audsquad
Chieftain
shawnpdx said:
Now they're saying January 8.
C3C-mac ships tomorrow! (Dec14)
- Thread starter one_hoop
- Start date
Now they're saying January 8.
wallyskier
Chieftain
Hello Everyone-
I just checked out the Aspyr website and they are reporting Civ III complete as a "Final Candidate" with release still in Dec of 2005. No idea how often they update that website though...
I'm new to all of this software development lingo- I'm a plug-n-play type of guy. Could someone take the time to educate me in the differences between "alpha", "beta" and what they mean to me as a consumer?
Thanks
I just checked out the Aspyr website and they are reporting Civ III complete as a "Final Candidate" with release still in Dec of 2005. No idea how often they update that website though...
I'm new to all of this software development lingo- I'm a plug-n-play type of guy. Could someone take the time to educate me in the differences between "alpha", "beta" and what they mean to me as a consumer?
Thanks
Software dvelopment cycles vary widely, but most of the industry runs to a release sequence as follows:
Alpha releases are usually only to internal test and quality assurance staff, and often don't include the complete feature set to be delivered. If they are given to external testers it's on a very restricted basis.
Beta releases should be functionally complete, but in need of stress testing, and exposure to as many different hardware/operating system combinations as possible so that the final product will survive in the wild. Beta testing usually includes a range of testers outside of the developer organisation, often under Non-disclosure Agreements to control information about the product.
There's sometimes a final testing stage before full release, called "Release Candidate". Basically this is a final quality assurance level to ensure that the last fixes that were implemented following beta testing didn't break anything else.
Aspyr have an additional stage when they are porting someone else's product, as final approval is with the originator of the product - in this cane Firaxis/Take2. So Aspyr redefine their beta test stage to be when they submit the completed Mac version of the product to the original developer for approval. Their alpha test is what most developers would call beta testing. I've no idea what they call internal apha testing.
As consumers we understand that the beta test has finished at Take2, they gave some feedback to Aspyr, some changes were made, and the final Release Candidate has gone back to Take2. We are now waiting for Take2 to give the go ahead for the final Release Candidate to be sent for CD replication and distribution. Even Take2 probably take vacations at this time of year, so I'd say it's anyone's guess when that will actually happen. And of course they could still come up with delaying quality issues at any time prior to giving their seal of approval.
Alpha releases are usually only to internal test and quality assurance staff, and often don't include the complete feature set to be delivered. If they are given to external testers it's on a very restricted basis.
Beta releases should be functionally complete, but in need of stress testing, and exposure to as many different hardware/operating system combinations as possible so that the final product will survive in the wild. Beta testing usually includes a range of testers outside of the developer organisation, often under Non-disclosure Agreements to control information about the product.
There's sometimes a final testing stage before full release, called "Release Candidate". Basically this is a final quality assurance level to ensure that the last fixes that were implemented following beta testing didn't break anything else.
Aspyr have an additional stage when they are porting someone else's product, as final approval is with the originator of the product - in this cane Firaxis/Take2. So Aspyr redefine their beta test stage to be when they submit the completed Mac version of the product to the original developer for approval. Their alpha test is what most developers would call beta testing. I've no idea what they call internal apha testing.
As consumers we understand that the beta test has finished at Take2, they gave some feedback to Aspyr, some changes were made, and the final Release Candidate has gone back to Take2. We are now waiting for Take2 to give the go ahead for the final Release Candidate to be sent for CD replication and distribution. Even Take2 probably take vacations at this time of year, so I'd say it's anyone's guess when that will actually happen. And of course they could still come up with delaying quality issues at any time prior to giving their seal of approval.
wallyskier
Chieftain
Alan-
Thanks for taking the time to explain all of that. Very much appreciated as sometimes my students know more than I do. Hope you had a grand new year's celebration and a good 2006...
Thanks for taking the time to explain all of that. Very much appreciated as sometimes my students know more than I do. Hope you had a grand new year's celebration and a good 2006...
dojoboy
Tsalagi
AlanH said:
Take2 has cleared the Final Candidate, as of a few days ago. Word was passed on about their approval on 12/27/05. Duplication is next.
Quite right, I'd forgotten Brad said it went Golden* just before Christmas.
* A reference to the Gold disk they used to use to burn the master copy. The master is the grandparent for all subsequent copies.
* A reference to the Gold disk they used to use to burn the master copy. The master is the grandparent for all subsequent copies.
waltham845
lurked in the forum
Lets see so if it ships today or tomorrow, I have two day shipping. I either get it Saturday(7th) or Monday(9th). Yesssss.....
dojoboy
Tsalagi
waltham845 said:
Nope, unless you bought it directly from Aspyr. It's on its way to retailers now. So, you can't get it until they do. Sorry.
waltham845
lurked in the forum
dojo you rained on my parade. Oh well I was hoping it would come sooner than later. I really haven't played it on the PC. I've added graphics, played DYP, and GOTM for 1.29b, but was hoping that I might get a chance to play Conquests soon ...
...waltham845
lurked in the forum
Can opened worms everywhere. No was just hoping that it would be "sooner". I've been playing Civ since the days when I could do it on a MacPlus (was also addicted to a game called simearth for the mac anybody remember that one?),the span of time from there to now...
So a little more wait time won't hurt.
No was just hoping that it would be "sooner". I've been playing Civ since the days when I could do it on a MacPlus (was also addicted to a game called simearth for the mac anybody remember that one?),the span of time from there to now... So a little more wait time won't hurt.
Macintosh
Warlord
AlanH said:
Hooray Hooray
- so let's see what time it will take till the german resellers will have it on stock. Today morning they told me they wouldn't have any idea when it will come in.
dojoboy
Tsalagi
AlanH said:
Thanks Alan, that was genuinely funny - brightened my day.
audsquad
Chieftain
AlanH said:
A few more days definitely counts as beyond soon!
It's not a matter of attention span but of addicts jonesin' for a fix. 
Sigh.... whimper.... A few more days?!?!?waltham845 said:Can opened worms everywhere.
So a little more wait time won't hurt.
Simearth! Great game. I just loved that you could plop down monoliths and try for sentient reptiles.
I remember bouncing between Civ (the original), SimEarth, and a fun little game called Populous, where you literally got to play God.
Funny how Civ outlasted them all...
wallyskier
Chieftain
Oh boy, do I remember that game!
I used to get my fanny kicked in SimEarth, the "gaia" always was sick, so I switched to SimAnt and would regularly get wiped out there as well. Do you remember "Harpoon"? I think I fought WWIII in the Atlantic several times over late into the night on that old sim.
My old boss used to play a game called ( i think) PT-109 on his mac plus. He would waste hours patrolling the Pacific, looking for the Japanese.
Thanks for the trip down mac memory lane!
I used to get my fanny kicked in SimEarth, the "gaia" always was sick, so I switched to SimAnt and would regularly get wiped out there as well. Do you remember "Harpoon"? I think I fought WWIII in the Atlantic several times over late into the night on that old sim.
My old boss used to play a game called ( i think) PT-109 on his mac plus. He would waste hours patrolling the Pacific, looking for the Japanese.
Thanks for the trip down mac memory lane!
waltham845
lurked in the forum
Civilization(original) in Mac B&W now that was interesting to play and slow too. It took 10min. per turn, then I upgraded to a 7100/66. It got a little faster. Thanks for the trip back in time. My gaia was always sick too, I could get everything in balance maybe once every other game, otherwise...
Anyway back to Civ III and the waiting game.. Yes I am an addict, and I can quit at any time.
Anyway back to Civ III and the waiting game.. Yes I am an addict, and I can quit at any time.
audsquad
Chieftain
waltham845 said:Yes I am an addict, and I can quit at any time.
Hey, speaking of old Civ-like computer games, here's one that predates all of the aforementioned (I think). When I was in high school in the late 1970s, a friend of mine (whose dad worked for NASA) had one of those early Tandy personal computers from Radio Shack -- the kind with a *cassette* drive -- and they had a game very much like Civ (though also very primitive in comparison) called Hammurabi. You, the player, were Hammurabi, and you had to decide how many bushels of wheat to use to feed your people, how much to save for seed to plant for next year's crop, and how much to use to buy more land. That was about it, and I think it was all text-based, no graphics to speak of, and yet it was still quite addicting and we would play until the wee hours on a regular basis. One key was to predict when a "plague" would occur and wipe out half your population. Ah, the days.... Anyone else ever play that one, though?
(What are we, a bunch of recovering alkies reminiscing about our old favorite bottles of booze?
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