Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Furball on October 28, 2008, 03:40:34 PM
-
We had our convention this past weekend which gave us the chance to speak with players in person and talk about the future of AH. We’ve been thinking about how we were going to move forward and came to some conclusions that we decided to announce at the convention.
The main news is that we have decided to put Combat Tour on an indefinite hold. The reason for this is that we have decided that it is better to steer our development in a way that allows us to implement our CT developments first as part of the regular game.
The way we’ve been going has been like trying to fight a two front war with only one army. It’s stretched us too thin and has hurt our overall level of productivity. It also has handcuffed us in a lot of our development decisions by forcing us to indefinitely postpone a lot of other things.
Our biggest obstacle with CT is in breathing life into it to make it fun and immersive. While a basic structure is there, there’s a ton of detail work to be done to reach that end goal. Without it, it just has too much of a cardboard cutout feel that’s not going to engage players and hold their attention for long.
What this all means for now is that we are going to focus on core game development. We’re going to pull the CT AI mission system and redevelop it for use by CM’s in scenarios and special events. We’re working on new terrain upgrades in both the technology and the art used. We want to implement a character animation system. We want to bring back the old 8 player H2H but expand it both in the number of players and with additional gameplay capabilities. There’s a lot of systems in the game engine that are dated and in need of overhaul.
In hindsight, this is how we should have approached it from the start. This will keep us heading in the right direction while getting improvements out to our current players and speeding up our development. It’s really a chance to reboot our process to get back to our old development cycle that saw things moving at a faster pace.
Sounds good HTC <S> :aok
-
<S> Guys, good insight.
-
Yup, exactly what I wanted to hear.
:aok
-
hopefully 'pull the CT AI mission system' does not mean stop us being able to create offline missions on a regular players machine.
-
Yup, exactly what I wanted to hear.
:aok
P-63 ? :noid
-
Nice :salute
-
From the other thread:
I took the time to read it fully, it sounds like they're going to give AH a lot more love, and fold what they really wanted to out of CT and into AH... turn AH into a bigger and badder contender. It sounds awesome to me, can't wait to see some of these changes take shape and see what the development team has hidden away to surprise us all.
-
What i would love to see now is a development blog, even if certain items are kept secret for those nice surprises which are often included in patches. It can be quite frustrating being kept in the dark, also it can appear that HTC are neglecting their product. I would hope that it would make members of the community appreciate the work which goes into the game a bit more too.
-
:aok thanks for the post :salute
-
So we're getting the B-29 and teh NOOK?
Fixed :aok
-
Fixed :aok
You said the secret word...now you must pay.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/Masherbrum/nookie.gif)
-
Oh noes.
noOkiE!!!1!1! :mad: :mad:
I think the second one i did with the spin on the Nath/Birdo incident was better, and Birdo KS himself on Nath's tank, but i don't think that survived anywhere :(
-
Oh noes.
noOkiE!!!1!1! :mad: :mad:
Are you sorry you made that yet ? :D
-
I have been for about 3 years :lol
Every time a B-29 post comes up i cringe. I guess that pic is my AH legacy and will remain here long after i go!
-
I am really happy about this update, I would much rather have our current game improved to the max more than an entirely new game.
WTG HTC!!
I see HE-111s in the future........
-
Sounds like the smart route to take. It's far too much for a small team to try to develop two games, especially when one has a big active player base that requires more support.
-
Good to hear, and glad to see goals refocused in a better direction.
<<S>> HTC
-
:rock That rocks maaan!
.....
What the heck is a "character animation system"? :huh
We talking 2nd Life here?
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
-
What the heck is a "character animation system"? :huh
We talking 2nd Life here?
I think we are talking about the drunks/troops not sliding/gliding over the grass, and actually running.
-
HT and Pyro hinted that while they do NOT want to get to the level of a First Person Shooter, they do want to rework the entire ground combat system. They said the current system is built on the same foundation as the air combat system, which means that there are a host of compromises that end up limiting further development and immersion. (Can you say "bounce off the indestructable tree"?)
I understood the character animation system to be a part of making the ground aspects more realistic and immersive -- and Pyro called the current appearance "cardboard"
-
:rock That rocks maaan!
.....
What the heck is a "character animation system"? :huh
We talking 2nd Life here?
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
If it's in the terms I know it as, it means that when you walk you see your legs move/animate, it also could mean making it so when your pilot looks over his left shoulder, in 3rd person (or to another nearby player close enough to see/notice) you actualy see your pilot turning his head to look over his left shoulder.... or to sweeten this - as you close in to less than 100 meters behind your target, on their 6, you see the pilot turn his head around to check his six, at that moment of virtual eye contact you know that you have to pull the triger before he wigs out.... it could also mean vehicle animations too like a canopy opening and closeing... they might make bailing out of an aircraft more realistic too, show your pilot poping the canopy, unbuckleing, and then jumping out and away from the craft. It would be a huge step forward for many things and in many directions as a simulator.
-
Thank you HTC :)
What i would love to see now is a development blog, even if certain items are kept secret for those nice surprises which are often included in patches. It can be quite frustrating being kept in the dark, also it can appear that HTC are neglecting their product. I would hope that it would make members of the community appreciate the work which goes into the game a bit more too.
Nah... You know it, I knew it, anyone who's known HTC for a while knows they're working at it. :)
-
What i would love to see now is a development blog, even if certain items are kept secret for those nice surprises which are often included in patches.
I think this would be a great thing to have.
-
Like I said in the other thread, I think it's all win-win. :salute HTC. Thanks for all of your hard work.
-
I think this would be a great thing to have.
Then people would have one more thing to whine about.
-
better looking terrain would be a dream come true, its been bugging me how complex and beautiful the aircraft and GVs are and the terrain is... well the way it is..
big, major, MASSIVE :aok for better terrain.
-
Like I said in the other thread, I think it's all win-win. :salute HTC. Thanks for all of your hard work.
yup win-win. I suspect the benefits of this decision are going to be excellent.
-
Its kinda like Christmas in October!! :noid
Cept no presents. :furious
BUT!! :O
They're coming. :pray
And it sounds like they're comin pretty fast. :D
I predict a very bountiful Holiday season. :rock
-
:salute Hell yea! More updates now! Yea!
P47M please :D
-
Some historical pixel shaded tracers would be really neat... You could tell what plane was shooting at you, and with which bullets, which would be historical.
[/derail]
-
Sounds good. It's all progress HTC. Sometimes, in technical things, ya gotta take a few steps forward (which can take some time when it is complicated stuff) to help realize that there is a little better way that you didn't see at first, the initial way wasn't wrong, and moving toward it brought you to a higher plane that gave you a better view of how to go forward. That's reality in a technical environment. Congrats on the new path. Looking forward to walking that path with you guys and having some good fun. Woohoo! :aok
-
Hope some of those huge cities make it into the game some how.
-
This is great news. The whole HTC team working on new terrain and new aircraft! Sounds great to me. I'd love to see a new damage model (including progressive engine damage) and more involved visual damage effects.
-
I read where they would like to bring H2H back. If that would lighten the squeaker load in the ma I'm all for it. :aok
-
Then people would have one more thing to whine about.
And contribute to/suggest things for.
No matter what HTC does will they please everyone, but at least if they are more open they may be able to get help from the community. Look at the difference skins/textures had after they opened that up a bit. If they are struggling with the small workforce they have, there is a fairly large, relatively untapped resource with a willingness to help in the community.
-
Well contributing with skins and texture is one thing, but HTC having to keep a development log for the public is not comparable imo. If for no other reasons, because it's one more thing that's not that fun to do, it's one more way to be misunderstood, it fans the flames of armchair developers, sometimes there's really not that much to report (and then people say something's up because they skipped a beat in regular devlog updates, or there's no way to report anything without revealing stuff they want to keep private), etc... Spending time writing these devlogs will be time that's not spent furthering game progress, too.
HTC usualy do their best, and so far there hasn't been an instance of them proving this precedent wrong.. I think what happened with CT is an exception and once we get back to regular development, there won't be any need to compensate with PR like such a devlog.
My 2c.
-
I see where you are coming from.
But it doesn't have to be detailed or regular (to make it time consuming), or even that serious (to make it boring).
I was making the skins comparable to a devlog because that would allow people to know what was being worked on in the early stages of development, then maybe HTC could open it up to the community so that they could assist in the research or low level design work of objects like the current skinners do. I guess it may already be like this to a select few.
Clearly even with the best will in the world some of us like me would be of no help, but there are people here such as Tony Williams who is an invaluable source of information, and others who are pretty expert on computers. If they are not already doing so, they may be able to help lessen the workload on HTC.
On the otherhand, volunteers can be a royal PITA. :D
-
I read where they would like to bring H2H back. If that would lighten the squeaker load in the ma I'm all for it. :aok
I'm not sure it would lighten the squeaker population. Most of them already have mommy and daddy paying for their account. They love to draw attention to themselves and annoy others. Why would they switch to a smaller audience? :lol
-
I'm not sure it would lighten the squeaker population. Most of them already have mommy and daddy paying for their account. They love to draw attention to themselves and annoy others. Why would they switch to a smaller audience? :lol
If and when H2H returns it will only be available to subscribers. I suspect it will be a squeaker magnet :D
-
We want to bring back the old 8 player H2H but expand it both in the number of players and with additional gameplay capabilities.
Ooooh. :)
-
If and when H2H returns it will only be available to subscribers. I suspect it will be a squeaker magnet :D
I hope you're right.
-
Ooooh. :)
See? Yup. Magnet!
-
Yet this magnet will subscribe if pay-to-play 8-Player is around.
-
You still haven't subscribed, in all this time?
-
It's a bitter-sweet feeling. :)
I guess the project halt of the CT is the last piece of straw for me. Now I can't find any more reason to keep on subscribing despite hardly having the time to fly anymore, hoping my money is well spent on the development of something that looked so promising.
Come to think of it, nothing's really gonna change I guess. I like the community, reading the boards is cool, the people are nice, and bickering with some is fun :D. But now I really don't feel a need to continue the subscription.
Guess I'll go for another subscription some time in the distant future when the CT does materialize :p At least, I'm not wasting any more money on a game I can't play, nor a project that will be never finished... so I guess it's not such a bad news after all.
-
You still haven't subscribed, in all this time?
He's hoping to mooch.
-
You still haven't subscribed, in all this time?
That would be correct. I'm contempt with my offline drones.
-
That would be correct. I'm contempt with my offline drones.
:lol
Obviously, you aren't.
-
:lol
Obviously, you aren't.
why wouldnt he be? they put up a better fight than a lot of the people that were flying in the hth.
-
LOL!!
im contempt with my job.
-
why wouldnt he be? they put up a better fight than a lot of the people that were flying in the hth.
Apparently they put up too much of a good fight that he has nothing but contempt for them.
ack-ack
-
I believe he's content with the off-line drones, however he might view some of us contemptuously.
-
Well, you've got to learn how to ram somehow.
-
:lol I'm contempt with winter coming. :D
-
Appears as if I've started a campaign. :D
Contempt for Railroad Commissioner!
-
Terrian updates would be great. Hope they do something with the water color
WTG HTC
-
We’re going to pull the CT AI mission system and redevelop it for use by CM’s in scenarios and special events. We’re working on new terrain upgrades in both the technology and the art used.
signal a massive leap forward in scenario gameplay
-
Would this mean that we will be getting new planes on a more often?
-
That's the million dollar question.
-
I have it on very good sources that the next plane to be added is the P-38H.
ack-ack
-
I have it on very good sources that the next plane to be added is the P-38H.
ack-ack
Bzzzt it is going to be the Mk.XII spitfire. :noid
-
I have it on very good sources that the next plane to be added is the P-38H.
ack-ack
Whats different from the 38H? Just wondering.
-
Bzzzt it is going to be the Mk.XII spitfire. :noid
S.A.P.P is making note of your comment.
ack-ack
-
WTG HTC, this is what I've been saying for years...There's has been no fundamental changes to the actual core of the game itself pretty much since its inception other than superfluous eye candy. The core design is well done with a lot of infrastructure already in place, but not really utilized. There's many aspects just begging to be expounded upon and deepened in terms of scope and sophistication. Eye candy upgrades and cookie cutter plane/vehicle additions only add so much to the appeal factor. It's exciting to see real, actual product development will commence and continue...
-
Pfft wtf's a p-38H?
Another plane yall cant fly or land worth beans?
Sweet, more targets.
-
S.A.P.P is making note of your comment.
ack-ack
Be warned there is a bigger Mk XII dweeb than me. Tread carefully :noid.
-
Be warned there is a bigger Mk XII dweeb than me. Tread carefully :noid.
There is no bigger dweeb in all the land than the Grand Exhalted Ruler. All hail the Grand Exhalted Ruler!
ack-ack
-
There is no bigger dweeb in all the land than the Grand Exhalted Ruler. All hail the Grand Exhalted Ruler!
ack-ack
:rofl :rofl :aok
-
Whats different from the 38H? Just wondering.
The H has more power than the G, and it was also the P-38 that the two major FG's (20th and 55th)in Europe started escort duty with.
-
The H has more power than the G, and it was also the P-38 that the two major FG's (20th and 55th)in Europe started escort duty with.
Thanks. :aok