Little news has been posted in the past 6 weeks or so and there haven't been any updates in awhile. Is Sins still being updated and receiving the attention that this great game deserves?
I thought there were going to be two more mini-addons. Are those still planned? What's up? Things have gotten very quiet. I'd hate to see this great game die.
Ironclad is working on the second mini-expansion. It's a big overhaul to the diplomacy aspect of Sins.
Stardock & Ironclad won't stop updating this game, you kidding. This game is among the best known strategy games there is. no one else has made an epic game set in space like this one.
They've finished version 1.17 and entrenchment 1.03 and are now testing them.
https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/349460/page/2/#replies
#37
Yeah, I have to point out that IronClad is starting to fail at the incredible level of community involvement that made Sins such a polished initial release. Sorry, Brad, but the *crickets* are reflecting badly on the title. It's one thing to cater to the long-time fans, but you have to put a different face on to attract new players that will eventually drive the game forward, and that requires lots of visibility that doesn't seem to be occurring.
I can't speak for everyone but when I am considering buying a critically acclaimed game that's already been out for a while, one of the things I do is check out its website. When I look at the Sins site, the most recent bit of not-really-news is already almost two weeks old, and it's been a full two months since the second-oldest update which is even less newsworthy.
IronClad really, really should be updating the website more frequently, even if it's just to help us understand what they're doing and what's coming up. If there isn't something concrete that can be posted about upcoming work, some suggestions for site updates include interviews with key designers and artists, a virtual tour of the IronClad office, the kinds of talent you're looking for hiring, small contests for things like fan fiction or fan art that win signed boxes and the chance to have the asset appear in the next title, lessons learned / post-mortems, and so on.
i have to agree, Stardock and Ironclad are VERY quiet, although they are only small companies.
another forum i was heavily invovled in at the time was the Bungie forums when halo 2 and then 3 came out.
Bungie released multiple items of news a week, as well as a standard weekly update. on that aspect, they were very good, and i had lots to dream about at night (omg thats gonna be so cool etc)
however, (and sorry to any fanatical Halo fanboys out there) i really think Bungie screwed around too much, concentrated on Podcasts that were entirely superfluous, concentrated on all sorts of crap... like designing a whole level in Halo 2 just for E3 that ended up getting axed anyway... and because they stuffed around instead of working, they released inferior games that could have been even more amazing than they are. Also, they had support from Microsoft, so to be honest, i really dont need a programmer coming out to promote Halo when any jock off the street could have done the same thing and kept the programmers etc for actual programming etc
SO, in the end, yeah, i would like some more news, even just a weekly bulletin to say, nothing new, still playing with this, or, sorry, Sins development on hold until Demigod is fixed etc etc. HOWEVER, if it is going to impact on deadlines and attention to detail, then axe it.
I'd like to read some update as well. I do not know what has happened since their announcement to release 1.03/1.17.
On a related note:
As a modder I find it slightly irritating that I can't use their tools because they are simply outdated. Everything has gone back to 3rd party files and trial&error methods. It's not really bad for me because I'm rather pragmatic and minimalistic in my approaches but for people doing being huge mod projects this is a hinderance as often sometimes a solid solution of yesterday can be a lose end tomorrow.
yeah...don't go comparing ironclad to bungie though. halo 2 and 3 should have been $10/each expansions to halo 1..i mean, they added what? like 5 weapons, dual wielding, and equipment, and 3 vehicles trhoughout the course of 2 and 3?
yeah, didnt mean to compare on a 1 for 1 basis... but insofar as community communication, Bungie trumps IC/SD hands down...
in terms of making good games, and useful patches/updates etc, and NOT screwing around being idiots instead of working... well, i think we know who wins that one
I third Retroboy's sentiment that it would be good if the developers weren't so aloof. It would also be nice if they could pay some more attention to improving various aspects of the online multiplayer game, such as allowing Galaxy Forge-made maps to auto-download and setting up a built-in in-game voice comm system. Also, we could use a formal tutorial to encourage the horde of single players to consider playing the game in online multiplayer. The benefit of having a larger, more active, and stronger online multiplayer community is that those people are often the most ardent promoters of a game, inviting their friends from other games and in real life to buy the game.
Most of the updates were from SD, and they've been busy working on Demigod recently, so I suspect they've left IC do get on with the nitty-gritty of the second expansion ATM.
If that's truly the case, Ironclad should have stepped up and replaced them at sinsofasolarempire.com. And Stardock should have let them know about the vacancy.
Give stardock a break. They have been working all hours of the day and night on fixing demigods multiplayer connection problems. Brad posted a vid of them working at 4 in the morning on it jeez.
Keeping the community updated is the best way to keep the game alive.
Developers should inform their players of what they're messing with or trying out. Let us know you're alive. Feed our imagination, anticipation a little.
I would rather be informed every 2-5 days on what the devs are doing about one of my favorite games than have the next patch out 2-5 days earlier.
Seriously, if you're spending 6, 8, 12 hours a day on coding, jump on the forums once a week and throw a message like:
Hi, just to let you know, we're currently trying out new codes for improving network game stability. We're also looking into cap ship's ability balance, trying to smack it up a bit so that EGG is no longer the only sensible option for a Vasari starting cap.That and a bunch of other stuff, more on that later.PS. Wait till you see our new neat Diplomacy tools, they're gonna blow your heads
Such a message takes 5 minutes to compose and it would really defibrillate the community.What's so tough about that?
agreed
We are both very busy working on new material. As pointed out above and in other threads, Sins 1.17 and Entrenchment 1.03 are complete (and yes, we mentionned multiple times what was going on).
Stardock has been understandably busy with Demigod so they weren't released right away but should be very soon. Given the sheer number of patches we've issued over the last year and the fact that we are still putting out patches well over a year past the initial release I would expect a bit of understanding.
Remember, we could always do what many game companies do: release the game and then *maybe* patch it once and never hear from us again until we had a new half-assed product to shove on you.
In summary: the new patches should be out soon and we have more material in the pipeline.
...ala Tribes: Vengeance. It should be noted that the need for a patch is not very dire as far as I know. I think the game is mostly in good shape right now. (What we would love to have are some additional features for online multiplayer, but that's not the same as needing a patch to fix minidumps and desync problems.)
It's good to hear from you, Blair. Maybe it would be easier to keep in touch if you could just try to make a point of taking a couple minutes once a week, perhaps on Monday, to post an update to the community. I'm sure it would be appreciated.
Thats such an ignorant statement I don't know where to start
/Threadsolved.
Exactly what we wanted to hear! Thanks for the update.
Well said!
And I will semi-agree with the author of this thread....was hoping to see a new thing on the homepage (soon)...Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy Announced! (or whatever name you give it). Anyway, keep it up.
-Phal
Will they be bundling the developer.exe with the 1.17 patch?
The developer exe's for 1.03 and 1.17 have also been submitted. They will be appearing on the downloads page as per usual.
Hooray!
We never did get the 1.16/1.02 ones; I'm more than happy to skip a version though.
I dont think people mind that you guys are busy just that it seemed like a ghost town (ghost site? ). Now that I started working with scripting and whatnot (XML and SQL primarily) I certainly understand you guys are working your butts off.
The thing people were concerned about was that no news or anything at all was happening. We would all be content just with a news post that just said "busy working on other issues. hang tight". Everybody here understands the issues we just want to be kept in the loop so we know whats going on and what to expect.
P.S at least for me personally i think you guys are doing a fantastic job.
thanks, i was thinking the exact same thing, but figured the flameing backlash wouldnt be worth it. i just wanted to say here and now that you have at least one supporter
complete as in ready? so where are they?
this was said a very long time ago in a thread by mooster... still waiting for that soon.
a smiley face doesnt cover up a rude, overly defensive and smart arse comment
i am genuinely happy about this... but like everyone else has said, 5 mins to say somewhere whats going on (and not needing to resort to smart arse comments) is not going to kill anyone
Exactly, alot of SD/IC's personnel dont have those Staff badges under their avatars... if this was a thread about something off topic, and the other people here werent kissing your ass, i wouldnt know you (Blair) from any body else on the interwebs, and i dont think searching every topic on the forums is any ones idea of being 'informed'
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