The game has either stalled or died. Limited feed back in the forms, lack of interest perhaps, and no sign when it will be released. I think Banished did not take as long, could be wrong though.
To be fair, Iâm not sure how long Banished took, but it was a lot less ambitious.
It has been a long time without any feedback (except the tweet that said that they had to push the deadline) and this could be because the improvements being made donât translate well to an update, such as fixing complex technical issues or updating frameworks. It would be nice to hear about it anyway, even if it doesnât mean much to us, just to reassure us that work is still ongoing.
More screenshots would be nice too just to tide us over. It doesnât have to show anything new.
Most updates on development are done through Twitter, by the way, so you should follow them there.
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Theyâve literally been posting updates every week or two for the past year on twitter. https://twitter.com/_AncientCities
Iâm not sure what more you want? Theyâre a small team, not a AAA studio with a social media manager writing article length weekly blog posts. But if youâre keeping score, the devs replied to 6 forum threads last month and 1 last week.
https://forum.ancient-cities.com/u/uncasualgames/activity
https://forum.ancient-cities.com/u/ailantd/activity
Thereâs only so much conversation to be had about ancient cultures and technology. Weâve beaten a lot of these topics to death over the past year. But if you want to know what ground weâve already covered, dig in because youâre in for a long (and fascinating) read.
Or post an interesting topic or question and youâll see people pop back onto the forums to reply.
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I donât know about the rest of you folks, but I would like for a game company to keep their updates TO THEIR WEBSITE! and also post regular âstill here and workingâ updates. uncounted more or less public creators go silent for months at the time with no indication that anything is happening, then plop back on the scene out of nowhere. frightfully annoying. like it would be a massive undertaking to post âstill here and still working. more laterâ.
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I agree. I donât think that the best strategy was used in supporting the game and itâs investors. Iâve heard a lot of what canât be done, instead of here is where we are at. We are the investors and we should be updated and supported just like we supported the game. Best Regards to all.
Development continues.
Banished development started on August 2011 and the game was released Feb 2014. Itâs true it was developed by one man but AC is a bit more complex project. AC has been in development for 2 years now. Making games is not an easy, not fast, task.
Thatâs the case actually. We are currently building the world over the city game, which is almost a mini game in its own. Because the two worlds are so interconnected the city map is not working, not even loading, currently, until the world is in shape and all the wires can be connected. A detailed development update about this is coming shortly.
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The forum is indeed a bit sleepy these days, but surely not because lacking interest from us, the future players. I am sure that many others like me simply feel that weâve turned most stones, and now eagerly await the developersâ implementation of the sum of all of our suggestions and views. Once that happens, I and others will return to the forums, eager to discuss the game in all its glories, with such personalities as @lotus253, @Elfryc, @tschuschi, and many others. Dibs on creating a thread called âStrange Screenshotâ!
I myself probably give Ancient Cities a thought a couple of times a week, if only in passing. Sure, I would love it if the developers would release the game next week or so, but it would kill me to see such a wonderful idea, and such a great platform for future games, to be destroyed by stressed development. I want to be able to follow the line of Ugga-Bugga from the first establishment of a tiny village by the river bend, all through the discovery of metal-working, the cultivation of crops in great fields, and fine pottery, through growth and trade, and plague and war, and expansion and building, till a vast empire spreads over thousands of kilometres, with hundreds of cities, full of temples and scribes, connected by great roads and defended by steel-clad armies, bowing down to the imperial descendants of the mythical founder Ugga-Bugga⌠<3
So keep up the good work, developers, and give us the best game of 2019!
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I do not have twitter account so it does me no good. (I do not want to deal with a company that believes in spying.)
You donât need a twitter account to view posts.
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I know they are bussy making stuff work but I wouldnât mind some new screenshots, just to still the hunger it doesnât have to be anything special even.
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However, would those screenshots satisfy or intensify the hunger? How long would it take for them âplayingâ to get a new screenshot to post and how long would that take (out of their work day, that they could be solving a problem).
Being a small game developer (first one in progress) - I can sorta understand some of the challenges they are dealing with. For posting - yes, its quick to post something on a forum - but having to comment to a thread, you have to read everything that was posted and craft a response that answers as many if not all questions at that point.
TLDR: Coding games that are not clones of other - NOT rocket science and nothing is guaranteed to work.
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While I do want them to work away and focus on the game, doing a game through crowdfunding does require you to keep said crowd up to date I feel. With the last update being from December 23rd 2018, that is not a good picture. Also, but that might be me, I would try and change the pinned postponement message on Twitter. It comes across quite negatively imo.
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Very well written, thank you very much. In fact, I think enough was discussed in advance. In order to continue to be helpful to the developers, we need at least an idea of the style of play (First Person / Sim / mmo etc) In the real test will then show how the planned gameplay feels and whether it is enough for long-term motivation. Watch the forum every day and be willing to continue contributing. Wait for the start of the beta - as we all presumably ⌠
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Release date was the most asked question, like a lot per day, via email and twitter private messages.
Thatâs the reason why the tweet is still pinned, and it is working fairly well judging by the reduction of that kind of questions. We need to be pragmatic here.
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LOL, I can imagine all the people like the gulls of âFinding Nemoâ saying ârelease date?â in a loop. Too much hype.
It can be troublesome to do a lot of side tasks when you are trying to wrap your brain around code. I know it takes me like an hour to get into the coding zone, and even a minor disruption will require at least 30 min to get backâŚ
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Iâve been away due to heavy workload (and a person on here attacked me, which also kept me away for a while). I do plan to get on more as soon as work dies down. lol
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Sorry to hear that. I know what it is like and avoid online game for that reason.
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I get why you pinned a message about the missed release window, but would have worded it differently myself. You are right though that the reactions to it are mostly upbeat and understanding which is good to see.
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What would you have done? Good to know any better approaches just in case.
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