Robot Arena 3

[Naryar]

No one but the devs actually KNOWS if it is indeed a sh**ty "finished" game released for a cash grab, or that they actually have been rushed to release something that is obviously in the very early stages of development and shouldn't have been released that early because it was quite obviously not ready for release.

And we will most likely not know it unless a trusted source leaks some info.

Point of it being : Some of you people should chill. Yeah, RA3's state as released is bad, very bad even. However, it IS in early access, we believe they can improve this game to being playable.

You have every right to complain about the game being bad but do it in a somewhat civil fashion (by giving out bug reports, as an example).

I and the rest of the staff are getting sick of this RA3 drama and we may just start warning people who are sh**posting/borderline flaming/being drama queens.

[MAD Scientist]

No one but the devs actually KNOWS if it is indeed a sh**ty "finished" game released for a cash grab, or that they actually have been rushed to release something that is obviously in the very early stages of development and shouldn't have been released that early because it was quite obviously not ready for release.

And we will most likely not know it unless a trusted source leaks some info.

....as I previously stated, NEVER put a date on something unless it's already near finished. At least that way you have a solid couple of weeks to test the hell out of it. This release is the equivalent of bringing an automobile to market without passenger seats, a dash board, brakes or a windshield and simply telling customers "hey, it'll get you down the road".

[Scorpio]

No one but the devs actually KNOWS if it is indeed a sh**ty "finished" game released for a cash grab, or that they actually have been rushed to release something that is obviously in the very early stages of development and shouldn't have been released that early because it was quite obviously not ready for release.

And we will most likely not know it unless a trusted source leaks some info.

I'm inclined to believe/hoping that it's the latter with a bit of the former tied in. The devs seem(ed) enthusiastic enough about developing a game that would satisfy the community, but the only reason they decided to make it now instead of, say, years ago was because Battlebots came back. Besides, with the dev team split into three, and the other two games being all-new there only being eight people max on the dev team, the guys behind RA3 may have bitten off more than they could chew.

Then again, they could be functional sociopaths faking the hype for a cheap cash-in, but as I've said, I'm inclined to listen to both Occam's and Hanlon's Razors.

EDIT: Thanks Geice.

[09090901]

Goliath and Buildanauts were handled by different developers, Whalebox and Touchlit studios.

apparently Goliath is a pretty decent game, kinda remind of me of the torchlight series.

[Mr. AS]

Maybe they should have spent more than 6 months developing it. What were they doing from May 8th or so (when robotarena.com was changed for RA3's announcement) until the last 6 months of limbo?

They were drawing all that cool concept art man

The funny thing about that is that most of the concept art they showed off didn't even end up in the game. Instead of Crocbot and Candy-Cane Saw Thing, we got a replica of SFTW with the default wood texture slapped on.

[RedSawn]

Actually I'll probably make that my next building challenge. Some type of version of the concept bots.

[Sage]

the devs didn't want to make a bad game, and it wasn't a cash grab. Sure, they made it because they thought it could turn a profit (why else make a game?) but as far as my beta testing went and what I've heard from Click, the devs do care.

let them get things sorted out. I think we'll be surprised how much fun this game will be once it isn't broken.

[LiNcK]

Rainbow Six Siege was also pretty borken on release but after the first big update (Black Ice) it became pretty playable and now after the second big update its damn good. It took them 6 months but that's a much bigger game than RA3 is. I say we wait for at least the first update and see how much is fixed then to complain about cash grabs. The biggest problems with the game are relatively simple compared to other game development and troubles.

[SteveM4]

Why does it feel like the game uploaded to steam is an early build they had. The UI in the trailers and concept art are way better than the 'final' version.

[RedSawn]

I didn't think there was much difference between them. The component moving icons are new and they took out the placeholder component view box (I know Scrapmatch has one that works so it was feasible). Otherwise the menu to the left only became bigger and still screams 'this only took a few hours or so to make in Unity' with the transparent boxes and outlines. I mean it works, just doesn't help with presentation.

[RFS]

Rainbow Six Siege was also pretty borken on release but after the first big update (Black Ice) it became pretty playable and now after the second big update its damn good. It took them 6 months but that's a much bigger game than RA3 is. I say we wait for at least the first update and see how much is fixed then to complain about cash grabs. The biggest problems with the game are relatively simple compared to other game development and troubles.

The problem is supporting this kind of behavior sets a dangerous precedent that tells developers that they can release something broken, claim they are working on it, and still get paid for it while having no incentive to actually follow through. "The check is in the mail" in other words. Remember, had it not been from broken multiplayer, this game was going to be released as a finished product.

[TDS]

To be fair...  starting from the ground up with Unity 5 in a complete new code in 6 months isn't actually too bad for what they got at the moment.   Yes, it still does need more work to be done.   Should have they released it as Early Access?  I don't know... I don't even know anything about their business perspective or what's going on with their finance budget. They could be gambling on short budget with same typical pressure from their brand-new publisher company.

The problem for me is not that they released an unfinished product, that is fine

its that the /day before/ they released the product, they said "Hey we're pretty much done except multiplayer" then released something that is very obviously very much not done.
If they had started with an honest "this isn't done yet, but we're okay with starting early access and working with the community" or something, that would have been /great/
But they didnt, they said the product is completed except for a few things.

[RFS]

I've been mobile-only for the past 4-day weekend since I was out of town starting literally right after RA3 was released. Typing on a mobile device is literally hell on Earth so I've mostly spectated the conversation and haven't gotten involved. I've also used this time to speak to some counsel regarding what I can and cannot talk about regarding the game; apparently I can talk about the beta version(s) of the game as much as I want, but out of respect for the developers I'll continue to abstain from doing so.

So, that said, here's my honest thoughts on the whole thing. Robot Arena 3 is absolutely atrocious. Everyone has already had about five days to figure this out so I know I'm not saying anything groundbreaking. The fact that this forum didn't light up with robot showcases and "add me on Steam so we can battle online" posts is proof enough that this game's launch was on par with the goddamned Challenger. In the weeks leading up to this game's release I promoted and spoke highly about this game, which led people to purchase it on launch day. Following its release and the realization that this game was utter garbage multiple people contacted me or just out right called me out publicly for everything ranging from "lying" to being a "shill" for the game.

I would like to use this time now to formally apologize and explain where I came from so that this is on the record in a place more easily accessible than some comment thread on a Reddit post buried under weeks of miscellaneous chatter. I am sorry if my actions leading up to this game's release gave you a false sense of confidence about it. I am sorry if my feedback led you to ultimately lose $16 on a game that doesn't work. Really, I am very sorry.

While testing this game and trying it out I sincerely had complete confidence that it would be polished up for release. Of course the game was broken and things didn't work when I played it, but it was a beta and I assumed that the bugs and glaring flaws that I encountered would be fixed. This clearly was not the case as the game now shows. I only had just a few hours to play the version of the game that was released on Steam and it was incredibly upsetting to say the least. It's a mess, and as others have already pointed out -- like TDS in the post above mine -- had it not been for an alleged multiplayer bug, this game was going to be released as a finished product.

I was not there physically for the development of Robot Arena 3, however I can confirm to you all with a straight face that many of the bugs and problems I documented during testing remained in the game when it was released on Steam. I've been involved with 4 other game development studios over the years (ranging from small indie things all the way up to literally Miniclip) and none of them elected to ever release anything other than a working product. The handling of Robot Arena 3 came out of left field to me and I wrongfully applied my own experiences onto the game's development and ignored the red flags when I shouldn't have.

I do not have faith that this game can be fixed; I am not a programmer myself, but the flaws in this game seem far too significant to be something that can be patched up in a single go and I don't think the developers have the funding/resources needed to continuously work on this game and release tons of patches and fixes. Robot Arena 3 is probably going to be a critical and financial failure and unless the community modding scene can do something about it I doubt this game is going to catch on and we'll all probably still continue to play RA2.

[MAD Scientist]

I do not have faith that this game can be fixed; I am not a programmer myself, but the flaws in this game seem far too significant to be something that can be patched up in a single go and I don't think the developers have the funding/resources needed to continuously work on this game and release tons of patches and fixes. Robot Arena 3 is probably going to be a critical and financial failure and unless the community modding scene can do something about it I doubt this game is going to catch on and we'll all probably still continue to play RA2.

I share these exact same thoughts....

PS... It's nice to see you dude :)

[123savethewhales]

If I spend $16 on anything else that's broken, I rate it down online and request a refund.

I don't know why game DEV should get a free pass.

[LiNcK]

I do not have faith that this game can be fixed; I am not a programmer myself, but the flaws in this game seem far too significant to be something that can be patched up in a single go and I don't think the developers have the funding/resources needed to continuously work on this game and release tons of patches and fixes. Robot Arena 3 is probably going to be a critical and financial failure and unless the community modding scene can do something about it I doubt this game is going to catch on and we'll all probably still continue to play RA2.

While I'm not a programmer myself either it seems to me like the biggest problems this game has are quite simple. The physics mesh of a chassis fitting the visuals is something pretty much every game manages to do; even RA2. IDK about Unity specifically and its limitations, but I doubt that you'd need a AAA team to develop a system/workaround if Unity doesn't natively support it. Similarly, the lack of collisions in the botlab also seems like a relatively easy thing that every game gets right. There have been much more complicated games than RA3 done in Unity. KSP is a prime example. Its an indie too!

Now, the bots going physics crazy? That's a problem that I see being complicated to fix. Still, I think by fixing the botlab and chassis the game becomes at least playable. My real doubt is whether the devs just went for a quick cash grab or whether they truly want to make a RA3.

Just out of curiosity, what was the last time you tested the game? You mentioned there were glaring problems then but you thought they'd be fixed by release. Obviously they weren't so how much time passed between when you last saw/played the game and what we got?

[09090901]

I do not have faith that this game can be fixed; I am not a programmer myself, but the flaws in this game seem far too significant to be something that can be patched up in a single go and I don't think the developers have the funding/resources needed to continuously work on this game and release tons of patches and fixes. Robot Arena 3 is probably going to be a critical and financial failure and unless the community modding scene can do something about it I doubt this game is going to catch on and we'll all probably still continue to play RA2.

While I'm not a programmer myself either it seems to me like the biggest problems this game has are quite simple. The physics mesh of a chassis fitting the visuals is something pretty much every game manages to do; even RA2. IDK about Unity specifically and its limitations, but I doubt that you'd need a AAA team to develop a system/workaround if Unity doesn't natively support it. Similarly, the lack of collisions in the botlab also seems like a relatively easy thing that every game gets right. There have been much more complicated games than RA3 done in Unity. KSP is a prime example. Its an indie too!

Now, the bots going physics crazy? That's a problem that I see being complicated to fix. Still, I think by fixing the botlab and chassis the game becomes at least playable.

Yeah I noticed the chassis collision is messed up. I bet it's an easy fix though!

Game needs a lot of work.

It unfortunately isn't that easy of a fix as far as I know. Unity 5 (or 4) does not natively support concave rigid bodies. I assumed the team had figured out a system to deal with this, but clearly they haven't.

[RFS]

Just out of curiosity, what was the last time you tested the game? You mentioned there were glaring problems then but you thought they'd be fixed by release. Obviously they weren't so how much time passed between when you last saw/played the game and what we got?

I played the beta for the last time a couple of days before it was officially released on Steam.

I started testing it the beginning of April, and also had access to what I assume were "alpha" builds of some sort that didn't feature much of anything in terms of gameplay or function beyond physics and terrain tests.

[Mr. AS]

If the devs don't have enough funds to fix thier game, the least they could do is say "screw it" and make it open-source for EZ modding. Maybe someone could swap out the cruddy physics for better ones, idk.

[LiNcK]

Just out of curiosity, what was the last time you tested the game? You mentioned there were glaring problems then but you thought they'd be fixed by release. Obviously they weren't so how much time passed between when you last saw/played the game and what we got?

I played the beta for the last time a couple of days before it was officially released on Steam.

I started testing it the beginning of April, and also had access to what I assume were "alpha" builds of some sort that didn't feature much of anything in terms of gameplay or function beyond physics and terrain tests.

That would mean that the bulk of the game was made in just 2 months. I'm no game dev but I've never seen a game be made that quickly. Hell, in my experience following early access games it takes most indie devs 1 month to implement the first iteration of a single new feature.

Just a few months of development time explains the state of the game. It also explains why issues like chassis meshes not fitting visuals are there: Theyre not natively supported in Unity and there sure as hell wasnt any time to develop a workaround. The same thing probably applies to the botlab.

What remains a mystary is why the developers decided to release after so little development time and why they advertised the game as a practically finished product. Click said they seemed truly passionate about the game and 2 of the devs were even RA2 devs. Were they rushed? Did they underestimate costs and had to desperately release?