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Post by Gmr Leon on Sept 18, 2014 23:52:52 GMT
Okay, for anyone not in the know, Amplitude Studios is the developer of the 4X strategy game Endless Space and is currently developing two Early Access titles, a roguelike by the name of Dungeon of the Endless and a 4X fantasy strategy game named Endless Legend. As part of their development process, Amplitude has a system in place called Games2Gether, and what this amounts to is probably the most formalized system of open game development I have ever seen. Like, sure, there's the informal process of other Early Access devs of popping in, telling you what's up and giving you some ETAs, right? Amplitude blows this out of the water by running polls for certain aspects of the game, providing the design documentation, and being completely clear on what ideas they've caught wind of and how they have them sorted, to the extent of admitting whether or not they're applicable given their creative vision of the game. Holy shit, right? It sounds unreal, and maybe to some extent it is, but its rundown in this article makes it out to be amazing. This is how every Early Access title should be handled, as far as I'm concerned. |
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Post by Danjal on Sept 19, 2014 0:01:56 GMT
Here's the thing about that. ANYONE who owns one of their games gets points awarded to their account. Own Endless Space? = points, Admiral edition? = extra points. Endless Legend/Dungeon of the Endless? = points, special editions? = extra points. On top of that, anyone who is active on their forums and in their community also gets extra points. Take part in community events? = points. Thats a lot of points you might say? What is it all used for. Well, with all the votes mentioned by Gmr Leon above, for each vote you take, your points get counted towards that vote. So the more active you are, and the more of their games you have. The bigger an impact your vote will have. Resulting in the fact that the most active community members and biggest supporters of the studio will inherently have more sway on the voting process. I've taken part in the majority of their votes since the launch of the G2G program, and I think it is awesome. Often they even have community contests beforehand to pick new concepts and suggestions. Of which 3 will remain to get voted upon. The community will end up picking the focus of development - and the games will progress in the direction that the fans want. |
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Post by Gmr Leon on Sept 19, 2014 0:14:59 GMT
So what you're saying is...It actually works to some degree? And it enables and rewards those interested in their titles? ...Why isn't this more advertised?  This is what every Early Access developer needs to have in place to handle all their feedback, to some extent or another, I'd say. By the way, my favorite part from this article: "Please note that one thing we did not do as part of our OD [open development] strategy was raise funds. While the crowd funding aspect of OD has been a huge success, there are a few reasons why we did not feel it was good for Amplitude (and we would probably not change that decision if we were to do it all over again): -The community is tied to the crowd funding site, not your site. -If you don’t get all the money you target, you get none of it. - If the product changes a lot during development – and it was our first game so we knew this was a risk – you’ll end up shipping something different from what you pitched. Awkward, that." Last line emphasis mine. |
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Post by hardly on Sept 19, 2014 2:09:22 GMT
I like their attitude and approach. Endless space was a pretty good game but I like all 4x space games it didn't surpass my fake memory of he awesome MOO2 was.
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Post by earlparvisjam on Sept 19, 2014 2:46:06 GMT
If it wasn't for the fact that I find Endless Space to be one of the best tbs space games I've played, I'd be really nervous about this. I'd forgotten about Endless Legend and need to take another look at it since tbs is one of my weaknesses. I've been enjoying Dominions 4 far too much and need something to compete with it for space in my favorites list.
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Post by Danjal on Sept 19, 2014 9:20:28 GMT
Yes, I'd definitely say that their method works. It includes the community in active discussions and rewards active members.
It also provides less active members of the community - but who are still supporters of the company - ways to have a say through the voting.
Many of the votes are pre-selected based on community discussion, but ultimately Amplitude Studios reserves their right as developer to make judgement calls.
If they feel something wouldn't work, they say so. They don't blindly give in to all the whims.
If enough of the community wants something changed - they'll look into how they can achieve that.
As such, the game has indeed changed during development from what it originally was.
Not that it has become a vastly different game, but that it has become MORE than originally intended and that this expansion inevitably altered some of the original mechanics.
If I have any complaint about Endless Space it is that its so small. The playable maps just aren't that large.
Its not a "great" game, but its a "good" game in its own right.
And I suspect that Endless Legend will do the same within its competative group.
Dungeons of the Endless... Well... Its a completely different genre. The Roguelite playstyle is harder to compare IMO.
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Post by Gmr Leon on Sept 19, 2014 18:32:04 GMT
If it wasn't for the fact that I find Endless Space to be one of the best tbs space games I've played, I'd be really nervous about this. I'd forgotten about Endless Legend and need to take another look at it since tbs is one of my weaknesses. I've been enjoying Dominions 4 far too much and need something to compete with it for space in my favorites list. Want to say, I'm working on digging up recent gameplay vids and it looks to me like they've smoothed out many of its rough edges in terms of basic aesthetic. Not sure about gameplay, but given how Endless Space turned out, I'm optimistic that they probably did. Playthrough I'm watching right now. |
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Post by 13thGeneral on Sept 19, 2014 19:54:05 GMT
I'm still uncertain if I'd enjoy these titles.
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Post by earlparvisjam on Sept 19, 2014 21:22:23 GMT
I was about to load ES back up and spotted that Age of Wonders III was on sale for $19.99 and that went into the shopping cart. Then, I checked my email and found out that Wasteland 2 is now out so I need to get my game key and that's another 30+ hours of my life. This is a good weekend and none of it will have the slightest thing to do with Godus. Sort of sad, really...
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Post by hardly on Sept 19, 2014 22:28:14 GMT
I was about to load ES back up and spotted that Age of Wonders III was on sale for $19.99 and that went into the shopping cart. Then, I checked my email and found out that Wasteland 2 is now out so I need to get my game key and that's another 30+ hours of my life. This is a good weekend and none of it will have the slightest thing to do with Godus. Sort of sad, really... Nah that's awesome bro. I have had AOW3 installed for months and haven't played it so il going to jump in this weekend. |
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tikigod
Master
Resistance is mean.
Posts: 115 
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Post by tikigod on Sept 19, 2014 23:16:25 GMT
Amplitude as a whole just do a whole number of things right.
* Community involvement and communication. If things go down the crapper with a schedule, you'll hear about it shortly. Some plans for the future kicking around the studio? Here's a write up of what they're thinking and the reasons for recent changes in light of those future plans.
* Understanding community involvement doesn't always have to mean the community call all the shots. You just internally narrow down the options to a handful of possibilities that fit your design, and then let the community make the final decision.
* Grasping the difference between 'Easy to learn, difficult to master' and 'Easy to learn, difficult to find much else'.
* Understanding that things don't have to be there from build 1. Endless Space evolved significantly in the lead up to release, and months into release the game was much more than it was at release. Endless Legend is shaping up to be like that as well. They are able to properly identify what needs to be there for a stage of development and what doesn't, and then push forward with that.
* They understand trying to reinvent the wheel is pointless and a waste of time. Instead take the evolution of wheel design and then make it your own, retaining the familiarity benefits but really putting your own personal stamp on it. For example every faction in Endless Legend is focused on an established play style common in 4x games. But the degree each race focuses on one specific area or another makes the game feel very unique and fresh. On release they rolled out a cultist faction, and it plays like the ultimate turtle loving player style I've ever seen in any empire build 4x. Making that faction really unique and interesting.
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Post by Danjal on Sept 20, 2014 5:20:46 GMT
and found out that Wasteland 2 is now out so I need to get my game key and that's another 30+ hours of my life. 30+ is a low estimate from what I understand =P As towards people that hesitate on Amplitudes games, if you like the genres and aren't excessively nitpicky - they are awesome games. They're not super special in quality, but they're definitely fun and enjoyable - especially when played with friends. |
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Post by Danjal on Sept 20, 2014 20:02:56 GMT
Oh just for anyone interested - I happen to have 50% discount coupons for both Endless Space and the Disharmony expansion.
So if you're looking to pick up the game, shoot me a message. (Or wait till a sale.)
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This is what every Early Access developer needs to have in place to handle all their feedback, to some extent or another, I'd say.
