Pier Solar: Official Thread

[Joe Redifer]

What's stupid is that they are still accepting pre-orders on their site. They have no shame. They have only themselves to blame for this mess, and that cannot be denied or even refuted. BTW, I ordered via credit card, not Paypal.

As an investor in this game, I demand constant status updates of where the project stands as well as ETAs.

Tell you what, instead of just complaining, I am going to offer to help, as long as it is within range of my capabilities. I am very good at applications like Photoshop and retouching art and animation and the like. If you have any work for me, just e-mail me at joeredifer@film-tech.com

[Zebbe]

Thank you for that offer. I've redirected it to Fonzie, hopefully he will give you a reply.

[Knuckle Duster]

Give us a definitive deadline & crunch it.

Theres still a good 6 months of finalized bug testing to iron out as with every project, The fact that bugs are 'inevitable' & testing has turned over results like this here should explain the issue. It's no wonder the backlash of impatience is having a snowball effect right now.

How is the game bug-wise? Do you see many places where stuff works wrong, or does the game feel quite solid by now?

Pretty solid, the only bugs I've ever come across are simple map boundary issues which are being checked for by the whole team anyway

That says to me, that bug testing is minimal as newer builds are introduced. Stress testing the final software would take several months at least to get away with a bug free experience.

That & the misinformation pertaining to project status is why everyone's frustrated, at least from what I can gather.
Personally I've explained my position long ago. I just don't care anymore & think WM is the punchline to a bad retro scene joke.

I eagerly await my copy of PS so I can be proven wrong.

[Devil N]

^

Wow, an actual constructive post from KD for a change. You should do that more often, because I couldn't agree more with you right now.

[Knuckle Duster]

^

Wow, an actual constructive post from KD for a change. You should do that more often, because I couldn't agree more with you right now.

I have lots of construction paper & glue sticks. Thanks

I actually raised similar questions and concerns in this thread, back on 9/11/09, with the "Do Want" picture.

Reading This on the forums a few days ago and the nature of bug testing itself, has be questioning the likelihood of a 2009 release date. It sounds like 'Beta' and not 'RC' talk.

I understand the reasoning behind a lack of 'Updates & Overhauls' for a matter of 'Focusing on getting it done and released'.

But when the 'Final Product' is done, and nothing is 'getting overhauled or injected' will we get a heads up saying:
"OK, it's done, We're now doing final product bug testing."

Or is it past that point already?

I'm pretty sure all region's release will play at whatever the hardware is pushing. No differences.

I only wish the actual status of the project was 'clarified' as to the point of my questions above.

I'll inject simplicity for my probing observation:

Is the game's Rom finalized, and undergoing bug testing (RC), or are you in fact bug testing incremental builds, still injecting features & overhauls above common bug fixes (Beta) as that post suggests?

I know overly-simplified definitions of 'Betas & Release Candidates' is kind of stupid as presented, but it's been a pretty straight forward question to handle in my opinion.

Am I the only one here curious to an answer?
It would certainly help gauge release expectations better than complete silence.

Yeah...

[Bramsworth]

Patience is all we can work with atm. I can see them not wanting to release it under pressure. Of course it wasn't a very bright idea to accept pre-orders so soon, but everyone does have the option of getting a refund anyways.

At least know it will be released eventually, that's what matters. Until then at least there's millions of other games to pass the time with

[Joe Redifer]

I seriously doubt that bug testing will take 6 months unless there is some crazy-ass bug that messes everything else up when fixed. I give bug testing two months, max.

[Knuckle Duster]

It needs a Deadline.

[Melf]

My question is: did the team set milestones during development, with dates for each? When the game hasn't shipped a year after preorders were taken, you can't really accuse people of being haters. They paid their money a long time ago and have nothing to show for it.

The moment money was taken for this game, it ceased to be a fan project. There should be some idea of when it will be finally released by now. How many times has the date been pushed back?

[The Coop]

It needs a Deadline.

Or better still, an...

[Knuckle Duster]

Or better still, an...

"Tell me when it's safe to look again..."

[Zebbe]

How many times has the date been pushed back?

Twice.

[Eke-Eke]

I knew when I preordered my copy that it was going to take a long time before being completed and was perfectly aware this project was handled by a non-professional team, I mean people having real life/real jobs too (and it seems some of them devoted their full time to this project recently), they made no mystery about that.

Now, maybe they have seen things too big for a first project, maybe they underestimated some tasks and outcoming difficulties but I think projects like that should always be supported instead of being bashed because it's obvious there are not doing this for money or glory and it's also obvious they are working on with passion and full dedication.

That's also why I totally trust you on that one and absolutely don't care how many longer it will take, the money I gave you is certainly not lost and didn't lose its value, I don't see the point of asking for refund now, seriously...

This is was just my voice as a counterbalance in this "heavy" atmosphere, I know how hard it is sometime to take negative comments about its own work...

[Xonticus]

@Eke-Eke

I just registered last night so I could attempt to post a comment just like yours, but you have spoken every word better than I would have put it. I agree with you.

WM is a team of non-profit and volunteer game developers, which means unexpected things can happen that you can't plan for. Well, that pertains to most developers, but it's not like they can devote all their time to this project as it is. Setbacks happen, members leave and then they are pushed back a few steps in trying to re-make what was lost.

Give them some damned slack, if you ask me. Demanding things adds a ton of pressure, and to unrealistically ask for a deadline time like you are their publisher is downright rude. They aren't required to give you a definite outline timetable.

Do paid developers/publishers give you a timetable and when big setbacks happen (anyone remember half life 2?) do you call them out and demand blood? No, you don't. Just because this is a small time operation does not give you the right to try and bully them into giving you some timetable just to shut you up.

Actually I will give you a time table if you so want... here it is:

The game will be finished when it is done.

[Knuckle Duster]

@Eke-Eke

I just registered last night so I could attempt to post a comment just like yours, but you have spoken every word better than I would have put it. I agree with you.

WM is a team of non-profit and volunteer game developers, which means unexpected things can happen that you can't plan for. Well, that pertains to most developers, but it's not like they can devote all their time to this project as it is. Setbacks happen, members leave and then they are pushed back a few steps in trying to re-make what was lost.

Give them some damned slack, if you ask me. Demanding things adds a ton of pressure, and to unrealistically ask for a deadline time like you are their publisher is downright rude. They aren't required to give you a definite outline timetable.

Do paid developers/publishers give you a timetable and when big setbacks happen (anyone remember half life 2?) do you call them out and demand blood? No, you don't. Just because this is a small time operation does not give you the right to try and bully them into giving you some timetable just to shut you up.

Actually I will give you a time table if you so want... here it is:

The game will be finished when it is done.

Seeing how frayed & contradictory the status is shown, as little as it is these days; & how silence usually precludes a deadline.
A little pressure is what they need. Demanding a deadline is the least I would expect at this point in time.

Do paid developers give time tables? No, but they get them from competent leadership within the development team, & have deadlines enforced by funding & job security.

It's not hard to fathom the fact that they jumped the gun on pre-orders, and effectively killed the hype for the product. That's been established already.

The reserved opinions of those frustrated with being left in the dark regarding updates (Logical ones, not bullshit ones describing how awesome WM thinks it is.) only serve to boil over when comments like "Haters" & "We can't afford to refund everybody" are tossed out, regardless of the validity to their meaning.

Lets not forget those of us squeezed into 'Needing' a preorder to obtain a copy due to continuous hints of unavailability rather than have the option of waiting for the product to be finished.

The backlash is a snowball effect from the self-defeating, continued orders, cocky scam-like "Buy it now, or miss your chance forever!!!~" to those with a reserved interest, and their lack of faith in an incompetent team who hasn't met a single deadline. If you can't see that, you're blind. If you can tolerate the circumstances, congratulations. A winner is you.