Wondering if a class action suit would spur Sid to make good on promises

[StreetWired]

Probably never been tried, but it would certainly make game developers think twice before releasing untested and non-functioning games. This is just one of many over the years.
Course it could stifle the smaller game developers, but they generally release functioning games.
I know a lot of developers release a quick patch soon after a game is released, as there is a time gap between released to production and when it appears on store shelves, but there is no doubt that a non-functioning game was released to production by Meier's group, and took quite awhile before the patch released, and even then, game only worked for some, most not. And here we are 6 months+ later, and still no patch for those that can't even get the game to run.

Yes, a good kick in their butts might just be what is needed.

 

[vthyng]

This is ridiculous. My problems are regular game crashes, jerky video, and jerky game performance.

Their support gave up on me, suggesting I make sure i have the latest drivers. I am running on windows XP 64bit so I though maybe a clean start on Vista would help. Exact same problems.

If anyone knows how to get a message through to Sid let me know.

Cheers!

Vince

 

[Underdawg]

---- Deleted -----

mistakenly put it here.

 

[Tae]

This is just one reason all PC franchises are eventually going to move to consoles. Or Vista I guess, not sure what Games for Windows will solve though.

 

[Sub]

It has nothing to do with the PC. It has to do with the developer not caring to release a bugfree game.

And no, a class action law suit would be moronic. It's only a video game.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I suport it. Sid needs a slap in the face so he can see what he has done.

 

[warpstorm]

If you live in the US and agreed to your EULA after reading it, you don't have the right to sue them over the game (it is a legally binding contract that you agreed to). If you didn't agree to the EULA, you could return the game.

Developing games for the PC sucks (I know because I do it for a living). It is for all intents and purposes impossible to test all possible configurations that a person can have his PC in.

 

[Chieftess]

Probably never been tried, but it would certainly make game developers think twice before releasing untested and non-functioning games. This is just one of many over the years.
Course it could stifle the smaller game developers, but they generally release functioning games.
I know a lot of developers release a quick patch soon after a game is released, as there is a time gap between released to production and when it appears on store shelves, but there is no doubt that a non-functioning game was released to production by Meier's group, and took quite awhile before the patch released, and even then, game only worked for some, most not. And here we are 6 months+ later, and still no patch for those that can't even get the game to run.

Yes, a good kick in their butts might just be what is needed.

If people could sue over bugs in software, then Bill Gates wouldn't be so rich. Like warpstorm said, the more complex a piece of software (games included), the harder it is to find a bug. Sure, something like int main(void) { cout << "Hello World"; return 0; } isn't gonna have that many bugs, and doesn't really need to be tested that much. Anyone who's taken a Software Engineering class knows this -- they talk about bug testing and exploring as many "paths" in the software. They do test the most important paths (the ones that the user, or player will most commonly do, as well as extreme ends).

The problem is compounded when you have multiple PC configurations. Maybe in a controlled setting, a game works with an Athlon processor, and in another it works with a GeForce video card, but they may not work together if one version of a card is used with another version of a driver. This is where all of the graphical bugs come in. Not all graphical bugs are the result of the software or game, but maybe due to an outdated card not communicating with the latest version of DirectX, or maybe a new card does something a bit differently. It's always funny to see people getting Windows Vista and then screaming, "Firaxis is stupid! They made a game that didn't work on Vista!", when the operating system hasn't even been out during development (betas don't count!).

It basically works like this --

[ Game talks to a graphics engine. ] --> [ Graphics engine talks to a graphics platform (i.e., DirectX) ] --> [ DirectX talks to the current video drivers on how to communicate with the hardware. ] --> [ Drivers translate for the hardware ] --> [ Hardware displays the images as it interprets it. ]

Between the game and the users, there's so many different things that can be distorted. Long gone are the days when programmers could simply create a few hundred lines of assembler code to talk directly to a video card. Now, gamers want 3D, and making that from scratch could delay a game 5 years atleast. (Even at that, some assembler code, like ModeX, doesn't even work on a Windows XP platform due to interrupt codes that Windows uses and overrides whatever code you put. i.e. int13h)

Then there's the publisher. Sometimes the publisher wants a game out "NOW!", regardless of any bugs that may still be in the system.

 

[Dida]

If you live in the US and agreed to your EULA after reading it, you don't have the right to sue them over the game (it is a legally binding contract that you agreed to). If you didn't agree to the EULA, you could return the game.

This is wrong. You can still bring a class action law suit even if you signed the EULA which stipulates that you cannot.

This is game is so ridiculously buggy that I wonder whether they even bother to test it before releasing. Over half of the games that I started ended up crashing to desktop. What a game!

 

[IamJohn]

Yeah, just what we needed, another class action suit to scare the companies away from making more games....

 

[Dida]

Yeah, just what we needed, another class action suit to scare the companies away from making more games....

I would rather have no game than a game like SM's RR. This game is utter garbage, certainly not worth the $9.99 that I paid to pick it off the discount bin.

 

[GenocideBringer]

I think we're being a bit unfair here. Remember that horsehockey support and oftentimes even buggy gameplay is not the fault of the developer. The publisher controls the contract, and it wouldn't be the first time a publisher's release date demands has caused half-finished games to appear on the market.

horsehockey support is DEFINITELY the fault of the publisher, and very possibly, so are the bugs. It's possible Sid and the devs just . .. .. .. .ed up, but I would be careful about pointing the finger so quickly.

 

[sabo]

Developing games for the PC sucks (I know because I do it for a living). It is for all intents and purposes impossible to test all possible configurations that a person can have his PC in.

You are correct warp, but I think the complaint here is the game does not work for MOST of us here, not just a few.

 

[SuperSatan3]

I found it somewhat playable on my laptop, which has a 64mb integrated graphics card.
Mind you, it seems to randomly get choppy from time to time. I had chalked this down to large/complex maps, but when I pressed ctrl+alt+del, it was only taking up 800 of my 1500 megs of memory.

I am assuming that the majority of the forum readers have better machines than me(gaming-wise, as this laptop was meant for school use).

Still, I thin this game is good for when you get all cived out, or when you want some non-violent rts.

 

[Phlegmak]

I remember when Play The World was released. I bought it very early on, and its main menu was the days of the week, instead of stuff like "Start new Game" or "Load Game", etc.

 

[topbidder]

Here are a couple of tips to minimize the number crashes. I have found the game on my Windows XP machine (1G memory) crashes from internet interrupts. The game is much more stable when my PC is not hooked up to the internet AND my PC had not been hooked up whenever it was started or restarted. However, you still need to watch out for an anti-virus update request (which you may get because you are not connected to the internet); that request will also crash the game.

So boot up your PC, make sure your anti-virus program is updated, detatch from the internet, restart your PC, and then load the game. Since I began following this procedure, I have experienced far fewer crashes, especially in the early stages of the game. Later on, however, when there are a lot of cities in play, the game is apt to crash during reload (CTRL-L). I don't know what to do about that problem.

I am sure it is difficult to make a game work under many different configurations but I can't see any legitimate excuse for not fixing a game that crashes in response to interrupts from other programs.

 

[GerBa76]

My computor meets all and mostly exceeds all of the recommended system requiremnts and the game still crashes about half the time. How many other products would you buy that only worked half the time? Be it developer or publisher, somebody ripped me off.

 

[Greybriar]

Welcome to the Civilization Fanatics' Forums, GerBa76.

I missed this thread last year, its first time around. Anyway, the game was much more stable for me under Windows XP than it is under Windows Vista.

So my first question is: which operating system do you use?

 

[GerBa76]

Welcome to the Civilization Fanatics' Forums, GerBa76.

I missed this thread last year, its first time around. Anyway, the game was much more stable for me under Windows XP than it is under Windows Vista.

So my first question is: which operating system do you use?

Thank you Greybrier. I didn't notice that the date was a year old since the problem is still current with, I guess, no new patches, nor any forthcoming. It's too bad, guess I'll just write this one off.
I run Win XP with SP2, 2.4gig Intel processor, ATI Radeon 256 mb 9250, 1280 mb memory and DX 9c. The game dumps me to the desktop more often than not with the error report notice to click on even if I'm just laying track and don't even have any trains running. It's very frustrating.

 

[Greybriar]

Being the non-technical person that I am, I'm afraid that I can't personally help you with your problem.

However, you might get some help from one of the fan sites like Hooked on Railroads! With their help, I managed to at least get Railroads! stable enough to play on my system.

Good luck!