[TAB]Fall from Heaven 2 will be releasing the first version of the "Fire" phase on Friday, February 16th. You are all invited to be beta testers for this version (and hopefully have some fun in doing so).
[TAB]Before we release I wanted to put up this brief message so that everyone expects the same things. First, lets talk about the design process the FfH team follows:
1. Brainstorming- Where the team starts throwing out ideas for things we would like to see in the game. Technical limitations are generally ignored and even ideas that are out of scope are accepted (though usually moved into other phases later on).
[TAB]At the end of brainstorming we have a high level list of features we want to implement, this is the design document.
2. Creation- This is where we start adding features as quickly as possible. Some play testing is done by the team here but the goal of that testing is to encourage new ideas, not really to balance or to offer feedback on the ideas. Most of the time the features implemented during this stage aren't fun and don't work well, but they are left in.
[TAB]When the build and features begins to get fun and we find ourselves spending more and more time playing and less time designing we know we are ready for the next phase. The requirement is a beta build of the game.
3. Play testing- This is where we need you. A beta build is released to the community for you guys to start playing. The focus at this stage is for feedback on the new features (are they fun?) and isolating and resolving bugs. We generally aren't too concerned with cosmetic issues or balance. It doesn't do us any good to fine tune if we don't know what's staying and what's going.
[TAB]At the end of this stage we should have a build that is working without errors and concensus on what features are good and need more focus, which are running fine as they are, and what isn't fun and needs to be changed or removed.
4. Iteration- This is where we get into our 6-8 week versioning. We tweak and make changes, then get it out to you guys to play. This is the fun stage, new ideas bounce around, new stuff gets in quickly, every version is better than the last. This is also where we focus on balance and fine tuning.
[TAB]When we believe we have implemented all the features speced in the Design Document in the best way possible we are ready to move onto the polish stage.
5. Polish- We are always writing new entries and adding art. But this is where it becomes our primary focus. A list of needed assets is made and the team gets busy trying to chew through as much as we can. The community may also be asked to contribute (you guys did an amazing job with the spell pedia entries).
[TAB]When this phase is done we have a finished product, we close the phase and go on to the next one.
[TAB]Right now we are about to enter the play testing stage. Just as it says above our main focus is going to be on isolating and resolving bugs and getting feedback about what you like and dont like. Although feedback on cosmetic issues and balance is always appreciated they aren't a high priority at this time. We know there are missing pedia entries, we know there is placeholder art.
[TAB]So please expect that the release that you get will not be complete. It will contain bugs and we probably won't be quick to react to reports of cosmetic or balance issues. Outside of that we welcome your participation in the beta and look forward to hearing your feedback (plenty of time for the rest later on).
[TAB]This thread will be unlocked on Feb 16th. Sorry to those that saw it and thought we may have released early. I wanted to make sure everyone had the same expectations before the 16th.
[TAB]Before we release I wanted to put up this brief message so that everyone expects the same things. First, lets talk about the design process the FfH team follows:
1. Brainstorming- Where the team starts throwing out ideas for things we would like to see in the game. Technical limitations are generally ignored and even ideas that are out of scope are accepted (though usually moved into other phases later on).
[TAB]At the end of brainstorming we have a high level list of features we want to implement, this is the design document.
2. Creation- This is where we start adding features as quickly as possible. Some play testing is done by the team here but the goal of that testing is to encourage new ideas, not really to balance or to offer feedback on the ideas. Most of the time the features implemented during this stage aren't fun and don't work well, but they are left in.
[TAB]When the build and features begins to get fun and we find ourselves spending more and more time playing and less time designing we know we are ready for the next phase. The requirement is a beta build of the game.
3. Play testing- This is where we need you. A beta build is released to the community for you guys to start playing. The focus at this stage is for feedback on the new features (are they fun?) and isolating and resolving bugs. We generally aren't too concerned with cosmetic issues or balance. It doesn't do us any good to fine tune if we don't know what's staying and what's going.
[TAB]At the end of this stage we should have a build that is working without errors and concensus on what features are good and need more focus, which are running fine as they are, and what isn't fun and needs to be changed or removed.
4. Iteration- This is where we get into our 6-8 week versioning. We tweak and make changes, then get it out to you guys to play. This is the fun stage, new ideas bounce around, new stuff gets in quickly, every version is better than the last. This is also where we focus on balance and fine tuning.
[TAB]When we believe we have implemented all the features speced in the Design Document in the best way possible we are ready to move onto the polish stage.
5. Polish- We are always writing new entries and adding art. But this is where it becomes our primary focus. A list of needed assets is made and the team gets busy trying to chew through as much as we can. The community may also be asked to contribute (you guys did an amazing job with the spell pedia entries).
[TAB]When this phase is done we have a finished product, we close the phase and go on to the next one.
[TAB]Right now we are about to enter the play testing stage. Just as it says above our main focus is going to be on isolating and resolving bugs and getting feedback about what you like and dont like. Although feedback on cosmetic issues and balance is always appreciated they aren't a high priority at this time. We know there are missing pedia entries, we know there is placeholder art.
[TAB]So please expect that the release that you get will not be complete. It will contain bugs and we probably won't be quick to react to reports of cosmetic or balance issues. Outside of that we welcome your participation in the beta and look forward to hearing your feedback (plenty of time for the rest later on).
[TAB]This thread will be unlocked on Feb 16th. Sorry to those that saw it and thought we may have released early. I wanted to make sure everyone had the same expectations before the 16th.
