Is there anything happening?

[Universal]

Probably this is not going to be a most popular thread, but I feel that someone has to start this.

Crowdfunding campaign for Adom 1.2.0 was successfully completed over a year ago. Correct me if I'm wrong, but since beginning of this year/end of last one we haven't seen any real progress, and I'm not talking about fancy tiles and music for Adom. Don't get me wrong, tiles and music are great, but those are not core game features. Those are not the reasons why people love roguelike games, and why people love Adom.

I love Adom, I've spend countless hours playing it. I used to be big fan of TB since late 90's and whenever I could, I supported him (see discussion in thread about Adom source code), but starting crowdfunding campaign not for brand new game - but just for update of currently existing game, and then not really doing anything for over 9 months after initial work it feels wrong. Just wrong. Not to mention that Adom II (aka JADE) has become dead again, despite of TB early statement that "Adom development will have little impact on Adom II" (or something like that).

Sorry TB, but you just lost one core fan.

Ps. Forgive me my poor english, it's not my native language.

[Stingray1]

You suck. 10 characters.

[grobblewobble]

To be honest, yes I think the silence is getting awkward. That's the problem with crowdfunding.. the money is probably not enough for TB to stop working for half a year (or whatever time is needed), but it's more than enough to make fans disappointed if they don't see enough commitment.

[GordonOverkill]

Haven't played the close releases, but just from reading about the developement, it's obvious that alot of work has been done on bug fixes and ballancing. In addition the implementation of sound and graphics is very likely alot of work, too... no matter if you think it's important or not and let's not forget about the new classes and races. I also read about quite some work that was done for the pen and paper game. I think, for a year of work next to their ordinary jobs, that's actually quite alot. So at least I don't share your disappointment at all.

[Universal]

Yes I read about bug fixes, about sound and graphics, about pen and paper game. I was talking about Adom and it's core features, about gameplay. Sound and graphics are handled by Krzysztof Dycha and Oneiros Dieguez (and besides, no one ever played/liked/loved Adom for its graphics, right?), and pen and paper game is not related in any way with Adom 1.2.0 (it wasn't even target of crowdfunding campaign). Bugfixes are very nice, but again - this isn't really adding any content into game. Adom did not really got any new content since beginning of this year/end of last one. It seems (judging by Adom blog and facebook page) only thing that is actively worked on, are sound and graphics.

It's not even about my money, I don't regret donating into crowdfunding campaign, as I think TB deserve to be rewarded for his work on Adom back from 1994, it's about his attitude - putting promises, some initial work and then long time of silence. Again and again.

I don't want to sound mean and I don't want to insult anyone (especially Thomas) - I just wanted to state my opinion and my dissapointment.

[GordonOverkill]

For me it just doesn't matter very much how long it all takes. The current public version is already one of my alltime fave games, so I am in no hurry. For the further development I think that Thomas and the others should take as much time as they need, so we get the best possible results, whenever they are ready. To me it's a great feeling to know that they are working on it. Halve a year of silence followed by a great result is alot better than some quick shot every couple weeks... that's how most of the big companies do it these days and I don't like it at all.

[asdf]

I love Adom, I've spend countless hours playing it. I used to be big fan of TB since late 90's and whenever I could, I supported him (see discussion in thread about Adom source code), but starting crowdfunding campaign not for brand new game - but just for update of currently existing game, and then not really doing anything for over 9 months after initial work it feels wrong. Just wrong.

On a personal note the family-related health problems that distracted me during past couple of months hopefully get less distracting so that I hopefully finally will finish the initial version of the ADOM Lite RPG by the end of the month (including layout and stuff, just four months late :-P ) and will get it shipped before Christmas. At least I hope so. Even more important is that finishing it by the end of August finally will mean that I can focus once more on programming work for ADOM - something I very much look forward to.
http://www.ancientdomainsofmystery.com/2013/08/adom-120-prerelease-15-now-is-available.html#more

Still, silence of the past couple of months and lack of anything game-related start to look omnious. Latest prereleases are stable and different enough from 1.1.1, but where is Creator?... Perhaps you could tweet him with link on this topic and ask him to answer or post updates.

[adom-admin]

Just to give a statement from my point of view:

There is quite a bit happening but it's game-wise right now really happening mostly in the province of graphics, sound and minor bug fixes and adjustments. Jochen, Zeno, Krys and Oneirons have put an amazing amount of energy into that area and I am totally happy and in love with the results. If you would like to see more work in another area that's perfectly valid but we had to have some project plan and like any project that is very complex things can get a bit unorderly once unexpected complications arise.

From my side there have been two unexpected complications:

It takes me an eternity longer to write the god-damn ADOM Lite RPG compared to what I expected. And by now it has reached a state where it is draining my will to live, honestly. It must be done by October as otherwise I am going to run into tax-related funding issues and thus it must ship this year. But it has taken a lot more months than I ever expected. In retrospective it would have been much better to not collect the money for the RPG and waste time and energy writing it. Now that I have promised to do it I want it to be good enough - so there's one big issue. To finally get it finished I really decided to focus on nothing but writing it. So until it is finished I'm not going to write a single line of code for ADOM to not get distracted even more. Lesson #1: Never again would I promise rewards that are not directly related to the goal of a campaign.
The second point is a personal issue. The first eight months of this year my mother has been having extremely serious health issues. She's 84 so that's not unexpected. But it has forced us to surrender her home (the old ADOM postcard address), move her to a are facility and get thousands of related things organized. This level has been totally unexpected even in January and from then on things declined dramatically. Putting extreme mental, emtional and time pressure on me. I am really blessed with my collaborators who have been moving many things forward in the most excellent manner even when I was not available.


All this doesn't help to fulfill your wishes immediately but you can feel assured that ADOM is the only not-job-related priority I have these days and I'm doing everything to not get distracted. ADOM II is one victim of this. Yes, I would have liked things to be different, but (1) and (2) above were unplanned or unexpected.

I just can ensure that once that god-damn ADOM Lite RPG finally is out of my way (and progress is finally becoming much better - end of October is yet another new date when I expect it to be finished) things will pick up again. Together with many other things which just need to get shipped (postcards, posters, etc.) as I want to do everything in one big batch.

And yes, I probably should communicate better. You are absolutely right. Sorry for that.

[Grey]

the god-damn ADOM Lite RPG

Hah, oh dear, sounds like you are developing an unhealthy relationship with the RPG! It may be worth opening the process up a bit to see if the community can offer help. Sometimes fresh input can revitalise a difficult project. But if you say it must be done by the end of this month then that does rather restrict you...

Sorry to hear about your mother's health problems. It's not easy finding a good care home and arranging the move, and that is understandably very draining.

But it's good to know others are still chipping away in the background. Maybe some of them could provide updates now and then? Would be cool to see a blog post written by the others giving their view of the process, the challenges they face, what they're working on, etc.

[Carter]

It takes me an eternity longer to write the god-damn ADOM Lite RPG compared to what I expected. And by now it has reached a state where it is draining my will to live, honestly.

sorry but this kind of makes me laugh. Sounds like you are almost at the end though so godspeed.

tbh the progress so far has more than acceptable. this time last year we were still using 1.1.1 that had barely been touched for years. Now we have new classes, new graphics, new items, new music and new races. Oh and about 5000 bugs are fixed.

Sounds like by the end of the year we'll see some more "core" development which sounds fine to me. Seems once it gets going alot of stuff can happen quickly too.

[Soundwizard]

Hi everyone! Oneiros here. I will ask Thomas soon about the possibility of making some new tunes go public; I honestly haven't done so before because things have been a little messy in my own life as well. Just so you know, there's a lot more music than the last time I posted anything, plus, I'm working on some sound effects and voices (other community news here not to be revealed yet; still have to talk about and organize them with the crew). The graphic department is looking AMAZING, Krys just seems to be an endless pit of creativity, and Jochen and Zeno are doing a terrific job at correcting some stuff and rebuilding some other... but I'll let them expand on that in any way they want to :) . Cheers everyone!

[warthurton]

I just can ensure that once that god-damn ADOM Lite RPG finally is out of my way (and progress is finally becoming much better - end of October is yet another new date when I expect it to be finished) things will pick up again.


I'd give up my claim on it, but I don't think we could convince the other 350+ people. Realized a while back that I'll probably play ADOM on the pc 1000000X more than I'll play the RPG. That said I appreciate your efforts.

W

[Universal]

First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your personal problems and thank you for quick response.

I apologize if I sounded bitter in my posts, I just felt that someone has to ask about this. Maybe I should have done that in a bit other form. Anyway, just to let you know, despite everything I'm still excited to play Adom 1.2.0 with all its planned features, and it's good to know that you still have working on it in your soon plans.

And I still hope that one day I will play Adom II - it was something I was really excited back in days.

Regards

[Mobius]

I'd give up my claim on it, but I don't think we could convince the other 350+ people. Realized a while back that I'll probably play ADOM on the pc 1000000X more than I'll play the RPG. That said I appreciate your efforts.

W
Do what every* software company does. Ship to deadline, issue patches.

ADOM RPC 1.0000



*except for the Creator's IRL company, which everybody should hire.

Best of luck dealing with your mom - My mother in law is in a similar condition, and it adds to my wife's headaches.

[moozooh]

I'm working on some sound effects and voices

Oh god, when I saw that part I immediately thought of this (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3715485/stuff/exile.mp4). IIRC, what happens there is a fireball hitting a pack of orcs in Spiderweb Software's Exile 2 (or maybe it was Exile 3), some of the orcs dying, the others being on their last breath as can be heard. If ADOM's new sounds are remotely as entertaining (and let's call it, "to the point") as these, you will be the one to push me into playing the non-ASCII version! A touch of self-irony is always appreciated. :D

[anon123]

*Stuff*

Thank you for taking the time to reply, and I'm sorry to hear about your ailing mother. Wish her the very best.

About the subject at hand, like Gordon, I don't mind waiting because I trust the development team and know 1.2.0 Final will not become vaporware. Hell, even if you did cancel the entire project forever tomorrow, I personally would still consider every single penny of my donation worth it.

[Ravenmore]

Thanks to JT and Zeno there are some interesting graphical improvements coming in p17 (well, at least I fell in love with them at first sight, you'll see for yourselves ;) ), but since the OP is interested only in core ADOM features, then there's not much I can add - TB's reply says it all. TB is the only one who can put in new quests and major improvements, so progress on that front might have slowed down this year (even though JT did a massive job bugfixing and balancing the game). However, I feel that saying that the campaign is a letdown because of this delay is unfair.

Give the man some time, he's good for his word in the end, I'm sure you all know that.

If anything we, the rest of team ADOM that is, should have been more verbose about the current situation and let you guys know what to expect in the coming months. Just didn't dawn on us since we focused so much on p16 and with p17 just around the bend that we got total tunnel vision. Sorry for that.

[Stingray1]

You suck. 10 characters.

Sorry about the above, but I realize how much TB and his team has put into this game, that he made this game for free in the beginning and that he has personal issues. Your words were just too selfish and blind this morning.
I had no other thought in my mind at that moment.

[gosos]

@thomas: you have a terrific reputation for delivering quality. I don't want anyone who comes to this site to think I am complaining. I really don't want people to be concerned about buying into the pre-release due to my question. This is not like the 'towns' game pre-release or the Neal Stephenson gimme $500k to make you an uber game and then vanish with nothing. You have a sound track record.

It is why I asked a question inside of a thread. I didn't want to make a big splash about it. I am very happy with what I paid for so far. I think its well worth the cost.

Thank you for responding. Seriously, guys this is a great game and if your going to contribute to a kickstarter or an alpha pre-release Thomas's track record speaks for itself.

I don't know who universal is. I asked a question inside an existing thread.

[gosos]

on a side note, i guess thomas's experiences with the Adom RPG pen and paper game tells us that thomas will never write his great fantasy series... being a writer is hard.

[BenMathiesen]

Thomas, I wish I could tell you to lighten up on the RPG, but if you have sound tax reasons to ship by EOY then I won't complain! I'm looking forward to the RPG as a source of lore and ideas related to the ADOM world, not because I'm determined to start a campaign as soon as possible.

So please, as much as you are able, take care of your family and primary business, and don't stress about the RPG. I am more than happy to wait, and I have been loving the new versions of ADOM. The rate of progress has been fine, and I have faith that the whole team will come through.

Ben

[Al-Khwarizmi]

It takes me an eternity longer to write the god-damn ADOM Lite RPG compared to what I expected. And by now it has reached a state where it is draining my will to live, honestly.
This makes me sad. It shouldn't be like that.

Maybe try to think about the RPG not as something that you need to get rid of, but as a great work that will bring enjoyment to hundreds of people. Which is what it is!

As for ADOM features, I can wait as much as necessary, although definitely a message from time to time to report progress (even if it's to say that there is no progress but the project is still alive and well) would be great.

All the best to your mother.

[BlitzerkidSix]

I absolutely empathize with the Creator. I'm trying to create a campaign setting and a bunch of alternate rules for Dungeons & Dragons, so my friends can play. I can hardly imagine the challenge of creating an entirely new game, and one that echoes the tone and scope of ADOM. Mr. Biskup, you have made a fine game, and shown a great deal of courage, ingenuity, and ambition in your continuing efforts to fully realize your vision. I want to be an animator someday, and show people high fantasy the way I see it in my mind. ADOM has been a huge inspiration and influence, and this past year I have come to admire you as an individual, perhaps because I finally appreciate the degree of passion, commitment, and sheer sweat you've dedicated to this great game.

I wish your mother "Alles beste". Have a good day, sir; you deserve it.

[ScooterSkittles]

Crowdfunding campaign for Adom 1.2.0 was successfully completed over a year ago. Correct me if I'm wrong, but since beginning of this year/end of last one we haven't seen any real progress, and I'm not talking about fancy tiles and music for Adom.

The races and classes are pretty stinkin' core! And we saw the inclusion of several of those. And not races and classes that are barely different from the ones we had already, but instead very interesting and game changing! Honestly, the most fun I've ever had playing ADOM was with a recent Duelist character. The most fun. That says a lot given I've played ADOM for 13+ years, starting in my early/mid teens. So yeah, I see massive progress and am very satisfied with the current progress on ADOM.

My sympathy for The Creator's mother.

[Universal]

Skittles I think you misunderstood my post, but I don't see point in further arguing here, now that TB made his response here.

Ps. Yes I agree, new classes and races are pretty awesome. I enjoyed new unique monsters too.

[goldaryn]

Got back into ADOM and the game is fantastic! What's the current postcard address TB?

[gosos]

did alot of people join the kickstarter for the pen and paper RPG? I think the vast majority prefer enhancements to the game...

[Stingray1]

Please scroll up and read TB's post. This is not a democratic decision. Be patient mate.

[Deathwind]

I've seen entire kickstarters done just to cover the printing costs projects the size of the RPG, to see it as a reward was a bit of a mistake. That said to keep his word he needs to get as much of his expenses on the books this year so he can deduct them or he will lose a large portion of the campaign's proceeds in taxes.

[JellySlayer]

I guess TB is probably relieved that we didn't hit the stretch goal that would have doubled the length of the book (though I suppose that probably would have provided him with enough to hire somebody to help out).