Originally posted by horner2693
although you are making this game, you should try to include features other people want aswell. im not saying that this should definately be include but that it should be decided by everyone, not just your opinion
i'm not totally sure what to make of this post to be honest horner.
whilst i do understand exactly where you are coming from, i think you have taken my post slightly out of context, and to help clarify, I should provide a slight run down of how the process of deciding what gets incorporated into the game, and what gets left out actually works.
- firstly, in the interests of operating a team (and it is a large team after all) smoothly and decisively, it was decided that I should have the veto - or final say - on what does and does not get incorporated into the game. this veto falls with me for a number of reasons. primarily, i am essentially the designer of the game. i have spent a quite a significant number of hours already outlining each and every feature that will go into the game, from the FE Art design and menu navigation, to the actual gameplay (rest assured i have scoured a large number of cricket game websites and wishlists in order to consider as many peoples opinions as is humanly possible). secondarily, i am in essence the driving force behind this project. it was my idea, and it is me who has spent the time trying to put as good a team together as we could muster.
the buck has to stop with someone. if we left it as a general consensus type of approach we would end up with bedlam over features some coders wanted, and some didn't. and for the reasons outlined above, that buck stops with me.
- secondly, aside from doing a what people want research, i have been inundated with suggestions from all sorts of people for this game. some have been really good ideas, some have not. ALL of these ideas have or will be discussed. if i do not remain open minded, then as you have suggested, this will become a closed shop, which is not the purpose at all.
- thirdly, the design document, including extra ideas put forward by others, will be discussed by the coders and myself to decide on what features should and should not be included. in case we cannot reach a consensus the the veto applies. in the instance of the manual appeals, it has already been discussed and rejected. we will reach the end of this phase this week. and from that point on we will probably not be in the position to consider any extra features unless they are absolute necessities that we have somehow missed.
- fourth, the design document is storyboarded from a coding perspective, and any features that have to be revised or dropped due to technical considerations will be dealt with.
- finally, coding begins. we will be reluctant to the extreme to incorporate any idea that has not already been spoken about already at this stage. introducing new ideas this late in the process is dangerous in terms of unbalancing the gameplay or causing utter havoc with the coordination of the coding team.
as i have said, the idea of manual appeals has been discussed already. admittedly that discussion did not involve the full team - but it did not need to. what i needed to hear to convince me that manual appealing should be included did not materialise, and in the end it was widely agreed that it should be left out as it would cause more problems than it is worth. it really wasn't a difficult decision...
