Have the devs had time to play the game?

Nisgeis · 01-13-10, 07:51 PM

So, SH3 took 2.5 years to develop and received a 100% score from Mr. Neal Stevens (whoever he is). SH4 took eleven months, with the final four being on 'crunch' of long hours. The manual had to be finalised before the features it described had been implemented, so many of the "screenshots" in the manual were fabricated in photoshop and also translation issues caused trouble. This explains why the maual was so bad. Ubisoft clearly did not give the project enough time to be delivered as a fully working game, which was very frustrating for all of us, as I think we could all see the genius that was in the game, but that it was just a smidgen away from our grasp.

Clearly, the devs had modelled some very detailed systems, which the manual let down by not expalining it clearly. Things like radar signals being affected by waves and ships being obscured by other ships etcetera, or torpedo strike angles being faithfully calculated according the the angle of the 3D model it hit. All of those things deserve a standing ovation for the amount of detail they went into. If only the manual had told us that these great things were in there, we might have complained less.

The developers just plain did not have enough time. The team behind SH3 and SH4 are keen subsimmers and with SH4, they were let down by a lack of reasonable development time and also their playtesters, who as casual gamers were not as into subsims as the developers were, so did not spot the 'hardcore/realism' game problems. The devs themselves knew all about the historical systems and how they were used, but with time frames being so tight, the devs did not get the chance to take a break and sit back and actually play the game that they were working all hours to produce. It would be as if the community here created a game, but never got to play the fully assembled product.

At this very moment, the devs will be on crunch and will be working very long hours to get everything they possibly can into the game, not only because that's the way it is, but because they want to deliver a great game that they themselves would like to play (after all, they are subsim fans too). Being on crunch would explain the lack of announcements and tidbits coming our way as well.

So, with all that, I beleive that the devs will deliver the very best game they can and all we can do is buy it, play it and then bitch about it. We're going to complain about it, even if it's perfect, so the real question is, have the devs had time to play the game?

Paajtor · 01-13-10, 08:00 PM

According to that, the answer is yes.

Jimbuna · 01-14-10, 01:57 PM

IIRC numerous gameplay testers have been employed this time around....hopefully to seek out the faults and allow the devs the maximum amount of time to spend on rectifying any problems.

Nisgeis · 01-17-10, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna

IIRC numerous gameplay testers have been employed this time around....hopefully to seek out the faults and allow the devs the maximum amount of time to spend on rectifying any problems.

Gameplay testers were employed last time round, but they were not of the subsim stable, so did not understand that which they were testing. Apparently even their geographical whereabouts were a mystery to the dev team. Such is the large corporate structure of an international game company, where departments do not necessarily talk to other departments. They were unable to point out the finer errors, as they simply did not understand what they were testing (according to historic posts).

Hopefully this time round, they will have employed keen subsimmers who understand the genre to play test their game (or sim), but not relying on miracles from Ubisoft, the question, which remains unanswered and was the cause of the trouble last time still remains.

Have the devs had time to play their own game?

mookiemookie · 01-17-10, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Gameplay testers were employed last time round, but they were not of the subsim stable, so did not understand that which they were testing. Apparently even their geographical whereabouts were a mystery to the dev team. Such is the large corporate structure of an international game company, where departments do not necessarily talk to other departments. They were unable to point out the finer errors, as they simply did not understand what they were testing (according to historic posts).

Hopefully this time round, they will have employed keen subsimmers who understand the genre to play test their game (or sim), but not relying on miracles from Ubisoft, the question, which remains unanswered and was the cause of the trouble last time still remains.

Have the devs had time to play their own game?

The problem with using public testers is that you end up with a situation that happened with SH4. Someone leaked a patch a day or two before it was supposed to be released. You can bet Ubi won't make the same mistake again. We can thank whatever moron that leaked the patch for that.

Jimbuna · 01-17-10, 03:58 PM

All will be revealed in March

Nisgeis · 01-17-10, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna

All will be revealed in March

I know this is your new catchphrase and all, but 'Only if patch 1.4 is released in March, will all be revealed in March.'.

01-13-10, 07:51 PM	#1
Nisgeis Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 2,909 Downloads: 77 Uploads: 11	Have the devs had time to play the game? So, SH3 took 2.5 years to develop and received a 100% score from Mr. Neal Stevens (whoever he is). SH4 took eleven months, with the final four being on 'crunch' of long hours. The manual had to be finalised before the features it described had been implemented, so many of the "screenshots" in the manual were fabricated in photoshop and also translation issues caused trouble. This explains why the maual was so bad. Ubisoft clearly did not give the project enough time to be delivered as a fully working game, which was very frustrating for all of us, as I think we could all see the genius that was in the game, but that it was just a smidgen away from our grasp. Clearly, the devs had modelled some very detailed systems, which the manual let down by not expalining it clearly. Things like radar signals being affected by waves and ships being obscured by other ships etcetera, or torpedo strike angles being faithfully calculated according the the angle of the 3D model it hit. All of those things deserve a standing ovation for the amount of detail they went into. If only the manual had told us that these great things were in there, we might have complained less. The developers just plain did not have enough time. The team behind SH3 and SH4 are keen subsimmers and with SH4, they were let down by a lack of reasonable development time and also their playtesters, who as casual gamers were not as into subsims as the developers were, so did not spot the 'hardcore/realism' game problems. The devs themselves knew all about the historical systems and how they were used, but with time frames being so tight, the devs did not get the chance to take a break and sit back and actually play the game that they were working all hours to produce. It would be as if the community here created a game, but never got to play the fully assembled product. At this very moment, the devs will be on crunch and will be working very long hours to get everything they possibly can into the game, not only because that's the way it is, but because they want to deliver a great game that they themselves would like to play (after all, they are subsim fans too). Being on crunch would explain the lack of announcements and tidbits coming our way as well. So, with all that, I beleive that the devs will deliver the very best game they can and all we can do is buy it, play it and then bitch about it. We're going to complain about it, even if it's perfect, so the real question is, have the devs had time to play the game? __________________ -------------------------------- This space left intentionally blank.

01-13-10, 08:00 PM	#2
Paajtor The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Dutch mountains Posts: 1,551 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 1	According to that, the answer is yes. __________________

01-14-10, 01:57 PM	#3
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,742 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	IIRC numerous gameplay testers have been employed this time around....hopefully to seek out the faults and allow the devs the maximum amount of time to spend on rectifying any problems. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

01-17-10, 03:58 PM	#6
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,742 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	All will be revealed in March __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!