Important BETA RELEASE DISCUSSION - DECEMBER 4TH (*ALL* beta discussion goes here. Other threads deleted)

It's not like they had to create something out of the way for the demo.

I mean...anything they created for the demo would be getting us closer to beta (since it sounds like they were mainly squashing bugs that prevented people from playing).

Still don't understand why people get upset over it...people got to play a tiny, controlled version of the game for a very short amount of time.

 

I preordered a 4-pack as well, and I'm glad that I did. I'm glad that the money I gave them will go towards making the game better (even if $45 is all I contributed), and give us an overall more enjoyable experience.

Indeed! There is still until December 31 until I get upset about the beta not being out, and I'm fully capable of being patient until then. None of us really know the true extent of the bugs, and who knows what kind of game-breaking stuff would be in, as Kriminal stated.

You don't want to be playing and building up a base only to have a game-breaking bug cause your game to crash, and erase your save data, do you? Because that's a bug right now.

 

I have some random dreams about upcoming beta and the game looks wa-a-a-ay more different from what we're expecting… Yes, I do have nightmares about Starbound, seriously

 

what i dont understand is when they have game breaking bugs, and this bugs blocks the beta, then why are they just adding more stuff instead of fixing the bugs ?

 

They are working hard to fix the game breaking bugs, the stuff they are adding are all the features for upto tier 3 play (the other milestone to reach before beta).

 

Also bug squishing is boring tedious work that mainly consist of looking over code for 6 hours to find you accidentally added a ) when you meant a }. Sometimes it really helps to take a break and do something else then come back refreshed to look at the problem. Last thing you want is your programmers driven mad trying to fix a rounding bug that is throwing off the planet generation system.

 

Here is some advice for all of the intergalactic homeless people out there, patience.

 

I knew developer feed back would not remove peoples need to complain.

 

People will always find a way to complain, regardless of the situation. Once beta is released, people will complain that there isn't more content in it, even though it's a beta.

The best we can do is be patient and find ways to occupy ourselves in the meantime.

 

Ooh, let's play a game of I spy!

I spy something...that's a bunch of black pixels on a white background which is a type of code and can be scanned.

 

The beta release date and starbound release date are both 2013.. and there's only going to be 3 tiers in beta. So, if beta was released in, say, two weeks, they would have a little over 3 months to implement the other 7 tiers for every race as well as everything else that they're putting into full release and not beta. (using the tiers as an example just because that in itself would take a while, let alone everything else they have planned for release) They'll seriously have to work their butts off to get this game out in 2013.

oh yeah and there's tier X too, so 8 tiers.

 

Can't wait!!!!!!

 

I love Japen, I'm always watching the animay and reading the mango.

 

Yup has a lot to do with beta and is not random at all.

 

I'm not so sure they are aiming for a 2013 full release anymore...

I think their comment was, "The Beta will be released in 2013, and the full game sometime after that" when they got asked about it at the showcase.

Correct me if I'm wrong...

 

In that case my guess is that Beta be released at around November 16 to December 21, while the game will be out January 14 to March 16. The November Beta and January guesses though are pretty close to wishful thinking however.

 

At least you aren't a 'December 31st-er'. Its fun to hope.

 

T'would be silly to release beta on December 31, that would mean they rushed it out just so it would be in this year which I know they wouldn't do. But they seem pretty positive that beta would be out sometime this year, and the game next year. Which puts the Beta's logical starting time frame at around the dates I listed. But if the Beta is not out by the 16, then chances are pretty low we'd see it before January 3 due to it being a Christmas week. Also they are very unlikely to release it in January as even though they said they'd release it when ready, having a January release date will really hurt the numbers of people buying it since the release of a game is when developers get the most out of the game, and not many people have money January due to Christmas.

 

I had it in my deluded head that we would get it sometime this month, ya know, give them some time to really work on tier 4+, and at the same time really react to the Beta feedback. That way we could see the faint light of hope for a 2013 full release, but his comments on the panel kinda quashed that.

 

I mentioned this in a previous post but it boils down to structure and management. It really seems like devs just start working on whatever it is they feel like working on (not counting the demo rush). They can be productive, they have the talent and speed but without a good sound plan you lose focus on what and how to prioritize. Currently, I just started working at as an intern dev and it's amazing how fast they get things done. A team of 2 developers and 1 QA guy can create a working application and meet the basic requirements to get it going in 2 weeks (over 100k lines of code in 2 weeks), I was blown away at how fast these guys get things done, all the while squashing bugs and following strict coding standards. it's called a development model, any developer worth his salt has one, even if it sucks (we use some sort of Agile development model and it's freaking agile). Priorities, building the roof of the house before you have the base done will simply delay you and cause problems (bugs!). I mean, seriously, who gives a damn about questing at this point? Tutorials? Really? Why work on quest framework when your procedurally generated wold (the prime feature in the game) doesn't even work? Create the GUI elements and move on. No, we spend a day getting a sound to play when the quest updates... Prio--- ah, fuck it.

Totally Unrelated Bonus Stage!

Want to know the real reason they didn't do a Kickstarter even though it provides an insane amount of publicity? Hint: it's not because kickstarter/Amazon take a cut, the amount of money they would have generated would trump a measly cut. Some quick examples :

Mighty No. 9 [Estimated Release: April 2015]
Currently sitting at $1.8mil in just 7 days. small sample of the amount of publicity in just 7 days:
On Joystiq
On Kotaku

Shadowrun Returns [Estimated Release: January 2013]
They delayed it for 1 month but explained in heavy detail why, and it was only a month anyway, not 2 years... Publicity:
On Joystiq
On Kotaku

Starbound [Estimated Release(s): 2012 -> 2013 -> the gap between 2013 and 2014 -> after beta -> TBD].
Sample of the publicity over however long it's been lol:
On Joystiq
On Kotaku
On Nerf Now (lol)

Please note, what a real estimated release date looks like in the first 2 examples. Also, note the amount of publicity.

But, it was totally worth spending weeks prepping a mockup for EggYogsCast to demo the game! All those cool YogScat followers seeing the game! Man I can't imagine how cool they must be to subscribe to YogurtCast! Did you see my funnies? DID U!¿! NO IT WASNT FORCED AT ALL U DUNNO FUNNEHY!1!222!1!¿!1! /s.

And now you know why they didn't launch a Kickstarter. Kickstarter requires you to commit to your deadlines with some leeway:

I think these hit the nail on the head pretty well: