Game Design?

Just curious how long does a GOOD game stay in pre-production? Like Ultima Online how many years did it get tested before going to Alpha and then Beta?
In addition I know new content is introduced all the time. However when will some new monsters become available? I have been following the game since 2013. I've seen bears, wolves, spiders brigands and kobolds it seems ever since I started following. I know a great deal of effort and time is expended, however it's just some curious thoughts I've had.

 

Skeletons, and elementals are a few more. Dragons and a deamon also. I wonder if anyone has created a bestiary book or such listing all the known creatures of the land so far?

 

I know of this bestiary http://www.newbritannia.info/Bestiary/Bestiary.php

 

There is of course, no set time frame. It will vary from game to game depending on many factors.. UO is a good example of a bad example. EA rushed it out the door before it was ready and the early game suffered for it. My understanding at the time was the devs wanted another year of development before release.

I think on average a AAA title usually takes between 4-5 years start to finish.

That however, is no guarantee the game will be "good".

 

There are quite a few critters and such to fight out there....but to me there could be more and they could be more generalized by demographics. Instead of kobolds and skeletons in mines it could be orcs and goblins. Sorry tend to reference things from other stories. Also from my Dungeion and Dragon days i tend to look for and /or expect certain things in certain areas. So far whats out there is ok and its been very entertaining. But a few more beasties would be nice.

 

Some games, console sports games are a great example, are in development for years, but 'cheat' in a way by releasing versions along the way. They may create a new game from scratch for a new console release and release the game this year, but it may be bare bones in certain areas and functionally be behind the latest game from the previous foundation. However, they still sell a bunch of copies and continue to iterate on it, to create new features and take advantage of the new technology. Then they'll sell this and continue to enhance the same base. So while they may be releasing a new game every year, it's actually just a snapshot of a 4-5 year cycle.

Sports games can get away with this probably because there is an easy 'enhancement' to make just by updating the player rosters and they aren't really creating new content like deep RPG stories and such. It's mostly just refining and adding game systems.

The Call of Duty games had a two year cycle with two different development teams (Infinity Ward/Treyarch) working on two different bases and just releasing in alternate years. Then they added a third team (Sledgehammer) and went on a three-year cycle.

 

Wjat they said at SotA Con is that thry are beginning the last 25% of development cycle. lots of things are in the game but not truly feature complete.

They warned that this is the worst time for a new player to start playing since it appears that the game is ready bit it is not at all.

However the odds of sticking with the game apprarently are more likely if the new player waits for the next patch before quitting. so hang in there and over the next few months the game will change. once it is ready for a comercial launch it will be better.

Still there is a perpetual monthly release cycle. so each moth there will be new content .

 

This is actually an interessting and important information.

 

To my knowledge, UO had a 5 yr developement, and a 1 yr Beta... What you see here in SotA, was considered in-house Alpha testing in UO, and no one from the public seen that in UO...

 

One thing you should understand is that our game is not being created the same way. It's been live for years. (just not persistent)

It's hard to compare SOTA to anything really. I don't know of another game that has been developed out in the open like this from cradle to grave. All the funding is from fans, nothing is from a publisher with a fixed schedule. And while that's new and may seem like a disadvantage sometimes, we're still getting monthly updates (something no other game is doing). And the development team has said it's their intention to perform these monthly updates forever. Meaning as long as they have fans that support it, they'll keep updating on a monthly basis.

 

One thing about early access that are successful is the consistent release (monthly, weekly etc) of new content and bug fixes. There have been many early access that go 6-9mo without any updates whatsover, that flounder not because the devs are not working on it, but because they do not communicate. I have games I funded 3-4 years ago, with todays update after six months of nothing then saying they are getting a part time job and somehow that is a good thing for development....

As long as devs communicate (which also means listening not just saying) then that is your chance to influence the game, or at least see if it is headed in a direction that you do not like.