What should we focus on next?
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- Chris
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What should we focus on next?
Hey everyone,
We are deep in the alpha process now. We've added tons of new features in the last few months. We would very much like to know what you think we should focus on next. Let us know what you think.
What should we focus on during the next few alphas?
- Keep creating brand new features - eg dogs, drug usage, end game, education, reform etc
- Finish and polish existing features - eg the recently added tunnels, contraband trading, laundry etc
- Bug fixes - run through Mantis and tackle the current serious issues
- Performance enhancements - make the game run better especially with large numbers of prisoners
- Story chapters - start creating more chapters to continue the story started in Death Row
- Game balance - add more grants, balance the costs of everything, and tweak the difficulty of the game until it is properly fair and balanced
We are deep in the alpha process now. We've added tons of new features in the last few months. We would very much like to know what you think we should focus on next. Let us know what you think.
What should we focus on during the next few alphas?
- Keep creating brand new features - eg dogs, drug usage, end game, education, reform etc
- Finish and polish existing features - eg the recently added tunnels, contraband trading, laundry etc
- Bug fixes - run through Mantis and tackle the current serious issues
- Performance enhancements - make the game run better especially with large numbers of prisoners
- Story chapters - start creating more chapters to continue the story started in Death Row
- Game balance - add more grants, balance the costs of everything, and tweak the difficulty of the game until it is properly fair and balanced
My opinions:
Yes, please.
This would be nice, too. But more features are even more betterer!
Meh. If you get a few bugs dealt with now, groovy. But I figure it will all get taken care of eventually.
Double meh. The game runs fine for most people, and optimization can wait. Though if you are talking about implementation of multi-threading, do that now, please.
Quadruple meh. Remember how long it took to get all of the content put together for Darwinia? Do you really want to do more of that right now? ;)
Please, no. The game isn't even feature complete yet. :\
xander
Chris wrote:- Keep creating brand new features - eg dogs, drug usage, end game, education, reform etc
Yes, please.
Chris wrote:- Finish and polish existing features - eg the recently added tunnels, contraband trading, laundry etc
This would be nice, too. But more features are even more betterer!
Chris wrote:- Bug fixes - run through Mantis and tackle the current serious issues
Meh. If you get a few bugs dealt with now, groovy. But I figure it will all get taken care of eventually.
Chris wrote:- Performance enhancements - make the game run better especially with large numbers of prisoners
Double meh. The game runs fine for most people, and optimization can wait. Though if you are talking about implementation of multi-threading, do that now, please.
Chris wrote:- Story chapters - start creating more chapters to continue the story started in Death Row
Quadruple meh. Remember how long it took to get all of the content put together for Darwinia? Do you really want to do more of that right now? ;)
Chris wrote:- Game balance - add more grants, balance the costs of everything, and tweak the difficulty of the game until it is properly fair and balanced
Please, no. The game isn't even feature complete yet. :\
xander
Chris wrote:- Performance enhancements - make the game run better especially with large numbers of prisoners
Double meh. The game runs fine for most people, and optimization can wait. Though if you are talking about implementation of multi-threading, do that now, please.
Very interesting, Can you explain me? : Why my game laggy over 150 prisoners ? (My Cpu : i5 2500k)
Last edited by berke1100 on Sat Aug 31, 2013 6:39 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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More features, 'nuff said.
Ok, I'll elaborate a little
The way the Alpha has been handled until now feels exactly right in my opinion: Heavy focus on brand new features, with some bugfixes and prformance tweaks thrown in every now and then.
Finishing/Polishing of existing features is something I would probably consider to put in second place of my fav-list, but ONLY if those changes are like the contraband system of Alpha 12 - large enough changes to make the thing feel like a new feature. Small tweaks and additions can probably wait until later.
Bug fixes and performance enhancements... as said above, a few fixes and a few tweaks from time to time will surely be welcome (especially if a really nasty/annoying bug appears that ruins gameplay, like the prisoners only starting to fulfill their needs for a few seconds and then stopping in their tracks that was in the game until A12, really glad that one got finally fixed and made the game playable again xD). But thorough bugfixing and performance optimization can wait until much later (which I guess would also make sense because you'd probably only break it again if you try to add more features afterwards ).
The above paragraph also applies to game balance... wait until it's feature complete, THEN balancing makes sense xD
Story chapters... erm, wait, what? I never even thought there were more planned for alpha OR beta at all and rather thought that we would only see the story in the finished game Anyway, those can wait until much much later in my opinion^^
Ok, I'll elaborate a little
The way the Alpha has been handled until now feels exactly right in my opinion: Heavy focus on brand new features, with some bugfixes and prformance tweaks thrown in every now and then.
Finishing/Polishing of existing features is something I would probably consider to put in second place of my fav-list, but ONLY if those changes are like the contraband system of Alpha 12 - large enough changes to make the thing feel like a new feature. Small tweaks and additions can probably wait until later.
Bug fixes and performance enhancements... as said above, a few fixes and a few tweaks from time to time will surely be welcome (especially if a really nasty/annoying bug appears that ruins gameplay, like the prisoners only starting to fulfill their needs for a few seconds and then stopping in their tracks that was in the game until A12, really glad that one got finally fixed and made the game playable again xD). But thorough bugfixing and performance optimization can wait until much later (which I guess would also make sense because you'd probably only break it again if you try to add more features afterwards ).
The above paragraph also applies to game balance... wait until it's feature complete, THEN balancing makes sense xD
Story chapters... erm, wait, what? I never even thought there were more planned for alpha OR beta at all and rather thought that we would only see the story in the finished game Anyway, those can wait until much much later in my opinion^^
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I vote for polishing the current ones...main concern is that many non-polished ones might conflict with each other (or bugs frenzy), it would be wiser to tackle current ones while preparing for new ones instead of going one or the other...
Check the "Laundry issues" that came with A13:
http://forums.introversion.co.uk/prison ... php?t=4036
Which I guess it came with the "deployment" bug or something in that matter...
Or the "Tunnel exploit":
http://forums.introversion.co.uk/prison ... php?t=4098
Which renders the tunnel approach not "game changing" since prisoners can end up in a lock-down at any time
Imagine having this half-features along with more half-features....some find it more exhausting to keep dealing with this in each "test" prison they create and having to find a workaround rather than focusing on the test at hand (new stuff or changes on each Alpha version)
Check the "Laundry issues" that came with A13:
http://forums.introversion.co.uk/prison ... php?t=4036
Which I guess it came with the "deployment" bug or something in that matter...
Or the "Tunnel exploit":
http://forums.introversion.co.uk/prison ... php?t=4098
Which renders the tunnel approach not "game changing" since prisoners can end up in a lock-down at any time
Imagine having this half-features along with more half-features....some find it more exhausting to keep dealing with this in each "test" prison they create and having to find a workaround rather than focusing on the test at hand (new stuff or changes on each Alpha version)
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Voted add more features
The only people after polishing are those that are new to the forum not listening or taking advice that's given.
development bug there is a fix - they ignore.
laundry - yes it get out of hand but in 2 days ive fixed it plus laundy does not matter seeing as riots was disabled.
The only people after polishing are those that are new to the forum not listening or taking advice that's given.
development bug there is a fix - they ignore.
laundry - yes it get out of hand but in 2 days ive fixed it plus laundy does not matter seeing as riots was disabled.
Alpha stage is all about adding things, beta stage is about fixing things.
If he stops and starts fixing things then every other alpha there is going to be "i want stuff fixed!" its going to slow down seeing what the end product is going to be. By adding more featues its making the game more enjoyable and keeping people playing for another month, by playing the same feature people will get a little bored and move on, im already only playing a mod of the game just to keep me occupied. (Global Financial Crisis Mod.)
oh here is your source!
Alpha 11
- Dirty clothes will no longer lead to riots
Not all needs will push prisoners to physical violence
Currently Exempt: Clothing, Comfort
These needs still prevent those prisoners from feeling "well treated", but will not push them to anger
Edit:
Also when im not in this im in Uplink (still trying to beat my best from years back) and splinter cell, infact thats where im off now.
If he stops and starts fixing things then every other alpha there is going to be "i want stuff fixed!" its going to slow down seeing what the end product is going to be. By adding more featues its making the game more enjoyable and keeping people playing for another month, by playing the same feature people will get a little bored and move on, im already only playing a mod of the game just to keep me occupied. (Global Financial Crisis Mod.)
oh here is your source!
Alpha 11
- Dirty clothes will no longer lead to riots
Not all needs will push prisoners to physical violence
Currently Exempt: Clothing, Comfort
These needs still prevent those prisoners from feeling "well treated", but will not push them to anger
Edit:
Also when im not in this im in Uplink (still trying to beat my best from years back) and splinter cell, infact thats where im off now.
More features: non lethal weapons, lethal weapons, education, dogs, gangs, a "reception" facility for a psycological visit in order to assign security levels at prisoners, chef assistant that move foods and trays (chef will cook only)..... more stuff please. And more deeper simulation. Example: sewage and prisoner can use sewage like tunnel....
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