RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: How not to release software
For the third installment, they decided to go 3D. It was time, and I'm certainly not surprised. The team at Frontier was very ambitious in their goals, and I think they were 90% there with the released game. Of course, anyone that has been developing software for awhile knows that it's the last 10% that can make or break the project. The game shipped without the last 10%.
It's heartbreaking, in a way, because I've been waiting a long time for this. I don't buy as many games as I used to, and when I do, few really get my attention. We've got a running list over on CoasterBuzz of bugs and major game play issues that's already four pages long.
So what happened? My guess is that it went something like this. Frontier gets their first big break for a major, potentially huge release, and the big mean publisher Atari says get it done or else. They have no pull, so they can't be like id and pull the "when it's done" crap. So they do the best they can, send the gold master away and start working on a patch. After all, if half of all game sales occurs during the holiday season, time is money.
And it's a damn shame, because I get the feeling that a lot of love and hard work was put into the game, judging by a lot of little touches here and there. Unfortunately, the bulk of these nice touches are totally overshadowed by the total crap the game is. The number of bugs are astounding, and it seems I'm constantly encountering them.
The game could be great if they fix everything, but it's not supposed to be that way. It harms the brand (everyone's... Atari, Frontier and RCT itself), and the obvious poor word of mouth is spreading like crazy, even in their own forum. Not what you want in your target selling season.
This brings me to the release of .NET v2.0. Yeah, it seems like it's taking forever, but if you've put up with the horrible designer in Visual Studio, I think you can appreciate just how critical it is to get it right. Microsoft has come a long way in software quality, and it's hard to dog them for that (though I think with the sheer amount of manpower and brilliant people their processes still seem to take too long).
Good software takes time.