Secrets of Grindea » Weekly Recap #68: Reflection on Time

Another week has come to pass, and with it the usual teasers of the work we’ve done!

Animation wise, Fred is churning on with cleaning up and adding flair to the dungeon. Below is a small buffet of some of the effects created this week!

At the same time, things are continuing to shape up in the Winterland. For the ice, we’ve added a reflection shader to give it a more interesting look! For those who enjoy the fishing minigame, this lake offers a chilly continuation of that little pastime :)

The inhabitants of said Winterland are also beginning to take shapes, and several have already gotten faces! Here’s the owner of the cupcake house, and also the competitive younger brother of a certain other connoisseur of sweets and pastries already in the game…

And here’s a couple who lives with their kids in a small cottage, unable to afford anything closer to the city after running into some bad fortune :(

Now, onto bigger topics:

Let’s talk about release dates

We’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding the release date lately. Most of you are simply wondering if we have an exact date, while others are very upset about us not having released the game yet. Both Facebook and our Greenlight page have been getting a fair share of these posts, and we’re beginning to feel it might’ve been a mistake to ever making an estimate in the first place!

Our stance on when we’ll release the game has ultimately been the old Blizzard saying “when it’s done“, but we’ve tried making some estimates as to when that might be. Turns out we’re better at making games than guessing release dates! Looking at most other games, this seems to come with the job…

Please rest assured that no-one wants to see this game released more than we do. Eating food other than this week’s bargains? Having money to attend trade shows like PAX and GDC? Long term financial stability? Heck, sign us up!

However, what’s more important to us than these things is releasing a product you’ll enjoy, and we’re proud of. What point is all this effort we’re putting in if the game isn’t what it should have been?

So, without further ado, we’re removing all estimates of when the game will be released! It’ll return to and stay “To Be Announced” until we’ve come to a point where we positively can give you a reliable time.

This doesn’t mean we’re planning to slack off or anything, but just that we understand the frustration some fans have felt regarding delays, and this is the only course of action guaranteed to prevent that from happening.

Posted by Secrets of Grindea at 2013/03/12. Tags: None.

Artephius wrote at 12/03/2013 01:13:

Take your time. Nobody want it unfinished.
I’ll be waitingt for this game no matter what!

RancidShamble wrote at 12/03/2013 01:21:

No worries here! I would rather wait for the result of your best efforts than have something that did not meet your own expectations :) And I can’t wait for cupcakes!!!

Perkel wrote at 12/03/2013 01:33:

Haha, honesty at its finest. Of course i’ll wait i dont want a rushed final product or anything of the sort, though i know what recieving that kind of feedback might be like.
Anyhow, keep up the good work! ;)

CrazyBison wrote at 12/03/2013 02:39:

It’s unfortunate to hear that an ETA has been dropped, but I’m glad you guys are upfront about it early in the year. I agree with the “when it’s done” philosophy; I wouldn’t want to play a released game that feels just like an open-beta–since I’ve had a few experiences like that already–so kudos to you on taking your stance!

And honestly, I didn’t expect you guys to finish this game within this year, seeing as how much time and thought you put into every feature, environment, and monster. I was just hopeful that you could =).

Stay healthy and keep up the excellent work! I wish I could buy you guys some cupcakes.

Fae wrote at 12/03/2013 02:54:

I don’t think people are so much interested in a hard release date as they are interested in getting in the beta.

You can take years to release it if you want, I just want to contribute to the game by hunting down bugs. :(

Honey B wrote at 12/03/2013 03:27:

Doesn’t matter! Will be buying 4packs or whatever might come with it.

So god damned good.

Tarquinn2049 wrote at 12/03/2013 06:22:

Yeah, as is the already established sentiment, I also favour your stance on quality being the most important goal.

You can rest easy knowing no one is going to “rush” a better quality game to market before yours. Quality can’t be faked.

And it’s not like the graphics are going to feel out-dated if the development goes on too long, hehe.

Patrick Roberts wrote at 12/03/2013 06:30:

I agree this is definitely a title that should follow the “when were done” mentality but opening up more beta users would be nice. I realize that also increases the amount of work on the dev side of things as it can/will produce more false positives with regards to bug reports and as such it can take more time. But it can also help get more eyes on things to squish more of them.

beelde wrote at 12/03/2013 07:14:

Blizzard: “done when it’s done.”
3D Realms: “when it’s done.”

Aaron Brooks wrote at 12/03/2013 08:01:

You guys have done a fantastic job coming up with such a great concept for a game. We as fans have no choice but to support you. Take all the time you need in making Secrets of Grindea everything we could wish for. You guys have so much potential- we can’t rush you. Can’t wait to play the finished product!

Truemas wrote at 12/03/2013 08:43:

Take your time and make a great game. I just cant imagine that the people who are complaining havent anything else to play. I will enjoy Path of exile a little bit more until Grindea arrives. =)

Sogomn wrote at 12/03/2013 13:21:

This is okay and I think every fan understand you. The longer we wait the better the game will be :)
It’s better you say “We don’t know the release date” then telling us a wrong date.
By the way: The beta invites are still running, aren’t they?

SocksofGranduer wrote at 12/03/2013 15:05:

Yeah. Don’t worry, I will be content checking your Steam page every week and going “oh, guess they aren’t close enough to tell us yet. Guess I’ll just check next week. SO EXCITED” in my head until it’s released :)

While I completely sympathize with your position. I can also sympathize with the angst created by wanting so badly to PLAY IT FREAKING YESTERDAY IT LOOKS SO AWESOME OMG CLICK CLICK CLICK as that emotion is very strong inside of me as well.

So apologies if every once in a while I get all insecure and ask if you know when it’ll be done :P
…….
..
…..
.
…
So any idea when the it’ll be ready?

Yangna wrote at 12/03/2013 15:13:

As always, awesome update!

The fact that the fans are upset is a pretty good sign in my opinion, and a healthy reaction that keeps good tension and excitement as we all wait for the release.

To leverage this tension you guys could continue releasing updates regularly and letting more people into the beta.

You could also let us know if you’re still working on the game mechanics or is it already mostly content crunch (just to know what kind of feedback you find useful at this point).

Holding on to your focus on quality, I’m confident this game is going to bring us a lot of fun for many many years.

Please let us know if/when you need any kind of help!

Regards,

Yangna

Pavlos8 wrote at 12/03/2013 16:59:

Just awesome :)

John wrote at 13/03/2013 00:49:

Can’t even ballpark it? 1st half of this year? Next year? Anything?

Another game I’ll probably forget about because of no release date (gunpoint, I’m looking at you!)

lastrogue wrote at 13/03/2013 21:39:

Speaking of being able to eat more than bargain food, I’d be willing to buy into the beta since I have had no luck on getting in on it from posting on the desura forum. It gives those without luck on their side a chance to see how things are going first hand and provides you with cash to fund your project and/or livelihood. I’d even be cool with paying say 5 bucks now for the beta, and what ever the final price is later for the final version. I’m sure there are variables that I’m not taking into account that would prevent you from being able to do this, but a guy can dream right?

Yangna wrote at 14/03/2013 02:55:

Yeah @lastrogue I saw that many of us are willing to give away plenty of cash in order to participate in the beta, but I read before that the Ferrets are not taking any money at this point, no matter how hard we throw it at them. :)

Maybe it just suits their needs for regular feedback on new beta updates better, and since the release is still pretty far away organizing pre-orders seems premature as well…

Dreaming is good though, I have similar dreams myself!

Regards,

Yangna

Ragna wrote at 15/03/2013 08:28:

don’t worry. I will wait for it until “It’s done”

Adam wrote at 15/03/2013 21:16:

Looking good as per usual :)

I don’t want to be “that guy”, but I’ve been looking forward to a video for weeks now. Any plans for one next week? :D

smily wrote at 19/03/2013 18:34:

If you need money for the development, why not go kickstarter.

Or you can go the Majong way. Sell Alpha and Beta at a reduced rate.

Perhaps there are anny thought, already?

Alex wrote at 21/03/2013 18:09:

I’m very much looking forward to this game when it’s completed, until then do what you have to do to make it run smooth and nice, it already looks amazing so keep up the good work!

DTR wrote at 16/05/2013 17:05:

It is really sickening when indie devs toss around the “starving indie dev” card.

I’ve been looking forward to this game, as it looks great, though I can’t help but question a developers personal integrity when that card is thrown around so often and by so many indie developers.

“Eating food other than this week’s bargains? Having money to attend trade shows like PAX and GDC? Long term financial stability? Heck, sign us up!”

I’d love to support a company that is really modest and really needs it, but it seems like every small company just HAS to throw that out there in order to make people feel bad for them. I call bs, but I guess it works on most people. It just makes me less likely to buy a game that I was previously deadset on buying.

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