Vacations are always over too fast.

Ever wondered why games don’t tend to be released in the Spring or Summer? Besides the Winter being better for retail, the other thing, at least in software that I’m beginning to see is that it’s harder to get updates out quickly because that’s when people tend to go on vacation.  So it’s definitely been a slog getting updates out the door these past few weeks.

It’s just as well because as games evolve, the needs of the game community change.  Here are some of the things that have risen high on the list of things to add into Demigod in future updates:

1. I’d like to see a randomize teams in custom games. That is, players press a button and when the game starts, the teams are mixed up.  There is definitely a growing issue about “pre-mades” vs. “random”.  We will have to talk to Gas Powered Games to see what can be done without blowing up the budget but I think this is an issue that is needed.

2. I also think that clans/groups are probably going to need to be moved up ahead of mod support. Currently v1.2 is looking at modding as a major focus. But I’m curious to hear what you guys think about this because I think modding, as important as it is, may not be as important as making it easier for groups to play together.  The pre-made issue wouldn’t be so obnoxious if it were pre-mades vs. pre-mades.  Again, the trick here is to do this without blowing up the budget.

3. More demigods. This is a topic that comes up on every call with Gas Powered Games. Right now, they’re focusing on finishing up the demo but getting some sort of pipeline of new demigods is something we think is critical. 

4. The freaking stats.  While this would probably be #1 on my personal list, I’m painfully aware that I’m in the minority on this.  Nevertheless, abusing my position here a bit I assigned part of our software group to get in there and nail down the stupid stats.  I’ve come to understand that the situation is a lot harder than it would seem (at least intuitively).  But not to be a bastard, I don’t really care if it’s “complicated”. If I win, it better bloody show up on my record. 90% of people probably don’t care but I personally think the 10% who do care are crucial to the game’s long term on-line viability. 

Now, this is by no means a complete list. Replays, Rematches, and lots of other things are on the list for a v1.2 which we are negotiating with GPG.   But these are the kinds of things that I think are pretty crucial in my opinion.