After reading two threads over at Stardock I am struck again by what it means to be a Indy developer. As you might have heard the launch for Elemental has been rocky. If you have any doubt check out these two threads on their own forum.
http://forums.elementalgame.com/392474
http://forums.elementalgame.com/392671
Being a Indy means you have to make tough choices. In Stardock's case it looks like they had taken on a very complex game and could not test it adequately without a pool of new testers. This coupled with the impending release of the next Civ title: Civilization 5 in the US on September 21st pushed them to release the game in a less then ideal state.
That being said Stardock is known to work on their games for years after release and in fact according to my Brother who picked up the title yesterday they are patching it up already and it is already fun. (And addictive) If anything the real issue he brought up is that if you have never played a Master of Magic like game you might be lost.
I understand why Stardock felt they had to release it and I feel that given the potential of this game I will support them. It can be tough to be a Indy developer.
Despite their launch I plan to pick up a copy in the next few weeks. I understand if you will not. If that makes me a Stardock fan so be it.
http://forums.elementalgame.com/392474
http://forums.elementalgame.com/392671
Being a Indy means you have to make tough choices. In Stardock's case it looks like they had taken on a very complex game and could not test it adequately without a pool of new testers. This coupled with the impending release of the next Civ title: Civilization 5 in the US on September 21st pushed them to release the game in a less then ideal state.
That being said Stardock is known to work on their games for years after release and in fact according to my Brother who picked up the title yesterday they are patching it up already and it is already fun. (And addictive) If anything the real issue he brought up is that if you have never played a Master of Magic like game you might be lost.
I understand why Stardock felt they had to release it and I feel that given the potential of this game I will support them. It can be tough to be a Indy developer.
Despite their launch I plan to pick up a copy in the next few weeks. I understand if you will not. If that makes me a Stardock fan so be it.
