Patch Update - patch is now with Activision for testing

[therother]

The Shogun has just posted the following over at the official site:

So just a quick update on the patch. The patch is now with Activision for testing. This process needs to be thorough and may pick up on issues that need to be addressed (which is the whole purpose of testing and QA).

That said we expect to release the patch by the end of January at very the latest. This is obviously open to change depending on QA but we will inform you as soon as we have the green light to go.

A big thank you to every one for being so patience and we will continue to keep you up to date through the forums.

See this post.

Edit: It's possible we may have info on what the patch changes early next week. See this post over at the official site. Thanks to Locklear for this update.

[Wrangel]

Thank god! Is there a list with all the changes so far or do we have to wait and see?

[Akka]

Damned !
Two more weeks to wait !

[*Ringo*]

Good news indeed, time to dig out my copy of RTW & get some practice in! Fortunately GTA: San Andreas has kept me busy since christmas but it's no substitute!

*Ringo*

[ranpiz]

HOI2 had a significant balance patch out before i was even able to find the game here in the USA. when i win the nobel prize for gaming i'm going to visit them in stockholm.

[Basileus]

thats good news, i just started playing again mostly total realism mod but im realy looking forward to this

[Kraxis]

I'm surprised... Indeed I am, nobody has yet complained that The Shogun mentions

the end of January at very the latest

*gasp*

Anyway, this is good news. Now I only hope it will address my issues.

[sunsmountain]

The same QA control that passed Rome Total War in the first place, the same QA that passed Vampire: Bloodlines, also riddled with bugs?

My trust in Activision QA control is at an all time low, and i think the division should be disbanded and that beta-testers should be allowed to do Quality Assurance, which is not as hard as QA wants you to believe.
QA people may or may not be gamers, and in any case only get 2 weeks time (which is a lot of pressure time to discover the bugs in. How many time did you need to notice all the bugs?).

Now CA has made it clear since day 1 that Rome:TW should be accessible and 'easy to play' for all gamers, not just MTW fans. QA people probably DO represent people who are not necessarily fan of the TW genre, and can give a good test bed to test the 'easy for all gamers to play' criterion.

However, they are not the people who should be removing the bugs for everybody, as this highly critical process can only be done by highly critical people who would love to spend 2 weeks of their time to find as many as they possibly can. Dedication cannot be underestimated.

Remember, these people cost 2 weeks of salary and resources as well. If they cannot deliver bug-free or near bug-free products, i do not see their useful contribution to the process.

What I feel is that CA & Activision have allowed the 'easy to play for all gamers' criterion to be more important than the 'bug-free' criterion. They are now, after 5-6 months addressing this second part and lets all hope its not too late.

As i think about it, even the 5-6 months may not be enough to spot all the bugs the game may have, but it is enough time for the programmers to make a good patch.

I particularly HOPE they have ENABLED the MAP editors, or we'll have to make one ourselves.
And that they spent their time on the AI, not the graphics engine.

[rebelscum]

Still playing 1.1 with a few mods to relieve arrow lag. I just hope this is the patch to end all patches!

[Ar7]

Well I was right about the patch release time when I said it will be out in the end of January

I just hope they fix the bugs that make the game unplayable and better the AI, as for everything else, I am setting my hopes at the EB mod

[Wrangel]

I just hope this is the patch to end all patches!

Hardly, and i don't know if a "final" patch is always a good thing. That doesn't give the oportunity for tweaks in the future. Because there will always be glitches to deal with. And there is always separate opinions about what units that are unhistorical etc. But this will hopefully make the game playable as it was meant to be. And hopefully a lot harder.

[Mikeus Caesar]

When CA says they're going to test it, they are just going to stamp a seal of approval on it and forget it for two weeks.

[Spino]

Thank god! Is there a list with all the changes so far or do we have to wait and see?

You dreamer! I don't recall CA ever releasing a complete list of fixes, tweaks, etc. with previous TW patches. Considering this patch is supposed to be huge they'll probably just list the major fixes, tweaks and features and leave us to figure out the rest.

Hardly, and i don't know if a "final" patch is always a good thing. That doesn't give the oportunity for tweaks in the future. Because there will always be glitches to deal with. And there is always separate opinions about what units that are unhistorical etc. But this will hopefully make the game playable as it was meant to be. And hopefully a lot harder.

Agreed. Should Activision release this patch and say nay to further fixes or tweaks until the expansion is released I would hate to think that an Activision executive or two might have to pay the ultimate price for alienating the TW fan base...

[Mikeus Caesar]

You know, they should have released two versions. The one we play, RTW: The n00b casual gamer (NCG) version, and a version that most of us, the TW fans, wanted. Then everyone's happy!!!

[Wrangel]

You dreamer! I don't recall CA ever releasing a complete list of fixes, tweaks, etc. with previous TW patches.

True... my mistake. But if you take a game like "Europa Universalis" they document every little fix tweak and feature. Even in the beta patches...

Considering this patch is supposed to be huge they'll probably just list the major fixes, tweaks and features and leave us to figure out the rest.

In that case I hope there will be a LOT of figuring (it's really needed)

[Spino]

When CA says they're going to test it, they are just going to stamp a seal of approval on it and forget it for two weeks.

I think you're being unfair to CA. I am fairly certain that CA has already subjected their patch candidate to in-house testing prior to submitting it to Activision for further testing and their official stamp of approval.

The same QA control that passed Rome Total War in the first place, the same QA that passed Vampire: Bloodlines, also riddled with bugs?

My trust in Activision QA control is at an all time low, and i think the division should be disbanded and that beta-testers should be allowed to do Quality Assurance, which is not as hard as QA wants you to believe.
QA people may or may not be gamers, and in any case only get 2 weeks time (which is a lot of pressure time to discover the bugs in. How many time did you need to notice all the bugs?).

Don't blame Activision's QA department for decisions that are made by Marketing and the higher ups. I'm sure QA spotted many of the bugs and imbalances we've experienced but the time needed to fix them and retest a new release candidate would have exceeded their target date for release.

Now CA has made it clear since day 1 that Rome:TW should be accessible and 'easy to play' for all gamers, not just MTW fans. QA people probably DO represent people who are not necessarily fan of the TW genre, and can give a good test bed to test the 'easy for all gamers to play' criterion.

However, they are not the people who should be removing the bugs for everybody, as this highly critical process can only be done by highly critical people who would love to spend 2 weeks of their time to find as many as they possibly can. Dedication cannot be underestimated.

Remember, these people cost 2 weeks of salary and resources as well. If they cannot deliver bug-free or near bug-free products, i do not see their useful contribution to the process.

What I feel is that CA & Activision have allowed the 'easy to play for all gamers' criterion to be more important than the 'bug-free' criterion. They are now, after 5-6 months addressing this second part and lets all hope its not too late.

As i think about it, even the 5-6 months may not be enough to spot all the bugs the game may have, but it is enough time for the programmers to make a good patch.

I particularly HOPE they have ENABLED the MAP editors, or we'll have to make one ourselves.

You may be right but in defense of Activision (ye gods, did I really write that?) RTW was supposed to be released early 2004 but it was deemed too user unfriendly by Activision. So Activison gave CA roughly six more months to make RTW more intuitive to the average gamer and incorporate a more comprehensive tutorial system. Given the plethora of bugs (no show stoppers though), balance issues and disabled features it is clear RTW wasn't ready to be shipped in early 2004 regardless of whether it was user unfriendly or not! I can only imagine how many problems RTW would have had if CA didn't work on it for another six months!

If I am right then Activision had every right to demand that CA make RTW acceptable for release in mid-September. After all, the bulk of those six months were supposed to be devoted entirely to minor polishing and making RTW more user friendly! In light of the bad AI and other problems it is clear RTW needed alot more than minor polishing. However I do not know why Activison couldn't have waited a few more months and released it in time for X-Mas. Perhaps they didn't want to compete for shelf space?

And that they spent their time on the AI, not the graphics engine.

Hear hear! This is my single greatest concern for the upcoming patch. Fixes and tweaks be damned, a decent and/or sensible AI opponent is the key to this game's longevity!

[mambaman]

wise words Spino-wise words- a little temperance amidst all the fire and fury.....

[Attalus]

Well...I hope it just fixes...erm...all the broken...ahh.... stuff.

That'd be nice.

Then everyone will be happy.


And we will continue to crush our enemies, see them driven before us and hear the lamentations of their women

GAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!....(breathe in) AHHHHH!

[Locklear]

Another thing, in a thread about the changes in the patch:

No promises but I'll check with Activision etc and if possible post the Patch Readme early next week.

That would be nice...

[therother]

Thanks for the extra info Locklear.

[sunsmountain]

Well, indeed Spino, wise words. Let's not all forget that Rome: TW is a very complex game to program, let alone debug.

The graphics engine alone deserves a game in its own right, and the campaign map could be mistaken for Civilization, im sure.

The AI could not be added until the game world was finished, and seeing as how they put most of their time into making the game user-friendly & finishing the world, I can understand why the AI is sooooo crap.

Plus they also tried to implement a new AI system. Remember the multiple layer AI? Combine that with not enough time, pressure for user-friendly & accessible, the difficulty of AI in general, and you have all the answers you need to bugs, errors, rushed parts, etc.

Still...