Stomping Land rebuild Q&A

[jig]

There has been a whole lot of curiosity about the state of Stomping Land, what I'm doing with it, why the very slight delay of... 7 years, etc. My recent thinking about this was to rebuild much of the game first and talk later, because I'm convinced that the evidence of progress is more effective than any answers I could give.. at least for the time being. But given the amount of discourse going around, we can just tackle this now, and again later if anyone likes.

First, I'll cover some commonly seen questions and then answer any replies over the next few days or so.


Q: jig, what happened?
A: The primary issue with the original Stomping Land was that I didn't keep fans informed. There were times when the game went weeks or occasionally months without an update, fans started believing the game was abandoned, and many others got upset that prototype features weren't seen in the actual alpha release. One major mistake was that I didn't clarify the purpose of the prototype, which was to showcase that I'm capable of developing the features of this game. The prototype itself however, was developed with an emphasis on speed, not structure. This means that much of the actual game had to be rebuilt so that everything was part of a unified system, working online, and capable of overlapping with all other features. During this transition, many features had to sit on the backburner. My trajectory was to take the game from A-to-Z, discover everything that I didn't know I needed to know since this was my first rodeo, and then reiterate through all the pieces until it eventually turned into something great. This whole process is what makes indy development awesome, and even though the original launch of the game was... subpar, it was amazing just to be able to see random people fight dinosaurs and craft weapons, etc. Despite all this, most fans who were in the dark with this process interpreted these results as some kind of deception when so much was missing and updates took so long, and it was my fault for not addressing the obvious. For that, I am sorry.

Even though it took so many years, I'm perfectly confident returning to this game because I know that my intentions have always been genuine.. I still really want to make this game. Now, I'm far better equipped to tackle the pieces of this project, and I have been testing a great strategy for updates over the last few months. Instead of the classic "major patch" here and there, I'm employing a "play-it-as-I-build-it" process with week to week updates, allowing anyone to jump in as if you were part of the development process. As a one-person devteam, it's far more beneficial to me to just have people try things out as I'm making it, instead of treating the game in such an official manner. Plus it will probably be interesting for others to watch a project evolve.


Q: Did it really need to take 7 years though?
A: The best way to answer this is to just produce results, but I really have been using this time to fine-tune all aspects of the gamedev craft, from programming to content creation. I experimented with a bunch of pseudo-projects, vr games, webassembly games, and classic games with UE4. I did have the occasional sidequest here and there, and these last couple years I got sidetracked by an awesome job opportunity, which I then left to pursue the Stomping Land rebuild.


Q: Is this some kind of cash grab?
A: Stomping Land is not being sold or resold to anyone, I'm not accepting donations or any crowd-funding, I'm not making Stomping Land 2 nor am I making some other game. I'm rebuilding Stomping Land for free for a few reasons:

1- I owe it to a lot of fans to give them a cool game they anticipated having.
2- I still really want to play this game the way I imagine it, despite the catalog of similar games.
3- The misunderstanding of this games history still hangs on me and I need to fix it.

It doesn't matter if the playerbase never exceeds 10 people, or if it doesn't make a single dime. I just need to make an acceptable result. If the game ever goes up for sale again, it wouldn't be up to me, it would be up to you. The only thing I can do from here is try to make something of value.


Q: What about "the employees you didn't pay?"
A: Just to clarify a few base facts-- I've never had employees or office space. I've always worked out of my living room and I had freelancers make specific assets per-contract, like sound effects and dinosaur models. Here's the important part: every single contract for every person who has ever worked for me has been paid in full and on time. I have a flawless record working with contractors and this has always been the case. As far as the claim from the dinosaur modeler, I don't know why he would say that, but I wonder if he had anything to gain by doing so. I'm not going to entertain the topic any further because I have no intention of creating heat, and if those claims were to leverage through the proper channels, I have everything I need to dissolve it.


Q: Is anyone working with you on the rebuild?
A: I'd like to remain solo for at least the first year of development.. primarily as a challenge for myself. While I am going to push to remain consistent, there's no rush to make this, so I'll reevaluate development goals periodically. The only exception is audio... I never make audio.


Q: What are you planning on doing to the new version of Stomping Land?
A: While the development builds will be open to everyone to play, the actual plans will mostly stay locked up.. because.. well you saw how that went. Here are some key weights to my current plan:

1- Keep the best ideas and features from the prototype.
2- Leverage a few major hooks to differentiate this game from other similar games.
3- Compose a visual identity more accurate than what I was able to do in the prototype.
4- Purge unnecessary content so this is actually possible by one person.


Q: Are you going to keep that garbage mechanic of roping other players that made me ragequit on repeat?
A: I mean... the jury is still out :] The original game had an unintentionally high emphasis on pvp though, and my current gameplay layout has more emphasis on cooperative hunting mechanics.


Q: What's the deal with all the bans?
A: I really don't want to ban anyone, but some people just turn vitriol into a hobby. Ultimately, the forums aren't for me, they're for everyone else, and if someone is spitting misinformation or starting arguments then I have no problem giving the boot. Just be friendly, right?


The rebuild of Stomping Land is already up and running, and will iterate consistently over time. Anyone who is curious about progress doesn't need to ask.. just jump ingame with weekly~ updates using "dev playtest" from launch.

[MManic]

I'm not gonna lie, Stomping Land was my first PC game when I came back to PC gaming after years and years of not playing, and it had such an impact on me, even in it's base form. I was sad when it went, and I missed it and every time I scrolled past it on my library I got a little sad, of what could of been.

I always wondered what happened, and I tend to believe you having read this. No donos, no sales, what else have you to gain bar making it come true, and clearing the rumors?

I'll be playing the builds as they come, and if you ever need audio help, I'd be into helping.

Good luck, Jig!

[ber_aleks (RUS)]

Спустя столько лет... Надеюсь все это не обман...

[Pandinus]

Dude I will literally request steam to remove this game from my library if you remove the bolas and jailing mechanic. This was so unique and engaging, just keep it as an option for alternative more cooperative focused servers or something but damn it I've yet to find anything that comes close to the feeling of "try and get your friends back if you can".

It's been 7 years, most survivals are hesitant to go so far into such mechanics because people are thin skinned. Those stupid bolas hold such a special place in my heart and even 7 years later and many many many survivals and sandbox games later I still hold those damn bolas near the top of gameplay features.

[Xalkyrr]

I wish you the best of luck.
And I hope you can pull off the redemption this game truly deserves.

[Brother Buto]

Love to see it. This was one of my first PC games i played when making the switch from console. Will definitely be playing as the updates come out. Godspeed!

[Manuel]

I... I don´t... know how to respond... but lets try. iam happy that this once promising game hasn´t been dumped and it has been a welcome suprise. but this happening seemed so unlikely to me that it led me to fear of beeing struck by lightning during a sunny day.
Aaaanyway thanks for not stoping developing. I wish you only the best for its future development and a good protection against the demon of prograstination

[MrMunchkin]

I'm so excited for this! Are you excited for this?

[JoeriTube]

Respect. Thank you for this. This is all we needed

[Undermin0r]

Amazing to hear :)

[MetalMamemon]

Alright mr. dino man, I saw the tweet and i have downloaded the game for the first time in 5 years. I look forward to seeing progress

[Rapteh]

It's been years, but I hope you will be able to make something people will enjoy.
I think it will be hard to get off of the ground and gain any air though.

[GarrettRAF]

Well Jig i'd say this is a good start to recovery. I'd say you have answered in this post any questions I'd currently have about at this time. I'd still want this game to succeed. Being involved with the player base and paying attention to how we feel about the game is important as well as making the right adjustments to any issues the game has that comes unexpectedly.

[GOOSE]

Ironic that you are quick to defend yourself about the claims of not paying contractors for their work, but many people paid for physical items in the original kickstarter of the game (self included) never received their items or refunds. I guess when customer's paid you for something in return it didn't matter.

[No skill only Tiktok]

When I opened this forum, I didn't expect to see a dev post here.
I hope this will be a real resurrection of the game.

Btw roping sometimes was so funny :)

[☠ Buccaneer ☠]

Talk is one thing, action is another. You say you're gonna show action, I will remain skeptical until then. I wish you the best of luck though! We really don't have enough dinosaur games, so I really hope you're not going to disappear again. Please succeed 🙏