Familiar Thoughts for GPG

By Ke5trel on June 5, 2009 6:48:38 PM from

So I had a (polite?) thread up addressed to GPG that got nuked. I didn't check it past reply 10 or so, so I don't know what happened, but if some of the replies were the issue then maybe next time delete the replies and let the post live?

If the post was the issue I'd love to know how

To the repliers - if you got my thread nuked by flaming the devs please try to be more placid this time round ^^

To recap:

Put the modkit as priority # 1 for future updates. I'm not even a modder, but I see good ones sitting on their hands, waiting to be allowed to bring the work they have already done to the table.

Modkit allows responsive content developement and polish outside of that provided by our developers. Let the players help.

Allowing us to dig into the code means that problems that cripple play can be fixed in a matter of days. People have access to Maya, they can create new maps and DGs, tweak the UI and the skill and items numbers, and then you can come back in and select the best work for incorporation into the official version. Store mods on Impulse and allow ingame access if you really want to make it golden.

Some things that might be keeping you from releasing a modkit -

- In your position you might be worried about moderating all this content, but it's clear from past examples that fertile anarchy actually does more to extend a game's lifetime than strict control, at much lower cost.

- Maybe you don't want to fracture the community. It would be a valid concern, if the community didn't want to fracture. Every day I see posts from hyper-competitive players raging for example because they can't access meaningful game data (Minion damage? Allied mana? Player stats?) right on top of posts from casual people who just want to have fun and don't see why ragequitting is a Bad Thing. You aren't going to please everyone, but you can allow us to please ourselves.

- You might also want to hold off on mods until the game has legs - this would be a mistake, imo. We don't really need to go into it, but street rep simply isn't going to improve by your efforts alone. Allow us to contribute with more than feedback.

Replays allow us to get the word out, teach each other, and illustrate weak mechanics. Replays are better-than-good, and I'm guessing from your silence on the many previous requests for this feature that something in Demigod glitched the replay system left over from SupCom several months ago and there's no easy way to fix it. Again, let us take a look at that. Maybe we can help

Some small stuff that should be secondary to a modkit or replays -

1. Desync pop up - so annoying

2. Game options which allow serious competition - player chooses only DG, team, mode, map, and stacked DGs are disallowed (i.e. no five Oak teams). Favor optional. This mode would be ranked.

Thanks
Kestrel

+118 Karma | 13 Replies

I cannot but agree with this. So much can be accomplished with a decent modding setup. Please, allow us to properly change all of the game's resource and lua files, and not have gaps like SupCom, e.g. where you couldn't get sounds to load from /sounds and had to use all kinds of funny tricks to mod the lobby, etc.

By the way, your concept of a "modkit" does not exist. A Demigod mod is a bunch of code. You couldn't make a kit to make it happen.

Erm. I'd prefer it if my favor points and achievements were fixed before they started working on modding or replays.

modding ftw!

Edit:

Just sending a modkit out doesn't mean that the people will automatically embrace it and pump out promods to be used in the competitive scene. Real modders with the tenacity to make a mod are very rare, and it usually takes a lot more than one tenacious modder to complete a mod. The population is already very small, and I doubt that there are enough modders out here with the right knowledge and experience to revitalize Demigod.

A mode for more competitive play would be nice however. Maybe after they fix everything.

I couldn't agree more, especially regarding modding. I think this should take priority even over additional content.

Allow mods and create a repository for us to upload to in Impulse, please.

I've seen quite a few posts run off lately. I don't remember seeing any reason that they would axe yours though. *shrug*

Kestrel -

You're a bastion of reason and decency in a sea of WTFMORONS. I'm sure that the thread got nuked due to the troglodytes that inhabit this growing den of iniquity.

+1 for continuing to be an Atlas of this community.

modding would be awesome.

why not let the community make their own game better?

I totally agree Kestrel.

I can't emphasize enough how important modding support is.

But I would like to see one major point added: Please give us more informations, talk to us!

Frogboy does a good job to get in touch with the community but his informations are quite limited (https://forums.demigodthegame.com/354635) => one-liners

There is very little communication and feedback from anyone than Frogboy.

E.g.: The forum is full of demigod concepts. But do the devs read them? Is there any interest for user concepts on demigods at all? Do they ever want to make a "community-demigod"?

This is a matter in all most any fields of demigod since the forum is overflowing with user-ideas.

On which topics exists an interest for user-ideas and which areas should be spared?

There is even a lack of basic informations where just a simple yes or no from developer side would be the answer.

I think of questions like "is that inteded?" here which are still not adressed.

For me there it's specially interesing to get an rough ETA on the new Demigods.

I don't want to be type-o-negative but the current cast of demigods and items is allready borring me/running stale for me.

But that could be solved with mod support

And to throw in a thought on the dev-side: I think they are still working on the connection problems since that is not solved to full extent. And it is a serious matter since many possible buyers could be chased away with existing connection problems.

Or at least until 2v1+ai is a rare if not impossible situation in pantheon/skirmish.

Thank you GPG & Stardock for a great game with even greater possibilities!

Hope you will satisfy our and your expectations/aims soon!

replays. plzzzzzz

Actually there are a bunch of very good and experienced modders out there right now. All they need is a little support (like a way to let people use mods that doesn't involve command line changes).

Just to prove my point: Sorian released a mod manager back in beta days, bman fixed the annoying freezing bug and GPG finally knew where to look. And there are a bunch of other modders.

Connectivity issues will have to be resolved first though.

I want the core game (favor points working and other technical issues) to be a higher priority than mod support, but I would love to see mod support and especially some custom maps like supcom has too.

Show me a single game taht didn't have its life extended by years once it was opened up for modding.

Replays would be really awesome too, though kinda dangerous. (Remembers watching SupCom replays obsessively for a month straight lol)

I really wish GPG weren't a silent big brother on this project, it would be good to hear from them. Why is it I get the distinct feeling that DG has taken a back seat to SupComII and they've just gone 'Let Stardock deal with it, they have a good customer service rep'.

sigh.

The Forums Are Now Closed!

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

Familiar Thoughts for GPG