Will the 1.0 release exclude many of the initial plan's features

I think it is better to think of the upcoming v1.0 as a "complete game" rather than a "finished product". There's been several indications that development will continue post-release; v1.0 is marking the point that CWE has sufficient content and is sufficiently stable to be considered 'complete' but not marking the final iteration that ever will be. In other words, I'd avoid hoping the game will be precisely how you want it to be in three weeks time because it almost certainly won't be. But it might be a bit closer six months from now.

I've been following the game for a long time but, if I'm honest, have never been especially invested in the Steampunk stuff. From that perspective, I think you're right, it's a pretty good experience. That's not to say I don't have Opinions on how it might be improved. But it's tightened up pretty well over the last couple of months into something that feels pretty solid. So, good luck with the release and I look forward to seeing what comes after.

 

I used to be really excited for snoots and pipes and such, since then I've played factorio, some of the tech minecraft mods and fortresscraft evolved. I'm not sure how you could implement that kind of logistics without turning that into what the game is about. (By 'about' I mean it's where you wind up spending the bulk of your time as a player. Similar to how Sim City type games are often more about building roads than building cities.)

I think using the workers as the pipes works better than actual pipes. If I was to suggest something that filled the role in an automated way it would be 'clanks' that could only haul goods freeing up your other colonists from such manual drudgery.

 

I have only one question. Will there be roads and/or paths by 1.0?

 

I'm a little bit worried about this as well since any reviews of this game will be of what people see as of 1.0, for better or worse. I haven't played for a couple months but I've been following all of the blog posts and update notes and this seems premature. It could be the case where they were hoping that there'd be enough Early Access buyers to continue funding development which didn't seem to happen and they're running out of money.

That said, I'm hoping it turns out for the best. Even if I end up not enjoying the final product it will have been more than worth it for me simply because this was a way for me to give more money to the developers as appreciation for the 200-ish hours I put into Dungeons of Dredmor.

 

Unfortunately, I am finding myself unable to. I was seduced by the pitch "steampunk meets lovecraft", and now half of that has suddenly disappeared. Unfortunately it was the half that I was most excited about. I do not see myself ever booting up the game again. I am both sad and disappointed, and I feel it could have been communicated a lot better that, and when, you scrapped these things.

BUT!

These things are all just my feelings. It doesn't say anything about the game you're actually going to ship. And frankly, that game is pretty decent. Probably better than that, if viewed by a person that isn't me. And while I will most likely never play it, I do wish the very very best for the game, and for you guys. My money were paid to help you develop the game. It turned out to be a game I am not interested in, but that's what happens once in a while. I feel a need to let you know how sad I am that you chose to axe the parts of the game that had my heart singing and blood running, but it should never be misunderstood as anger or ill will. You guys do great fucking work, and you've poured heart and soul into this game for a long bloody time!

You made choices I vehemently disagree with, but those were your bloody choices to make, not mine. And I'm sure as hell not going to leave a pissy steam review or start whining about refunds. Hell, in all likelihood I'll buy the game one more time and just give it away, once the full release rolls in. I am sad that I didn't get the game I wanted, but somehow I suspect I may be able to carry on living in spite of that

I hope the release goes well and that there's a bright future for this and any other games you guys end up making.

 

Pretty much sums up my stance on it all.

It's certainly not the game I bought into or even the game that was still there last year.... but it is Gaslamps call how they decide to repackage their game during development even seemingly refocusing the game 'at the last minute' when they had internally agreed they were going to ship 1.0 this year and decisions seemed more about pushing to make that happen rather than because they were more practical than what was already in place or improved the experience of the game.

What the game stands as now is solid and enjoyable for something trying to do what it now does, but for what it was pitched as and up until last year was still being discussed as by officials, the changes that came this year has the game falling significantly short of being remotely close to what it set out to be, what it was until (relatively) recently and what the longer term adopters got involved in early access expecting.... and the parts that matter are now very much cemented down now.

Gaslamp can't ship 1.0 and then be reiterating systems replacing them with new ones anymore like they have been... to do so would be incredibly problematic from a reaction standpoint from people who bought what was presented as a released game and I do hope Gaslamp haven't sold themselves on the notion they can do things like reuse stable behaviours in everything for now just to kick the game out the door and then get around to outright replacing it 6+ months into release and pull the rug out from everyone who bought a 'finished game' to find they've got a game constantly changing and trying to figure itself out still.

So with the push of 1.0 in the coming weeks what is there and how it behaves, is what everyone should be prepared to always be there and behaving as it does.

If Gaslamp are happy with those states and it's in-line with what they want to represent the final form of their game, that's fair enough and they have a good micro-management industrial colony building game that will make those looking for a more Banished experience really enjoy the game.

But it's certainly not touching on the kind of experience presented in how the game was to play through 2014 and 2015 nor from the active discussions with Daniel on these boards about colonists, their behaviour, their simulation and where it will all fit into the game. The discussions with other developers about the role of cults as a juicy flavour to the game, not a linear 'bad trigger'... and all the other active discussions that were still flowing up until the calendar hit 2016 and then all that stuff was discarded for what was more appropriate for the shipping time schedule.

But fortunately the writing has very much on the wall since the start of the year so I would imagine most actively following the game already saw where things were heading and knew what to expect so the release announcement and what represents 1.0 now is no surprise.... except perhaps that it's releasing now and not 4 months ago.

But in a nutshell what was "Dwarf Fortress meets The Sims" as a generalised explanation, became "Banished meets Anno". Not what many drawn into the Early Access bought into, but as long as it's still fun that's enough for most I'm sure. And as long as Gaslamp make it PERFECTLY clear the degree of how much they're repackaged the game to be something else in the last year and present it on Steam and everywhere else for what it stands as now, then they've got a solid game on their hands that should hopefully do well with the proper audience.

Regardless of what the game ended up being, I still stand by what I've said throughout. Gaslamp has consistently worked to an astonishingly high standard throughout the entire Early Access process in the dependable rate of development, willingness to tackle new ideas for existing systems and perform massive overhauls until they found something that felt right for what they had in mind, and kept communication flowing consistently throughout not being afraid to engage with discussions and feedback on changes and hopes for new barebones systems. All to a level that puts every single other studio out there to shame.... I don't think any other studio has really done those collective jobs as well as Gaslamp has these 2 years

I do think a bit more upfront frankness about the shift in what the game will and will not be this year may have been in order rather than leaving such things for people to connect the dots and figuring where it was all heading.... but perhaps either fear of the reactions to such frankness stopped that from happening.... or maybe even Gaslamp didn't really know what the game would finally come together as over these last 10 months and so couldn't say themselves.

 

It was a surprise to me that it was going into full release on the 26th, but I also didn't really read the dev blog posts much until about 2 months ago onward, so I knew there was information I had missed and I did nothing whatsoever to correct that, so I have no one to blame for that in particular but my own self.

I know I may be in the minority in the forum community on this is particular, but I've actually liked most of the system changes (I'll always miss free-form stockpiles and job selection), as have all my Steam friends (none of whom post on the forums either here OR Steam) who play the game. The only singular thing any of us have considering even possibly "deal-breaking" for us is maybe the new limited zoom out. Mind you, none of this is to say that I don't understand where those who got involved from the very beginning are coming from, just that I truly believe the game will do just fine and will have an audience that loves it, it's just that a lot of those people may not start being communicative via forums and such until after full launch.

Systems aside, I can easily see how more content that works within said systems can be added via updates. More steampunk/Lovecraft-inspired modules and such at least, if not outright new workshops at some point. Granted, I could be dead wrong about all of that, I'm no developer by any stretch of the imagination! But I've not lost faith that I'm going to lose an obscene amount of time to this game. lol

Just please...PLEASE give me roads even if they serve no purpose other than just for looks, not having them has been very strange this whole entire time.

 

Now that I can't make "roads" with stockpiles (since they're fixed sizes now) the colony looks... eh it looks mostly the same but I liked making it with roads ....

 

No Mans Sky will pay for their crimes!

 

Yeah but there's lots of people playing it, making videos about it and of themselves playing it, so that's all pretty upfront you know?

 

Hey - just want to reiterate, seeing as how this thread took off, that I still am a huge fan of you guys (is that weird? I feel like I kinda know you after reading all your posts for 2+ years...), and while the final game may not be what I was initially picturing, I've honestly had a ton of fun just following the development. The last thing I want is for the huge achievement that is a successful release to be marred by recriminations/trolling/bitterness; I just wanted to figure out what game was actually releasing. Seriously, nothing but Mazel Tov from me.

 

Just so long as we have good end game content, and a good challenge to figure out, with a lot of fun and good tools to meet that challenge with, I'll be satisfied. I really hope that cults and the other lovecraft elements will start becoming real threats.So far though the only thing that's actually threatened me losing the game were simply getting too big too fast, or enemy armies, and having those be the biggest threats seems far too pedestrian.

 

And you can do a lot of diplomatic kowtowing to prevent the enemy armies, too