Biggest Game Maker Blunders...

[SirWinner]

I've seen a lot of gaming software over the years. Most of it was done very very well.

This list is ONLY my opinion.

Some of the dumbest blunders that I've seen are as follows:

--> Great Game but very poor marketing.

Descent 3 was rated just a little above a game called Unreal Tournament in most of the gaming magazines back in 1999.

The graphics and game play in both games are excellent in all aspects of game play.

Yes we know that these games were in 2 different gaming genres.


--> Ignoring whole sections of gamers.

Halo 2 for example.

I have nothing against the Xbox. Just think it is odd that Halo 1 was done for both the PC and Xbox but pc users have to wait a long time for the Halo 2 and any other sequels.

Not impressed by this marketing ploy by Microsoft / Bungie.


--> Flight Simulations with NO Joystick Support.

Seems odd to me that this would get left out of games. Freelancer is an excellent game but the NO joystick support just doesn't cut it for me. (Microsoft marketed game.)

One shouldn't be forced to look for things like JoyMouse or anything else like that to fix that problem.

Have no problem letting people play Space Sims with a mouse, but at least offer a choice.

At 49 years old, my reflexes are pretty good but not as good as they were at age 21.


--> No Demos for new versions of games.

What are the game makers thinking? Why ignore gamers that evaluate games to see if it is one that they would play and recommend to their friends?

Have purchased many games that would have otherwise been ignored because playing the demo helped \"sell\" the game.


--> Requiring Credit Cards to play in a 2 week demo of a game.

Hello... Not everyone has a credit card to use to be able to play the demo.

Why not let the demo be open say for a 4 to 8 week timeframe on a demo server with 2 week demo per registration?


--> Well hyped games that just don't live up to the expectations.

There are way too many games that fit in this category.

Diakatana to name just one.


--> Rushed out games that just aren't quite ready to play because of \"Preset Deadlines\" that were quite unrealistic.

Great executable code isn't RUSHED code. You have to do a lot of testing and recoding to get the code \"just right\". (I speak from my computer programming experience of over 28 years.)

Great graphics are nice but when you mix in horrible net code for internet play... you get a game that is unplayable or nearly unplayable online.

Mech Warrior 4 at first had horrible net code... When anyone entered or left the game, it went into slideshow mode for me.

Nothing like not being able to move for 4 or 5 seconds... By then your Mech was usually dead.

This was NOT due to a bad internet connection or an out of date pc on my end... it was the poor net code.

Apogee / 3dRealms (www.apogee1.com) at least does a very good job of writing and testing games before releasing them.

Epic Games, Formerly \"Epic Mega Games\", (http://www.epicgames.com/) does an excellent job as well.

Same goes for most other game manufacturers.

--- This list could go one for a lot more. Just thought I'd bring up my short list.

[ccb056]

copy protection

[Dakatsu]

--> Great Game but very poor marketing.

Descent 3 was rated just a little above a game called Unreal Tournament in most of the gaming magazines back in 1999.

The graphics and game play in both games are excellent in all aspects of game play.

Yes we know that these games were in 2 different gaming genres.


--> Ignoring whole sections of gamers.

Halo 2 for example.

I have nothing against the Xbox. Just think it is odd that Halo 1 was done for both the PC and Xbox but pc users have to wait a long time for the Halo 2 and any other sequels.

Not impressed by this marketing ploy by Microsoft / Bungie.

OMG, exactly what I think!

[Sirius]

I've heard some amazing things about the BF2 UI as well. BF1942 menu system was apparently quite good ... and in the sequel, it was completely and totally broken.

I'm not quite sure why they didn't just port the old menu system since it was apparently better.

MW4's netcode isn't as shocking any more, but I still don't like the codebase. The server browser lags like hell refreshing from IPs for no good reason (I suspect they were just too lazy to spin off a separate thread for polling servers like any sane person would have done).

[Xamindar]

Steam!

honestly, if I knew Half Life 2 would require me to be connected to the internet in order to play the SINGLEPLAYER game I would have never bought it. I'm staying away from Valve in the future.

[BUBBALOU]

I have no issue with steam, actually it works quite well. Now Starforce on the Otherhand...

[Diedel]

I like Steam. Almost everybody has inet access nowadays, so usually that's not an issue. Many games are cheaper if bought over Steam. You get your updates automatically installed (unless you select otherwise in your options). You can pre-purchase and pre-load games and play them right at the day they're published. No need to go to some shop and buy a CD. It has a backup system, too. Great system. I *love* it. It's a great way for game developers to get independent of publishers, too (admittedly, if they have the money to finance their development effort in the first place, that is).

You're getting so upset just because of the thought someone ties you to the internet? Why not get mad at the ppl forcing you to play computer games on a computer?

[CDN_Merlin]

You can play HL2 without the net. You just need a net connection to d/l the files and activate it.

[Xamindar]

You're getting so upset just because of the thought someone ties you to the internet?

Well, getting upset has passed, I'm just voting with my money now. Other than steam, Half Life 2 is a great game! If you can tell me how to have steam load in "small" mode so I don't have to see those dang ads every time I go into Windows then I would dislike steam a little less.

You can play HL2 without the net. You just need a net connection to d/l the files and activate it.

hmm, I'll have to try that. Product activations are also terrible. I should not have to check in to the company that made the product after I have legally purchased the product. Microsoft started this and as much as I can manage, I will never buy a microsoft product (except the sidewinder 3d pro ). So far, I'm quite proud of myself.

What would you say if you had to take your new car to the factory and show it to the company, "look, here is my new car, I really do have it. Can I use it now?"

[fliptw]

if people didn't steal software, we wouldn't need activiation.

[Xamindar]

if people didn't steal software, we wouldn't need activiation.

People steal cars too, not an excuse.

[fliptw]

if people didn't steal software, we wouldn't need activiation.

People steal cars too, not an excuse.

Because people steal cars:

• insurance rate have gone up
• cars have security systems
• an entire industry as grown around battling car theft
• there are now cars that phone home

try again.

[Xamindar]

Because people steal cars:

• insurance rate have gone up
• cars have security systems
• an entire industry as grown around battling car theft
• there are now cars that phone home

That are all controlled by the OWNER!

[Topher]

--> Ignoring whole sections of gamers.

Halo 2 for example.

I have nothing against the Xbox. Just think it is odd that Halo 1 was done for both the PC and Xbox but pc users have to wait a long time for the Halo 2 and any other sequels.

Not impressed by this marketing ploy by Microsoft / Bungie.

Dude, this is by no means an easy feat. There's no magic wand to go from XBox to PC, it takes time and skill to port a game.

[Jeff250]

Yeah, it takes years, and an operating system upgrade.

[Xamindar]

How about Duke Nukem Forever? Now that is a pretty big blunder.

[Admiral Thrawn]

On D3 being a great game with poor marketing, I would have to agree. But I wanted to disagree with you on some of the other points.

Everyone seems to whine and complain about the Halo, but business is business. At least Microsoft released the first one on PC after a while. I'm surprised that they are even doing so for Halo 2. From a business standpoint, the pc gaming market has drastically dwindled from what it used to be. Not to mention the development time involved for programming for so many different hardware configurations.

Their marketing may not impress you, but it's impressed over a million others. And that's where it counts.

Seems odd to me that this would get left out of games. Freelancer is an excellent game but the NO joystick support just doesn't cut it for me. (Microsoft marketed game.)

I remember the developers actually mentioning that they wanted to intentially take out the joystick control because of the skill of gamers. They wanted an environment where everyone was on equal ground and someone's success wasn't partly dictated by having a nice joystick setup vs others who only had a keyboard. They wanted more of a role playing game, and not an action shooter and therefore had to change the gameplay and controls to accomodate that. I did notice that you had to throw the Microsoft in there as well. Could you be biased against them like the typical slashdot geek crowd? naaaaa

--> No Demos for new versions of games.

Demo Release = Time and Money. Not to mention demos often don't represent the game to it's fullest potential, which can turn off gamers. However, I'm seeing plenty of demo's on xbox live. Hmmmm

Diakatana to name just one

Strongly agree

Mech Warrior 4 at first had horrible net code... When anyone entered or left the game, it went into slideshow mode for me.

Nothing like not being able to move for 4 or 5 seconds... By then your Mech was usually dead.

This was NOT due to a bad internet connection or an out of date pc on my end... it was the poor net code.

Apogee / 3dRealms (www.apogee1.com) at least does a very good job of writing and testing games before releasing them

Yea, I was a Mechwarrior Junkie. I didn't have the netcode issue, but it's a PRIME example of the types of issues when you have so many hardware configurations and an online server system (which many game publishers skimp on when it comes to budget since they sometimes view it as overhead). Whereas gaming on xbox live where the online server system has been well thought of, planned, and supported, I've had a LOT less problems with connectivity to servers.

And to believe, I used to be a skeptic of the Xbox and Microsoft. But now that I've seen more things, read developer blogs, and looked at the crap that I've seen that goes on in the background, I'm definitely a changed man when it comes to my thinking.

[Tetrad]

If you can tell me how to have steam load in "small" mode so I don't have to see those dang ads every time I go into Windows then I would dislike steam a little less.

There are like 6 options that steam has, not too hard to find.

Go to File -> Settings. On the "messages" tab you can un-click both of those boxes if you want to to just not see the popups with game updates and whatnot. If you go to "interface" you can turn off starting with windows.

Also you can play single player games without internet access, you just need to be online once when you verify everything then when you start again it'll ask if you want to play in offline mode.

[catch22]

I remember the developers actually mentioning that they wanted to intentially take out the joystick control because of the skill of gamers. They wanted an environment where everyone was on equal ground and someone's success wasn't partly dictated by having a nice joystick setup vs others who only had a keyboard. They wanted more of a role playing game, and not an action shooter and therefore had to change the gameplay and controls to accomodate that.

That sounds like a statement made on the multiplayer end of things. One's skill has absolutely no bering on anothers when dealing in the single-player realm. Games are supposed to be enjoyable. If one person finds it more enjoyable to use a joystick, thats his prerogative. Besides, in computer gaming, 90% of the time you choose the keys that control some action. It's always a custom set-up, as it should. Desktop PC's were not developed strictly as gaming devices. There needs to be some flexability in how you choose to control the game to accomidate this. Point being, almost every control config on a computer game is going to be different to some degree or another. If one somehow has an advantage over the other, you certainly have the choice to move over to that config. Not like you can really patent a control setup.

[Admiral Thrawn]

That sounds like a statement made on the multiplayer end of things

That would be correct. The original plans for freelancer was a vast multiplayer game. Due to the time in development and other changes, those plans were changed.

I never did keep up with Freelancer due to the game not being built to it's original expectations, but I don't fault them for the joystick decision. They took a chance at innovation. I've learned that a lot of times, innovation leads to great improvements, but we can be sometimes reluctant to try new things. And then you have the failures hehe. They were just merely trying to cater to a new market of gamers that weren't \"flyboys\" like the rest of us. Unfortunately for us, that target market was larger than the market of loyal fans of the wing commander series.

On a side note though, I would LOVE to see another wing Commander/Freespace type game. I loved those.

[Kyouryuu]

I think Thrawn basically said what I would have. I, for one, applauded Freelancer's attempt at a WASD+mouse arrangement for a space combat game. You have to look at it from the angle of an average gamer. Games like HL2, Quake, UT, and Doom do well in part because they share a common control scheme. There's virtually no learning curve. It's as common as the dual analog configuration most console platform games share. If there's one thing Descent and FreeSpace have in common, other than the last incarnation being a commercial failure, it's complexity. I see this as no coincidence.

As for Steam, I have a love/hate relationship with it. When it works right, it's one of the most brilliant programs. When it doesn't, it's more than a little annoying.

Right now, I'm a bit miffed that Steam always seems to open to the \"Media\" page and I can't make it automatically open in mini games list mode.

[SirWinner]

Yes, a demo may take a little time to do... but it shouldn't take a LOT of time since the basic code and levels are usually done when the game is released.

In the past, Apogee / 3dRealms released demos sometimes even before the full game was done.

Have done demos for many programs that I've done over the years... It's not rocket science... As in it just isn't all that hard to do using the same base source code then having the code determine whether it is a demo or a full version.

---

As to doing multiple platforms on games, there are tons of examples of this being done... Many of the latest LucasArts games are written for multiple platforms and released at the same time.

Yes, there is a lot of testing required on all those platforms.

---

I tried Freelancer... It is a great game except for the NO Joystick Support. Seemed odd to me that they would snub Space Simulation Gamers by not even having joystick support at all.

It would be like taking away mouse support for games and making new games with keyboard ONLY controls in gaming genres where mouse support is the norm.

***

Yes, I was very disappointed in Halo 2 being ONLY a Xbox game. Halo 2 was hyped a lot then it seemed like Microsoft pulled the rug out from under the gaming community when it only came out on Xbox.

Does Microsoft / Bungie have the right to do it? Sure.

Do I have to like it? No.

Because of this and other games that were released by Microsoft, I require demos of their games before considering buying any of them.

Yes they have some excellent games and will continue to do so.

[Xamindar]

There are like 6 options that steam has, not too hard to find.

Go to File -> Settings. On the "messages" tab you can un-click both of those boxes if you want to to just not see the popups with game updates and whatnot. If you go to "interface" you can turn off starting with windows.

I don't think you understood what I was saying.

Right now, I'm a bit miffed that Steam always seems to open to the "Media" page and I can't make it automatically open in mini games list mode.

That is exactly my problem and it drives me insane!

[Aus-RED-5]

Right now, I'm a bit miffed that Steam always seems to open to the "Media" page and I can't make it automatically open in mini games list mode.

I too had this prob untill I d/l this steam skin and it fixed that problem.
Don't know why it did, but it did.
When I double click or select "games" from the steam icon it takes me right to the mini games list.

[TIGERassault]

Yes, a demo may take a little time to do... but it shouldn't take a LOT of time since the basic code and levels are usually done when the game is released.

In the past, Apogee / 3dRealms released demos sometimes even before the full game was done.

Have done demos for many programs that I've done over the years... It's not rocket science... As in it just isn't all that hard to do using the same base source code then having the code determine whether it is a demo or a full version.

Depends on the type of demo.
For example, Some demos are simply the full game but with many things removed, and a few splash screens added.
For others, it may require a new level and a short story to explain the backround to the game. An example of this is the Darwinia demo.

[Behemoth]

i think im moving to sf3 3rd strike