StarMade Dev Update: Spring Cleaning

    therimmer96

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    "It turns out that it’s not easy to find a complex system where every block has a purpose and affects different portions of your reactor."

    Did... did schine just "no one knew healthcare could be so complicated" us?
     
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    Could we have a list of the BUGs that you are currently working on? Possibly there are some that can be added
     

    schema

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    Did... did schine just "no one knew healthcare could be so complicated" us?.
    No, we always knew that power is one of the hardest things to get right. We could have done document with less details or one with more. People agreed that it's better to nail down the details as much as possible before presenting the next document. We expected that to take longer and as it turns out, it actually does.


    GalactusX A list is available at Phabricator It contains all the activity except for exploits. We did all the exploits first, and they are all fixed now, but you won't see anything in the activity since they are set to private
     
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    I can understand schema team, the actual 2 weeks cycle inprove/update/fix is not enought, he need a bit more time for make his work more "stable".

    I prefer that a job be more stable and have fewer problems, than being forced to "launch a version" that has problems not verified.

    If is not 2 weeks, and it need 3-4 weeks, but the result is more stable and solid, its OK for me :)

    Continue with your hard work, you are doing well :)

    [doublepost=1489615655,1489613937][/doublepost]Also... when we going to see timestamps add to ingame chat? i mean "... dammit, sorry mate, you send me this chat message 2 hours ago or 2 min?"
     
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    There are not many early access games around, that don't even have a 4 week release cycle (Minecraft in beta had 2 months inbetween???). I think it's very good that Shine now sticks to a longer period. I found it odd, that they dictated themself this 2 week release cycle anyway. I mean this works for early development versions, but the more complex the game gets, the longer it takes to change and progress it.

    On the other hand, I understand why they tried to keep those small periods: The more frequent updates are, the more players pay attention to the game.

    For me this doesn't change so much. I played Empyrion like 3 months ago, and read the update logs since then. I saw that they didn't improve key features that I need in the game, so I wouldn't have started the game even if they pressed out updates each week. Who cares if I can visit 10 planets with some lousy POI's, that isn't so much better than exploring in Starmade. Oh and they added some different ways to mine - with turrets *unexcited face*. If they would've added some real ships instead of drones attacking you - that would be some whole new level. But so it's pretty generic for me.

    In Starmade on the other hand, they updated the shaped block manufacturing some time ago, improved the engine so I have 60 fps instead of 24 before with even better graphics, and fixed the beam damage of weapons. Oh and don't forget the factions update...I allways forget about it, because I didn't even came to fiddling around with it. I am not sure: Can I allready put some own faction into the game that gets spawned?
     

    kiddan

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    Nice to hear steps are being taken to avoid the outright need for patches after an update. Quality over quantity, I like that. =)
     

    schema

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    We will try to post more updates for the current dev build about new features and fixes. Also we try to make it more straightforward to have a separate install for it and switching between branches, which will hopefully encourage more people to check it out on the test server or in single player.
     
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    Good Job team Schine.

    Once again you showcase the humility, determination, and pragmatism that blend together in a nice space blender to create one of the best work ethics I've seen in video gaming.

    Full stop.

    Keep up with the great work, and know that I and many others will be waiting with great interest to see what innovations and improvements you delight us with next.
     
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    I think this is an excellent step forward.
    I've been thrilled to see several of the bugs that plague me get marked as 'resolved' on the bug tracker.

    Bug fixing isn't as exciting as adding new features, but is vastly improves the overall experience the game can provide to players. I greatly look forward to the next patch, whenever it may arrive.
     
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    I would like to start by saying that I love this game.
    With that being said I would like to make a few suggestions and offer my assistance as a problem solver. I have a few suggestions that may help ease the issues with the Updates and the testing of new Updates before they come out as a Release.

    First you may need a month Update cycle with 2 - 3 weeks testing of the new features on the test server.
    Second if you can add a separate News section for when a Dev Build Update is released and add the information as to what was Updated in that new Dev Update it would help Testers to find and make sure those Features can be tested more vigorously. This will ensure that the Features that are being added to the Dev Build are not overlooked by a Tester and will return greater Feedback on the items that have been focused on in that Update.
    Third I play mostly at night (I'm in Texas so US Central time Zone), and I see very few people on the Test server at these Times. I can be of assistance to any Of The Dev Team that would like or need the help of a Tester to test out certain ideas they may have. I see things in cause and effect which is something most people do not look at these days. It has been very helpful in Keeping my Computer Business alive since 2005, I don't owe anyone anything on it and have never had a negative balance in my company bank account. My computer Business is a one man operation, and has been in business for more than 10 years.

    Last please keep up the good work that you do. This game has been my favorite game since I Found it about 7 months ago. I play for about 12 hours a day on here and have a few other games I play when I need a break to brainstorm on how I want to build a certain aspect of a Ship or Station.

    Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a good day.
     
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    Glad to see some focus finally being given to stability (especially that rotation thing)! while I have great anticipation for some of the features you've discussed, i'm often just as excited to pop into a dev build and notice nothing as its usually indicative of good stuff happening under the hood.

    I'm somewhat disheartened to see the abandonment of the two week schedule but I understand why, and i'd prefer to get consistent dev blogs and be suprised by an update than to expect an update and receive a blog post instead; especially if it means better updates overall.
     

    alterintel

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    We got your back, Jack!

    We will try to post more updates for the current dev build about new features and fixes
    I think this is the main reason I don't really play on Dev Build. If I knew what new features to check out, I'd probably be on there alot more often. I hope this becomes a thing.

    I'm also hoping that we can get some kind of Dev Blog twice a week instead of an update?

    Thanks :schema:
     
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    Stability and quality are two very important aspects for a game in development and will certainly strengthen the player base.

    I personally have no problems with a lower frequency update cycle as a trade off for less introduced bugs or 'features' when implementing and releasing new game-play content. Honestly I've always found that a fixed time update cycle of two weeks was a little bold. ;)

    Greets,

    Jan
     
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    I think as long as you guys keep the community informed it wont matter if you need more than 2 weeks. Keep making this nice game even better. :)
     

    DrTarDIS

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    " small features, such as the ability to toggle cloak/radar jammers on fleets."
    Hubba hubba. soo good. Aux and scanner next please? :)
     
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    Hello players,

    it's spring cleaning time and we improving our workflow for better and higher quality development!

    read the full news here: StarMade News - StarMade Dev Update: Spring Cleaning

    thanks for playing StarMade,
    - schema and the Schine Team
    Just having read the OP i gratulate the Schine team for letting reason decide the duration of updates and the effort of trying to release rather bug fixed versions when they are done. I absolutely love this announcement, for yes it may mean that your players are going to play more after a patch and less later but just the dev blogs every other week should be sparking new intrest and moptivation to keep playing in your fanbase. I know this has been a brave step to take because you wanted to put out more. But trust me the increase in quality of the updates and the fewer frustration caused by them IS A TREMENDEOUSLY WELCOME change i can only applaud to.
    Thank you Rob, Great announcement there is like there is finally a light, at the end of the tunnel, Hope for a game concept to good to see it perish in to insignificance.