When is this game going to be finished

Hi everyone,

I have seen a little back and forth on this thread and I want to say: I haven't played since around August, but this game is phenomenal. I love the engine, I love the maps, I absolutely can't begin to thank the community enough for all of the extra content and good vibes, and positive responses. To the people complaining about the timing on this game, I say just wait, I can't even play right now because I don't have a computer, but this game is well worth the wait. I wish I had any sort of software knowledge because I'd love to get some Twisted Metal cars/maps on the simulator, and make the maps more interactive. I will do fine with what I got though, the developers and the community are doing wonders for this game. This is my first post, and I certainly hope it isn't my last. Thank you for being awesome everyone! I'll see you guys on the races when it goes up!!



-Nick.

 

The problem is, the way games are developed these days compared to how they used to be. In the good old days before decent internet, early 2000's when we all thought the PS2 or the 1st gen Xbox were amazing, games only came out when they were 'finished' and we had a complete, playable game right out of the box. That was fine for us and fine also for the large developers who had the resources fund the full development of a game before getting any repayment.

However, now we have the 'always on' mentality and things like Steam and Origin have thrown the doors open to all kinds of small 'indi' developers. This is a double edged sword, on the one hand we get a lot more choice and (in theory) cheaper games but on the other hand, it's almost common place to release a game that's not finished or has tons of bugs, because they developers know they can bung a patch out later to fix it.

Look at something like 'Train Simulator 2015'. It has been around in it's present form since 2013 and basically has a major update (Patch) every year and yet still has TONS of bugs. I wouldn't call it finished and I doubt it ever will be.

So, to ask when a game like this which is openly still in Alpha, will be finished is frankly, dumb and naïve. At least let the damn thing get to Beta stage and THEN ask about a 1.0 final release!

 

You keep saying I'm hotheaded when you're the one getting on edge about this conversation. Please point out where I said I want the game finished right now. I want this game finished eventually. If the dev team has no idea when it will be finished, nor do they have a goal release date in mind, that is a bad sign.

 

Do you have some development experience ? I guess not.
Estimating the amount of time needed to do a specific feature is really hard, if not impossible.
Having a deadline isn't necessary a good thing. It put more stress on the dev team, especially when close to the end (some people work better under pressure, I know).
I can't tell if it's really a common practice, but announcing a date is sometime done so that the client (us the players in this case) do not piss off the dev team until said date.
Hence why release dates, when existing, are often pushed afar.

 

It says it right there in the Steam rules you quoted
"Some developers have a concrete deadline in mind, while others will get a better sense as the development of the game progresses. You should be aware that some teams will be unable to 'finish' their game."
Did you even read them?

 

Dude. You could slap a 1.0 badge on the stable release and call it done. Just like minecraft did. No story, do-it-your-way gameplay, limited features, etc etc.

I don't really care how long it takes to develop, and keep in mind I spent just as much money as you did on this, but as long as bugfixes and new content comes my way every once in a while, I'm totally fine with playing an Alpha for the next few years. The name doesn't matter, the phase doesn't matter, the version ID doesn't matter, the GAME matters.

 

I never said I wasn't satisfied with this game. It is well worth the $15 (or 20) I paid. The point of this thread is trying to determine when it is going to be not considered in early access anymore.

 

The conspiracy theorist in me runs WILD.

 

End of 2016? Just a wild guess.

That being said, I'd really like to see derby/racing as soon as possible. I wonder whether they'll actually implement MP.

 

They will. When they're ready.

 

I know they plan to, but I wouldn't just go ahead and claim that there surely be one. You know, it's in alpha and things might change. Wouldn't be the first game to not include something that was planned.

I also wonder how optimisation's gonna be. I love races with a good amount of cars, but even with a good processor your frames will drop if you gonna spawn a few cars.

 

True

 

If you're satisfied with the game so far, and said it was worth your money, why are you so worried about when it's getting out of early acess? Enjoy the game how it is so far, while the devs work on more features and bug fixes. It is eventually gonna come, obviously, you just have to wait. In the game's current state, they are releasing updates anyway, so why bother getting out of early access?