36 replies to this topic

[user_unknown]

Oops

That was me.

[Lynx]

That Crimson Skies idea that someone mentioned would make an excellent mod. Id be interested in making it....if I could be bothered. Id much rather just texture than lead

All this said, we have no idea how hard this game will be to code & script, do we?

[ambershee]

Not yet, we still don't really have access to any real mod tools to my knowledge. Anyone have an ETA for those?

[Lord Of Gifts]

From the February 23rd dev chat:

When's the editor coming out? What will be included in it?

We are working on the mod tools right now and will be releasing them soon. Please check back with us for more information on the content and release date.

[MSpencer]

It's only been out for ten days... give them a break...

[ambershee]

Heh, I just got my copy of BfME II, and the tools shipped on the DVD. I'm a firm believer, that that's how things should be done

[MSpencer]

It all depends on the publisher really. Most publishers don't care about SDKs period, and in some cases, like Activision, don't fund you to make them.

[ambershee]

That can be true, although one should see SDKs as an extension of the shelf-time of the game itself, which could increase potential revenue at the expense of little dev time. Publishers don't care about enough, period. I think that's a fairly established fact anyway ^^

[MSpencer]

Publishers get what they want in initial sales. The developers rely on the publishers for money for development. That's why you'll see like 1 or 2 patches for a game whereas some devs make like 5 or 6. Most publishers, probably closer to all of them, only fund one or two patches to fix any problems that passed by QA. The SDK is less important to them because once they have their money from the initial 3 month burst of sales and the traditional 12-16 month shelf-life, they're quite happy with having the game die. Publishers don't care about enduring titles, developers do. When a game which becomes synonymous with PC gaming is created, such as Half Life or Command and Conquer, people remember the developers who made the game, not the publishers who made the money.

[ambershee]

That's not necessarily true - your average Joe doesn't differentiate between the labels that come on his RtCW box for example. He just sees 'iD Software' and 'Activision'. He doesn't know the difference between the two - they're just game makers as far as he's aware.
But yes, publishers do only really care about initial sales figures, not ongoing support or customer servicing and satisfaction. That, in my opinion is their biggest failure. The drive for increased, immediate sales takes priority over quality production, and limits faith in the publisher itself. People that are aware of how the industry works, do seem to be becoming more and more aware of this dominance, and there aren't many that really seem to like it.

[MSpencer]

Some are pretty good with customer support though. Vivendi and Activision suck, but Codemasters was really good and responded very quickly to me when I lost my Operation Flashpoint CD code. They only required me to scan my disc over the email they sent me, and they gave me a new CD key. Too bad they gave me one that gave me a widely banned fake ID...

[crave22]

Personally Codies sucks with PR here in North America. They've stopped distributing GOTY over here, and they didn't advertise OFP enough. That's the main reason Bohemia has dropped them for Armed Assault.

Ending my rant against Codies so as to not spam.

[MSpencer]

Their distribution was bad but tech support couldn't really be better. Much better than Activision, Dell, Netgear, and Microsoft which I've all ended up on the phone with.
Nice to see another OFP player.

[ambershee]

Codemasters tend to be quite good with the public relations. It's one of the reasons I almost joined their ranks in the Twycross studio earlier this year - although I decided I didn't have the time to deal with anything at present.

[crave22]

Well, I just never had the best support from Codies for some reason, and majority of the guys at the BI Forums don't like 'em either.

@Spence
Likewise, nice to see another OFP player.

[MSpencer]

Yeah I understand. Sometimes they can't do anything though, they have to abide by some strict rules, but my one experience with them was positive. If they ever published a decent game again, I'd consider buying it for the tech support.

Ok, probably not.

Edited by MSpencer, 10 March 2006 - 02:00 PM.