Demigod weekend update

By Frogboy on July 18, 2009 1:00:02 AM from

Greetings!

So, what’s been happening in the world of Demigod this past week?

Gas Powered Games has been working on the demo version of Demigod. There’s been a number of iterations to nail it down to be as small as possible a download while at the same time enough of a demo to give players a good idea of what the game is like.

Meanwhile, we’ve all been working hard on some issues that I know only bug a minority of the community but bug me a great deal as being something so blatant that I made it a very high priority: The stats.

The concede option introduced in v1.1 apparently did some bad things with the stats. This week, they’ve gone back and forth every day on fixing this. Yes, I know everyone has their own wish list of what they’d like to see next but the stats were something that really bugged me.

As of today, they have a new build they think they’re happy with. We will not be resetting favor points but we might reset the win/loss stuff because frankly, it’s fubarred IMO. I know a lot of you don’t care about that kind of thing but frankly, the stats not being robust is an embarrassment and not tolerable. It’s a classic case of too many chefs in the kitchen.

The demo is, by far, the biggest thing being worked on. We all agree it should have gone out sooner but life is what it is and we don’t always get what we want.

Once the demo goes out (next week I hope but no promises as every time I try to predict something it ends up blowing up) we can get back to addressing fundamentals.

The #1 thing on my list are getting more demigods out there. Everyone who reads these forums knows my position. Lots of new demigods, often. The issue there is that Demigods are, well, expensive to make but as far as I’m concerned, 2 free ones were promised.

The question beyond that is more murky. My opinion is that I’d like to see additional demigods released for like $9 for 2. BUT at the same time, I’d like to see an SDK kit so that modders can make demigods too that they can give away or what have you. There are some complexities since the demigods make use of Granny so we need a way for people to import and export these without having to buy a Granny license. I’ll keep you updated on how that part goes.

But Stardock (where I work – the North American publisher) and Gas Powered Games (the developer of Demigod) agree that modding is going to be crucial to Demigod’s long-term future. So it’s only then a question of how much modding and how soon really.

There are plenty of other things that need to be looked at sooner rather than later. I’d like to see path finding improved, AI improved, and other item tweaks. My understanding is that the pathfinding is done in LUA (as opposed to say A-star in C++).

Now, that said, if anyone here has a mod or a change to the game they think is good, post it in the forums. I have found GPG to be very open about integrating things into the game that make the game better.

So that’s where we’re at as the weekend starts.

Cheers!

+912 Karma | 81 Replies

i agree that $9 is a fair price for having 2 Demigods as DLC, however IMO maps, items, and all other balance and content should be free. then to sort of split it up into versions:

X.00 would be new demigods

0.X0 would be new maps, features, items etc

0.0X would be balance/bug fixes

this way new demigods would count almost like an expansion pack allowing those who didn't buy the DLC to still play againt each other.

You people are cheap as f*ck. 9$? Is that too much? Most of the people here got the game for 20$ via coupons that were given away like water. I paid full price for Demigod and it is the best Beta software that I ever paid for. I have stopped playing it almost completely but I won't regret purchasing it. You guys go to the movies? You eat out? How much bang per buck do you get then? 1-2 hours of entertainment compared to the hours of entertainment that you get by playing Demigod?

If you have money issues then maybe you should get a job. Sell ice cream for 1-2 hours and buy those 2 demigods if they will give you 100+ hours more of fun.

On the other hand, I don't trust GPG in order to give them more of my money. First get this game out of Beta stage and then we'll talk about me giving you more of my cash. As far as I see it, they haven't lived up to their side of the deal in the original Demigod. I have zero expectations now so I don't care if the game crashes or not. I just load up Desktop Tower Defense and play that instead. Viva flash games!

can't wait for more patches...

as for mods to include in a future patch: I'm biased but I wouldn't mind seeing the godlike team panel in a future patch.

I don' have a problem paying for Demi-God's 9$ for 2 isn't so bad - the odd map wouldn't go amiss either

However if you go this route can you ensure that people who don't buy can still play with those that do - the ones who don't buy just can't use those DG's and those who do can even in the same game. Otherwise with the player Pop as it is you'll kill the game

Tals

I think $9 is a good price.

Quoting Talsworthy,

reply 4

I don' have a problem paying for Demi-God's 9$ for 2 isn't so bad - the odd map wouldn't go amiss either

However if you go this route can you ensure that people who don't buy can still play with those that do - the ones who don't buy just can't use those DG's and those who do can even in the same game. Otherwise with the player Pop as it is you'll kill the game

Tals

Problem is to ensure non-purchasers can play with purchasers it involves people who havn't purchased having all the relevant files on their PC in the first place, which then opens up avenues for unscrupulous people to modify their files to get what you paid for...for free.

I really don't want to sound negative, but this update really disheartens me because it shows that GPG is misprioritizing their time. Demo = not important. Yet it is "by far, the biggest thing being worked on." New DGs = not important. Stats = not important.

What is important? Team Automatch (by far the most critical thing for premades) and Random Team Option (by far the most important thing to pugs). After that, balance tweaks to critically broken tactics (Horn, Minions).

Needs before wants, please.

Quoting DemiCom,

reply 24

8 DGs + 8 maps + 0 mod/replay/clan-support = FUN for 2 months, but now the community is tired and thats why the community is shrinking slowly since 2 weeks.

This! It's a good game, but there's nothing new and now it seems there is little to look forward too. There won't be a map editor or Demigod editor, which basically means we won't see new map modes made by players. I was looking forward to modding tools and seeing modes like "Tower Defense" and all sorts of other things... but it doesn't seem like this will be the case.

Frogboy have you seen the HoN beta?

There won't be a map editor or Demigod editor, which basically means we won't see new map modes made by players.

i agree with ur first part however they are opening up modding, it's just not going to be in a Editor for Dummies program like WC3 Editor. basicly means that those who will be able to make new maps and new demigods are going to have a lot of experiance under their belts and probably won't put out crap, buggy mods (which is good). the only draw back to this is that the basic player, who wants to make a random map where his side gets 3X more gold than the other won't happen (as much) since it would take heavy Lua coding and model editing.

So if modders can make new DGs and set their skills/powers, what stops modders from making OP DGs?

EDIT: Anyone know of any good LUA tuts? I don't know that lang yet.

http://lua-users.org/wiki/TutorialDirectory

Thats the one i used when i started Lua.

The only concern I have with new demigods is splitting the community in a few ways. First, some people will not want to play with the DLC DGs. Personally, I don't care. It seems like a totally arbitrary bad decision like saying no doubles. Secondly, make sure when new mini-expansions/DLC are added, they are just new content and not a new client that literally splits the community.

Always nice with some updates. Thanks Frogboy

Thank you for the update. I wish they would come more often, and offered more substantial information (i.e. X content is scheduled for X date), but better than nothing I guess.

Couple of things however:

Why is the demo the biggest thing by far being worked on? At this point in the release cycle, why is it important?

Do you want to keep your existing playerbase with new demigods, new maps, new gamemodes, etc, or do you want to bring in new players only to have them get bored with the lack of content game in a few months?

That's nice. Way to abuse your position. If this game goes down the drain (as it looks like it will), we can all say "they did not work on things that mattered because the CEO had other priorities."

Quoting Frogboy,

reply 22

Re people who say "fix bugs". I think it goes without saying that when bugs are found, they're added to the list of things to address.

So does that mean sludge slinger will be fixed in the next update?

It would help if there was a sticky post of Known Issues, at least we would know that problems have even been acknowledged on the Stardock/GPG side.

Quoting Daikaze,

reply 8

There will definitely be maps by the community, once GPG/Stardock figures out a way to let the users convert to the Granny format Demigod requires, without having to buy a Granny license.

I bought the orange box nearly 2 years ago, mostly for Team Fortress 2. While major updates are slow they add significantly different game modes, new maps, and have active modding/clan/tournement communities.

My steam account was recently hacked, and I have no problems shelling out whatever it costs for another copy. If valve ever comes out with a new multiplayer game, I will buy it and tell my friends to buy it. If there is ever an expansion of sorts I would buy it.

9 dollars for new demigods is no problem at all for a well-supported game with tournaments/clans and that doesn't boot a random player 20 percent of the time when starting a new game. I would most likely pay more.

It seems however that GPG has totally given up any interest in the project in favor of newer games, so its hard to justify paying for DLC on an piece of unsupported software. I will most likely never buy a multiplayer game from them again.

Quoting Spooky,

reply 17

Quoting Daikaze, reply 8This! It's a good game, but there's nothing new and now it seems there is little to look forward too. There won't be a map editor or Demigod editor, which basically means we won't see new map modes made by players. I was looking forward to modding tools and seeing modes like "Tower Defense" and all sorts of other things... but it doesn't seem like this will be the case.There will definitely be maps by the community, once GPG/Stardock figures out a way to let the users convert to the Granny format Demigod requires, without having to buy a Granny license.

Which is what... 3 months away? 6 months? More?

In the meantime there are other MOBA genre games coming out (league of legends, heroes of newerth, etc.) and at this slow pace, it will be simply impossible for Stardock/GPG to retain their playerbase.

Quoting Miyamiya,

reply 18

It seems however that GPG has totally given up any interest in the project in favor of newer games, so its hard to justify paying for DLC on an piece of unsupported software. I will most likely never buy a multiplayer game from them again.

Also, pretty much this. It's sad because the game has lots of potential.

I think new maps are WAY more important than demigods (and probably cheaper to produce, because there is a lot less balancing to be done on them). I still haven't really played a lot with all the demigods, but I've played cataract and prison to death. Since most games played are 2v2/3v3/4v4, we need more maps that cater to those size teams. Adding new scenery always breathes fresh new life into a game.

Quoting Enraged_Camel,

reply 19

Which is what... 3 months away? 6 months? More?

In the meantime there are other MOBA genre games coming out (league of legends, heroes of newerth, etc.) and at this slow pace, it will be simply impossible for Stardock/GPG to retain their playerbase.

Other games are irrelevant. Just because other strategy games came out after Supreme Commander 1 didn't mean that suddenly no one was interested in making maps and mods for it anymore.

If you (will) like those two other games more than Demigod, why would you care about custom content in Demigod in the first place?

Good to have info.

Frogboy, with the stats being reset again will the host "end game" "strat" (end game by host doesnt get to be counted for stats) be fixed as well?

Quoting Spooky,

reply 22

Other games are irrelevant. Just because other strategy games came out after Supreme Commander 1 didn't mean that suddenly no one was interested in making maps and mods for it anymore.

If you (will) like those two other games more than Demigod, why would you care about custom content in Demigod in the first place?

On the contrary, other games are hardly irrelevant. League of Legends (LoL) will start with 40+ champions and will be released for free. If the game is merely decent, that will be enough to draw fans of the MOBA genre to it (and away from Demigod and other games). And who wouldn't try LoL for free? Further, if we assume that players have limited dollars and limited time to spend on gaming, then the competition between games does matter. The margin of error for small companies such as GPG and Stardock is much thinner than, let's say, Blizzard, EA, or even Relic. If Starcraft 2 flops or fares poorly vs. competition, then Blizzard can just comfortably fall back on Diablo 3 or WoW. Heck, they can just keep selling the first Starcraft. Not the same for a small company which can be threatened with closure based on one big mistake.

Anyhow, I hope that the modding tools get released soon, along with the 2 "free" demigods that were promised earlier and maybe a couple more maps. I'm not interested in buying demigods separately as DLC, but would consider paying for, say, 4-6 demigods, along with more maps and other content in a $20 expansion.

And who wouldn't try LoL for free?

I wouldn't

. Nothing about it looks appealing to me.

Further, if we assume that players have limited dollars and limited time to spend on gaming, then the competition between games does matter.

Of course competition matters. It comes down to what game makes the most fun for you.

Anyhow, I hope that the modding tools get released soon

Well, technically modding and mapping is already possible. During the beta people already experimented with changing maps, but the correct exporting format was not available, I think. Enabling modding is not problem at all (but there are some "cheating" issues which is why modding was restricted in the first place, I believe) but creating the right tools or environment for mapping will take the most time.

The Forums Are Now Closed!

The content will remain as a historical reference, thank you.

Demigod weekend update