So, you THINK you have bubble lag or bugs?

[mahoodlum]

Alright, your game has "finished" its development stage number three and the "finish" button appears. BUT - What is this? every so often, at random intervals, there are Bugs appearing and being fixed, there are Tech and Design bubbles adding to the tech and design scores of the game - is this the lag you have?

If so, ladies and gentlemen, it is the representation in the game of what the gaming industry struggles with when they decide to release a game - how long do they wait to release it after the majority of bugs are gone, but some might still be lurking there? Or, If I tinker with this bit, I can make it better - i.e I can add design and tech points every so often improving the game, but at a slower rate as most of teh design and tech is already done - these are just minor changes being made.

The question is when is a game truly finished? The ability to find bugs and add design and tech to the "finished" product just represents the difficult dsicion of "when" to release knowing that post development bug finding and tinkering will all make the game better, but the Hype factor is dropping...... Hype means sales guys...... quality product or maximise your sales and maybe have to patch later? oh the decision!

So, I see no bubble lag if the above situation is what you are describing, which is probably why the actual game developer cannot replicate the issue, as it's an intended feature. If the game is behaving differently to described above, then that is a bug.

I hope that helps!

Hoodlum

[Dorok]

Well the game omit two major parts, testing and quality check. Moreover if you want go in details, no game has no bug, never ever. To better reflect the problem the game should also figure the problem of obsolete team members.

So it would be to add in the game a test management, overall, you pay for a test phase + fix + check fix, then if you release without test more you get x bugs and need manage patches. You could also pay for a second test phases and release with fewer hidden bugs at release, and so on.

The quality check is about polishing the game, it can definitely be a part of tests but there's a problem between pure bug and quality, that's why it's better polishing when it's separated because it requires separated skills and different knowledge, and requires a different focus. Then you'll have the ability to pay for more quality check to polish more or less the game.

[mahoodlum]

Sure, I agree - it would add more depth, but don't forget, this has been developed by two guys in a garage - albeit sitting next to what looks like a Delorean - Instant cash injection if they sold that heh!)

Also, this is about people that believe their game is lagging - I was trying to explain the in game mechanic was causing this, not actual real time game lag or real time game bug :)

[Dorok]

Yeah I did understood OP points I just wanted pinpoint it was very far too reality. The point is it's very easy and doesn't cost much to release a game with zero bug in the game and the reality is totally different. Moreover increasing developing phase is a very complex subject and the bubbles thing doesn't really reflect it.

For me the bubbles lagging which is tedious is bubbles that popup and don't count for a work, that pointless tedious detail, come one let all bubbles that popout before timeout count.

EDIT: I don't buy at all the 2 guys argument, so if they where 10 I should be more comprehensive? No way I share that common point of view. For me the 2 guys thing is already reflected through game production value and game size, it wont justify bugs, lack of polishing, lack of important features, bad designs, and so on. That's in general for adding some test and quality management it's another point, not sure it could improve the gameplay or not.

[Smokey The Bear]

o.O i don't think anyone thought this was some sort of lag. The "lag" or framerate issues that some of us experience is during big projects late-game and the game starts freezing up. Sometimes moving to the research lab and back fixes it, sometimes I have to restart the game. This has been an issue since the game was released several months ago. I heard it's probably a memory leak issue, or possibly a problem the game has with early generations of quad-core CPUs, which i have. I just wish they would look into it, as many people experience this.

[Elisa (Entropy Cat)]

Originally posted by Smokey The Bear:

o.O i don't think anyone thought this was some sort of lag. The "lag" or framerate issues that some of us experience is during big projects late-game and the game starts freezing up. Sometimes moving to the research lab and back fixes it, sometimes I have to restart the game. This has been an issue since the game was released several months ago. I heard it's probably a memory leak issue, or possibly a problem the game has with early generations of quad-core CPUs, which i have. I just wish they would look into it, as many people experience this.

I think he means something else by saying "lag" more along the lines of how actual games are delayed for a while because they may find bugs or think there could be more things added. "lagging" a bit to try and iron everything out. alright I don't think the word "lag" is a good term to use for this. anyway, I'm pretty sure it's the overload of design and tech bubbles, maybe if they try and put a limit on how many bubbles are shown at once it could help or give an option like in minecraft, to disable, limit, or show all of them. I just hope they start patching it soon, ironically you can make a game that people sometimes demand a patch for...and now we want a patch for the game itself < w>;