Game Development Community

General release date

by Matt Aufderheide · in Torque Game Engine · 05/16/2001 (4:23 pm) · 1 replies

I know we are getting weekly updates, but a very general release date would be much better..is it this month, next month..sometime in the next 3 months? Please give us some idea..this "when its done" mentality leads to endless delays.
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Adrian Wong
#1
05/21/2001 (6:01 am)
Last year, I used to follow the development of Battlezone II by Pandemic Studios. One of the well-known traditions was for the developers (which frequented the discussion forums for the game) to say the game would be ready "when it's done".

They made the mistake of declaring a vague release date early in development. Tthey said the game would be finished by Summer but was not completed until a few days after Christmas. Many complained to Pandemic Studios that they were not holding to their schedule. The regulars on the discussion forum know that a game production schedule is hard to pin down. One of the developers even said something to the effect of, "I can't mark on my calendar: May 21 - Vehicles will be fun to drive."

GarageGames is probably doing their best to get the code ready. Unexpected things may occur in development, and you just have to learn to deal with it. Demanding a release date is not reasonable and opens them up to irate people that complain if they missed their release date.

I think these updates are helpful. The alpha code was sent out, so the release is near. They'll probably post a date in the near future, once the end is in sight.