Friday the 14th Development Update

[FS~Phat]

Guys please try behave...
I know the news isnt all good, but please have a little respect.
Some of you were banging on about how Luthier should front up.... and he has with complete humility admitted that Clod was not what anyone wanted, least of all the team that developed it.

They would have clearly loved to do more for this theatre of ops but commercial realities unfortunately exist.

It certainly not ideal that we have been paying alpha/beta customers, but I personally think its a small price to pay to keep the series alive. I know they are counting on the goodwill of the community too, which is in itself not a great thing, but we are where we are, and at least we have the chance to hopefully experience the full beauty of this series in the sequel and following sequels.

Certainly this particular theatre and release was a loss for the business, so we are very lucky that they even considered fixing any of it. That is fact.

If they didn't have the financial support of the parent 1C and Luthier's determination, this would have been shut up shop long ago and there wouldnt even be a sequel. We all know that.

So while we dont have the final product we were all promised and hoping for in Clod, at least we have a future to look forward to. Because the other option is to drop it all together, and many businesses would have done exactly that if it wasnt for the commitment and passion for the series.

It's also been made pretty clear that the sequel will be some sort of merge install where the sequel will follow in the footsteps of the old IL2 series where you get the benefits of the sequel flowing down into the previous theatres of operation.

The MMO??? Who knows what it was or even if it will be. My guess is it was a spin off idea and we may or may not see it, but we will certainly see a sequel and thats all im interested in. Because I will get the features and gameplay we all want, and so what if it costs me another $50... I spent $100 on plenty of PS3 and XBOX console games that only last 2-3 weeks of gameplay, IL2 is a series that most of us play for 5 to 10 years... so its cheap gaming in my books even at $200..

[GraveyardJimmy]

Originally Posted by zander

why?
Do you get any discount on Cod, Arma, MW?
No.

I mean seriously, our equipment needed for this hobby is in the 4digit range - an you complain about 5quid?

As way of an apology to the fans that were let down and the fact that to be perfectly honest CloD support is being dropped before the product is finalised. Obviously it depends on the final patch but if they leave CloD with many broken features (such as AI and sound amongst other bugs, like revered mixture) then say that unless you buy the sequel these wont be fixed then the people who bought CloD from day one deserve easier access to updates that will fix the game.

This from someone who has been very supportive of CloD throughout. Another option would be to continue with sequel and retro fit patches to CloD but leave additional features out- that way those who pay for the finished product get it whilst those who pay for new features get those on top. As I said, this is all dependant on the quality of the last patch.

CoD comes out from and AAA developer and gets is bugs fixed. ARMA 2 has beta patch support daily and is being supported over 3 years later with these patches. Also, ARMA 2 base game gets patches despite the appearance of AMRA2:OA. That is what I think should happen with CloD as I stated above.

[MadTommy]

+1 FS~Phat's sentiment.

I just want good flight simulations. CloD fell short so far.. but at least there is still some hope.

[150GCT_Veltro]

Originally Posted by luthier

I’m sure most of you will agree that we have already supported our release more than perhaps any other developer in a similar situation.

You should have to stop the work on it since the day one, instead of waste so many months with CoD. So, personally i agree with you 100% but we have wasted too much time however (again!), waiting for an improvement that has never been released....in 18 months!

[GraveyardJimmy]

Originally Posted by 150GCT_Veltro

You should have to stop the work on it since the day one, instead of waste so many months with CoD. So, personally i agree with you 100% but we have wasted too much time however (again!), waiting for an improvement that has never been released....in 18 months!

That wouldnt have been useful seeing as the engine is shared between the two games! All work on CloD engine will fit into BoM and (hopefully) vice-versa.

[superman]

I think the developers should offer a money back policy on the condition that the recipient has his steam account blocked so he can never buy any Storm of war related title ever again.

How many would dare to take that offer?

But it would definitely shut people up

[lokitexas]

Why should a business succeed when they fail at making a product? If a diner served horrible food, but the owner kept promising it will get better soon, and it doesnt, how long will it stay in business?

Sorry, no love loss here. When I want to donate, it goes to a charity, not to a team that cannot make (or fix) a product released over a year ago.

Everyone has opinions, and if you feel the need to support them, its your choice. I dont agree with it, but I also know I dont control anyone eles way of thinking.

I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the state of mind of people thinking they the devs are doing a good thing. How is a crappy product that never reached its potential, features left out, buggy, with plans to end support for it, and then annouce a sequal be good? First product was crap, how about a second? Boggles the mind.

[addman]

Gonna add a few more thoughts before this thread gets locked. 1. Having "supported" the game for some time after release is not the same has having supported it WELL. Duration of support and substance of support are not the same. 2. A business model that worked as late as last year even, might not cut it anymore, when big developers like Epic are being "forced" to make free-to-play titles to be able to keep up with the competition then you -as a game developer- has to realize that times have changed. Game are literally everywhere and on every device theses days, asking prices for some really cool games are less than a dollar, it's hard to justify the €40+ price tag.

Let's all hope -and pray- that the sequel will be what the devs originally intended CloD to be because I'm sure they aren't happy with the way CloD ended up, oh wait! luthier just said so himself.

[150GCT_Veltro]

Originally Posted by GraveyardJimmy

That wouldnt have been useful seeing as the engine is shared between the two games! All work on CloD engine will fit into BoM and (hopefully) vice-versa.

An open beta, we know it...or better, an open beta first and an open alpha later.

We'll see but i really hope the engine will be much different from what we have seen in CoD, because this graphic is far to be the best one for the next sim generation.

[David Hayward]

Originally Posted by lokitexas

Why should a business succeed when they fail at making a product? If a diner served horrible food, but the owner kept promising it will get better soon, and it doesnt, how long will it stay in business?

Sorry, no love loss here. When I want to donate, it goes to a charity, not to a team that cannot make (or fix) a product released over a year ago.

Everyone has opinions, and if you feel the need to support them, its your choice. I dont agree with it, but I also know I dont control anyone eles way of thinking.

I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the state of mind of people thinking they the devs are doing a good thing. How is a crappy product that never reached its potential, features left out, buggy, with plans to end support for it, and then annouce a sequal be good? First product was crap, how about a second? Boggles the mind.

I look forward to seeing you flying over virtual Russia.