AlarCity: Development Thread

[Gzegzolka]

Got to grab that version it looks funny and enjoyable.

[torturedutopian]

Wow, really looking forward to it (and Reshoot-R !), but take your time ! :-)
BTW, will the pre-order be back online anytime soon ?

[Puggsy]

I am excited about this game and I preordered, what, like two years ago or more? But I would really like to see it released soon. Any ideas when?

I have this scary feeling that right now the game is severely suffering from severe feature creep. Smash TV mode, "lite RPG" mode, several engine rewrites... come on, don't lose sight of the prize which is actually releasing it. This is the kinda thing that makes game become forever unreleased

By now my preorder which was made as support for development, as many others, are probably gone and not helpful.

[Tsak]

Originally Posted by Puggsy

I am excited about this game and I preordered, what, like two years ago or more? But I would really like to see it released soon. Any ideas when?

I have this scary feeling that right now the game is severely suffering from severe feature creep. Smash TV mode, "lite RPG" mode, several engine rewrites... come on, don't lose sight of the prize which is actually releasing it. This is the kinda thing that makes game become forever unreleased

Honestly, we hear you and you have every right to be furstrated
We did failed to release the game on time and truth is that development has been a bit of a rollercoaster from our side. We could have gone and released it long time ago, but reality is it wouldn't have been on par with the quality we'd hope to deliver. Plus opinions are conflicting on this matter. Some say we should take our time and do our best. Others think that it's long overdue already. The thing is we can understand both sides.

Despite the above, hopefully development is still on-going. But with no release date yet in the horizon it's a tricky process which -arguably- tests the patience of those who backed the project.

So at this point I can say the following: We'll continue to do our best to meet expectations and eventually deliver the game. The fact that we can still present updates (and believe me, we have MUCH more to reveal in the future) is a testament that we're not planning to abandon it. In the very, very worst case scenario and if the project is canceled we'll make absolutely sure to fully refund all our backers. Really we did consider to just do that a long time ago (I mean refunding) but we don't want to let down the people that believed in us and this project. Plus the game is far from being abandoned and still on development. Therefore such a move wouldn't make much sense.

Originally Posted by Puggsy

By now my preorder which was made as support for development, as many others, are probably gone and not helpful.

Well, that's not fully correct. The support we got did made sure to keep this project alive (and does so even to this day). On top of that it helped us build up experience, expand our foundation, keep the dream alive and continue developing for Amiga and supporting the community.

As for the actual funding itself, the reality is it eventually became a non factor for the game. You see, the preorder campaign never met the initial minimum goal (not even by a long shot) which left us practically with a half funded project. So what to do next? Warp it up as quickly as possible and ship a sub par result? Cancel it and let everyone down? Or don't give up and try to make the best of what you have but prolong it? As you see, it's a really tough choice.

Originally Posted by torturedutopian

BTW, will the pre-order be back online anytime soon ?

Nope. Going the "pre-order" way was a mistake we've (hopefully) learned from and won't be repeated in the future. Backers will eventually get the game or -in the worst case scenario- a full refund. As for the rest it will become available to purchace once released.

[Puggsy]

Originally Posted by Tsak

We could have gone and released it long time ago, but reality is it wouldn't have been on par with the quality we'd hope to deliver.

Believe me when I say I agree with this wholeheartedly, and don't take my post the wrong way. I'm not even really that frustrated. What would frustrate me would be the game being canned, and it has nothing to do with the money I spent on it.

My fear here is not that you are holding it up to make it match your high level quality that you want to release the game with. My problem is that adding features and messing about with the core game is what is called "feature creep" and it doesn't really have anything to do with quality.

The way I see it, and this is just my guess, is that for whatever reason this project has been postponed for so long that the new "features" being added are a desperate grasp for fresh air from the developers to not throw it all in the trash because they're bored with it. You explained that you didn't get the funding you required so at this point there 's not much motivation to work on it coming from our side (those interested in the game did all we could already), no new money, no new interested parties... I can understand how this has become a problem, and at this point, it probably would have been better for everyone's sanity to release this a long time ago in whatever state it was in, forget about it and focus in new projects with more motivation.


I "purchased" a multidirectional flip screen, no frills shooter, and to be honest, right now, I have no idea what game I am going to get, and that's not great.

In the very, very worst case scenario and if the project is canceled we'll make absolutely sure to fully refund all our backers.

Never do this. I don't speak for everyone but I just wanted to support you guys. Even if you don't release, you worked in the game. As I said my money is long gone and it wasn't much anyway. Refunding at this point will only just hurt you guys even more.

Again full respect and I wanted to support you guys and so I did, but at this point it feels like an impossible, non-viable project to me, and the bad out come of this is that the developers will hardly want to touch an Amiga again after messing about with this one for so long.

[Tsak]

Originally Posted by Puggsy

Never do this. I don't speak for everyone but I just wanted to support you guys. Even if you don't release, you worked in the game. As I said my money is long gone and it wasn't much anyway. Refunding at this point will only just hurt you guys even more.

Well, this is about honesty, dignity and trust. It's not even debatable as far as I'm concerned. Having said that we really appreciate the gesture. Just saying that is enough

Originally Posted by Puggsy

Again full respect and I wanted to support you guys and so I did, but at this point it feels like an impossible, non-viable project to me, and the bad out come of this is that the developers will hardly want to touch an Amiga again after messing about with this one for so long.

If you've followed me or Erik or Pixelglass's latest doings you'll see this is far from true. There are (and always have been) various projects running in paralel and each of us is pretty active in the scene for quite a few years now. We all had big projects in the past that didn't work out for one reason or another. Did that prevented us from trying?

Anyhow there are many 'ifs' implied here and Alarcity failing surely ain't in our agenda. I had in mind to go into more depth regarding what was revealed with the latest update, addressing many legit concerns (including yours) but I'm not sure this is to anyone's benefit right now. It would be much better to show than to describe. For the moment let's just say that if you played and liked the demo or even just seen the trailer, you'll do get that same exact experience with the complete game.

[buzzybee]

@Tsak: Just wanted to pop in and leave some kind of message here, just to send a signal that I can perfectly relate to your difficult situation. You want to release the game the way it looks in your imagination. But because you chose to go the preorder-route, you also feel obliged to deliver to your customers as fast as possible. Getting this balance right must be very hard, I imagine. That´s why I chose not to accept preorders for RESHOOT R.

Developing games for such a niche platform as the Amiga does not earn you any substantial money nowadays. Therefore it should at least be fun and fulfilling most of the time. Maybe it´d be wise to provide a beta version as a DLC with not all options enabled, just so you get the feeling you gave preorder customers something for their money.

[DamienD]

There are already 2 demos available:

• Survival Mode Dem V1.0
• Dungeon Prototype

[AmigaBill]

I am excited for the final product, but in the mean time I am having a blast "testing" all the demo/beta releases. Testing is hard work , but someone has to do it Honestly I thought the survival mode demo was good enough to be a release of sorts. I really love playing it. I am surprised you are re-working the whole thing, but you guys do top notch work so I have faith that it is the right choice. I actually liked the original characters. They were cute and had a good vibe, but I do like the new characters as well. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with. I know it must be difficult to balance wanting to make a quality product and well as getting the game out in a timely manner. Pre-orders can be a tricky thing. Things like Kickstarter are designed to do exactly that - kickstart the project. But then the product actually has to get made which can be a lengthy process. I think many people now are Kickstarting or pre-ordering when the product is almost finished so people can get it in a timely manner, but then I suppose it isn't much of a Kickstart - more of a push over the finish line. It is a difficult balance indeed.

But the AlarCity the demo and beta releases are a great way to keep us entertained while you guys are working your Amiga magic. It is a good point to keep your eye on the prize and not get too side tracked though. But I know you guys are on top of it and - even though this may be odd thinking and it wouldn't be right for all the folks, I am happy to throw you and Eric some cash (even if AlarCity final version never came out) because I feel like I already got my money's worth with all the other free projects you guys have put out. I am happy to support you. Now I will stop babbling so you can stop reading this and get back to work on AlarCity

[earok]

Thanks Bill, we appreciate the support

I had intended to reply earlier, but Tsak had covered the situation pretty well. There were a couple of things I wanted to add.

When I started this project, I knew so little about Amiga development that I went about this the wrong way and ended up with an inflexible codebase and an inefficient engine - when I started, I just didn't know how to scroll efficiently (the original version of AlarCity literally had the entire map in memory at once), or what interleaved graphics were and why and how to use them.

Putting aside the project at the end of last year to do The Kiwi's Tale gave me an opportunity to write an entirely new engine, and since then I've made the engine more optimal as well as vastly more flexible - this has become the Scorpion engine, which in turn will eventually become the core of the final AlarCity engine.

So, the experience with AlarCity certainly hasn't put me off development. On the contrary, asides from the AlarCity demos out there, I've developed Road Avenger, Time Gal, The Kiwi's Tale and the demos of Highway Sprint and Scorpion in parallel, along with numerous little hack projects and such. Each of those helped me a little more with understanding Amiga development, so that when we finally finish this it'll be a lot better than it could have been if we had stuck with the original development track.

[Predseda]

If we did not "backed" AlarCity, we would not probably have wonderful Kiwi's Tale (and for free!). And for me it is okay.

[Clydos]

Pre-order has started again!? -> https://amiga.net.pl/index.php?kwt=9...12.110.109.108.

[Tsak]

Hmm nope, these are articles that Adam has removed from the main site and his catalogue but are not deleted entirely, so they still show up if you use the search option.

[Clydos]

Alright, thanks Tsak, and sorry for the confusion. :-/

[manossg]

Hello everybody, I only recently discovered the Alarcity demos and I have to say they are both devilishly fun and addictive!

Now I read this thread and understand that things got a bit complicated with the preorders and the development process. Nevertheless, the demos are fantastic in their own right and I hope the difficulties can be overcome!

[Bren McGuire]

When is this game coming out? Looks great!