OT: Do Not Buy Alert

Jmenschenfresser · #1 January 24th, 2003, 05:50 PM

My worst experience was Fallout 2. I could forgive bugs in such a complex game, but I can't forgive the sheer amount of terminal bugs. I played half way through the game and ended up with a save game that had a bug which wouldn't let me go any farther.

In a rage I pulled it from my computer and left it. I went back to it few years later and got the final patch for it. Still some minor bugs, but a much more enjoyable experience.

One of the reasons I rarely buy games when they first hit the shelves. A) Price, B) Bugs, and C) Later Versions usually come with more extras, i.e. Gold Versions.

Instar · #2 January 24th, 2003, 06:30 PM

well, growltigger, MM has made quite a few patches for SEIV.
The thing is, MM actually shipped a complete product instead of some crapware. I usually do not mind downloading a few patches, but only if the game is good in the first place.
Being a programmer (in training) myself, I cannot help but see both sides of the equation though. It is very hard to write 100% bug free (or 100% user friendly) but at the same time you cannot take forever to release software. Most of the time I bet it is the publisher breathing down the necks of the development team to rush a product out the door. EA, to their credit, does have a few good products, but Ive heard a lot of negative too. Part of me wishes that Maxis was never bought out by EA, but at the same time it gives Maxis more marketing capability and resources.

I was at first put off by the inability to turn disasters off. However, you can rest easy knowing that only the mayor can trigger the major disasters. I dont mind the fires too much, but I would rather have it handled automatically. Riots on the other hand only happen if you are a bad mayor.

Baron Munchausen · #3 January 25th, 2003, 02:22 AM

Yep, yep... sounds like the rule still holds. The first release of anything is a public beta. Don't buy until it has been patched.

I just got Civ 3 Last fall when the 1.29f patch came out. It's still got balance problems (as many have complained, the combat system is much too simple and needs to be better designed) but it's playable. Unlike the original release.

I'm considering whether to get PTW with some further changes. I waited for SC 3K Unlimited before upgrading from SC 2k (which I bought on a 'Special Edition' CD after it had been out for years). Now I will plan to get SC 4 sometime next Fall or maybe next Spring.

And actually, I disagree on SE IV. It was also incomplete when originally released. It was a patch to Gold that finally fixed several interface problems -- like 'escape' and 'enter' working like button clicks, the help said they worked but they did not -- and the ridiculously simple feature of filtering ships without cargo out of the cargo transfer window or ships without unit launch/recover out of the unit launch/recover window. Granted, SE IV didn't have the kind of nasty glaring crash bugs that SC 4 seems to have, but SE IV was also a far less demanding program. No real time, no 3D graphics, etc.

Since Moo 3 finally has a release date we can now prepare to hear about this public beta...

[ January 25, 2003, 00:25: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

Instar · #4 January 25th, 2003, 03:00 AM

well, I am a serious hardcore SimCity fanatic, so I had to buy it first day. if you can wait, well, that is cool (I usually don't buy games the first day, but for me SC4 is different)

When I say SimCity fanatic, I mean I have played every Version of SimCity (and the streets and copter games too)

Honestly, I feel that SC4 is one of the more complete games that I have played (but I do not experience any crashes at all, my opinion would certainly be different, if say, I was in Atrocities shoes)

couslee · #5 January 25th, 2003, 04:54 AM

LOL. I played transport tycoon because in came on a 4-game cd i got. I loved it, I went out and bought 4 different "sim" games, and can't stand the lot of them. Granted, I only paid 10-15 a piece for them, but they became shelf-ware faster than my attempt at a flight sim. I like the 4x TBS genre'. anything else is frown, IMO. Maybe I will give them another look, maybe not. They might not even run on my new computer. lol

Interested in a nearly new sim set? (tower,city,isle,farm)

[ January 25, 2003, 02:57: Message edited by: couslee ]

Atrocities · #6 January 25th, 2003, 05:55 AM

Instar what are you PC specs?

Instar · #7 January 25th, 2003, 07:13 AM

my full specs:
P4 1.8 ghz
512 MB DDR RAM
GF4 Ti 4400
Audigy 1 Platinum
MSI mobo
80 gig HD
DVD and CDRW drives
WinXP with every patch I can apply
Thats about it, I guess

Edit:
Oh yeah, I get lags as well, but only after a lot of people or more, or if other major events are going on.

[ January 25, 2003, 05:20: Message edited by: Instar ]