Demo out by QuakeCon 2006

(Vam) #1

According to Prognar from PlanetQuake4 the demo should be out by QuakeCon 2006.

http://www.planetquake4.net/article.php?sid=2160

In 2005 QuakeCon took place on the weekend of August 13-15.

Here I am at E3 2006. Activision has a 24 person LAN set up where people can choose to be Strogg of Global Defense Force in a match of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. I had the chance to talk with Edward “Bongoboy” Stern of Splash Damage about the game. Stern revealed that a playable demo will be out hopefully by QuakeCon 2006. Gameplay seems to work well in a 6v6 setting on the current maps, 4v4 being a bit too small. There will be no cap on the number of clients for a server from the engine, so in theory, we could see 200v200 matches. Tools for mapping and modding Enemy Territory will either ship with the game or be released on the internet when it comes out. Expected release date is within 2006, but the id mentality of “when it’s done” seems to be congruent with Splash Damage.

Now my question is, is this the official demo, or will there be a public beta test before this like I’ve heard mentioned a few times. I believe a public beta test is a very wise idea before the game is shipped or before it is demo’d at QuakeCon. You have an army of beta testers at your disposal SD, please use them =)

(Svanire) #2

I really hope there is. Demo’s for these kind of games never cause less copies to sell but more ala bf2 etc.

(Gringo) #3

Ffs, im starting to get annoyed with how many people are constantly asking for a demo, beta and all the rest. Im sure all concerned are working as hard as possible. Just be ****ing patient. It’ll be out soon enough. So plz stop asking a question u will get no answer to and allow me to maintain my sanitiy!

(RosOne) #4

Ok, you stop with the tapirs, I stop with the demo. Deal

(Gringo) #5

Ok ask away then :smiley:

(McAfee) #6

Development teams are usually small. I’d expect SD’s head count to be 20 players top. Even if they have more people on the project, not all of them will be playing. They might have a few more 3rd party players. I really don’t know how many, so the rest of what I say might be in vain.

While this might be enough to narrow down bugs, it might not be enough to narrow down other issues. Usually involving game balance, strategy, and how well future customers will react to features of the game. These things could be tweaked and fixed way before the intended release date. Not to mention the thousands of hardware combinations, from state of the art to who knows how old.

Like vam stated: an army of beta testers…

But the down side is, how many of these beta testers will actually provide feedback? I’m sure most will just play the game and that’s about it. Also, there is a chance that some of the beta testers may not understand the concept of beta software. Beta software is essentially half-baked, and the final product should be different. The software could reach more hands than it was intended for, and people down the chain will be even less in-touch.

I’m basicly on the same plane with Vam. A “demo” is just a promo release, by then there isn’t much that can be changed in the game before the official release. I’m sure the devs will release a handful of point releases afterwards (and maybe new game content). But the quality of what people see the 1st day, can only be measured with how much polishing was done. And more is always better.

So I have a few ideas that could make a beta test a little more feasible:

  • No hosting capabilites with the Beta. The devs will control the dedicated servers. The idea being that things can’t grow too much, the devs can control how many players can test the game at a given time. Maybe they can allow the hosting of private LAN servers; maybe allow private Direct-IP servers, but with no heartbeats.
  • Require registration to download. Forum registration could be an option. This is accompanied by all the “This is a BETA” msgs before downloading. This might not stop the files from spreading further, so maybe they could go as far as providing temporary registration keys. Basicly you register to download, and recieve your beta key to your email.
(Ciabs) #7

I kinda agree with what McAfee said, it’d be best not to make people think that a beta is just the game as it will be released, or any still-half-tested feature will manage to cripple audience attention to the game…

but such a controlled beta test could do the job, it’d be something half way from a demo and a mass-testing of the game, it would help the devs get the feedback they surely will need and make us happier and proud to help with our playing…

problem is that they’re gonna put online A LOT of servers, or otherwise limit the beta keys to very few people (who said “just us in the forum is fine!” ?? :smiley: ), cause really a lot of people are gonna crave the chance to play this game…

(Rhoades) #8

lol, im okay with just the people on the forums beta testing. I promise I’ll give feedback :slight_smile:

(Earlydawn) #9

Defenitely good news. I can live with a demo in the next three months. :clap:

(Bongoboy) #10

Thanks for this post. Alas, Prognar must have misheard or imagineered it, for I’m absolutely certain I said no such thing, mainly because I have no clue whatsoever what or when an ETQW Beta will be. I thought I was doing a suave and efficient job of neither confirming nor denying anything, but it was a noisy stand, very near the thundering and whooping Tony Hawk’s half-pipe, and I fear Prognar heard what he wanted to hear rather than what I actually said. I’ve mailed Prognar (a lovely chap) asking him to amend his post in the hope that nobody will get any further en-foamed. When I do know what the Beta plans are, so will you. Until then, nothing else to report. Peace and callllllm, gentlemen, peace and callmmmmm…

(Joe999) #11

however, this means that the E3 demo won’t be released to the public, so there won’t be a public demo anytime soon. maybe it’s the better choice anyway regarding what some of the complainers say who judge the gui of a post alpha / pre beta version …

(DarkangelUK) #12

I bet those same people downloaded the leaked alpha of Doom 3 and stolen HL2 code, and on that alone decided not to buy the games.

(Ciabs) #13

Thanks for this post. Alas, Prognar must have misheard or imagineered it, for I’m absolutely certain I said no such thing, mainly because I have no clue whatsoever what or when an ETQW Beta will be. I thought I was doing a suave and efficient job of neither confirming nor denying anything, but it was a noisy stand, very near the thundering and whooping Tony Hawk’s half-pipe, and I fear Prognar heard what he wanted to hear rather than what I actually said. I’ve mailed Prognar (a lovely chap) asking him to amend his post in the hope that nobody will get any further en-foamed. When I do know what the Beta plans are, so will you. Until then, nothing else to report. Peace and callllllm, gentlemen, peace and callmmmmm…]

yeah, that’s fine, just confirm us that we will be the first and only to get a beta key and we’ll wait calmly… :drink:

:tapir:

(SniperSteve) #14

yeah, that’s fine, just confirm us that we will be the first and only to get a beta key and we’ll wait calmly…

:smiley:

(Bongoboy) #15

*waves hand
This is not the Beta you’re looking for…

(Ciabs) #16

w00t…!!!

does that mean…??? :eek3:

(Nail) #17

that Bongoboy is in reality…Sir Alec Guinness !!

you have found his secret :tapir:

(Rhoades) #18

guys, this isnt the beta we’re looking for, we should just forget about this thread.

(HellToupee) #19

ill settle for the one we arnt looking for