Fix some of the little things in A16

[Ryster]

Like....

- Load the menu on game load, rather than a new empty prison. Its just a waste of time when most of the time you'll just be loading a save game.
- When placing objects next to walls, they shift position at present, going off centre on the tile. Or becoming "squashed looking". Like metal detectors when you have two side by side in a corridor two tiles wide with walls each side. Or with outdoor lights place next to walls, they squash down and look odd.
- Stop placing power cables automatically when placing machines, cookers, etc. These are always in one direction and dont necessarily meet your plans.
- When placing doors, you can't tell by default what direction they open. A small arrow to show the direction would be nice.
- When loading a save, quite often if not always, the fog of war turns back on again. This needs to be persistent in the save file.
- When placing cameras, as with doors, its sometimes tricky to see the direction especially when zoomed out. Add some kind of viewing angle arc graphic during placement.
- Edge scrolling arrived in the last alpha, hurrah. Can you please lock the mouse to the game monitor when playing full screen on a multi-monitored PC. Otherwise one edge is hard to use for edge scrolling.
- Also can you add mouse-wheel zooming in and out at the mouse cursor please? This will make getting around much easier.
- Stop placing lights automatically when building foundations., More often than not, your foundation wont be for a single room,so the lights will get in the way and some will be wasted.
- On the subject of lights, make a way to auto place lights in a room in an optimal formation by holding down a hotkey and clicking the room.

I'll add more as I think of them.

[sutieday]

Nice ideas! I also really like the option of being able to choose a save on start of the game.

[rsdworker]

i believe in A1 they had previous prison loaded upon on launch but i prefer the Main menu at load - more easier for us

[paktsardines]

As always, I would prefer they instead used the time to add new features/gameplay rather than fixing trivial issues.

And yes, they had the menu auto-load for the first few alphas but it was causing some people to be permanently locked out of the game.

[sutieday]

They seem to be fixing issue little by little so I don't see why adding new feature should have priority over bug fixes... I think there should be a balance.

[xander]

They seem to be fixing issue little by little so I don't see why adding new feature should have priority over bug fixes... I think there should be a balance.

The developmental model that IV have seemingly adopted is one that seeks to create a feature complete game by the end of the alpha phase, and bug free (as much as is possible) game by the end of the beta phase. Since new bugs are potentially introduced with every new feature, this is a reasonable approach. Features come first, then bugfixing (except for major game breaking bugs).

xander

[Master-Guy]

They seem to be fixing issue little by little so I don't see why adding new feature should have priority over bug fixes... I think there should be a balance.

The developmental model that IV have seemingly adopted is one that seeks to create a feature complete game by the end of the alpha phase, and bug free (as much as is possible) game by the end of the beta phase. Since new bugs are potentially introduced with every new feature, this is a reasonable approach. Features come first, then bugfixing (except for major game breaking bugs).

xander

And I really think this is a great approach, but in A15 a lot of "game breaking bugs" appeared, which need to be fixed first. The ideas from the OP are good, but not a priority, and most of them have been suggested on other threads as well.

[xander]

And I really think this is a great approach, but in A15 a lot of "game breaking bugs" appeared, which need to be fixed first. The ideas from the OP are good, but not a priority, and most of them have been suggested on other threads as well.

At least two of them were.

xander

[Ryster]

New features shouldn't necessarily be mutually exclusive with bug fixes. There should be a balance. I don't imagine most of what I've mentioned would take a great deal of time to implement.

[stoner7]

Excellent ideas.

Features come first, then bugfixing (except for major game breaking bugs).

I disagree with xander's view. I've been a developer for 40+ years. When my clients use applications that I've created, they expect the current version to work as they exist now. If there is a bug that hampers workflow, they prefer that I fix it, rather than add shiny new features that they're not using yet (because they don't exist).

As a developer, I prefer to add new features, because that is fun. Fixing bugs...not fun. But, I'm creating apps for my users, not for me.

[xander]

Excellent ideas.

Features come first, then bugfixing (except for major game breaking bugs).

I disagree with xander's view. I've been a developer for 40+ years. When my clients use applications that I've created, they expect the current version to work as they exist now. If there is a bug that hampers workflow, they prefer that I fix it, rather than add shiny new features that they're not using yet (because they don't exist).

As a developer, I prefer to add new features, because that is fun. Fixing bugs...not fun. But, I've creating apps for my users, not for me.

To be clear, I was not stating an opinion, but rather the process that IV have repeatedly stated they are using. That being said, I don't think that your experience is relevant to this discussion. You are talking about clients who are using your software in order to do their jobs. Do you ever ship alpha software to your clients? Or do you hold off until you have an essentially complete product to release?

I think that the problem you may be having is that the idea of giving people access to alpha versions is not the norm. In most development houses, software is not given to users outside of the company until it has reached the beta (i.e. bugfixing) phase. Most companies do not release software to anyone prior to the beta, which means that we generally don't see the alpha versions. I would imagine that your experience is much the same, though without you actually giving details about what kind of software you develop and who your clients are (categorically, not specifically), there is no way to know.

Which, again, makes your experience of little relevance in the current context.

xander

[VoiD88]

Excellent ideas.

Features come first, then bugfixing (except for major game breaking bugs).

I disagree with xander's view. I've been a developer for 40+ years. When my clients use applications that I've created, they expect the current version to work as they exist now. If there is a bug that hampers workflow, they prefer that I fix it, rather than add shiny new features that they're not using yet (because they don't exist).

As a developer, I prefer to add new features, because that is fun. Fixing bugs...not fun. But, I've creating apps for my users, not for me.

Do your clients work with versions of your software that you labelled "Unfinished"? If so, you are one of the select few devs who fix bugs in those. If not, you have just proven xanders point: This game is NOT finished, the devs have clearly stated that it's still a long time until it is. This isn't Minecraft after all, where the devs will continue to add features for all eternity even after it has been officially released... PA will be feature complete at some point, THEN the bugs will be fixed, THEN it will be released as a finished, working software product.

EDIT: Once again I got speedposted by xander

[yos233]

To differentiate, you were probably developing applications for a professional environment, where things have to work when people get them to do their job. They are hiring you to provide a product they use in a professional workspace.

Here, however, the developers are offering an alpha version of a product. We, the users, purchased a product because we were excited to see where it would go, with the expectation that there would be problems.

EDIT: Just saw that xander posted, but I'm going to keep my post anyway.
EDIT2: Well now I just feel slow.

[xander]

Waaaa~! Ninja'd!

xander

[matts]

- I keep seeing others mention the lights that come along with the foundation when you set it down. The workers take the lights to storage that conflict with any walls you construct and you'll need new lights eventually for something. So in my opinion they aren't being wasted.

- Mouse wheel zooming is already there

- One problem I noticed with the new 'sell prison' feature is after you sell a prison the Valuation on the new prison still has the -$30,000 charge for using a grant. When I haven't touched a grant yet with the new prison.

- Cameras in the shower don't show prisoners, they just light up the room. You don't see the prisoners until you make a guard go in. Isn't that the point of spending the money on CCTV?