Godus development is like...

Most definitely, its "released" on iOS is it not =P
So unless the definition "released" means nothing to apple and their consumerbase, they atleast view Godus as a complete product.

... learning Java all over again (for the second time) because Android needs it.

I think that's rather disingenuous of you, George. We all know that "unfinished work-in-progress" is miles apart from "evolving over time" in the way that Minecraft and The Sims do, and it's also pretty obvious which camp Godus falls into.

It's not a lie, but it's certainly not entirely true to suggest it's in a completely stable state, as mobile users have become very aware of with recent events. I think that's where a major difference lies, it's one thing to say you're expanding the content, it's another to suggest it's in a stable state. I don't know how to put it, but nothing in the description of it for mobile gives me the idea that I should anticipate instability. Most games that are in a sort of finished/complete state that do as you describe, like say Reprisal Universe/Hammerwatch, or even online games, I expect stability from. I don't expect crashes or progress resetting (not often anyway, some poorly built online games involve that far too frequently).

Does that make sense? I get where you're coming from with your initial statement on PC, but certainly not on mobile.

...That sounds like it could be icky, from some of what I've heard of Java.

We've gone over this in the past, alpha being incomplete with many features missing, beta being featurecomplete and near completion / ready for release.
Godus not being featurecomplete and definitely far from done with balancing and polish.

Yes, you pushed it out on iOS, that doesn't mean its any more or less beta than the PC release. Its just that you don't NAME it beta, because the platform doesn't allow for it.
Considering that the iOS and PC releases are the same game - barring some pretty minor adjustments on PC (microtransactions ripped out and so on), its a pretty tall claim to say that the iOS is "released but evolving overtime" and then claiming that the PC release is "an unfinished work-in-progress".

Its *either* unfinished (and thus in beta), *or* its released (and thus featurecomplete, but still getting updates.)
Claiming its released on iOS because apple doesn't allow for beta titles and then claiming its in beta on PC because that allows you to take advantage of Steam's Early Access program with the releases being identical in 99% of the content. Sounds an aweful lot like trying to squirm through some loopholes in the system to take advantage of two strong distribution platforms.


Yes, evolving titles exist, they generally do not have an identity crisis on whether they are "released, but evolving through content updates" or "unfinished work-in-progress".
A release pretty much is the definition of "Finished" when it comes to video games, its this very 'technical' BS that stands at the root of many of the problems going on around Godus.
Different stages of development is a card you could pull if the two were developed seperately... But they aren't, the presence of all the freemium mechanics and the identical state of both releases attest to that.

And while Apple may be willing to turn a blind eye (or simply isn't aware of what you're doing), I think its safe to say that not everyone is as open-minded towards the ambigious nature of the release-status of Godus. (In other words, make up your mind - either you're released or you're in beta, but you're not both.)

Actually Minecraft went through several phases in its development timeline: indev (5eur), infdev (early implement of infinite world), alpha (10eur), beta (15eur), then release (20eur). During each of these phases patches were regularly rolled out that fixed bugs and added features. Also bear in mind that indev and infdev were mostly the creative features and survival mode didn't really take off until alpha. So in early development there wasn't actually much 'game' there. Minecraft wasn't developed in a mystical secret manner, it was a fairly standard versioning process (though some transitions were a tad arbitrary..)

In my opinion, the key to Minecraft's success is the fact that it relied initially on a player's creativity to add value. There wasn't much to do but build, but like Lego it taps into a creative desire and people started creating cool stuff with it. Every update since then has just built new features into that framework. There's no linear progression in Minecraft (Excepting adventure maps), It's all about what you can make.

Godus in contrast is a very linear game. Progression in the world is linear because you need to hit beacons to expand and the beacons are in fixed locations. Getting to Weyworld is linear because you need to fill a boat with dudes and then it's just another map. Construction is designation by the game placing plots. Where you can move to is linear because you need cards to manipulate grass, then hills. Cultural progression is linear because of the design of the timeline and amount of cards required to unlock each ability. Godus is a game of slowly overcoming limitations, and the order that you overcome them is determined by the design of the map.

I think Godus would be immediately more interesting if there was a way to play starting with a random/custom seed and coming up with a better determination of expansion (e.g. Food production in a settlement, similar to how Civ determines expansion...). There could still be limitation placed on what you can work with initially, but unlocking the ability to manipulate grass/hills/etc could be based on something other than collecting cards... Honestly I think the key is finding some way to tap into player creativity.. It's nice how some players sculpt in curvy shapes and some in straight lines for example. It would be nice if there were more ways for people to differentiate their worlds...

I guess the crux of this is... So much of Godus feels like mindless busywork and not a creative exercise, and it should be the other way round.

Everything you said actually reinforces my point about open development, being truthful and actually giving players their place in the game.