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The "Episodic Content" Poll

For public discussion of "Savage Land" and other Red Nemesis projects.

Moderator: Mister_Prophet

Would you care to see Savage Land released in Episodes?

Yes, I would be okay with this
6
40%
No, I would rather a full campaign with a beginning, middle, and end.
9
60%
 
Total votes: 15

User avatar Mister_Prophet
Red Nemesis Leader Red Nemesis Leader
Posts: 3098
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Location: Lost in Oraghar

Subject: The "Episodic Content" Poll

Post Posted: 24 Jun 2021, 21:12

Well I have another one to keep conversation going through a slow June (been a busy series of weeks since our last major chunk of updates). This is in no way a confirmation that Savage Land is, at this moment, turning to a by Episode release. It is just that...well...I am thinking about it. There are pros and cons going both ways on this topic, and I find myself just planning for the road ahead.

I would like to hear some opinions on what other people think about Episodic Unreal campaigns. The community has, in the past, seen no shortage of Episodic releases. While I've generally been committed to standing by a fully released run these are different times and I would like to gauge where the community stands.

Savage Land will be made in three Acts. Some Acts are longer or shorter than others. What I am not sure of at this time is if it is wiser to release these Acts as standalone chapters.

Pros

-Content gets released more regular.
-Each release would be a reset and re-approach based on feedback.
-A "Complete" version could be released at a later date.

Cons

-The complete story would be broken up, meaning that individual Chapters (Acts) will seem softer in their narrative punch.
-Three episodes might result in three times the overall packages.
-Three times the testing and potential patching?
-Cliffhangers...

Thoughts?

User avatar Aspide
Skaarj Warrior Skaarj Warrior
Posts: 71
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Subject: Re: The "Episodic Content" Poll

Post Posted: 26 Jun 2021, 00:21

I think that releasing a full project in small chunks does more harm than good in the long run. Feedback is going to be more frequent, but also the updates, and to make matters worse, the constant feedback and updates means that each episode will take more time to make. Just look what happen to Valve when they tried releasing episodic content, each one took more effort and more time to make, to the point where they simply stop and left the entire world hanging. Also they became longer episodes, so what's the point of releasing episodes if one has the length of a full project.

What I would personally do is to release small demos of the full project to give people a taste of what the full project is going to be, for example one map that shows the new features, monsters, etc. without spoiling too much of course.
Somewhere in Nevada...

User avatar Mister_Prophet
Red Nemesis Leader Red Nemesis Leader
Posts: 3098
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Location: Lost in Oraghar

Subject: Re: The "Episodic Content" Poll

Post Posted: 26 Jun 2021, 04:29

Legitimate points, true. Though I sort of like the idea of a second demo.

UB_
Nali Priest Nali Priest
Posts: 7960
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00

Subject: Re: The "Episodic Content" Poll

Post Posted: 26 Jun 2021, 09:35

As per my awful G59 episodic experience with constant updating of old maps for lore/consistency/balance issues, my suggestion is to aim for a full release.
ImageImage

User avatar Jblade
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Contact:

Subject: Re: The "Episodic Content" Poll

Post Posted: 29 Jun 2021, 13:16

My experience with my own stuff (AMC TC) says that episodic would be a bad idea - the biggest issue is of course scope creep, which is much more likely to happen with smaller releases where you can convince yourself it won't hold things back by much. I myself am hugely guilty of this, and it's hard to fight because when you've played a game for so long and you're making new content, you want NEW stuff to play with as well. The other big issue is testing - my stuff is an all inclusive package, which means that previous episodes are bundled with the latest one. This is necessary for many reasons but it also means that with every release, you'd have to retest all previous episodes as well - it's much easier to forget about maps when they're in a previous release rather than one continuous whole.

On the other hand though, episodic releases are nice to keep people around and build up the fan base - unfortunately though Unreal's fanbase is tiny and there's barely 1 new release a year; so I think in this instance we're all more than happy to wait for 1 whole package instead of getting new stuff more frequently. We're used to waiting and Unreal is such a niche game (I'm disappointed that most of these new retro shooters all seem to take after Quake or Doom) that waiting longer isn't a big deal. Of course the other advantage is that should life happen and you need to move on from modding, with episodic content at least there's something out there rather than it all being for nought.

In anycase with whatever you decide I'm looking forward to getting to play it!

User avatar Darkon
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Subject: Re: The "Episodic Content" Poll

Post Posted: 29 Jun 2021, 21:49

Full campaign.. but demo "to whet the appetite"...
Never trust a Dutchman in a tulip fight.

User avatar Mister_Prophet
Red Nemesis Leader Red Nemesis Leader
Posts: 3098
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 23:30
Location: Lost in Oraghar

Subject: Re: The "Episodic Content" Poll

Post Posted: 09 Jul 2021, 17:21

Thanks for everyone who voted and especially those who posted a comment. This was a very helpful poll for me. At this time my inclination is to stay on course with a full campaign release, but the idea of secondary Demo releases is very appealing and would be a great way to keep interest. Certainly beats a trailer!

User avatar salsaSkaarj
Gilded Claw Gilded Claw
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Subject: Re: The "Episodic Content" Poll

Post Posted: 14 Jul 2021, 19:30

Mister_Prophet wrote:Thanks for everyone who voted and especially those who posted a comment. This was a very helpful poll for me. At this time my inclination is to stay on course with a full campaign release, but the idea of secondary Demo releases is very appealing and would be a great way to keep interest. Certainly beats a trailer!

Whatever the path chosen ... I've got loads of interest but hardly any time (currently).

August will be very busy (catching up on Unreal playing, certainly some Savage Landing).


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