Thumbs up to the Wesnoth team

General feedback and discussion of the game.

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denkolde
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Thumbs up to the Wesnoth team

Post by denkolde »

Heya,

Around 3½ years ago I was semi-active in this community, both with playing the game single- and multi-player and creating smaller skirmish maps for multiplayer use.

Today, I just happened to think about Wesnoth again and decided I would like to be a part of this community again. My interest got renewed in Battle for Wesnoth because I've recently began my masters degree in game design and development, and thereby came to think of this great open source game. :wink:

Anyway, I just created this post to give a big thumbs up for the Wesnoth team as it is great to see the game and the community have continued to develop during the last three years. I'm planning to get back into playing the game but also study the source code further and perhaps in the future help developing the game in any way I can.

Best Regards,
Daniel


P.S.: My username back then was Abdullah if it happens that anyone remember me. I just created a new user because I'm currently using "denkolde" as my username for anything I can :) .
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cool evil
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Post by cool evil »

This game is great but i don't have high hopes for it as far as the development or the community goes.
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Me1234
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Post by Me1234 »

now cummon, lets be positive, the community has attracted a lot of Dorks but there is also a lot of good people here who really have talent. these people make new units, eras, factions, scenaria, etc... their creation inspire others to try and make stuff, then they do and they invite their nonmember friend to joy. and thus the world grows.
Confucious say "If you stand on toilet, you high on pot."
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irrevenant
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Post by irrevenant »

cool evil wrote:This game is great but i don't have high hopes for it as far as the development or the community goes.
Interesting comment. Community I can understand ("old hands" pretty much always resent "young whippersnappers" and consider society to be going downhill) but why don't you have high hopes for the Development? As far as I can see it's continued non-stop and each stable release has been a vast improvement on the one before)
Noy
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Post by Noy »

cool evil wrote:This game is great but i don't have high hopes for it as far as the development or the community goes.
Coming from a person who writes this:
coolevil wrote:I am evil, yet so fragile, compared to the rest, i am the deformed and sinister one. Someday, revenge shall be at hand, for what has to come, one can only hope to taste sweet victory, fulfiling my task that is the ultimate satisfaction - Cool Evil
then thinks its so good that he should make it his own signature out of it... well I think shouldn't have high hopes for your development or how our communities goes.
I suspect having one foot in the past is the best way to understand the present.

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Shadow
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Post by Shadow »

On the other side this comes from the person which greetings for newcomers can be concluded with:

Learn2Play

and

Read the sticky
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I think the irony kills me.
... all romantics meet the same fate someday
Cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark cafe ...
All good dreamers pass this way some day
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Noy
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Re: Thumbs up to the Wesnoth team

Post by Noy »

denkolde wrote:Heya,

Around 3½ years ago I was semi-active in this community, both with playing the game single- and multi-player and creating smaller skirmish maps for multiplayer use.

Today, I just happened to think about Wesnoth again and decided I would like to be a part of this community again. My interest got renewed in Battle for Wesnoth because I've recently began my masters degree in game design and development, and thereby came to think of this great open source game. :wink:

Anyway, I just created this post to give a big thumbs up for the Wesnoth team as it is great to see the game and the community have continued to develop during the last three years. I'm planning to get back into playing the game but also study the source code further and perhaps in the future help developing the game in any way I can.

Best Regards,
Daniel


P.S.: My username back then was Abdullah if it happens that anyone remember me. I just created a new user because I'm currently using "denkolde" as my username for anything I can :) .
Oh yeah, well I hope you enjoy it now, its changed quite a bit, most of it for the better. And we do welcome anybody with even a smigen of coding skills.
I suspect having one foot in the past is the best way to understand the present.

Don Hewitt.
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Thrawn
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Post by Thrawn »

I remember you. You were around when I joined.

welcome back!
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this goes for they're/their/there as well
kodama
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Re: Thumbs up to the Wesnoth team

Post by kodama »

denkolde wrote: Around 3½ years ago I was semi-active in this community, both with playing the game single- and multi-player and creating smaller skirmish maps for multiplayer use.
Around the same time ago I discovered Wesnoth in a Debian package, if I remember correctly. At that time, I just played a few games, and thought: "looks cool, but it is too difficult for me" (I never was very skilled with such games :cry: ).

Fast forward to present time...

Wesnoth 1.2.4 is part of Debian stable, and I tried it again. I was amazed by the progress made, and I must say now I'm hooked. I installed 1.3.16 and enjoy playing with it really often. The units look really cool, the music is great and the gameplay has improved so much ! I just finished "A Tale of Two Brothers" (beginner mode, of course), and am looking forward to the other campaigns :D

Kudos to all people involved in the creation and improvement of such a good game !
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cool evil
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Post by cool evil »

Nothing really changed except new campaigns, a bit of remixed music and new graphics since 0.8(i think that's the first stable release i've played, but who knows it might be 0.9), there hasn't been any radical change, an veteran who played 0.8 can easily familarize himself with the latest stable version(which is 1.2)

I know that open-source games like this usually don't get a brand new version every year or so, but compared to commercial game development it is a bit slow.

And i can write whatever in my signature i want, sometimes i am too lazy or too bored to change it to something nice, but since you asked i'll change it just to prevent any further questionings.
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rchandra
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Post by rchandra »

cool evil wrote:Nothing really changed except new campaigns, a bit of remixed music and new graphics since 0.8(i think that's the first stable release i've played, but who knows it might be 0.9), there hasn't been any radical change, an veteran who played 0.8 can easily familarize himself with the latest stable version(which is 1.2)

I know that open-source games like this usually don't get a brand new version every year or so, but compared to commercial game development it is a bit slow.
What else should be changed (also, you forgot unit/map balancing tweaks)? Drastic changes would make it no longer Wesnoth.
The other way to look at things, is that most commercial games aren't continually improved by their developers - they stagnate for a long time, then occasionally release a sequel. Many don't even fix bugs.
Noy
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Post by Noy »

cool evil wrote:Nothing really changed except new campaigns, a bit of remixed music and new graphics since 0.8(i think that's the first stable release i've played, but who knows it might be 0.9), there hasn't been any radical change, an veteran who played 0.8 can easily familarize himself with the latest stable version(which is 1.2)

I know that open-source games like this usually don't get a brand new version every year or so, but compared to commercial game development it is a bit slow.

And i can write whatever in my signature i want, sometimes i am too lazy or too bored to change it to something nice, but since you asked i'll change it just to prevent any further questionings.
Excuse me? I can't believe you can make such a comment with a straight face. I don't know why I'm debating with you at this point because after a comment like that I can see your understanding of this project is minimal at best. I'd say we've had the most development at any point of the game's history.

Multiletter map system, an better map art, good consistant unit sprites, idle animations, multidirectional attack and defence stances, a better MP balance, conisistent unit/faction descriptions, several new campaigns, a virtual explosion of user made scenarios and factions, serious refinement on the GUI, at least two dozen extra options on the mp server. Thats just the ones I can think off the top of my head since 0.8. There are likely many many more. We've probably done more work since 1.2 than at any point in the game's history.

Not convinced? Lets look at some screen shots:
Den of onis 0.9.7
Image
vs

1.3.4
Image

Hardly any change at all...

Anybody vaguely familiar with this game would never make a remark like you just did.
I suspect having one foot in the past is the best way to understand the present.

Don Hewitt.
shevegen
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Post by shevegen »

In every community there are people with different interests, different skills, agendas etc...

Throwing them all into one pot is always wrong. You lose the ability to denote who is "good" and who is "bad" (which is subjective too btw)

Instead of focusing on the community you should focus on specific aspects you think could or should be improved.
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zookeeper
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Post by zookeeper »

Noy wrote:
cool evil wrote:Nothing really changed except new campaigns, a bit of remixed music and new graphics since 0.8(i think that's the first stable release i've played, but who knows it might be 0.9), there hasn't been any radical change, an veteran who played 0.8 can easily familarize himself with the latest stable version(which is 1.2)

I know that open-source games like this usually don't get a brand new version every year or so, but compared to commercial game development it is a bit slow.

And i can write whatever in my signature i want, sometimes i am too lazy or too bored to change it to something nice, but since you asked i'll change it just to prevent any further questionings.
Excuse me? I can't believe you can make such a comment with a straight face. I don't know why I'm debating with you at this point because after a comment like that I can see your understanding of this project is minimal at best. I'd say we've had the most development at any point of the game's history.

Multiletter map system, an better map art, good consistant unit sprites, idle animations, multidirectional attack and defence stances, a better MP balance, conisistent unit/faction descriptions, several new campaigns, a virtual explosion of user made scenarios and factions, serious refinement on the GUI, at least two dozen extra options on the mp server. Thats just the ones I can think off the top of my head since 0.8. There are likely many many more. We've probably done more work since 1.2 than at any point in the game's history.

Not convinced? Lets look at some screen shots:
Den of onis 0.9.7
(big image removed)
vs

1.3.4
(big image removed)

Hardly any change at all...

Anybody vaguely familiar with this game would never make a remark like you just did.
...unless their remark was about notable additions to the gameplay itself. Referring to the actual gameplay instead of visuals, technical details of implementation, or the amount of content is quite commonly meant when one says something along the lines of "not much in the game has changed".
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Post by Dave »

denkolde, welcome back, and I'm sorry that your thread got hi-jacked.

I would however like the opportunity to say that I'm thoroughly impressed by both Wesnoth's community and development. The Wesnoth community is much more mature and friendly than almost any other community you will find that is built around any kind of computer or video game.

Wesnoth development has also been excellent. We have a stream of new features that continue to improve the game more and more. The engine has been made more stable, more customizable, and more powerful than ever. The content that has been created and continues to be created is also outstanding.

I have full confidence in the development team that we have, and expect Wesnoth to continue improving more and more.

I am also impressed by the development team's maturity. Rather than getting bored and deciding to add new gameplay element after new gameplay element to stave off boredom, eventually 'jumping the shark' with a game that departs from the original premise of Wesnoth, we have done the very opposite. The development team has focused on a quality-over-quantity approach, carefully reviewing, debating, and reconsidering in excruciating detail every game rule change that goes into Wesnoth, building an impressive product that sticks to its original fun premise, but with great polish and quality build around it.

I also think the level of improvement has been at least comparable to that of commercial games with their sequels, simply with a different development cycle.

Typical sequels to commercial games have an improved version of the engine, with new content, similar in style to the original. If you compare Wesnoth 1.4 to Wesnoth 1.0, it has an improved engine, with new content, better quality but similar in style to the original. As an added bonus -- unlike what commercial games do -- with the newer versions of Wesnoth we've continued to maintain and improve all the old content and made it work with the newest version of the engine.

You don't get this with most commercial games. The old content withers and dies. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, for instance, has some nice improvements over Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. However, the content from PoR wasn't updated to use all the features available in the RD engine. With Wesnoth, campaigns such as Heir to the Throne are continually improved to use the latest content.

I don't do that much work on Wesnoth anymore. But, I have full confidence in the development team.

David
“At Gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck.” -- Ian Fleming
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