Sublustris wrote:

DragonGaming wrote:

we still have 3 months before humankind releases, there might be at least 1 more opendev, maybe 2 but thats stretching it a bit far.

Even one is improbable. Purpose of OpenDev not just to give you a taste of the game, but to gather feedback, then have enough time to process it and implement. 3 months is too much short of a span, considering feedback from previous one only gets worked on.

I would have to agree with Sublustris here. It is very unlikley, but of course not impossible, that there will be time for one more OpenDev before the release in August. Yes, this is only speculation, since of course only the higher ups at Amplitude are the ones who know for sure (since they make the decisons after all), but the only reason I can see that they would set time aside for another OpenDev and process all the feedback from that, would be if Humankind would be delayed one more time. Again something that only the higher ups at Amplitude would know if that will be the case. Maybe no one knows for sure, as of course all are aiming to keep the relase date in August. Trying to squeeze in another OpenDev now would most likely just be a thing that might take time and resources away from keeping that date. 

If they are to keep the date set in August it would probably be a better use of resources to focus on getting the game ready for launch, then gather more feedback and potential bug reports after the release and work on patching those as soon as possible after that. Of course still have the testers that keeps testing and report issues all the time up until release day. Day 1 patches and all that. 

Also remember that other games in this genre has been tweaking and kept balancing stuff for years after release. Like in a certain game chopping down resources with a certain Governor assigned and some other bonuses, like storing up excess production, in combination resulting in finishing a wonder in like 1 turn. Not to mention bugs or exploits of pressing build actions over and over again, adding and adding bonuses to districts etc. Many bugs and exploits of which The Spiffing Brit has demonstrated from various games in plenty of videos.

No, I am not saying any such bugs will exist in Humankind, I am only saying that it is common that they do exist in games after release (manages to slip through unnoticed in every test done) and will eventually be found by someone and abused by players before they are finally fixed/patched. Therefore it is not uncommon that alot of work to try and "perfect" a game and balance it even more, is also done after a game is released, not just before release. After all a large playerbase will find alot more bugs and balancing issues in a short period of time than a chosen small test team can find in a year, no matter how hard they work. It's just the nature of the beast and almost unavoidable. 

Still I rest assured that Amplitude is doing their outmost to catch as many bugs and try to balance as best they can before release. I have never seen any other gaming studio take so much input from their playerbase as Amplitude. Not just say they do with pretty press release statements (like some other companies do), pretty statements like "we care" or "You are important to us" etc, but Amplitude acctually listen to feedback and take it to heart. Sometimes I almost feel they take in too much info and it's a heavy burden for them to carry to try and please all and implement all suggestions, or as many suggestions as possible anyway. I truly respect Amplitude for that.

Zumwalt wrote:

However, the time between the previous OpenDev was about 2 months, and the video with the results of Lucy OpenDev was released so late because the company's management had the intention to announce a delay.

Time formet: DD/MM/YYYY

Lucy OpenDev: from CET 15/12/2020 to 28/12/2020
Victor OpenDev: from CET 22/04/2021 to 03/05/2021

So the interval was 115 days, or 3 months and 25 days. It took almost full 4 months.

Maybe Dev might be able to host another small openDev scenarios, where players would only test limited features of the game. But I doubt we would see another full openDev like that of Lucy or Victor.