ESF Release Schedule - Important

Which option would you prefer?


  • Total voters
    289
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
Busy Busy Busy
★ Black Lounger ★
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Nov 24, 2001
Messages
1,439
Best answers
0
Hello ESF community!

Lately, there has been a growing number of comments asking about the release date of ESF. Let me start by telling you that the team isn't hiding this information from you. We simply don't know o_o. As it stands ESF is built with time outside of the developer's normal day jobs and schooling. It is very difficult to calculate an accurate release date when development hours vary from week to week.

Requests for a demo or some sort of a release are showing up more often in user comments and as a result the team has talked about offering an alternative release approach. Right now it takes an enormous amount of time to add a single character to the game. Every character needs a model, textures, skeletal rigging, animations, attacks (through FX system), scripted FX sequences, sounds, and gameplay balancing. Here is what the team proposes:

Option 1: Release ESF in one full release as planned.

Option 2: Release ESF in 2 smaller phases

Phase 1
  • Reduce the playable characters down to 5-6
  • Limit characters to 1 transformation level
  • Postpone non-deathmatch game modes

Phase 2
  • Add remaining characters
  • Add transformations
  • New game modes
  • Other goodies


The development has discussed both options and are comfortable with either. What we want to know is...
what do you think?
Please vote!
 
Cunning as Zeus
Banned
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Nov 23, 2003
Messages
6,079
Best answers
0
It isn't letting me vote, but I'd rather wait for a full release, and have Phase 2 be patching the bugs, and perhaps fixing whatever game play issues we'll inevitably discover. Or even just modifications to the game, in general, kinda like how 1.2 had to be adjusted to make the game less tedious and more fun.
 
Death from Above
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Nov 25, 2001
Messages
4,943
Best answers
0
Location
Get off my couch
Poll is broken for me too

It doesn't bother me either way. I'd be happy to wait for full release but I wouldn't say no to the two phase plan
 
Judge. Jury. Executioner
👮 Moderator
★ Black Lounger ★
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
2,241
Best answers
1
Location
San Francisco
Normally I'd support Option 2, as then you guys would atleast have the satisfaction of releasing something. It would ease up your schedule, making work for phase 2 more streamlined. But that didn't exactly work out well for NNK so I am not too sure.

Now I know you guys have already released a whole bunch of previous versions, making the comparison with NNK a bit moot, but still I'd have to go with Zeo and Deverz, having a full release, then bugfixes and so forth.

Although having something close to Phase 1 for bug testing purposes, only with approved forum members, wouldn't hurt.
 
Resting in H.E.L.L
Banned
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
1,328
Best answers
0
Location
New England
Full release, not partial.

This is meant to be the end, smash it.
 
Member
✔️ HL Verified
Discord Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Messages
219
Best answers
0
I dunno. Both are fine with me, but I guess I am leaning more towards the first option.
While I wasn't here to actually experience it, Open Beta did not have a good response, and if the second option does result in a buggy version it would not sit well with peeps AFAIK :V They might start asking for bug fixes, meaning you would have to do that PLUS work on the second phase V: Wouldn't it be better to just release a complete version and then concentrate on bug fixing?
Then again I am not really sure I understand the workings here, so maybe my opinion is moot :X
 
NOT IN THE MANGA™
★ Black Lounger ★
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Messages
3,276
Best answers
0
Location
Lithuania
We'll wait. And Y U no let me vote?
 

sub

Active Member
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jun 18, 2003
Messages
5,961
Best answers
0
Location
New York
I'd prefer a full release, although I don't think anyone would be opposed to whatever you guys decide to do. This also leaves room for a bug fix patch, like Zeo said.
 
Base belongs to me.
👑 Administrator
🌠 Staff
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💎Légéñdārý
Joined
Nov 30, 2002
Messages
10,861
Best answers
0
Location
Netherlands
You can vote now guys ;), I fixed the "not being able to use the poll" issue. have another try.
 
Dudemeister
★ Black Lounger ★
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
1,672
Best answers
0
Considering what happened to NNK, I'd rather see this mod release in a single full release.
 
Force Pit Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2002
Messages
874
Best answers
0
Location
Gothenburg, Sweden
I think that there comes a big risk when pushing for the second option. The flood of people to this forum will be huge and there will be bugs since you haven't tested what you currently have on such a large scale and thus taking away time from your second and final release. However it seems that in your current situation you have few artists and that you more likely have a finished product (programming). But with the XML it's easy to add new moves and other things to new chars? So your programmers won't have a lot of work to do after the initial release, they could potentially match the demand of bug fixing? If so, then you are in the clear going for the second option.

The majority of the people would be thrilled with that...however the "true" forum members ^those guys^ have been here for a long time and would like this project to end with a bang, just for the sake of it. The mod, those guys and you developers have earned to finish it with a smash like mkilbride already mentioned.

I vote for option 1! :)
 
Base belongs to me.
👑 Administrator
🌠 Staff
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💎Légéñdārý
Joined
Nov 30, 2002
Messages
10,861
Best answers
0
Location
Netherlands
I personally don't mind seeing the Phase 1. I mean, while it may be limited. I'm pretty sure the dev team do everything they can to make it bug-free before the release to prevent the NNK like release. As they already mentioned:

The development has discussed both options and are comfortable with either. What we want to know is...
But that's me.
 
Last edited:
New Member
✔️ HL Verified
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Messages
19
Best answers
0
Location
Lithuania
I prefer first option. I think it's better to wait for stable release.
 
ANBU
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jan 22, 2006
Messages
3,192
Best answers
0
Location
Bucharest
As some of you guys have already said... i don't mind either way. But if i've waited that much up until now, i can wait until the game is finished.
 
Active Member
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Sep 23, 2002
Messages
1,876
Best answers
0
Location
Fryslân Boppe! The Netherlands
Continue development on single full release

Sure Duke nukem has been released, but I don't mind waiting a few years more.
 
Member
✔️ HL Verified
Discord Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
379
Best answers
0
Location
the Netherlands
Single full release, you've seen what happened with the Open beta, people are gonna ***** if stuff doesn't work.
Plus, I think I would be double excited when you guys release it as one complete mod instead of features being added incrementally.

Also, If you're going to release it in pieces, people will have the chance to create addons, while this sounds nice, the problem is going to be that people start to make changes in the original ESF gameplay(the way you intended it). If this addon for some reason gets popular, people will only want to play that mod(see EVM/ECX) and the original mod will be kinda lost.
 
Member
✔️ HL Verified
Joined
Jul 7, 2011
Messages
67
Best answers
0
Please keep doing what your doing, I'd prefer to have the full release with characters with more than 1 transformation and all that, basically just keep doing what you WERE doing
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom