Good News On The Patch For The English Speaking

[GhostDog 0]

Yesterday evening, January 5th, Wags aka Matt Wagner, the producer of Lockon, posted the his last update on the patch on the official Ubi boards, in which he wrote the following:

 

Hi everyone and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a nice holiday.

 

As usual, I have both good and bad news. The good news is that the English patch is in final testing today and the results look good. I hope to get the final sign off from test today. Assuming they find no new bugs, it appears that we may have a release version about ready to do. We just need to apply the copy protection and put the readme in. However, we currently have one snag...

 

...the bad news is that Eagle is still about one week late in delivering the French and German versions. Ubisoft and Eagle want very much to distribute all localized versions at the same time, but if we do that, the patch could be delayed further for the English version. As such, I want to hear your opinion: release the English version ASAP or wait for the French and German versions?

 

Happy New Year,

Matt

 

Matt "Wags" Wagner

Producer / Ubisoft

 

Here just 12 hours later the thread is allready 14 pages long (!) and you would be hard pressed to find any who disagree: Allmost everyone, regardless of where they are from, posted in support of release of the English patch as soon as possible.

 

And obviously Wags didn't just ask to keep us busy... here is his latest post:

 

posted 06/01/2004 08:20 

Ok, folks, thanks for the input. The common consensus is pretty clear. The the feelings of purchasers of the English version was pretty much a "no brainer." However, alienating our purchasers of the French and German version is something that Ubisoft and Eagle want to avoid too.

 

Just as soon as the English version is through test, it will be released.

 

-Matt

 

Looks like the wait will soon be over for some of us while those with German or French versions will have to wait a week longer

[abaris 0]

So they're alienating me, since I have the German version. I just hope, that it doesn't become another neverending patch story.

Edited January 6, 2004 by abaris

[GhostDog 0]

The reason the thread was started was that Wags wanted to make sure that UBI didn't insult the ones with the German and French version if they released the English patch when it was ready.

I am think most people agree that it helps noone to make the english version users wait untill all versions are done.

 

But be prepared: There will definatly be more than one patch. The first patch will focus on bugs only - and only on the most important ones at that. It might even create problems for some that had none before. That is not untypical when released to the userbase which has a much bigger variety of system configurations than any test team will ever be able to take into account.

 

I am happy and reassured to see that both Wags from Ubi and the dev-team are so present on the official boards. To me it signals a strong wish to make this sim a game that will sit on our harddrives for years to come.

 

PS: I'm not a spokesman for Ubi or Eagle Dynamics ;)

[abaris 0]

What I don't understand is, that there are so many differences between the versions. The published fix list of the patch encompasses bugs, which aren't language based. So, what's the problem?

[SlickWili 0]

Just for good measure, I thought I'd throw up Carl Norman's (LockOn Exec. Producer) "Warning Order" regarding the patch. It has some good information on what is to be expected, as well as how to deal with issues that arise going forward:

 

The V.101 patch is currently being tested. We think we have solved many problems, but it is important that everyone understand a few things:

 

1. Many things will be fixed; some won't be addressed in this first patch. Don't get upset if your "pet problem" is not addressed in this first patch. We have to do a "triage" of sorts when creating patches.

 

2. We plan on doing a series of patches. Some things needed to be addressed later and we did not want to hold everything up for some of these items.

 

3. New bugs will appear and some will surprise all of us. This is a complex and very large program. Lots can go wrong. There is no way we can get a patch to you anytime soon that fixes "everything". The testing resources available for patches are much less than that of a product prior to initial release. That means that the faster we get you the patch, the more likely we will miss something. We don't like the idea of you all being testers, but with games like this you do play that role. We ask that you provide us your feedback in a reasoned and mature way.

 

4. We intend to support this product. That means we are well aware that there will be the need for additional patches. Our goals are to eliminate the serious problems first and the eventually the need for patches will be to fine tune the simulation. This has been the case for every flight sim we have ever developed.

 

5. Stand by for frustration. As you can all see from the last few weeks of messages, there are some people who have little or no problems with Lock On and there are others that are struggling to get it to run. This is a $40 entertainment software product, not a Department or Ministry of Defense project with a big budget. We are doing our best with limited resources. Work with us, not against us, please.

 

6. Instead of getting angry, let's all work together and help one another. That is what has mostly been happening online these past weeks. Let's continue to be a community and not a mob. Personally, I am glad to help out but I will not be very tolerant of bad behavior, rude people, or abusive treatment. There is no excuse for anyone to be insulting or abusive.

 

7. Curb the instinct to attack. This goes both ways: If you are having problems ask for help without being a jerk; If you love Lock On and people slamming it are annoying and make you angry then just ignore them or, even better, attempt to help them instead of attacking them. People want to play the game and when they can't it upsets them. Don't pour fuel on the flame.

 

8. Be patient. This patch might appear to be ready in the next few days and then at the last minute we'll find a major problem. That's software development. We are reluctant to provide you with patch release schedule because we just can't say. It is too variable to predict accurately. We will get it out as soon as we can. Hang in there.

 

UPDATE: January 4. 2004:

 

Tomorrow, Jan 5th, Ubi and Eagle will be back in their offices following the Holiday Break. Eagle has submitted a release candidate of the English version of the V1.01 patch for final testing and verification. The French and German language versions will be submitted as early as tomorrow. They will also require final testing and verification. It is our understanding that Ubi Soft intends a simultaneous release of all the language versions of the patch. Understand that this is something that requires coordination and time to make happen.

 

If serious problems are found in these release candidates then the whole process starts over again and the release will be delayed.

 

It is for these reasons that we cannot give you an exact date on when the patch will be released. We will release it as soon as possible. We feel we are close, but we have to go through the final test and verification process.

 

Nobody wants this patch out to you more than we do. We want to do it right but the holidays and our limited resources prevent us from turning a patch like this around overnight. You are all going to have to be patient.

 

Again, I ask that you cooperate with us when the patch is released. It has been my experience working on these types of products over the years that not everything is going to work properly on everyone's system. There will be new bugs that we never saw. We cannot run our operation like NASA or the large corporate laboratory. We have a fixed budget and a limited amount of resources and all of it is being applied to get this patch done. We know that there will be another patch. Our intention is to address the major problems first to the best of our abilities.

 

All of us are proud of this product but we are very distressed that some of you are not enjoying it and have had problems. It was never our intention to create ill will or make you unhappy. We want you to enjoy Lock On as many already are enjoying it. Please work with us and give us a chance. We are doing the best we can under the circumstances.

 

Best Wishes,

Carl

 

I can just imagine, after reading this, that the folks at the offices over there are grabbing their helmets and ducking for cover ;)

[Cretin 0]

These kinds of issues are routine for a sim of this complexity. We've all been through this before and some how we managed to survive. Those who find themselves in total misery because of issues with this sim need to GET A LIFE! :P

[OZZ 0]

I can just imagine, after reading this, that the folks at the offices over there are grabbing their helmets and ducking for cover  ;)

It's going to be open war on the Ubi forums if that patch creates any new problems. It's a jungle over there :)

[Cretin 0]

That would be a great way to motivate Ubi to create more combat flight sims! With the considerable amount of nastiness which has already been flung their way I wouldn't blame them if they got out of the flight sim business. Then we could all sit around the Xbox playing snowboard games. Whoopee!

[Guest MrMudd]

UBISOFT was never in the "SIM" Buisness or the Niche of flightsims.

 

UBI has the title due to some buyouts of other Companies mainly SSI/learning Company. whose focus was sims. the big Corporate machine took them in, Swallowed them Whole, and is spitten out chunks.

 

I would not expect any future Sim from Ubisoft.....

 

 

UBISOFT is Mass market appeal. Harry Potter and the other high selling titles is what they will focus on funding.

[Cretin 0]

"Harry Potter"! Ugh! "Gag me with a spoon!"

[ARCHER 0]

all about $dollers and percents, in the office room at ubi,

so the boss has a nice shiny rolls royce this year

[Cretin 0]

Decadent Capitalists! :D

 

What I find troubling is the way space in the stores alloted to PC games keeps shrinking and space alloted to "Game Cube" and "Xbox" keeps increasing. There's nothing I dislike more than feeling like "Big Brother" is trying to force me in a certain direction. That's when I show how truely stubborn I can be. "Mr. G., go suck an egg!" :P