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Author Topic:   Firaxis and Interplay: Quality?

Corwin posted 12-15-98 08:15 PM ET
I think that quite a number of you know the situation with Interplay's release of Fallout 2. Interplay had a bad 3Q report and released Fallout 2 in time for holiday shopping, and now is getting blamed for not delivering patch and releasing buggy game. I hope that Firaxis is spending the extra time they have due to delay in manual translation as a way to test for possible bugs.
Imran Siddiqui posted 12-15-98 08:37 PM ET
The bugs in Fallout 2 suck. If it weren't such a great game, I'd be mad as Hell! However, at least those bugs don't prevent you from finishing the game. You can still win with them, it's just frustrating.
Imran Siddiqui
Fallout 2 player
Gord McLeod posted 12-15-98 10:56 PM ET
Corwin, the CD for SMAC has gone gold already so if they ARE spending the extra time bugfixing, we won't see an improvement in CD quality. We MIGHT however be able to download a bugfix patch immediately after getting the CDs instead of having to put up with bugs for a while first...
DHE_X2 posted 12-15-98 11:09 PM ET
Smac won't have bugs. Trust me, it won't have bugs.
Octopus posted 12-15-98 11:12 PM ET
DHE, it's a virtual certainty that any piece of software as complex as SMAC is will have bugs.
Brother Greg posted 12-16-98 01:08 AM ET
No, no, no, they're called "undocumented features", not bugs.
[Sorry, sort of an industry joke there - I'm a programmer myself]
Octopus posted 12-16-98 01:16 AM ET
Or maybe they're planning on documenting them, and this whole manual "translation" story is just a cover.
MikeH II posted 12-16-98 06:59 AM ET
That's good Greg, I've heard of Sub-Optimal features before.
I don't know why documenting a bug makes it OK but it seems to work, which is nice.
Tapiolan poika posted 12-16-98 09:24 AM ET
Another term is 'permanent restrictions'...
(I suspect the industry is full of 'em...)
MikeH II posted 12-16-98 09:27 AM ET
I once heard a support guy talking about information transfer problems with his pinkware.
He meant the people he was supporting were too stupid to understand what he was telling them.
DJ RRebel posted 12-16-98 11:14 AM ET
DHE ??? Trust you ???
Why ??? What do you know (being a BETA tester) that we dont ???
Remind me to add you to the list if you aren't on it already !!!
CClark posted 12-16-98 11:54 AM ET
Funny, I'm on my second pass through Fallout 2 and I've encountered only a handful of minor bugs. I did get massively burned by MAX2 though. Yes, Interplay needs to smarten up, and if you trust Feargus' statement to Desslock, they are reviewing and revamping their QA procedures.
As far as Firaxis goes, the game was supposed to be out a month ago and part of teh delay was supposedly for testing. (The other part was for a UI overhaul.) I doubt that it will be completely bug free, but hopefully it will just be minor things.
BigER posted 12-16-98 02:49 PM ET
Yeah, CClack, I haven't run into to many bugs with fallout2 either, let's see the car bug, the bug with the game locking up once in awhile for no reason, the button for skills turning into a black box (which is not to big a deal since you can right click on the object and select skills to use that way) Anyway, I' glad to see other post nuclear heads around here. Tell me, those of you who have played F2, what was the best part? Who was the best sidekick?
I hope I don't offend people talking about a non SMAC game.
Utrecht posted 12-16-98 03:07 PM ET
I was one of the ucky ones and did not encounter any bugs in Fallout 2 (of course I avoided the car...)
It does seem that Interplay is at least learning from it and doing the right thing with Baldur's Gate. It seems to have undergone EXTENSIVE QA. Of couse the pblic will be the final vote on that as well.
Contuing on Interplay, their greatest mistake was stating that patches would be out X date and then slipping them. The should realize that people hate 'soon' as an answer, but they hate "Ah we missed our date' even more.
CClark posted 12-16-98 03:32 PM ET
Favorite part of F2..? Tough call.
- The guy on the third floor of the vault in Vault City who is singing "Maybe"
- Planting explosives on the Pres and then walking away whistling innocently (okay, I had to imagine the whistling, but...)
- the Bridgekeeper (MP:QftHG is one of my favorite movies, I almost died laughing the first time I came across it. Same with the Knights of the round table.)
- wasting Super Mutants with one punch of a Mega Power Fist to the eyes
I was surprised when I saw the disappearing Skilldex button as that was a bug in the original. You would have thought they'd have fixed it already! I had car halves disappear, but they always fixed themselves by walking into the world map and then right back to the town map. The only endless-stopwatch I've seen is in the battle with Melchior. (I was hoping to kill all his pets and get much XP, but I think I'm going to have to just waste him immediately.)
Jason Beaudoin posted 12-16-98 04:23 PM ET
I found one bug where there was an endless loop that I couldn't get out of. It was triggered in the Enclave stronghold in Navaro when I tried to get past a guard before suiting up with Enclave power armor.
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Author	Topic: Firaxis and Interplay: Quality?
Corwin	posted 12-15-98 08:15 PM ET I think that quite a number of you know the situation with Interplay's release of Fallout 2. Interplay had a bad 3Q report and released Fallout 2 in time for holiday shopping, and now is getting blamed for not delivering patch and releasing buggy game. I hope that Firaxis is spending the extra time they have due to delay in manual translation as a way to test for possible bugs.
Imran Siddiqui	posted 12-15-98 08:37 PM ET The bugs in Fallout 2 suck. If it weren't such a great game, I'd be mad as Hell! However, at least those bugs don't prevent you from finishing the game. You can still win with them, it's just frustrating. Imran Siddiqui Fallout 2 player
Gord McLeod	posted 12-15-98 10:56 PM ET Corwin, the CD for SMAC has gone gold already so if they ARE spending the extra time bugfixing, we won't see an improvement in CD quality. We MIGHT however be able to download a bugfix patch immediately after getting the CDs instead of having to put up with bugs for a while first...
DHE_X2	posted 12-15-98 11:09 PM ET Smac won't have bugs. Trust me, it won't have bugs.
Octopus	posted 12-15-98 11:12 PM ET DHE, it's a virtual certainty that any piece of software as complex as SMAC is will have bugs.
Brother Greg	posted 12-16-98 01:08 AM ET No, no, no, they're called "undocumented features", not bugs. [Sorry, sort of an industry joke there - I'm a programmer myself]
Octopus	posted 12-16-98 01:16 AM ET Or maybe they're planning on documenting them, and this whole manual "translation" story is just a cover.
MikeH II	posted 12-16-98 06:59 AM ET That's good Greg, I've heard of Sub-Optimal features before. I don't know why documenting a bug makes it OK but it seems to work, which is nice.
Tapiolan poika	posted 12-16-98 09:24 AM ET Another term is 'permanent restrictions'... (I suspect the industry is full of 'em...)
MikeH II	posted 12-16-98 09:27 AM ET I once heard a support guy talking about information transfer problems with his pinkware. He meant the people he was supporting were too stupid to understand what he was telling them.
DJ RRebel	posted 12-16-98 11:14 AM ET DHE ??? Trust you ??? Why ??? What do you know (being a BETA tester) that we dont ??? Remind me to add you to the list if you aren't on it already !!!
CClark	posted 12-16-98 11:54 AM ET Funny, I'm on my second pass through Fallout 2 and I've encountered only a handful of minor bugs. I did get massively burned by MAX2 though. Yes, Interplay needs to smarten up, and if you trust Feargus' statement to Desslock, they are reviewing and revamping their QA procedures. As far as Firaxis goes, the game was supposed to be out a month ago and part of teh delay was supposedly for testing. (The other part was for a UI overhaul.) I doubt that it will be completely bug free, but hopefully it will just be minor things.
BigER	posted 12-16-98 02:49 PM ET Yeah, CClack, I haven't run into to many bugs with fallout2 either, let's see the car bug, the bug with the game locking up once in awhile for no reason, the button for skills turning into a black box (which is not to big a deal since you can right click on the object and select skills to use that way) Anyway, I' glad to see other post nuclear heads around here. Tell me, those of you who have played F2, what was the best part? Who was the best sidekick? I hope I don't offend people talking about a non SMAC game.
Utrecht	posted 12-16-98 03:07 PM ET I was one of the ucky ones and did not encounter any bugs in Fallout 2 (of course I avoided the car...) It does seem that Interplay is at least learning from it and doing the right thing with Baldur's Gate. It seems to have undergone EXTENSIVE QA. Of couse the pblic will be the final vote on that as well. Contuing on Interplay, their greatest mistake was stating that patches would be out X date and then slipping them. The should realize that people hate 'soon' as an answer, but they hate "Ah we missed our date' even more.
CClark	posted 12-16-98 03:32 PM ET Favorite part of F2..? Tough call. - The guy on the third floor of the vault in Vault City who is singing "Maybe" - Planting explosives on the Pres and then walking away whistling innocently (okay, I had to imagine the whistling, but...) - the Bridgekeeper (MP:QftHG is one of my favorite movies, I almost died laughing the first time I came across it. Same with the Knights of the round table.) - wasting Super Mutants with one punch of a Mega Power Fist to the eyes I was surprised when I saw the disappearing Skilldex button as that was a bug in the original. You would have thought they'd have fixed it already! I had car halves disappear, but they always fixed themselves by walking into the world map and then right back to the town map. The only endless-stopwatch I've seen is in the battle with Melchior. (I was hoping to kill all his pets and get much XP, but I think I'm going to have to just waste him immediately.)
Jason Beaudoin	posted 12-16-98 04:23 PM ET I found one bug where there was an endless loop that I couldn't get out of. It was triggered in the Enclave stronghold in Navaro when I tried to get past a guard before suiting up with Enclave power armor.