talk about those things right now.

Finally, as to why most of what has been shown is just art, that is because this part of development is Madmole's passion and what he oversees and so he shares with us what he has been working on. It has always been this way. As more development completes that others on the team are working on he will share those things as he did the bicycle and the motorcycle.

 
Just curious, are we ever going to get our feet back? I remember back when they were removed it was said they would return after the placement was worked on. Silly one cannot even see where one's feet are.

 
Just curious, are we ever going to get our feet back? I remember back when they were removed it was said they would return after the placement was worked on. Silly one cannot even see where one's feet are.
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“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

 
Just curious, are we ever going to get our feet back? I remember back when they were removed it was said they would return after the placement was worked on. Silly one cannot even see where one's feet are.
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Maybe soon? I’m not sure if it is a sign of that or not but when riding the bike in 1st person view you can look down and see your legs and feet pedaling the bike. Seems hopeful.

 
Just curious, are we ever going to get our feet back? I remember back when they were removed it was said they would return after the placement was worked on. Silly one cannot even see where one's feet are.
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You can keep bringing it up... but... you just dont have anything to stand on for an argument. :) (hmmmhuh see what i did there didnt ya)

But yes, I think it would be nice to see our feet again and also to look down on the ground with light source behind us and see our shadow!

 
There will be updates and additional features added after the game releases (They plan on supporting the game for years post release) but he isn't going to talk about those things right now.
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I've assumed and said as much repeatedly on here. And, to me, this is one the most awesome things about how heavily modable this game is... TFP can release new content with relative ease as well or better than the modding community. And even when the day comes when TFP have moved on from this project to other projects and posted their last update for it, we will still be able to get more from this game.

 
They are just extremely busy and talking on the forum is simply not his priority right now. If you go back to the OP and follow the news links to those times that he posted he still has the same tone as he ever has had. He isn't offended or shy about posting here because of some negativity or that people didn't like the super early access the stream team got. He just doesn't have a lot to talk about yet until the multiple projects that everyone is working on get to point that stuff can be showed.
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One more reason to hire a community manager.

They spent a good amount of their time transitioning to the newest Unity engine which had a whole list of problems to overcome and much of it dependent upon the speed at which THEY could get answers from the Unity customer support. Joel mentioned that they had updated to the new engine but glossed over the absolute headache and time sink of it all.
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I would have figured TFP would have learned their lesson from the last time they switched engines. /shrug

I'm sure we'll get some new content from Joel in the coming months, but Guppy succinctly pointed out the community issues at hand - no need to revisit those.

-A

 
I would have figured TFP would have learned their lesson from the last time they switched engines. /shrug
-A
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What lesson is that exactly? That they shouldn’t do it or that they should have expected it to be a headache? If the first, they only update to the newest version if it has features that significantly help with development. If the second, they knew it would be a headache but they felt it was worth it. /counter shrug

 
they didnt switch engines... just updated/upgraded (just like we all do with our computers and or parts now and then.... we update/upgrade in hopes on better options or performance) (also applies to some of our software... now and again it offers us an upgrade option to fix things or offer new features). :)

 
Ah, ok. I misunderstood Roland and took his comment to mean something else.

-A

 
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Maybe soon? I’m not sure if it is a sign of that or not but when riding the bike in 1st person view you can look down and see your legs and feet pedaling the bike. Seems hopeful.
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Wouldn't/didn't know. Currently on the minibike the default view is oddly less immersive than if you go flying first then get on the minibike (other than seeing from inside your head, you get to see your own arms doing that (whereas in normal first person you don't).

Sample of using flying {h} and getting on minibike:



You can keep bringing it up... but... you just dont have anything to stand on for an argument. :) (hmmmhuh see what i did there didnt ya)
But yes, I think it would be nice to see our feet again and also to look down on the ground with light source behind us and see our shadow!
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Hey, just if I can float (no leg to stand on) why can't buildings. Oh, nevermind I've beaten that a few times too. :)

 
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