Dev Diary - May 2009

norb · Post by **norb** » Mon May 04, 2009 4:42 pm

** This thread discusses the content article: Dev Diary - May 2009 **

BOSTON · Post by **BOSTON** » Mon May 04, 2009 4:42 pm

It's like watching a conductor directing a symphony.

Hoistingman4

Amish John · Post by **Amish John** » Mon May 04, 2009 5:51 pm

Good clear report Norb. It'll go on your record. You'll get those corporal stripes in five or six years.

norb · Post by **norb** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:10 pm

I can never get myself to write anything of length because I feel like it takes time away from the game. But since I'm on my last two weeks at this job, I couldn't think of anything better to do on lunch break

UglyandHasty · Post by **UglyandHasty** » Tue May 05, 2009 3:05 pm

Great stuff Norb. I like what i'm reading so far. I cant wait to see the final product. You seem to put the same kind of dedication( and better) that you put in TC2M. You can count this customer already sold. I Will pre-order that game, even though i never do this, just to encourage and support!

Fred TC2M general since 2006 !

ps. I still do a TC2M battle once a week B)

norb · Post by **norb** » Tue May 05, 2009 3:36 pm

That's great to hear Fred, thanks.

Everyone here is dedicated to finishing this thing. But more than that, we mean to finish it right. No shortcuts. Sure there will be features that don't make the first cut, but what we do get in will be top notch.

It's interesting, because one place that I consult for, is more interested in getting 10-12 new features in their stuff than testing. Myself, I'd rather just do 1 feature and make sure it's done right, with no bugs. It's just a different approach. We have the freedom of having no hard dates, that allows us to do things the way we want. Sure, we could accept a big advance and get dates and go with a publisher, but I've done that twice already and have not been impressed with the results.

Slow and steady wins this race.

Janh · Post by **Janh** » Fri May 08, 2009 9:27 am

Wise words, particulary the two last paragraphs!
One small question regarding AI I have: Will AI handle defensive positions better, i.e. stay in the sunken road or behind breastworks if in "DEFEND" or "HOLD" mode, and face roughly in the right direction determined by the works (i.e. not leave safety)? And will it avoid fighting in/marching through swamps, rivers etc? (See TC2M Fredericksburg mod, crossing Rappahanock or defending the sunken road rather than march out onto the plain)

Keep it up! I am really looking forward to this! I hope this going to be a milestone as CWBR was over Sid Meier's Games!
Jan

estabu2 · Post by **estabu2** » Fri May 08, 2009 12:12 pm

From the testing standpoint, the troops do "hold" and "defend" much better than TC2M. I have not noticed them running around the map hardly, when they should be defending. The orders seem to be followed a little better, which they should be. Two years of war should have ousted most of the glory seekers.

UglyElmo · Post by **UglyElmo** » Wed May 20, 2009 1:13 pm

Oh Oh! You guys are in trouble now! Ugly n Hasty has found out about this great game! It's great to see you Fred! I may just have to restart the Ugly Community again once this game is released. Then we can terrorize the MP lobby by serving as good examples of how "not" to play this game . . . . . just like in the old MTW1 days! hehe

Well, Empires: Total War turned out to be a step up from the Rome and Medieval 2 game, but it's MP is so featureless and flawed currently that I stopped playing. I wouldn't recommend it right now given a few major flaws, which may serve as an example of how not to implement an MP feature:

1. There is no single chat lobby from which to launch games. If someone is not on your Steam friends list, you may as well forget about finding them. There are 15+ separate servers for the game. They say it is to cut down lag, by allowing players to play with those in their own regions, but it isn't very conducive to forming a strong MP community like in the old days of the Total War series nor has it helped with lag. This game is even more laggy than the original Shogun.

2. Modified files are allowed to be used in MP and there is no check to insure everyone has the same unit stats. I'm not sure who was responsible for this mess, since none of the other TW games allowed modified files to be used unless all parties had the same modifications. As it stands now, there are so many players using hacked units you can never be sure if the person you are playing is legit or not. In previous games (before Rome and Medieval 2) you were given a logfile for each match played, so you could check everyone's stats and cost data for the game. This kept those players who were borderline considering hacking stats a reason to be honest.

3. In-game chat is shown to everyone in the game. There is no TEAM ONLY chat. Plus . . . and here is a biggy for older players such as myself: The chat text font is so tiny I cannot read it, so nobody uses it, but instead uses Ventrillo or other voice chat software.

4. There are only two 2v2 maps and one small 4v4 map, with no map maker feature offered as yet. I can tell you, it is extremely boring playing the same 4v4 map over and over again. If they even offered 3 or 4 4v4 maps it would have been good . . but only one? :laugh:

If you have noticed, I haven't mentioned anything about game balance and game bugs. To me, these things can be forgiven because anyone who has played online knows the MP community is great at finding such things. If anyone can break a game, it is us MP'ers!

I guess my biggest disappointment, as you can see from the above list, is it appears the developer really didn't put much thought or time into the multiplayer aspect of the game. To me, it is obvious, you should at least offer MP options and features which were implemented in earlier games. Especially the ones concerning hacking and communication. If you cannot completely trust your opponent is using the same stats as everyone else, it takes away from the pure enjoyment of getting your butt kicked, by someone much better than you. :cheer:

Norb: I am glad you are taking your time and agree 100% with your "add a few features at a time and test the heck out of them before release" method. I will also pre-order this game once it becomes available . . . though I'm not sure if the MP community will be ready for double the Ugly (both Fred and myself)! :woohoo:

UglyElmo · Post by **UglyElmo** » Wed May 20, 2009 1:16 pm

Not sure how I did it, but I somehow double-posted after correcting a spelling mistake. SIGH Please accept my apologies and feel free to delete this.

Thanks,

Elmo the Noob!

Scourge of War Boards