StormcloudCreations

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: quote:Originally posted by StormcloudCreations: Just curious: I wonder if other DC devs have been subject to the same type of "we're shipping, ready or not". Might be worth knowing if other devs have been similarly pressured, so you know if its status quo for them to just ship at a certain point or pressure devs into finishing quickly near the end of a project or at a certain timeframe. Hi Derek I know a few of the DC developers and in fact am in contact with two of them. I'm not at liberty to say anything further because I don't want this to spread further than it needs to. All I care about right now, is making sure that a build of my game with a DRM signature, does not end up in retail channels. Obviously, yes...hopefully they know that and would be smart enough not to actually ship a build like that. Hopefully. And I wasn't intending to start rumors up about DC or their devs, but if the ones you're in contact with have similar tales to tell, then at least you know what to expect in future dealings... Hope everything turns out ok.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: The only retailer I know of which has stopped their order, is Walmart. And they have the game as a must buy and already said that it will go into their January buy. This all from Dreamcatcher. Anyone remember the Strategy First fiasco of earlier this year? I've forgotten what sim it was they shoved into the retail channel, in Beta, and complete with known bugs. That, natually, killed the product, right there and then. As I said before, at the risk of suffering backlash, I was willing to work with them. But no, they had to go make a unilateral decision to ship my game, then send someone - other than the primaries I signed a deal with - to notify me. Via PM no less. Sounds odd, you're right! It doesn't sound quite as bad as the Take 2 thing, but eerily similar in some ways (the bugs mentioned in RC report don't sound that bad really being the main difference). If some of things you mention above (1-5) are still true, then they couldn't ship it really...could they? I've spoken to a number of devs for all kinds of publishers who felt pressured at some point to release a game too early, according to some measure of financial quarterly earnings thing. In other words, decisions on games being made by people who know nothing about games or how they're made. As a dev myself, practices like these make my blood boil. The offers you made sounded fair and legitimate. But rushing a game to market with any of the above 1-5 points you made being true is just asking for backlash from some gamers who might try the product for the first time. It's...a poor business decision on their part. Just curious: I wonder if other DC devs have been subject to the same type of "we're shipping, ready or not". Might be worth knowing if other devs have been similarly pressured, so you know if its status quo for them to just ship at a certain point or pressure devs into finishing quickly near the end of a project or at a certain timeframe.

As a (admittedly smaller) developer myself, I understand this conundrum quite well. Release with a few small issues and get more sales at Christmas time, or keep it until its "perfect". At this point, it's really your decision to make. You have to weigh: getting the game out sooner (more holiday revenue=money), versus releasing it later and slightly more polished (and losing possible X-mas money and causing much publisher annoyance). It's the years old PC developer quandry. Reading the latest VC file, only 4 and 5 would qualify as more than very minor for me, so for me it would be "ship it". Those are things that aren't gamekillers, and wouldn't excessively hurt the experience. But I think many here would understand if you wanted to hold it a little longer. But as a programmer, I also understand the drive for perfection (I kept my own publisher, Shrapnel, waiting until the waning hours until I got my latest product "just right" for Gold status, even possibly keeping it from being released in time for Christmas, so believe me, I understand your position almost too well ). Congrats on your product by the way. Looks very interesting.