Stupid question here. Are AI changes added each patch like crashfixes or are they only added when specifically mentioned in changelog?
I'm so glad Stardock has such great post-release support. I wish I could go a few months in the future and play an Elemental I won't even recognize, while a lot of developer/publishers out there simply drop all support post-release as if they never were involved in the game in the first place
I do lots of tweaking to the AI with each build but we don't publicize the specifics since AI strategies are highly confidential. For instance, in last night's build, the AI unit work should have been noticeably better.
In tonight's build, players should notice the AI isn't quite as quick to go to war with you and are much more willing to target each other.
Well "a lot of developer/publishers" also tend to release finished games with concrete systems and a semblance of balance. As far as I am concerned all of these post-release patches we are getting are simply an extension of development. I'm getting a little bit annoyed by posts saying how great post-release support is...yeah it's great because it's easy to support a game that was never finished in the first place. I'd wager one of the expansions (perhaps one that introduces naval warfare) would be an accurate reflection of post-release support.
What are you hoping to accomplish with that statement?
Elemental was finished on release. That's why we released it. We thought it was finished. We weren't "rushed' to get it out there.
You get annoyed by posts saying how great post release support is? I get a little bit annoyed by users who say Elemental wasn't "finished" on release. How do you even define that? You can make the argument that the game was horrendously buggy due to poor QA or that you didn't like the game when it first came out but to say it wasn't finished is not an accurate statement. We felt the game was finished and released it. Most non-developers have no concept of how insane it's gotten in 2010 to make a stable game with a new game engine. Heh, I've been making software for twenty years and I had no clue on how ridiculous it had gotten until Elemental got out there into the wild.
Our customers weren't happy with the game and so we endeavored to do what was required to make sure our customers were happy. That's what we do.
I like you Marlowwe, you're a good guy and all. I just want people to make the distinction between releasing something badly and releasing something unfinished. I think I've been very open about us messing up on the launch of the game. But it wasn't an issue of not having integrity.
