1923

Turn time is supposed to be getting a lot of attention running up to the “all clear”, same with screen transitions.

1924

You running the current version Janster? There’s been some improvement already to turn times as they tweak the database and caching.

1925

Just noticed, its getting there :)

1926

Yep, that’s a great way of putting it. :)

1927

And the usual post-content hotfix:

1928

Is it only me or was the sots1 combat grafics really more beautyfull?

1929

Definitely just you.

1930

Yea, can’t say I agree, graphics are spiffy.

1931

Personally I turn off focal blur but I’m not really a fan of that effect in a game where your attention is all over the battlefield.

1932

Sound seems to lag the game heavily atm I noticed, without sound it runs perfectly.

I also wonder if they have aimed at a bit too few ships for such large battlefields…

1933

There is a pretty interesting thead over on the Paradox forums for the game that started off with someone asking when the game would be “done” and ended up an argument between two posters about what Kerberos has defined as “release” worthy as time has gone on.

But more interesting is the assertion in that thread by someone that what Kerberos has been doing by adding features so quickly without overall optimization at each step means a very long balancing and beta phase before the game is truly done.

I’m beginning to get the sense that they might actually be reaching the end of the “missing features” cycle for the patch after this weeks - so that would be “feature complete” by late April.

However, as others have noted, just finishing the features is a rough-draft sort of thing. Polishing them - bug-fixing, stress-testing, balancing, AI-integration, etc., are going to take real time on top of “feature complete.” Maybe another two patches. So that’s end-of-May.

And as a software developer myself - both for PC games and various other business-related packages - I see evidence of poor-technological choices baked into the fundamental structure of their code-base. Their save-game mechanics are brittle as all hell. Every release pretty much breaks save games.

Their code leaks memory like a drunken sailor leaks beer. There are clearly some architectural issues that are deeply chaotic / poorly considered / amateurish code.

SOTS1 was incredibly, way-above-the-norm, stable. Sots2 is well below the norm unstable, slow, and leaky.

Seems to me that those fundamental, structural problems should have been the focus on CF-Day from the start. They disagreed. So now they’ve got all of those issues and myriad new interactions with new code / features that have been added since. This can only make the chore of finding & fixing these deep issues that much harder / slower. It is a simple fact of complex systems.

So that makes my prediction: June for a release 1.0 worthy version. And August for a really stable-polished version that they’ll stop working on to focus on whatever is next. I hope there is a “what’s next” for them. They make great games, even if this particular release cycle was fracatta.

1934

I agree with that there…

2 things they added that the game really didn’t need.

Battle map was fine as it was, this new one is just confusing and adds lots of new problems that aren’t really fun.

Station management, upgrades yes…building modules? I just build everything anyway…

edit: Star map example -> battle map says… ships are coming from this direction…I place my ships in their path, but enemy ships appear instead directly by my colony…woot so much for that feature.

1935

Optimization tends to happen after the features have all been hooked up for a reason. The problem is we’re 5+ months in and they’re still missing features :D. New battle setup really could have waited… Again, their ambition is great but their project management is the worst I’ve seen.

1936

That’s a known driver issue that only happens to some people.

1937

Major features are all in as of this week. Retrofitting and scenarios are about the only things left.

1938

Yeah, but they’re going to need time making those features actually work gameplay wise.

1939

Yea, it’s just that when they’re sitting at 5+ months past release and theyre still missing features (some implemented in the recent patch, a couple still to do) and all the balancing, optimizing, and testing that still needs to happen… that just doesn’t seem to be the time to be introducing additional features that weren’t advertised and weren’t asked for.

I understand the desire to add new things that they think will improve the game, but do that once they’ve reached a complete, stable, and optimized “1.0” version. There’s always post-release patches, expansions, and DLC for further additions. This is where good project management is needed to get scope creep under control. Their team seems to completely lack discipline in this area, which most likely has a factor in the game being unfinished almost six months after the game went on sale.

[In re-reading this post, my tone sounds a little angry, but I’m not. It’s just a little exasperating to see how the project is managed, since I want it to A) be finished so I can actually play it and B) succeed so they can continue to add to the game down the road.]

1940

I’m a bit worried still about some of these ideas, they just don’t work well atm. For the time aspect, I got other games, I don’t care if they take their time, I am far worried that will go under as a company and leave a half-finished thing.

One last thing, Rorschach, if you got any leverage…please … this. .
When a battle start, the last thing I want to see if my ships being rotated 360 in my view…the only thing that does is to disorient me before the battle.

I just want the plain whole battle map being the first thing I see … K tnx bye:)

1941

I’ve seen worse.
sighs
Not MUCH worse, true, but still.

1942

Here’s another set of hotfixes:

r20587b

Critical Fixes:

  • Fixed a known defense manager fleet list crash.
  • Fixed an end of combat crash related to combat involving neutral factions.
  • Made numerous sound system changes to help with frame rate issues.
  • Fixed a crash related to queued station modules.
  • Fixed a minefield related crash in combat.
  • Fixed a crash in the design screen related to selecting and submitting defense platforms.
  • Fixed a combat retreat crash.
  • Fixed a crash related to entering and exiting the empire manager.
  • Fixed known memory leaks in transitions to and from the star map.
  • Fixed a silent multiplayer crash related to random encounters.
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when opening the build screen.
  • Fixed a multiplayer hang that could occur versus lone gate ships.

Other Fixes:

  • Reduced ship spark effect density to help with frame rate issues.
  • Fixed an issue preventing the Repair All function from working.
  • Fixed an issue where a VN disintegrator beam could remain linked to ships that left its range.
  • It is no longer possible to cancel return missions for retreating fleets.
  • Fixed the issue where colonies were firing at targets outside of sensor range.
  • Fixed the issue where planets would mysteriously disappear from the list of colonization options.
  • Fixed an multiple combat round issue where the game would try to select eliminated fleets.
  • Fixed the issue where construction missions would leave stations under construction if the construction ships were destroyed.
  • Fixed known issues of missiles spinning in space.
  • Fixed a bug that was causing prototyped ships to become too cheap.
  • Fixed known issues where diplomatic actions could result in a negative cost, adding to a player’s RDP instead of subracting from it.
  • Addressed issues that were causing the AI to declare war too frequently.
  • Fixed the missing news event notifying players of war declarations against them.
  • Fixed an issue where colonies were not correctly reporting when they were developed.
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing Hivers from upgrading gate stations fully.

Other Changes:

  • Build and design screens now show design attributes.
  • Made some improvements to the mine field placement flow in the defense manager.
  • Tracking weapons can now target the dish on a command monitor.
  • Fleets involved in multiple rounds of combat will lose additional endurance.
  • Non-Zuul factions are now attacked by pirates.
  • Developing colonies no longer support fleets.
  • Improved the research and feasibility study complete dialogs.
  • Variety of tweaks and corrections to ship turrets for all factions.

The tentative schedule is one last update in two weeks to make the game feature complete then another week of bug hunting. If all goes to plan they’ll announce the “all clear” in three weeks and go into a regular maintenance and update mode.