The current prerelease plan (1/21/2010)

[x4000]

Okay, so both 3.013 and 3.014 were a product of today's work (well, 3.013 had some stuff from a couple of days ago, too).  Basically I spent all day on these two prereleases, around 14 hours in total, which when you add the 8 or so hours from earlier in the week, is way more than my expected 5ish hours per week on AI War for while we are working on the next titles.  Now -- granted, this is higher right at the moment because we just did a major release of AI War, and a lot of the bugs are still getting shook out. 

But, I still also have to divide my time with the next project (Tidalis -- it has a name now), which is a new challenge for me.  I've discovered that it generally works best all around if I focus on one title at a time, either for a good solid few hours in a day, or for a full day.  It had been my intent to just spend all morning on AI War, but it frankly needed more attention than that -- so here we are.

Anyway, the point of this is to just keep you guys up to date with what is going on, and so that you're aware of the balancing act I have to walk here at the moment.  In order for Phil, Pablo, and Lars to be able to do their work with Tidalis, that requires a certain amount of work from me in order to make sure that the code is keeping up with their needs, etc, etc.  I can't allow myself to be a bottleneck on that project any more than I can allow AI War to languish.  So -- I juggle.  The last couple of days have been more work on Tidalis and very little on AI War.  Today was all AI War, except for looking at some art stuff with Phil. 

Tomorrow, my plan is to have an all-Tidalis day, with the possible exception of doing a few bugfixes for AI War in the late evening or something.  If the 3.014 release seems solid, too, then my plan is to turn this into an official 3.020 release that we'll distribute through Steam, Impulse, etc, so that people can get the benefit of all the massive numbers of bugfixes since 3.0.  If things seem stable, that might also happen tomorrow.

On Friday, my expectation is to do some more AI War bugfixing/balance fixing, and to get more work done on Tidalis.  Hopefully the rate of bugs coming in is slowing down (they seem to be), and so if I fix 5-10 bugs every couple of days, we'll have it down to near a zero bug count in a week, assuming not too many new ones come in.  Of course, I know that new ones are going to come in, so hopefully that means that in reality I'll be able to maintain a very low count of bugs of any significance, and over the next month or two we can gradually get it down to zero as new ones come in and get fixed and the existing list gets whittled down, as well. 

We shall see how this all goes, but that's my plan -- again, juggling, to make sure that AI War stays current and clean, while avoiding holding up all development on Tidalis.  I'm sure I'm going to flub this a small bit on one side or the other from time to time -- bear with me.  But my goal is to not let more than 3-4 days pass without a prerelease of some sort for AI War.  So far I've been maintaining that, and I think it will work out well balance-wise for making sure that enough progress happens on both projects.  Someday, when Arcen has more cash, I really need to hire a second programmer!

[RCIX]

Cool! great to hear the game is coming along!

Don't worry, we can live without our daily prerelease fix, at least i can

I like that name! sounds interesting!

Edit: When will a separate forum be going up where we can talk about Arcen games in general? right now it's all mixed in with the AI war stuff which should probably change...

[Echo35]

We shall see how this all goes, but that's my plan -- again, juggling, to make sure that AI War stays current and clean, while avoiding holding up all development on Tidalis.  I'm sure I'm going to flub this a small bit on one side or the other from time to time -- bear with me.  But my goal is to not let more than 3-4 days pass without a prerelease of some sort for AI War.  So far I've been maintaining that, and I think it will work out well balance-wise for making sure that enough progress happens on both projects.  Someday, when Arcen has more cash, I really need to hire a second programmer!

[quickstix]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I've barely had time to see all of the base AI War stuff, let alone the expansion. Every time I play I see something new. Good luck with the new game!

[Collic]

Keep up the good work. I've been really impressed with how quick you seem to get these updates out. Nothing quite like asking for a change only to find its there the day after !

You're like a one man Valve (except you communicate on the forums )

[raptor331]

You see, I'm not really worried at all, this is where modding beggins to thrive: when the developers updates begin to slow down. I do enjoy the GFX alternate sprites, and I may start doing a little of my own.

Can't wait till the new game comes out. Bet it will be another legend like AI War

[x4000]

Many thanks for the support, all.

Regarding when we'll set up a separate "general Arcen" forum, that will probably also be when we set up a public Tidalis forum, in a few weeks when that goes on beta.  Right now I'm just wrapping this stuff into the main AI War forum since that's where everybody goes by default.

[eRe4s3r]

You see, I'm not really worried at all, this is where modding beggins to thrive: when the developers updates begin to slow down. I do enjoy the GFX alternate sprites, and I may start doing a little of my own.

The thing is, now that the sprites got bigger and faux-3d they also stopped having an animation.. so now making any replacement sprite is not a good idea.. because... well you have to actually plan animations in beforehand (at least on 3d-models..)

Which brings me to a suggestion i reiterate a lot - Make the image sequences dynamically loading, when the app finds only 1.png and 2+ are empty (0kb) then it does not load 2+, but when it finds 1.png and 2+ with a size larger than 0kb it loads them as sequence. The frame-rate will need to be somehow settable though... This way replacements could begin to include moving elements as long as its only 1 or 2 sprites with many frames.

When the loading sequence is dynamic all we need is a effect editor that allows placement of glow/sprites on top of other sprites with animation values (Pulse/flicker/fade in/fade out/framerate) and the graphical quality could go beyond faux 3D sprites.

Final change would be, hopefully considered in xp2 externalizing all data elements. AI Values, Ship Values, balance values .. basically everything that has relevance to the gameplay + dynamical declaration of ships per folder.

After that, mod system that always loads mod files prefered to original files.. and the change to full mod ability would be complete.   It would be a nice selling point on the xp2 sales pitch "adds full mod support"  

I am not really into puzzle games though (Just noticed that came out of nowhere ,p) Just saying ;9

[x4000]

Eventually we will probably add more stuff to support modding.  But, I'm not exactly abandoning it now or anything.  Main problem is that for gameplay mods that are made, those will cause desyncs in multiplayer if all players do not have the exact same version of all mods.  And, as I've stated before, I'm not real excited about having fragmentating gameplay mods, as I have seen that be mainly to the detriment of other games like SupCom -- mods are mutually-exclusive and hardly anyone uses them etc, whereas with official additions based on player suggestions everyone gets them.  For graphics and such, that's a different matter.  At some point, a more dynamic loading might be a good fit, but probably not until xp2.

[Echo35]

Eventually we will probably add more stuff to support modding.  But, I'm not exactly abandoning it now or anything.  Main problem is that for gameplay mods that are made, those will cause desyncs in multiplayer if all players do not have the exact same version of all mods.  And, as I've stated before, I'm not real excited about having fragmentating gameplay mods, as I have seen that be mainly to the detriment of other games like SupCom -- mods are mutually-exclusive and hardly anyone uses them etc, whereas with official additions based on player suggestions everyone gets them.  For graphics and such, that's a different matter.  At some point, a more dynamic loading might be a good fit, but probably not until xp2.

Which is exactly the problem when I'm trying to play older games that have mod support. I can never find people to play with because the games have been around so long and accumulated so many mods, it's a pain to keep track of it all. Keep AI War the way it is!

[raptor331]

Eventually we will probably add more stuff to support modding.  But, I'm not exactly abandoning it now or anything.  Main problem is that for gameplay mods that are made, those will cause desyncs in multiplayer if all players do not have the exact same version of all mods.  And, as I've stated before, I'm not real excited about having fragmentating gameplay mods, as I have seen that be mainly to the detriment of other games like SupCom -- mods are mutually-exclusive and hardly anyone uses them etc, whereas with official additions based on player suggestions everyone gets them.  For graphics and such, that's a different matter.  At some point, a more dynamic loading might be a good fit, but probably not until xp2.

Why not have user create the mods, and you can include them in updates? Let the forum do the work, so you can concentrate on other games, however I am very inexperienced at coding and modding so I don't really know how it works

[x4000]

Eventually we will probably add more stuff to support modding.  But, I'm not exactly abandoning it now or anything.  Main problem is that for gameplay mods that are made, those will cause desyncs in multiplayer if all players do not have the exact same version of all mods.  And, as I've stated before, I'm not real excited about having fragmentating gameplay mods, as I have seen that be mainly to the detriment of other games like SupCom -- mods are mutually-exclusive and hardly anyone uses them etc, whereas with official additions based on player suggestions everyone gets them.  For graphics and such, that's a different matter.  At some point, a more dynamic loading might be a good fit, but probably not until xp2.

Why not have user create the mods, and you can include them in updates? Let the forum do the work, so you can concentrate on other games, however I am very inexperienced at coding and modding so I don't really know how it works

Specifically: so that I can maintain code and esin quality and cohesion. Having a dozen programmers all adding in little tweaks would effectively end a project like this. Plus, this is in the end not a community project -- I take lots of feedback, but i'm still managing the design and evolution of the game in a very pointed manner. I don't think that anyone has cause to claim this project doesn't get enough updates or doesn't have enough to do, anyway.

[eRe4s3r]

Tis true and why i ask for external data. That you compile the changes into the code is a highly in-effective method of going about it for more than 1 person, anyway But the question isn't that modders are unhappy but that they have a much more illustrated fantasy as to how to change the setting. ,p One that the original developer can not, or does not want to take. (Since you pretty much have your established vision ;p)

For example one particular mod idea i have is exchanging all AI Factions to have AI-Faction specific Unique ships and none other. So AI's have 3 standard ship types and only 1 or 2 special types.

Same for the player - the ships humans can unlock should all look like Human force ships...

Well needless to say theres plenty of ways to change the game to not a mod but a different experience ,p My personal mod project would involve taking ANY AND ALL Zenith ships from the ai. Because the idea that an AI would co-exist with a organic species is.. pretty weird. In exchange every AI Type has unique ships.

2nd change would be that guard posts would no longer sit on resources but at entirely random locations, and that the ships sitting on them assist each other in a sector.

3rd would be that only the Warp-Gate allows reinforcements for the AI, and its destruction would be a 50+ Progress penalty. Data centers would only do -10 progress. etc.

4th would be that AI reinforces not the guard posts with ships, but only turrets - and that any ship in a system will protect the warp-gate with priority.

5th would be a large, 3+ screen radius around wormholes where every building and unit takes damage if it stays there for too long. Preventing lock down of wormholes by both humans and ais

6th would be to "formalize" the combat stats to be CLEAR AND SIMPLE (no hidden multipliers ,p)

7th Destroying an AI switches all its units to Rogue, no more reinforcements, but each planet now gains the ability to build a shipyard, and ships from it with the resources in that sector

8th Putting much less meaning on progress, and much more on resources. Ships become an ongoing cost, all of them.

9th Instead of Knowledge = Credits which is the currency used to buy super wtf pwnage mercs and research (so its a choice etc. p,)

I always find it really odd that i gain bigger bad-ass weapons by sitting with my labs around a planet. Something that ordinarily would .. not really happen ,p

10th Research labs (to be renamed trade hubs) produce credits at a set, and very slow rate, up to 2000 per planet at much higher rate.

So you see, all these changes would change the dynamics and speed of the game. Away from Tower Defense into much more vicious and faster flowing rts.

By the way, this mod idea is patented

(By the way, i omitted many details from this ,p) Needless to say that the AI only gets as many units as the resources it has access to allow. So that players are forced to take planets instead of cherry picking them.

[Velox]

Tis true and why i ask for external data. That you compile the changes into the code is a highly in-effective method of going about it for more than 1 person, anyway But the question isn't that modders are unhappy but that they have a much more illustrated fantasy as to how to change the setting. ,p One that the original developer can not, or does not want to take. (Since you pretty much have your established vision ;p)

For example one particular mod idea i have is exchanging all AI Factions to have AI-Faction specific Unique ships and none other. So AI's have 3 standard ship types and only 1 or 2 special types.

Same for the player - the ships humans can unlock should all look like Human force ships...

Well needless to say theres plenty of ways to change the game to not a mod but a different experience ,p My personal mod project would involve taking ANY AND ALL Zenith ships from the ai. Because the idea that an AI would co-exist with a organic species is.. pretty weird. In exchange every AI Type has unique ships.

2nd change would be that guard posts would no longer sit on resources but at entirely random locations, and that the ships sitting on them assist each other in a sector.

3rd would be that only the Warp-Gate allows reinforcements for the AI, and its destruction would be a 50+ Progress penalty. Data centers would only do -10 progress. etc.

4th would be that AI reinforces not the guard posts with ships, but only turrets - and that any ship in a system will protect the warp-gate with priority.

5th would be a large, 3+ screen radius around wormholes where every building and unit takes damage if it stays there for too long. Preventing lock down of wormholes by both humans and ais

6th would be to "formalize" the combat stats to be CLEAR AND SIMPLE (no hidden multipliers ,p)

7th Destroying an AI switches all its units to Rogue, no more reinforcements, but each planet now gains the ability to build a shipyard, and ships from it with the resources in that sector

8th Putting much less meaning on progress, and much more on resources. Ships become an ongoing cost, all of them.

9th Instead of Knowledge = Credits which is the currency used to buy super wtf pwnage mercs and research (so its a choice etc. p,)

I always find it really odd that i gain bigger bad-ass weapons by sitting with my labs around a planet. Something that ordinarily would .. not really happen ,p

10th Research labs (to be renamed trade hubs) produce credits at a set, and very slow rate, up to 2000 per planet at much higher rate.

So you see, all these changes would change the dynamics and speed of the game. Away from Tower Defense into much more vicious and faster flowing rts.

By the way, this mod idea is patented

(By the way, i omitted many details from this ,p) Needless to say that the AI only gets as many units as the resources it has access to allow. So that players are forced to take planets instead of cherry picking them.

     How does this follow...

Eventually we will probably add more stuff to support modding.  But, I'm not exactly abandoning it now or anything.  Main problem is that for gameplay mods that are made, those will cause desyncs in multiplayer if all players do not have the exact same version of all mods.  And, as I've stated before, I'm not real excited about having fragmentating gameplay mods, as I have seen that be mainly to the detriment of other games like SupCom -- mods are mutually-exclusive and hardly anyone uses them etc, whereas with official additions based on player suggestions everyone gets them.  For graphics and such, that's a different matter.  At some point, a more dynamic loading might be a good fit, but probably not until xp2.

     ...?     

[x4000]

Here's the deal on me with modding.  It may be an unpopular view, but here it is: I am not particularly interested in creating a platform for other people to make games on top of at the moment. Right now I am busy creating my own games, and making things mod-able takes extra programming work on my part.  There's not a win in there for me at the moment; it won't attract more players that don't already play the game, and it's not a needed community-building method given that the community already thrives around our existing methods.  More to the point, we right now are a unified community, all talking about the same thing.  And, together, we make that thing better.  If everyone could just make their own splinter mods, we wouldn't have the same kind of interaction.

As far as total conversions go, that's great, but as I said I'm not particularly designing a platform for other people's games right now.  When I'm done with AI War, someday in the future, I'll probably just open-source it so that some part of it lives on and others can tinker with it and do their own thing as much as they want.  Hopefully that is 10 or more years away from happening, at the earliest.