PTW hits beta

Nostromo · August 22, 2002, 14:37

According to Avault, PTW hit beta this week. Go here for the details

alva · August 22, 2002, 16:47

That leaves about 2 months of beta- testing, wich to me seems right.

So october it is

WarpStorm · August 22, 2002, 18:16

Shweeet!

August Borms · August 22, 2002, 19:33

That's good news

Oerdin · August 22, 2002, 20:01

Hmmm, if it has an on sale date at the end of Oct. then it must begin shipping to retailers about two to three weeks prior to the that. This means the whole beta period will only last four to (at most) six weeks. Don't you folks remember how it took them three months to make a patch?

The beta period should last atleast as long as it would have taken to create one patch. We'll be lucky if they put even half that amount of time into this plus I imagine there won't be that many people actually playing the beta.

I suspect this release will be just as buggy as the one last year.

WarpStorm · August 22, 2002, 20:05

But the beta testers have probably been testing "something that isn't the beta"

since the last patch came out.

Darkworld Ark · August 22, 2002, 21:30

When'd they recruit?

WarpStorm · August 22, 2002, 21:41

In the Spring, IIRC.

Nubclear · August 22, 2002, 21:53

*Sigh* Doesnt look like they'll get our wishlist features on....

But hopefully we'll be surprised

Propaganda · August 22, 2002, 22:31

Seems to me that PTW will be an aesthetic upgrade, with MP thrown in.

Nothing, FOR ME, to get excited here.

Coracle · August 23, 2002, 02:17

If it's beta, shouldn't Firaxis be releasing it like they did with Civ 3??

Coracle · August 23, 2002, 02:19

Quote:

Originally posted by Propaganda
Seems to me that PTW will be an aesthetic upgrade, with MP thrown in.

Nothing, FOR ME, to get excited here.

Yep. We've posted our wish lists, and got ignored.

Looks like it is just new makeup on the same old sow, as I have warned about for many weeks.

notyoueither · August 23, 2002, 03:29

Yeah Coracle, everything ever said on this board has been ignored. You're right, I'm disgusted.

Robert Plomp · August 23, 2002, 03:59

Coracle: can you finally shut up, your point has been made.

Besides that: what if one of the beta testers 'leaks' the game to the internet?

WarpStorm · August 23, 2002, 05:46

Coracle, I imagine that the reason Firaxis doesn't listen to your (sometimes quite valid) suggestions is that you've gotten them al to put you on their ignore list.

Cybershy, I'm sure if someone leaked the beta to the internet. That someone would be removed from the beta testers list real quick. Being a programmer in RL, when we send beta products out, we tag each one so that if it does get leaked we know who did it and who to sue. I imagine Firaxis does the same.

Plus, who knows, maybe they will surprise us.

Jon Shafer · August 23, 2002, 07:21

Unfortunately, Coracle has a point this time beyond the whining (I guess he does every time, but he points it out so many times it bugs people

). They had an opportunity to put some real effort in the finer points of the game, but in only the month/2 months since 1.29f they couldn't possibly have gotten anything done on i.e. the editor, different types of trade, etc. etc. etc. Most of the PtW features (MP, new terrain, new civs, 'outposts', 'airfields', etc.) were already being worked on long before 1.29f, and that's about all we'll get... I really wish they would have waited this time...

Q Classic · August 23, 2002, 07:34

i still refuse to believe it's entirely firaxis' fault. why? because infogrames had just as much, if not more, to do with the civ3 release fiasco. not only that, infogrames is releasing two moneymakers in the next two months-- when PTW is destine to come out.

for those of you who didn't know, the two games are U2: The Awakening, and UT2K3. no doubt infogrames believes that those two will be the cash cows; i honestly don't think infogrames really wants to put out a "full" expansion pack (full defined as what the fans want)-- i think they just want to get the obligatory expansion pack out of the way.

Deathwalker · August 23, 2002, 07:59

Yes I believe that it is more to do with Infogames. Also given what they did with the patches, ther'll probably do the same with PTW patches. So our wish list might still go in

Stuie · August 23, 2002, 08:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Oerdin
Hmmm, if it has an on sale date at the end of Oct. then it must begin shipping to retailers about two to three weeks prior to the that....

That is incorrect. It only takes a week from going to manufacture to hitting store shelves. As an example, Medieval: Total War (which I am currently enjoying) went to manufacture on August 15th, and I picked up my copy at EB on the 21st. So if they want PTW on the shelves by October 30, they have until close to the 23rd to finalize the code and pass QA.

TheStinger · August 23, 2002, 09:25

Has anyone got an idea how much PTW will cost?

WarpStorm · August 23, 2002, 09:51

$30

Hagbart · August 23, 2002, 10:06

Quote:

Originally posted by Oerdin
Hmmm, if it has an on sale date at the end of Oct. then it must begin shipping to retailers about two to three weeks prior to the that. This means the whole beta period will only last four to (at most) six weeks. Don't you folks remember how it took them three months to make a patch?

The beta period should last atleast as long as it would have taken to create one patch. We'll be lucky if they put even half that amount of time into this plus I imagine there won't be that many people actually playing the beta.

I suspect this release will be just as buggy as the one last year.

I think this is enough time, they are now working full time to fix the bugs. You shouldn't complain now even before it's out!

Hagbart · August 23, 2002, 10:09

Quote:

Originally posted by TheStinger
Has anyone got an idea how much PTW will cost?

Amazon.com says 30$.

Panag · August 25, 2002, 10:59

hi ,

"enhanced editor support" , ...at last

lets hope we dont have to wait a full year before the last patch , ...

have a nice day

Darkworld Ark · August 25, 2002, 12:10

Quote:

Originally posted by Q Cubed
U2: The Awakening

The band U2 has a game?

Jon Shafer · August 25, 2002, 13:01

U2 as in Unreal 2.

UT2k3 as in Unreal Tournament 2003.

Panag · August 25, 2002, 14:28

hi ,

why on earth would they not let people from other countries test it also , ....

this is the best way to find the drawbacks and errors

at this moment there is still need of a patch , BEFORE PTW , .....

lets also hope that patches of PTW (if any are needed) come out in a faster way

there should also be more help and answers from Firaxis , ...

since a while its like we dont get any answers anymore , ...

what is also needed with PTW is a manual that includes all the topics , and gives more answers instead of more questions

lets hope the editor gives us room for options like " in the year Y , A and B go to war "

have a nice day

Caliban · August 25, 2002, 14:34

Quote:

Originally posted by panag
lets hope the editor gives us room for options like " in the year Y , A and B go to war "

Scripted events? Great idea! But I don't know if it is possible to do this in CivIII... well, it was in CivII...

Panag · August 25, 2002, 14:38

Quote:

Originally posted by Caliban

Scripted events? Great idea! But I don't know if it is possible to do this in CivIII... well, it was in CivII...

hi ,

yeah why not , it sounds only logical to include them , ...

and they should not be like in civ 2 , it should be improved , something new , more advanced

have a nice day

WarpStorm · August 25, 2002, 16:11

Quote:

Originally posted by panag
why on earth would they not let people from other countries test it also , ....
.
.
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lets hope the editor gives us room for options like " in the year Y , A and B go to war "

What Firaxis said on this board earlier when recruiting for beta testers was the legal aspects were too hard to deal with. By restricting themselves to US testers they can sue someone who leaks the beta version in a friendly court.

Does this mean that there are some issues that won't be found? Of course, so does limiting the test pool to 50-ish testers. However, this is ~50 more beta testers than they had for Civ3 when it came out. We can only hope that it works out.

As far as errors go, working in software for a living, the developers are often aware of what bugs are still in the code when they ship. Is this evil? No, it's reality. There is only so much time and money for fixing bugs. That Firaxis updates their products a year (or 5 in the case of Gettysburg) after they are released is a sign that they care about them. It is not normal for all companies to do this when all it does is cost them money.

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Firaxis has said repeatedly, no scripting. I'd be real shocked to see that in PTW out of the box.