Derek 'Smart' speaks out?

[Galatoni]

Has anyone been following this? I'm not one to speak out on stuff like this because, frankly, it doesn't deserve the air of publicity. I've actually had dealings with 'Smart' regarding his 3000AD product before - it wasn't good.

I purchased the game knowing well aware that it was a hand-made and potentially very buggy piece of work - but I'm a sucker for a good space sim so I stumped up the cash and bought it. If anyone has played it - its hard. I don't mean, its a bit difficult, either. Its really hard. EVERYTHING has to be calibrated and operated by yourself. There is basically no AI in it, at all. I approached Smart with some constructive feedback. Now, anyone who knows me will know that I'm not a harsh person. I work as a software developer. As a rule of thumb, there is no such thing as bad feedback. I didn't phrase it badly, it was just a series of points I made. I didn't just blurt them out either, they were constructive and there was a lot of positive points too. I won't go into the details, but Smart's reply was less than encouraging. It forced me to shelve the game and i've never touched it since.

What is everyones thoughts on this though? Does he have a point regarding the approach CIG is taking?

[TeaLeaf]

Judging from some of the feedback, including from Wingman, I'd say that I'm not losing any sleep over Smart's rant.

Update 07/14/2015 2:54 PM:
Hey guys!

I believe I can clarify this. We refunded Mr. Smart’s package because he was using Star Citizen as a platform to gain attention as part of a campaign to promote his ‘Line of Defense’ space game. Our ToS (or in this case, the Kickstarter ToS) allows us to refund troubled users who we would rather not have interacting with the community. The process lets us entirely disable their accounts, preventing them from playing the finished game. Think of it as the video game equivalent of a ‘we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone’ sign in a restaurant. We’ve used this ability a limited number of times in the past, always with the aim of improving the community (until today, the most famous example being our old friend jcrg99/Manzes/PonyMillar/he of many other alts.)

I do now want to stress that that is not to say you can get your money back by simply being as obnoxious as possible; we’re also able to ban accounts from the forums without requiring a refund. But sometimes we take a look at a user and decide that they’re so toxic or their intentions are so sinister that we simply don’t want them associated with Star Citizen.

As for refund requests working the other way: per the ToS, we’re not required to offer them. We do try and work with backers who are facing hardships, but the hard truth is that the money is by necessity being spent to develop a game rather than sitting unused somewhere (that being the significant difference with Steam; those refunds are taken out of their games’ profits rather than their development budgets.)

Update 07/14/2015 3:24 PM:

Look, I am no longer at CIG, but I recall when Chris and I were working at Origin, Derek Smart sent several negative emails accusing us of stealing his ideas etc, the guy is just not worth the time to read.

He is just trying to get attention â€" something none of us should ever give him.

IMHO, I think CIG did the right thing here, that guy is just not worth the trouble.

Fun reads if you want to waste some brain time on Smart:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/2vb2eb/derek_smart_is_back_and_now_hes_on_steam/
https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/271009/please-ignore-anything-from-derek-smart
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/883/view/news/read/35572/Star-Citizen-Should-We-Question-RSI-Star-Citizen-Derek-Smart-Thinks-So.html

[Obsydian]

I only have one thing to say about the whole shebang: Derek Smart is a failed wannabe game developer without a single completely working game to his name, and is a complete [expletive deleted].

[Galatoni]

I only have one thing to say about the whole shebang: Derek Smart is a failed wannabe game developer without a single completely working game to his name, and is a complete [expletive deleted].

I agree. I'm just raising some debate on the subject. I can't help but think there is an amount of jealousy involved here. Smart had a great idea - this idea (not exactly - i'm not accusing anyone of plagiarism). He just had no idea how to develop it, invest in it or even how to make it happen.

[Obsydian]

I agree completely.

He has such an over-inflated opinion of himself that he arrogantly believes (and tells anybody willing to listen) that if he can't do it, then nobody can.

The man irritates me in every way possible, and his accusations against CIG regarding how they've treated him is ironic considering that he does exactly the same on his own gaming forums and blogs, banning people left right and centre if they merely hint at disagreeing with anything he says (which consists mostly about himself, of course!).

He threatens everyone with lawsuits (CIG included), but I have yet to hear of him actually succeeding in even getting things to court.

The man is deluded, self-centred and talentless. And jealous of anyone who deigns to attempt things that he himself has failed at.

And...damn! I promised myself I wouldn't say any more on the matter...ommmm...let it go, let it go....breathe...

[Gorion]

Derek the Idiot should look at the rubbish he made before going after SC.

[smilodon]

I read his comments and then I played 3000AD. Then I laughed and laughed and laughed.

[Twyst]

Well, he does have a point I think.

I've become quite alienated with SC now ..... for such an important game ...... I still cannot finish the bloody tutorial. My ship always refuses to dock.
I find that my joystick is woefully not supported - each patch I have to painstakingly remap my keys and even then it's too sensitive.

"But it's ALPHA"

So what? It's been that for like years already? Just how long does it take to support basic controls?
I don't care how good the game looks, if it handles like a turd it is a turd.
It's not like Chris Roberts has a lack of experience with joy sticks in games.

I really want this game to work, but it's starting to become another Duke Nukem.

[Galatoni]

Because of the joystick controls? Bit of an overreaction. Bit I see what you mean about the length of the alpha. Still though. They're running with significantly less people than a normal studio would be.

I'm still of the mindset of it'll be done when its done. I can understand what you mean though. Its been a while, not loads to show for it.

[Obsydian]

What joystick do you have that you're having problems with?  "Basic joystick controls" are well supported now, so maybe there's something awry with your stick, or perhaps you're using a very old or rare type? Let us know and we'll see if we can help in any way.

If you're re-mapping after each patch, then you're doing it wrong! Once you have your stick set up how you would like, you can export the settings to a file, and then, following a patch, import the settings again. You need to save a copy of the settings in another folder though, as patching (currently) deletes the folder in which the the export saves the file! Patcher 2.0 is up on the PTU at the moment, so hopefully when we get that, preserving exported settings will be one of the enhancements :/

As for it being "alpha", sorry but it is NOT. Despite the term now being used "officially", it's still very much PRE-alpha, seeing as not all of the basic systems and plumbing are yet in place.

Due to the openness of the development, it's easy for many to forget that for games being developed in a "normal" environment, you wouldn't even be seeing the game (or even be aware that it is in development!) at this stage. You are watching how a game is developed and being able to test and feedback to CIG on what you like and don't like and, thereby, provide some influence as to how the game plays or feels.

Most AAA games take between 5 and 7 years to develop, and Star Citizen is only into its third year thus far.  I work in software development myself, and from what I've seen and how much work I believe there to be left, I don't think the game will be ready for a public launch until 2017 at the earliest (but I hope I'm wrong).

We will be seeing a new demo of the FPS at GamesCom (live stream should be on Friday 7th) as well as a demo of Arena Commander 2.0 (multi-crew ships) and a demo of the new large maps, featuring a gas giant with a diameter of 138,000 km and two moons which, at "dogfight" speeds would take about 2.5 hours to travel between (an entire single solar system on the one map anybody?), and the Quantum drive, so clearly things have been developing apace behind the scenes.

If the things that Chris Roberts said in the two video interviews I posted up yesterday are anything to go by, then they are looking to drop the FPS module a week or two after GamesCom and the multi-crew ships around CitizenCon in October.

Exciting times if you ask me.

But back on topic: I disagree in that I don't think that Derek Smart has a point at all...he is simply jealous beyond measure of how well Star Citizen is actually coming together, and being a self-confessed troll, was trying to use the sensationalism he created by slagging off SC and CIG to promote his own game (which I have heard reported as being virtually unplayable due to bugs). The guy is a complete fool.

[smilodon]

Well, he does have a point I think.

I've become quite alienated with SC now ..... for such an important game ...... I still cannot finish the bloody tutorial. My ship always refuses to dock.
I find that my joystick is woefully not supported - each patch I have to painstakingly remap my keys and even then it's too sensitive.

"But it's ALPHA"

So what? It's been that for like years already? Just how long does it take to support basic controls?
I don't care how good the game looks, if it handles like a turd it is a turd.
It's not like Chris Roberts has a lack of experience with joy sticks in games.

I really want this game to work, but it's starting to become another Duke Nukem.

I think you're looking to play a game and this isn't a game. It's a potential game still in development.

RSI are part way through building a game and we're along for the ride. Your joy stick doesn't work? Tough, it's obviously not on their todo list at the moment. My joy stick also doesn't work and I guess fixing mine isn't on their current list either. We're not supposed to be able to 'play the game' as it's not a game yet. It's not even one of those early access games that litter the Steam Store. We're early backers and unpaid testers. Testers find bugs and errors and report them back. I don't have any expectations that Chris Roberts is going to start jumping through hoops fixing my issues.

AT the moment I fond the Arena Combat to be a dull repetitive buggy experience. I have a ship that with it's default  weapons loadout can compete either against players or AI. I've given them plenty of feedback and uninstalled the game. I'll happily get on with other things now until the next big update/release. Then I will reinstall and see what's what.

I'll wait to start complaining as and when the game is a proper game that close to being feature complete and fully bug tested. Until then I'm happy to get to see how a game is build and developed from the inside (like being in an interactive documentary), something pretty unique amongst AAA list games, with no real expectation of actually 'playing' it in the traditional sense.

[Twyst]

I work in development myself.
My joystick is a TFLIGHTX HOTAS which works very well in other games such as elite dangerous.
It's quite a popular budget entry stick.

I don't feel that it's an over reaction.
If a space/flight sim does not have good controls, it just won't take off irregardless of how good it looks or sounds.

[TeaLeaf]

If a space/flight sim does not have good controls, it just won't take off irregardless of how good it looks or sounds.

And when it is a space/flight sim then (imho) you'll be entitled to have that reaction.    But as it is pre-alpha of course things are not going to work perfectly, so any comparison like "it works perfectly in ED" is a little irrelevant.  

Did you watch the recent videos posted by Obsydian about what RSI have been doing recently and why patches have not been spewing out at speed?   I'd rather they spent time on that than making sure all joysticks work perfectly.  When we get a game I'll be looking for fine-tuning.  Right now I'm happy we're still developing and happy with the vision of the final product that we will (we hope) eventually get.   But that vision is better than a half-arsed Smart game.

Am I worried that my money might be lost to frivolity?  Of course.   Do I believe it is lost?  No.

[albert]

I think also that anyone who wants to Alpha test a complex game that requires a Joystick or other non-Mouse and Keyboard controls (albeit MK works fine) has to expect a level of forum trawling and tuning will be required to get the thing setup right. Also that trick about backing up your mappings has been mentioned several times in these forums alone already.

I received a G27 wheel yesterday (second hand box was based to bits) and was sh!t scared when PCars wouldn't even recognise it. One single google search revealed that the game needs to run in 32-bit not 64 as I was using and 2 requires a bit of serious custom config in both the logitech software and game. Panic over, it wasn't fubar on arrival.

[Obsydian]

My joystick is a TFLIGHTX HOTAS which works very well in other games such as elite dangerous.
It's quite a popular budget entry stick.

How long ago was it that you tried it? I have a friend who uses one in SC, and he says it's pretty much plug and play.
You may want to fine tune it and switch around some of the buttons to suit your taste (which you can now do in-game), but it should work out of the box.