Post-release improvement plan

[Leszek]

As it has been mentioned multiple times already, we are planning to keep improving the Worlds of Magic according to your feedback.
It is crucial for us to make all of you sure that we are listening you and we are planning to make this game better and better.

This post should give you a good view how the game will be improved within couple next weeks. I’m planning to update it in the future to keep the info about tasks and dates as decent as possible. If the new major improvements are going to be added, you will find them here.

The plan is absed on the output possibilities of the dev team. Most of the tasks can't be rescheduled with others, even if we will put more resources.

• 04.16 Increased zoom out
  
• 04.16 Autoscouting for units
  
• 04.16 Quickstart from Main Menu
  
• 04.16 Multiplayer
  
• 04.23 Strategic Map improvement
  
• 04.23 Defenders attacking first when in city or fortified
  
• 04.23 Sounds fully implemented
  
• 04.23 Two new models of boats
  
• 05.07 Tutorial
  
• 05.21 Sorcerer Lords pack DLC - free
  
• 05.21 Titans DLC - free
  
• 06.18 All heroes models added
  
• 06.18 Defensive buildings
  
• 06.25 Casting spells AI improvement
  
• TBA Demo version of Worlds of Magic
  
• TBA Starting new game with last settings
  
• TBA Saving customized Sorcerers
  
• TBA Special boosters on tactical maps
  
• TBA Selecting the display size of trees on world map
  
• TBA Selecting the display size of mountains on world map
  
• TBA New race DLC - free
  
• Q116 PS4/XBOX ONE
  
• continously GUI improvements
  
• continously General AI improvements
  
• weekly Bugfixing

[spawntd]

WAOH

You are a really a good example regarding post relese support.

[Jacob]

That's a great plan Leszek, and I'm looking forward to pretty much everything listed!

As spawntd pointed out above, you and your team have set a new bar in the gaming industry for post release support, unheard of dedication and work ethic, and communication with your customers/community.

I really appreciate all your hard work, and thanks for taking the time and effort to lay out a plan for us here in the community, it's very reassuring, and very exciting - can't wait to see as this all rolls out!

[sokka87]

holy crackers, this games support staff is absolutely amazing. ive never seen a game given this much support after launch. keep up the amazing work :)

[Elhazzared]

Great stuff planned ahead. I am particularly excited for the more zoom out. Saving last setting for the game, saving SLs and the new race (cause I hope it's halflings which I absolutly adored before and am hoping they still work in the exact same spirit of them in MoM (AKA slingers of doom)).

[Elhazzared]

I just remember something that I had asked before but I'll add it here in case you consider to add it to your development plan.

Battle formation save.

[Flakmagnet]

Sounds great! Looking forward to it! Thanks for all your dedication and hard work.

[Eboreus]

Well ... Bugfixing is cool. Fast bugfixing is even cooler. But there must be a point not too long after release when updates and fixings don't come on a weekly basis anymore.

Why?

Because you can't be sure that there won't be a problem with loading a save after an update. There are games out there where the devs make sure that older saves work without problems - unless it is simply 100% necessary to break them in order to fix something. But the WoM fixes don't work this way.

That's why I just started one game since release and abandoned playing WoM when that one froze all too soon during a battle. And as long as there are weekly fixes and after that postings about lost resources or roads I won't touch WoM anymore. So do your fixes, make sure they won't hurt anything, and then maybe once a month or better once every two months send out a high quality update.

[Jacob]

@Eboreus - I don't think that Wastelands has put out any patch update that is not backwards compatible, to date anyway... not sure what your concern is there... I have save games going back 10 patch versions that load just fine?

[darren]

This roadmap, is what I've been waiting for, great stuff !!!!

I'm peeing, my pants over the titan release ;-)

[Troy]

That is a very aggressive schedule. Hope you can keep up with it!

[Gandalf]

Originally posted by Troy_Costisick:

That is a very aggressive schedule. Hope you can keep up with it!

I second this

[Eboreus]

Originally posted by Jacob:

@Eboreus - I don't think that Wastelands has put out any patch update that is not backwards compatible, to date anyway... not sure what your concern is there...

Didn't I make that clear enough? If you have a look at the threads at this forum you'll find several ones over the course of the last four or five weeks or so telling about broken saves after updates - in the way that resources or even roads vanished. If you are not focusing much around resources you may not notice that, but those who do and who care about where exactly to build cities and where not, they will notice. So, if I intend to play a big game which may take several weeks, I'm obviously better off to wait. Till maybe summer. Or even longer ...

[skeezix]

As a developer who has been there (and is currently in a special plane of hell ;), I'm quite impressed with your dedication.

I'm truly hopeful the payoff comes, especially with regards to future DLC and expansions .. I'm thinking along the lines of how Stardock got roasted for early Elemental, yet fully recovered with patching it up, giving away freebies to burnt previous purchasers, continuously reworking the engine until it became quite well respected, and using that engine to fuel into DLC, expansions and the next couple game titles. Essentially, all was forgiven, and those big misteps paid off.

Here, I think peopel are being unfairly critical ("overly critical"), but regardless, your teams dedication is astouning, and I think it'll blow over in time

But personally, I really like the game :)

[Eboreus]

Originally posted by skeezix:

I'm thinking along the lines of how Stardock got roasted for early Elemental, yet fully recovered with patching it up, giving away freebies to burnt previous purchasers, continuously reworking the engine until it became quite well respected,

Well, then let's all hope it will finally work out like this - but I am sceptical.

[Elhazzared]

I am not. Ever since early access I've seen nothing but good work from the devs. They listen and implement most things that people ask. They've been doing a great job with the game patching it up and adding the stuff that is missing.

Yes I can understand how you can be frustated with the saves, I'm pretty sure they will release a hot-patch to fix that just like they did with the previous version when saves were broken.