RFC on Release Plan...

Discussion in 'Negative Energy Plane' started by Nomad_Wanderer, Sep 26, 2003.

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  1. Mr. Underhill

    Mr. Underhill The Keeper of the Arcane Toiletries

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    -Nomad

    I really don't care either I just thought it was a possibility...it's not really a rules issue but a morality one. oh well it dosn't matter.

    yuummmm...guinness...it makes you strong. I'm all out of Jameson...and the only thing in the fridge is Buttwiper aka., Budweiser...yck. But it will have to do...the irish in me must be satisfied. :beer:
     
  2. Dhoom

    Dhoom BIG Troll Berserker

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    We can use that in the readme, as the "unofficial patch name"... it needs to be included, because it's funny. :D
     
  3. Nomad_Wanderer

    Nomad_Wanderer Established Member Veteran

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    Laphroaig.. or Lagalulin.. Learn it. Love it.
     
  4. Mr. Underhill

    Mr. Underhill The Keeper of the Arcane Toiletries

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    sounds good to me.
     
  5. Mr. Underhill

    Mr. Underhill The Keeper of the Arcane Toiletries

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    I know but I live in East Bumblef*ck Illinois...and I'd have to drive for hours to get it...I guess I could order it though.
     
  6. PlatinumWeaver

    PlatinumWeaver Member

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    I like 'Anevay' which apparently means 'Superior' in a Native American dialect. But as I'm the only one yet to contribute, I'll understand if you ignore it.. Still like the idea of female patch names..
     
  7. Chris Woods

    Chris Woods Member

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    I've got a decent amount of experience in modding, and if I may be so humble I would like to make a few suggestions...

    1> Don't release anything "Beta" to the community at large.

    I know that everyone wants to send out a great mod; I know everyone thinks that someone else will beat us to it if we don't, but frankly it's sloppy. Just because we don't do this professionally shouldn't excuse us not to be professional about it.

    If we don't feel that the mod works properly and as expected, we shouldn't send it out. The community should never be used as a beta test ground, even if you warn them. (Trust me, you can't warn them. They will assume it works right regardless of what you say.)

    Test your changes thourghly and consider what impacts any one change may have, and test that too. Don't make it the community's job, because it's not.


    2> Have a calm, catchy name.

    Calm means in no way arrogant. Catchy means fun to say. Names like "Extreme Bug Fix" may sound all cool, but we'll come off as arrogant pricks. The name should reflect what the mod does. I usualy use "Magical Trinkets of [WORLD]" (Tamriel, Mideval Europe, Forgetten Realms. God knows how many MT_ mod's I've done.) for example. It's cute and catchy and it also plays itself down. (They're just trinkets, not "Magical Artifacts of _" or something grandeous sounding.)

    Think about the best or most popular mods you've ever played a game with. None of them are self referential in their title and they worked when you got them. "Beta Mods" and "Look how cool we are mods" really jsut have no place.


    3> There are two states for a Mod. Done and Not Done.

    There is no "working" state. We shouln't head over to the Atari Forums and say "We've done all this great stuff, and we just wante dto tell you that despite the fact that we aren't done." It's silly. We should do what we want, make sure it works, and then hand it out. We ought not talk about what we're "doing" because that's just teasing people.


    Finally,

    4> Modules can come in volumes.

    When everything is working right and some great stuff has been done, release a "volume" of the mod. It lets people play with your fixes and lets us get to new fixes as well. Don't try to do every cool idea in one pass, or you're doomed to complete failure. Just get what's going, release it as "Volume I", mention that you plan to do more, and dissappear unless specifically ask questions.

    It's a nice deal, and people enjoy the constant influx of freashness it injects into a game. Maybe we add some Moneters this volume. Maybe some Spells in Vol II, etc. Constant linear improvement is preferable to a total overhaul, and it gives people lots of time to hand feedback.

    Total overhauls tend to crash and burn because sooo many things can go wrong. No one will complain if we mistype a single spell duration in each of 20 volumes, but everyone will be ticked if we mistype 20 spell durations in one volume.


    Like any advice, mine should be taken with a grain of salt.

    Chris Woods
     
  8. Dhoom

    Dhoom BIG Troll Berserker

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    And like salt, your advice has weight.... although, more than some salt does. :D

    Good advice.
     
  9. JHunz

    JHunz Member

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    The paladin falling over the drinking contest seems to be a pretty hotly debated topic. I think the main problem with it is the utter lack of *feedback*. If something could be added in to warn that this is going to happen - a single line of dialog of some kind would suffice, even - I think a lot of people would be happier and there'd be nothing to whine about.
     
  10. Vaevictis666

    Vaevictis666 Established Member

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    Re: Re: RFC on Release Plan...

    Or I could do one up using Innosetup (http://www.jrsoftware.org/) - it's nice and good and free lol
     
  11. Mynex

    Mynex Member Veteran

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    This is true.. good idea as well.. can a dialogue option be added along the lines of;

    "Drinking heavily is against the principle of your faith. You will imperil your Paladin status my participating in this contest. Do you wish to continue?" (and a yes/no option)

    Or something like that. :p
     
  12. Mr. Underhill

    Mr. Underhill The Keeper of the Arcane Toiletries

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    Very good point Chris. I like your magical trinket naming convention. You raise some very good points and I think that makes sense...maby it can be a declaration of our intent...I think we should try to offer the best product we can and not try to rush anything just to say we got it done...we all know what happens when you try to rush...speeding tickets, girlfriend gets angry, software is still filled with bugs, and you usaully miss all the scenery.
     
  13. Mr. Underhill

    Mr. Underhill The Keeper of the Arcane Toiletries

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    Thats a good Idea I'll look into it.
     
  14. Sol Invictus

    Sol Invictus Beholder Watcher Veteran

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    Beholder Hacks Beta Release

    SOMETHING TO DO WITH BEHOLDERS.
     
  15. Dhoom

    Dhoom BIG Troll Berserker

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    Re: Re: Re: RFC on Release Plan...

    Doh! I've used this before, and really like it.

    We'll use this, that way, everyone else can grab a copy to play with, too. :)
     
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