Edit: He meant feature freeze, apparently they will be fixing up the big drag of bugs from all the new features they added recently for the foreseeable future still. Ehh wouldn't hurt to finish up a few of the major new features though (just nudge the code freeze date back a day or two?).
Why set an arbitrary date to stop coding in new features (other than for the sake of the abstract concept of "full release" which isn't really full release since they have a dozen unfinished features that require hundreds of content patches after the release date) at all?
At least have Jeb continue (and finish up) coding in the EXISTING 1.9 features while the rest of em set up Minecon.
Exactly this. What's the point of making a release when every other day you mention how something's not going to be finished. It's pointless. But most people on these forums aren't going to get that.
No one's say notch is doing a bad job or coding to slow. The point is that he's "releasing" a game full of holes. No other company in the world could get away with this.
do you guys realise that he isnt going to stop coding, they just arnt going to create anything new. they are going to spend the rest of this month on fixing bugs and finishing content that isnt done.
Exactly this. What's the point of making a release when every other day you mention how something's not going to be finished. It's pointless. But most people on these forums aren't going to get that.
No one's say notch is doing a bad job or coding to slow. The point is that he's "releasing" a game full of holes. No other company in the world could get away with this.
Thanks, finally someone sharing my view of things. I guess the key phrase you put out there is "No other company in the world could get away with this", for some freakish reason most Minecraft fans cruising this forum are okay with it, hah!
do you guys realise that he isnt going to stop coding, they just arnt going to create anything new. they are going to spend the rest of this month on fixing bugs and finishing content that isnt done.
Yes, I clarified it in the original post edit. Nevertheless the best course of action would have been to set complete goals (FINISH this this and this feature) before switching to feature-freeze mode and start debugging; this arbitrary feature-freeze date set months ago is....arbitrary and disruptive to how the new features will pan out in the MineCon release.
do you guys realise that he isnt going to stop coding, they just arnt going to create anything new. they are going to spend the rest of this month on fixing bugs and finishing content that isnt done.
That's actually the point. Why call the game "finished" and "release" it, when there is so much to code? If you're going to release a game, the features in it should be finished and working as intended. Then you can go about throwing in what ever "additions" you want.
The release of a game isn't supposed to be some meaningless point were you change the "status" of the game and continue on like nothing even happened.
i dont know why you are complaining, it wont help do change anything at all.
I guess I was just disgruntled that he mentions that he's working on bosses (finally) and it won't be a complete feature because of the arbitrary cut-off date. If instead this date is set on-the-fly and somewhat flexible, then they can finish up the last couple of incomplete features before they move into debugging phase.
Think about it, it's a MONTH before Minecon, a day or two (depending on how much time they need to finish up the last few features) would not hurt the bug-fixing phase before full release.
That's actually the point. Why call the game "finished" and "release" it, when there is so much to code? If you're going to release a game, the features in it should be finished and working as intended. Then you can go about throwing in what ever "additions" you want.
The release of a game isn't supposed to be some meaningless point were you change the "status" of the game and continue on like nothing even happened.
I guess the point of the "(un)finished release" in a month's time is to get a huge sales boost.
If they drag on the beta phase (on paper) too long it'll hurt their full-release sales before people will lose interest and game will loose viral popularity.
This has nothing to do with the difficulty of the coding. All this shows is how poorly planned out the work was. How far is Scrolls along? Cobalt? Minecraft won't be truly complete on actual release date? That is poor management. The "*hand wave* We'll get it done" doesn't work well. I'm pretty sure Scrolls and Cobalt both don't even have a release date.
It should have been all hands on deck for Minecraft for the past 3 months. Tweets about how Notch was "bored with Minecraft coding" and went and did something else is not good. The minute he started charging people is the minute the game turned from a hobby into business but he still treats it like a hobby. I'm a few classes away from my degree in computer science so don't shake your finger at me about "you don't know what it's like coding something like this." I know one thing, it takes planning.
Plan your work, work your plan. Coding is not a "wing it" sort of process and neither is game development. If you stay organized you can tell when you are falling behind schedule and if you have time to add a feature you just thought of. Then you can adjust the work schedule to make room for it.
Now don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Notch and Minecraft is an amazing game. Has Notch and the rest of Mojang done a good job on Minecraft? Yes Sirree Bob. But the question is, could the work have been organized better? Yup. If they didn't see this crunch coming from a far way back then they didn't do proper playing.
I know this post is damn near flame bait but this is how I view the situation. Is it gonna ruin my day? Nope. I don't really care all that much because I know they will keep updating until all the content is there but I just think they should have planned a bit better.
Why set an arbitrary date to stop coding in new features (other than for the sake of the abstract concept of "full release" which isn't really full release since they have a dozen unfinished features that require hundreds of content patches after the release date) at all?
At least have Jeb continue (and finish up) coding in the EXISTING 1.9 features while the rest of em set up Minecon.
Ever heard of feature creep? Feature creep is when game developers keep adding in new features as technologies update or they think of new ideas. They push back release dates to fit in the new features, but by the time they finish that feature, they've thought of another one and so push it back more. This can go on and on which is why a set date for a code freeze is a good idea.
A prime example of feature creep was Duke Nukem Forever. Extreme feature creep meant that game was delayed for 15 years, and in the end turned out to be a piece of crap anyway.
At least have Jeb continue (and finish up) coding in the EXISTING 1.9 features while the rest of em set up Minecon.
They are. Feature freeze (and even code freeze, really) means that anything already started can be finished. So a way out of "The end" will get created. Changes to enchantments will be made. Anything they started without telling us will get finished.
Maybe they will finally fix the skeleton arrows stopping mine carts. Seriously I can go back a week later and that arrow will still be in the track. Major problem for me on my SMP server.
Absolutely everything in this thread is complete speculation based on almost no real facts.
None of us knows what the line between "no new code" and "it's ok to fix already existing features" is, or where Mojang will choose to draw it.
It's fun to speculate about what will be in the final version, but we're all basically talking out of our asses.
I think the general idea of a code freeze before a major release (whether or not you are happy to call it final) is a pretty good idea. They've added tons of new features, and many of them are less than half complete and quite buggy. It's time to spend some time finishing them and fixing bugs.
I think it could probably be longer, but they didn't ask me about it.
http://twitter.com/#!/notch
Edit: He meant feature freeze, apparently they will be fixing up the big drag of bugs from all the new features they added recently for the foreseeable future still. Ehh wouldn't hurt to finish up a few of the major new features though (just nudge the code freeze date back a day or two?).
The code freeze is to better help them eliminate bugs for the official release, something that is needed.
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Alright, fixed the context of the initial post to be a bit less ragey.
Exactly this. What's the point of making a release when every other day you mention how something's not going to be finished. It's pointless. But most people on these forums aren't going to get that.
No one's say notch is doing a bad job or coding to slow. The point is that he's "releasing" a game full of holes. No other company in the world could get away with this.
Thanks, finally someone sharing my view of things. I guess the key phrase you put out there is "No other company in the world could get away with this", for some freakish reason most Minecraft fans cruising this forum are okay with it, hah!
Yes, I clarified it in the original post edit. Nevertheless the best course of action would have been to set complete goals (FINISH this this and this feature) before switching to feature-freeze mode and start debugging; this arbitrary feature-freeze date set months ago is....arbitrary and disruptive to how the new features will pan out in the MineCon release.
That's actually the point. Why call the game "finished" and "release" it, when there is so much to code? If you're going to release a game, the features in it should be finished and working as intended. Then you can go about throwing in what ever "additions" you want.
The release of a game isn't supposed to be some meaningless point were you change the "status" of the game and continue on like nothing even happened.
I guess I was just disgruntled that he mentions that he's working on bosses (finally) and it won't be a complete feature because of the arbitrary cut-off date. If instead this date is set on-the-fly and somewhat flexible, then they can finish up the last couple of incomplete features before they move into debugging phase.
Think about it, it's a MONTH before Minecon, a day or two (depending on how much time they need to finish up the last few features) would not hurt the bug-fixing phase before full release.
I guess the point of the "(un)finished release" in a month's time is to get a huge sales boost.
If they drag on the beta phase (on paper) too long it'll hurt their full-release sales before people will lose interest and game will loose viral popularity.
It should have been all hands on deck for Minecraft for the past 3 months. Tweets about how Notch was "bored with Minecraft coding" and went and did something else is not good. The minute he started charging people is the minute the game turned from a hobby into business but he still treats it like a hobby. I'm a few classes away from my degree in computer science so don't shake your finger at me about "you don't know what it's like coding something like this." I know one thing, it takes planning.
Plan your work, work your plan. Coding is not a "wing it" sort of process and neither is game development. If you stay organized you can tell when you are falling behind schedule and if you have time to add a feature you just thought of. Then you can adjust the work schedule to make room for it.
Now don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Notch and Minecraft is an amazing game. Has Notch and the rest of Mojang done a good job on Minecraft? Yes Sirree Bob. But the question is, could the work have been organized better? Yup. If they didn't see this crunch coming from a far way back then they didn't do proper playing.
I know this post is damn near flame bait but this is how I view the situation. Is it gonna ruin my day? Nope. I don't really care all that much because I know they will keep updating until all the content is there but I just think they should have planned a bit better.
TL;DR: They didn't plan well.
Ever heard of feature creep? Feature creep is when game developers keep adding in new features as technologies update or they think of new ideas. They push back release dates to fit in the new features, but by the time they finish that feature, they've thought of another one and so push it back more. This can go on and on which is why a set date for a code freeze is a good idea.
A prime example of feature creep was Duke Nukem Forever. Extreme feature creep meant that game was delayed for 15 years, and in the end turned out to be a piece of crap anyway.
They are. Feature freeze (and even code freeze, really) means that anything already started can be finished. So a way out of "The end" will get created. Changes to enchantments will be made. Anything they started without telling us will get finished.
None of us knows what the line between "no new code" and "it's ok to fix already existing features" is, or where Mojang will choose to draw it.
It's fun to speculate about what will be in the final version, but we're all basically talking out of our asses.
I think the general idea of a code freeze before a major release (whether or not you are happy to call it final) is a pretty good idea. They've added tons of new features, and many of them are less than half complete and quite buggy. It's time to spend some time finishing them and fixing bugs.
I think it could probably be longer, but they didn't ask me about it.