Buggy Games

[ShyBoy]

Games producers these days seem to always release games with bugs. So much so it's put me off buying games if they're brand new because there are bound to be problems. For example, I just installed the demo of The Settlers V - it worked ok, except that in the game there were scripting errors (like, you got stuck because the tech tree didn't open up once I'd upgraded this building, hence couldn't complete the objective) and silly errors like that. And to me, why the hell don't they just beta test them to death? On my very first go on lots of games these pop out of me and I demand to know why the hell they don't iron them out. They're nothing major, but enough to ruin the whole immersion of a game.

A few years back, games were properly finished, because they didn't get patched online, so what you bought was the finished thing. Look at Zelda for the N64 :p I've yet to find a bug in it. Of course, there are strange things you can do (like walk along a fence and look like you're floating in air) but nothing critical. Whereas now games developers seem to think it's ok to leave errors in.

In the past 12 months the following games I have bought, and the ones in red I have been plagued with bugs
.rome total war
.deus ex: invisible war
.HALF LIFE F*CKING TWO (well, steam)
.Kotor 2
.Dungeon Keeper 2
.Hitman Codename 47
.Star Trek Voyager Elite Force (was a boring game though :p, not buggy mind)
.Arx Fatalis
.Neverwinter Nights
.Homeworld 2
.Republic
.Battlefield Vietnam
.Savage: battle for newerth (still doesn't work, says I have an account problem :s)
.Star Wars Battlefront (lol, I've only got to play it twice it's so buggy :p
.Arcanum
.Etherlords
.Star Trek hidden evil

Why don't they just give the games a good finish? When you read reviews for some of these games the people praise them heavily even though they have bugs, like it's to be expected. WoW just came out - set to be the best MMORPG of all time, except for the fact it has loads of bugs.

Is it just me who thinks it's outrageous that they keep prices high because of effective monopolies (only one person sells half life 2 after all, the alternatives aren't quite.. half life 2) yet the products are substandard. Im looking toward Black and white 2 as a beacon of hope, black and white one was very well done, almost no bugs for me, it was a bit thin playwise, but I think it's more important to get a game that works, then it's easy enough to play around with the actual story and plotline etc.

Note about the games up there: lots of the ones without bugs are older games... isn't that saying something about the standards of todays games? I don't think producers give the development teams the time and resources (well, they get millions of pounds :s) to finish off these games, they wait until there's a shell of a game thats got everything in but they don't let it get polished off - after all, once it's ready to go it can go on the shelves and then they can fix any problems with patches later.

Funniest thing about Steam though :p they patched the problem I had after loads of us complained about it on their forum. Still not fixed though.... (it basically uses up all cpu resources and crashes computer)

But anyway. If anyone would like to add either defending games and saying how we've never had it so good, or throw in your own two pence about how you think its shit they sell us half made games, please feel free.

edited due to tpying elite force instead of hidden evil.

[White Noise]

its probably not the developers fault. blame should really go to QA teams, in fact, blame everything on QA, its a great way to get outta trouble :thumb:

[Jazza]

It is virtually impossible to test all aspects of a program tbh but I think that in a lot of cases even basic testing is lax. They seem to be rushing to make even bigger and better games and releasing them asap instead of taking time to produce a quality game.

[ShyBoy]

its probably not the developers fault. blame should really go to QA teams, in fact, blame everything on QA, its a great way to get outta trouble :thumb:

QA teams = question and answer teams? :confused: And I don't think it's the developers fault - from what I've read about them in magasine articles they pour everything they have into the games, they want to make it fun to play and unique and get carried away with themselves on a frequent basis. It's in no way a 9-5 job. They're almost like artists in a way, except they work to a plan in a cohesive team way. I think it's producers, the labels behind them, they just hire the best dev. teams and then say "here's ya money, in 2 years time give us a game that will sell big".

Shame really :(

[Mist]

Can't really compare console and PC games. Console games go through a much stricter phase of testing because of the standards that the console makers require in order to be allowed to distribute the game officially. With a PC game you can release knowing that you can patch it up later.

I had virtually no problems with HL2 & steam though I probably bought it a little while after many bugs had already been patched. Likewise with Deus Ex 2.

QA is quality assurance, by the way.

[ShyBoy]

Can't really compare console and PC games. Console games go through a much stricter phase of testing because of the standards that the console makers require in order to be allowed to distribute the game officially. With a PC game you can release knowing that you can patch it up later.

But that's a rubbish way to go about things. I think people expect quality on the go. My problem was with steam specifically not HL2 - the Deus Ex problem was because it was just a huge system load - it would spin up my DVD drive and HDD for nothing and bring my computer to my knees. And I have a 2.5ghz athlon which is not top of the pile anymore but is still alive and kicking.

[Teh_Gerbil]

Deus Ex 2's bug was the shortness of it. :p

Buggy games are released because:
The Public are wanting it, so annoy the publishers.
The Publishers want the money ASAP. So prod the developers to finish it.
Developers say no.
Publishers threaten to cut contract if not released by date xx/xx/xx.
Developers release runable but bugged game on that date.

Sad circle. We all need to be more patient. If Half Life 2 didn't have steam, lets face it, it would have been worth the wait. I'd say so.

STALKER is being held off until it works too. Im glad. :D

[Indrid Cold]

Add Prince of Persia: Warrior Within in that list.

[GoodFella]

Wot was wrong with Rome Total War, works fine for me.

[ShyBoy]

Wot was wrong with Rome Total War, works fine for me.

It works, but there are lots of bugs in it.

Loads of AI issues, balancing issues, spontaneous errors, units not behaving properly, etc etc. There was a huge list, but then they released a patch. Still doesn't fix all of them :^) but you know. Easiest way to win the game is just build a load of cavalry because they are so overpowered (upkeep of velites = 230 or something, upkeep of auxilia cavalry i.e. velites on horse = 110). Just get loads and loads of cavalry and charge everything on the map and you'll win without many losses :).

eta: since the latest patch
http://p223.ezboard.com/fshoguntotalwarfrm7.showMessage?topicID=23487.topi c

[wheresmyplacebo]

vtm: bloodlines rushed to be released with half life 2

[Hellfire]

Anyone ever get a bug in RA 1.01 were in a really long game, sometimes 5+ hours but norm 7/8+ hours you get a gray storm cloud kind of thing that fires tesla/electric and kills anything near it?

[Mr_Wobble]

In Ye Olde Days games were small. They had to be, as computers didn't have much drive space, memory, etc. Now they have huge hard drives, loads of memory, and DVD drives. This means that games can be on a spectacularly huge scale. All that code inevitably means there will be problems, and there will be bugs.
This isn't helped by the pressures of multi-million dollar budgets and tight deadlines. So games get released with bugs and glitches. It sucks really, but they run ok on most computers, so it's considered ok. :(

Personally, I also like to wait until the "Gold" releases come out, as they're usually patched, have extras, and are cheaper. :)

[Jim V]

You do have to question what an actual bug is and what's just bad programming rushed towards a release deadline. Problems with AI, etc, is more to do with a game being bad or hurried than real testing.

As Wobble said with the size of games you've got hundreds of people working on releases - with pressure to get a release out bringing all that together for testing isn't going to be easy.

I'd be willing to guess that QA teams are never allowed a go/no go decision on game releases these days.

[ShyBoy]

Anyone ever get a bug in RA 1.01 were in a really long game, sometimes 5+ hours but norm 7/8+ hours you get a gray storm cloud kind of thing that fires tesla/electric and kills anything near it?

They put that in on purpose :p worst thing was when it was near your powerstations :(

[ShyBoy]

You do have to question what an actual bug is and what's just bad programming rushed towards a release deadline. Problems with AI, etc, is more to do with a game being bad or hurried than real testing.

Some AI problems make the game practically unplayable. I.e. they just build an army and dont have a population left to bit villagers so henceforth it's a stalemate.