Tired of Updating

[Sum Ting Wong]

Love the game, and friends and I have played it for many years.  However, we are tired of losing hours and hours of creative time every time the version updates.  So, if A22 is not compatible with A21 maps, we are done.

 

Not a threat.   We (several groups of players) invest in the long game, and have other options that don't require complete rebuilds every time the devs update.

 

Thanks for the new/improved version.

 

D!

[Maxwar]

How long do you typically play the same map ? 

[Riamus]

No, A22 will not be compatible with A21.  Nor will A23 be compatible with A22.  This is not at all unusual for early access games that have major updates like this.  If you don't want to update, then just stay on one alpha until it is released as gold and you can then not ever have to update again.  But in reality, why is this an issue?  You aren't going to play the same game from now until A22 is released.  You'll start a new one long before then and many more than just one new one.  If you don't want to have to change maps in the middle of a game when an update is coming along, either don't update (you can keep using A20, for example) until your game ends or else don't start a new game until after the new version is out.  Really pretty easy.

[Callum123456789]

Well if you don't want to update you don't have to.

 

[BFT2020]

And if you don’t want to update, why did you buy an early access game in the first place?🤔

[SylenThunder]

1 hour ago, BFT2020 said:

And if you don’t want to update, why did you buy an early access game in the first place?🤔

 

My question exactly for most people like the OP.

 

Why on earth did you choose to purchase a game still in development if you don't want to have to deal with the risks of playing a game in development. It is truly baffling.

[pApA^LeGBa]

This was clear for several years now. New Version means new start. No surprise here.

 

And i also have to ask, how long do you play on one playtrough? We get bored with the fighting on day 40 because we are OP af then. And if we do build a lot, day 400 was the max we ever did and we did build a small village in 200 days.

Edited June 14, 2023 by pApA^LeGBa (see edit history)

[Sum Ting Wong]

So, we have been playing the game since 2014.    It was released in 2013, so is it common for projects like this to stay in Alpha for almost 10 years?

 

Yeah, it's nice to start over occasionally, but when several ppl have contributed hundreds of hours on an elaborate map, it's nice to be able to go "home" once in a while to appreciate the work, and introduce new players to the work already done.

 

I've been playing Valheim for years with friends, and our maps persist through major updates, so why can't they make it happen?

We still have a map from The Forest that works with later versions, as well as ones with Empyrion.  No maps lost in those games.

[Auger]

Just stay in alpha 20 till the game is released don't see the problem.  The thing is that they do a lot of work on the random map generator each up date so it makes the maps incompatible.

 

Valheim has random map generation but it's not even close to the complexities of the maps here.  Plus it has a pseudo voxel system. Not sure about the Forest if it's a voxel game

[Riamus]

You always have the option to play old alphas if you want to keep using an old map.  POIs change and when that happens, they don't work on an existing map anymore.  Most games don't redo the buildings between versions and so that isn't an issue for them.  Other things as well will make maps stop working and these are things you normally don't see in other games.  Early Access is expected to change and require restarts.  After gold, you shouldn't see this between updates, or only very rarely if there's some serious problem or potentially with a DLC release.

[BFT2020]

53 minutes ago, Sum Ting Wong said:

So, we have been playing the game since 2014.    It was released in 2013, so is it common for projects like this to stay in Alpha for almost 10 years?

 

It depends on the several factors - the development studio, the staff, the complexity of the game, etc.

 

TFP are an independent game developer whose first game is 7D2D.  This has been a learning experience for them, and as they have stated in past, they have made mistakes that added time to the development of this game.  They also started with a much smaller staff that they have been able to expand over time.  Throw in that this game is complex and design choices they made early on made a huge impact on development, it doesn't surprise me that this game took this long to get to this point.

 

If this was their second game and they had the staffing they have today from the start, development time most likely would have been much shorter.

 

Even AAA developers are not immune to long development times.  Most AAA developers can get games out in about 4-6 years, but they are staffed at the beginning to take on such a huge project (and a lot of time they are expanding on games they already created).  But even then, we get situations like Diablo III which was in development for about 11 years.  This for a game that came from an AAA game developer and based on two previous games in the series.

 

The main difference though that I see is a lot of Indie game developers allow early access early in the development process.  Most AAA game developers don't have access to the game until it gets released, and those that do, the game is already pretty far along the development path.

Edited June 20, 2023 by BFT2020 (see edit history)

[Sum Ting Wong]

2 hours ago, BFT2020 said:

 

TFP are an independent game developer whose first game is 7D2D.  This has been a learning experience for them, and as they have stated in past, they have made mistakes that added time to the development of this game.  They also started with a much smaller staff that they have been able to expand over time.  Throw in that this game is complex and design choices they made early on made a huge impact on development, it doesn't surprise me that this game took this long to get to this point.

 

 

That makes sense. 

It's a great game, and they have been cooperative in the past when we found several issues.   It's appreciated when although they're busy, they take the time to help sort out issues.

[Scyris]

On 6/14/2023 at 1:43 AM, Sum Ting Wong said:

Love the game, and friends and I have played it for many years.  However, we are tired of losing hours and hours of creative time every time the version updates.  So, if A22 is not compatible with A21 maps, we are done.

 

Not a threat.   We (several groups of players) invest in the long game, and have other options that don't require complete rebuilds every time the devs update.

 

Thanks for the new/improved version.

 

D!

 

Goodbye. Stop getting attached to some pixels. Or don't play experimental.

[Gideon]

It takes them months to a year in between incompatible versions, and it's in alpha.

Sorry that doesn't work for you.