What needs to be done in the roadmap before beta?

I have to agree with some of the other threads I have seen. This game looks really beta stage, plenty to play with and test out. What absolutely needs to be done before we can start playing/testing this ambitious project?

 

suppose this question is just really answered if they updated the road map... so unless a dev answers i doubt you'll get a very good one.

 

If they feel it isn't, then it won't be. NPCs/Quests still need a lot of development, some areas in Creatures, Multiplayer, many areas in Interface, and a few more aren't ready. Many of these features are important, and releasing a game without them may not end too well. On the bright side, Happy Cube. Glory to the Happy Cube.

 

The beta won't have quests or at least the man story quest, so we won't have to wait for that at least.

 

i just looked after i put that but there wasn't a whole lot change. i did notice a few new subjects and like 10% changes.

 

Check out the twitter for the roadmap tracker, there was a lot more changes then that.

 

To answer ops question.

It seems as if universe gen has some work left in it, and server things. UI since we wont have dev commands is also kinda critical.
Monster generation maybe questionable near enough at this point. Most of the player mechanics also seem ready.

Its seems a matter of making sure we can play the game, connect to friends, and so on without developer work around for the majority of it though.

 

I think the vagueness in what you've said is exactly what the OP is talking about. At what point is it "enough"? If I'm misreading the intent here I apologize, but it appears the bigger question being asked is: If the Roadmap is indicative of progress to a fully complete game, where does it need to be before Beta is released?

Stating "when it's ready" or "when enough is done" isn't really a fair answer to a fair question. Obviously, as the Roadmap states, the Roadmap is not a completely accurate representation of all areas that require attention on Starbound before it is completed. However, the Roadmap is in some way a representation of the progress, and it is a failing of its own design that it includes percentages. So I think it is entirely fair to ask, not complain, whine, belabor etc., about how much progress needs to be made before "x" or "Y" occurs. Does everything need to be 100, 90, 80? Is it an overall thing or is a certain percentage on a specific "section" absolutely integral?

I fully understand that, despite the percentages, game development is far from an exact science. That being the case, I think a bit more transparency, not on release dates, but on what specifically needs to be completed before beta and completion would be helpful.

Herein lies the original issue: If the answer/explanation is "The beta will be released once we feel the game is at the beta stage," or "The beta will be released when it's ready, which will certainly be before December 25," that doesn't really resolve the initial problem. If the explanation is more in line with what Xander has stated, though hopefully more specific since devs know more than we do on the topic, that "x, y, z, and some of g need more work before beta," then I think questions like Altho's will be answered and thus fewer and farrer (not a word, I know) in between.

 

I can only assume that some vital parts are missing, they're obviously not going to be showing us anything that's completely broken. I'm desperate for the beta to come up, but I think people need to realize that things like chat bubbles and the options menu were just worked out, it might be quite some time before a beta is able to be released.

 

It is hard to say.

The devs made it clear that the Roadmap was just a unique way of showing progress and was not an exact science. A days work could add as little as 1% to a section or overall, we simply do not know how much has to be implemented.
Once a certain feature is finished, how does one even apply a relevant percentage to it without hours of back and forth between an entire developer team?
While I like the Roadmap, I find the daily updates and dev trackers a better forum to watch.

 

stop picking my premature statements apart

 

To be honest: Sometimes I wonder if they know.
I mean, there was a time we were eagerly awaiting a beta or something...six months ago.

Based on what has been shown in the daily updates, I estimate they already have more working content than Terraria did pre-1.1.
Of course, working content does not equate to a technically functional game; the roadmap suggests they still have a lot of server stuff to work on for example.

 

Just because something is at 90% in the roadmap doesnt mean its put into the game. From watching bartwe in his streams I've notaced adding even the tiniest things can cause the game to crash and he has to work out the bugs to get things in just right. Im thinking that when something is at 80 or 90% that means the textures and mechanics are done but they still have to do a lot of coding and debugging to actually get it into the game and then will they update the roadmap with a 100% completion. So id say beta will come out when most if not all of the major features are at 100%.

 

The game is beta when the devs say it is. End of story.

 

Exactly.

 

The beta will be out when Tiy says it's ready, what more do you people want? Other than an exact date. It's a shame that my statement of "Nobody seems to listen to the Devs" is becoming more and more true as each day passes. How about we listen to what the Devs have to say about this matter and be content with that.

 

We aren't supposed to know, that's a given. But the thing is, why haven't we been told? If they DON'T know that, well, then it's beginning to feel like the anxiety of the wait is growing exacerbated with no hope in sight.

This isn't good enough, that's the point. We want them to tell us just what components on the roadmap need to actually be solidified and "at a certain percentage" to have the beta be ready. Yes, only they know where certain percents lie but that doesn't hurt us knowing that when X and Y is at Z%, the beta is ready. It's up to them to increment that number gauge appropriately. At that point it doesn't even matter how long it takes, it gives us a point of reference to keep track of and feel better about knowing. Paced transparency.

 

Well they said they originally expected to make about 50k from the pre-sales. So I would think they may have misjudged the amount of players they would have to deal with.
If they had plans before, about sending beta invites in a particular time range, they might be back to planning, because it could simply be a hardware issue, too many players/beta testers. ( Expected testers 2.000-3.000 vs 50.000 )

I just hope they don't do an actual release, but is officially a beta on paper. ( Example: NWN )