Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:34 am
SWAT_OP-R8R, it never occurred to me, but now that you mention it, yes, I would argue that...
LancersReactor should dump Spaceforce 2.
...but not for the same reasons that recommend a boycott. It's rather simpler: it doesn't really belong here based on its merits, and it's only here for the moment because (at best) we had high hopes/expectations, or (at worst) we've been had. Now that we've learned that the game is radically worse than even Darkstar One, I say it should be dumped. There's literally tons of space games that are far superior to Spaceforce 2, several released yearly. Indeed the only remaining reason to hang onto the game (from my point of view, anyway) is that it's possible to mod it. (And, of course, the artwork is nice.)
But LancersReactor sponsorship aside, yes I would urge individuals not to buy it. Maybe I can explain a bit more clearly than perhaps I have already. The business model which produced this game is something like "ecstatic customers and deeply disappointed customers are paying customers all the same." If you buy it, then their business model works, which means future business ventures will follow this model. Next year there will be a deeply disappointing game which could have been great if only a little extra investment went into it. Basically we need to make sure that when they're doing their cost-benefit analysis, they get the feeling that the benefits of producing a good game outweigh the extra cost. -- There's only one way to vote in this contest: with your wallet.
If you buy the game, your vote is cast in favor of de-prioritizing and under-budgeting gameplay, design, writing, and indeed betatesting. Somehow I don't think you want that.
Ok, to try to answer your questions:
Well if SpaceFarce (as people are beginning to call it) is any indication, they announced the project almost exactly one year before it was released. So by the end of the summer, and certainly by Thanksgiving we'll have a better idea what's coming out next year. I haven't heard anything, but then again I don't keep my ear to the ground.
I can say that SpaceFarce looked like a real torchbearer, and those kind of games only come along every couple years maybe. So this is a giant disappointment. Opportunities like this really shouldn't be wasted.
Oh, and sure, I expect (in the sense of suppose) that the chances are pretty good that lancersreactor will cover another such promising-looking game, at least until it is found to be otherwise. I'm not sure why you ask, and I'm certainly quite unclear why you would ask *me*.
Yes, I know something about the industry. Not as much as I'd like, but it's just a hobby of mine so I haven't taken a professional interest. But yeah, I think you're underestimating how much market research goes into a game. Certainly when a project is being conceived and the beginning and important decisions are being made, the developers look at what's been successful and why it's been successful, and they consider recent failures also, so they know what to avoid. It's partly a question of design, partly a question of business. It's my hope that SpaceFarce is conceived as a monumental failure in the business sense, so nobody is tempted to commit the same design atrocities.
The problem parts -- high-level design and writing -- any moderately decent writer with any knowledge whatsoever of game design could have done a phenomenally better job. The decent parts -- game engine -- no, not me personally, but that's well outside my areas of specialty. I'd love to put a team together, and I'm sure a better job would be within relatively easy reach -- that's not saying much, mind you: if I'm complimenting myself, it's rather a backhanded compliment. -- Although first I'd want to learn 3d graphics programming.
Call it whatever you like, and divide the genre howsoever you wish. I'm sure you take my meaning nevertheless.
LancersReactor should dump Spaceforce 2.
...but not for the same reasons that recommend a boycott. It's rather simpler: it doesn't really belong here based on its merits, and it's only here for the moment because (at best) we had high hopes/expectations, or (at worst) we've been had. Now that we've learned that the game is radically worse than even Darkstar One, I say it should be dumped. There's literally tons of space games that are far superior to Spaceforce 2, several released yearly. Indeed the only remaining reason to hang onto the game (from my point of view, anyway) is that it's possible to mod it. (And, of course, the artwork is nice.)
But LancersReactor sponsorship aside, yes I would urge individuals not to buy it. Maybe I can explain a bit more clearly than perhaps I have already. The business model which produced this game is something like "ecstatic customers and deeply disappointed customers are paying customers all the same." If you buy it, then their business model works, which means future business ventures will follow this model. Next year there will be a deeply disappointing game which could have been great if only a little extra investment went into it. Basically we need to make sure that when they're doing their cost-benefit analysis, they get the feeling that the benefits of producing a good game outweigh the extra cost. -- There's only one way to vote in this contest: with your wallet.
If you buy the game, your vote is cast in favor of de-prioritizing and under-budgeting gameplay, design, writing, and indeed betatesting. Somehow I don't think you want that.
Ok, to try to answer your questions:
1. new space sim... next year? maybe you know more than we do... so what new space sim do you expect? and do you expect that LR does automatically cover it?
Well if SpaceFarce (as people are beginning to call it) is any indication, they announced the project almost exactly one year before it was released. So by the end of the summer, and certainly by Thanksgiving we'll have a better idea what's coming out next year. I haven't heard anything, but then again I don't keep my ear to the ground.
I can say that SpaceFarce looked like a real torchbearer, and those kind of games only come along every couple years maybe. So this is a giant disappointment. Opportunities like this really shouldn't be wasted.
Oh, and sure, I expect (in the sense of suppose) that the chances are pretty good that lancersreactor will cover another such promising-looking game, at least until it is found to be otherwise. I'm not sure why you ask, and I'm certainly quite unclear why you would ask *me*.
2. have you ever got any information about how the developing process of a game does look like? I can tell you that in time period of 1 year it absolutly doesnt matter how a different game was... if it was better or worse... the developers usually dont even have the time to care about such things
Yes, I know something about the industry. Not as much as I'd like, but it's just a hobby of mine so I haven't taken a professional interest. But yeah, I think you're underestimating how much market research goes into a game. Certainly when a project is being conceived and the beginning and important decisions are being made, the developers look at what's been successful and why it's been successful, and they consider recent failures also, so they know what to avoid. It's partly a question of design, partly a question of business. It's my hope that SpaceFarce is conceived as a monumental failure in the business sense, so nobody is tempted to commit the same design atrocities.
3. if the job done by provox is so bad... can you do it better?
The problem parts -- high-level design and writing -- any moderately decent writer with any knowledge whatsoever of game design could have done a phenomenally better job. The decent parts -- game engine -- no, not me personally, but that's well outside my areas of specialty. I'd love to put a team together, and I'm sure a better job would be within relatively easy reach -- that's not saying much, mind you: if I'm complimenting myself, it's rather a backhanded compliment. -- Although first I'd want to learn 3d graphics programming.
4. well it poisons the whole genre? which genre? do you count FL to the space sim genre? sry but FL is technically not a classical space sim... its more an arcade game which doesnt really fit between all those other games such as starlancer, freespace, wing commander,...
Call it whatever you like, and divide the genre howsoever you wish. I'm sure you take my meaning nevertheless.
