What is important for an alpha?

[claptomanic]

Hey all

because ill get time to continue working on my map again soon i now wanna get your opinion to the already said question....what is important for you if you play an alpha?

you can name as many answers as you want to.

if you choose 'something else' please name what you mean ;D



thanks in advance

greetz clapto

 

[Mr_Bean]

Do people still play Warcraft III? The site looks pretty dead to me

EDIT: Now that I looked at the dates of the most recent posts, I see that there is still a lot of activity. Must just be that the news hasn't been updated.

 

[rulerofiron99]

About 15 minutes of content, give or take.

Most of the relevant systems to be working, although not necessarily finished. Actual gameplay design to be at least 75%.

 

[Da Fist]

Alpha Needs:

1. Decent Terrain
2. Playable ( Not too many bugs and/or glitches )
3. 5-30 Minutes of gameplay ( depending on map type )
4. Grammar is good
5. BTN/DISBTN icons are fixed

It doesn't need to have good balancing, systems are working ( well some of them must ), and the heroes must be balanced in your opinion. You are releasing ALPHA because you want decent feedback, suggestions and bug reports. You will release BETA if you think most of the systems are working, heroes are balanced, quests are up and working, because BETA ( I think ) means it is out for final testing ( to get feedback, bug reports ) before posting the map to the site.

 

[claptomanic]

Do people still play Warcraft III? The site looks pretty dead to me

EDIT: Now that I looked at the dates of the most recent posts, I see that there is still a lot of activity. Must just be that the news hasn't been updated.

:D

About 15 minutes of content, give or take.

Most of the relevant systems to be working, although not necessarily finished. Actual gameplay design to be at least 75%.

okay then im near releasing the first alpha xD

Alpha Needs:

1. Decent Terrain
2. Playable ( Not too many bugs and/or glitches )
3. 5-30 Minutes of gameplay ( depending on map type )
4. Grammar is good
5. BTN/DISBTN icons are fixed

It doesn't need to have good balancing, systems are working ( well some of them must ), and the heroes must be balanced in your opinion. You are releasing ALPHA because you want decent feedback, suggestions and bug reports. You will release BETA if you think most of the systems are working, heroes are balanced, quests are up and working, because BETA ( I think ) means it is out for final testing ( to get feedback, bug reports ) before posting the map to the site.

okay then im really near to release an alpha xD just have to find the time to work on the map xD

 

[Mr_Bean]

im really near to release an alpha xD just have to find the time to work on the map xD

And get this lazy Mr_Bean guy to finish your spells

 

[claptomanic]

And get this lazy Mr_Bean guy to finish your spells

i have to agree ^^ without the spells it would be impossible xD

 

[Vladadamm]

I don't understand why you put the 1) that the map is finished (just some small changes, bug fixes & some 'add-ons' in the newer versions) If it's nearly finished, it's in Beta stage, not Alpha anymore ^^'. Beta starts when map is playable (still many ameliorations to do before official release, but playable, even if there's not all the modes, heroes, and such).

Imo, Alpha stage starts when you start creating the map, and finish when the map starts to be playable, so you shouldn't have anything at beginning. I think you should start by systems and some terrain "schema" (basically, you just put ugly terrains to delimite zones, to have some base for what you'll do).

 

[Ralle]

If you are planning on releasing your unfinished map on the maps section, there are some requirements as well. It will be judged as if the map was finished, so it has to be playable and work. Therefore you may want to limit the amount of features you add until you have something that works and is good. But of course you can also just wait putting it in the maps section and upload it to a thread instead.

 

[Radicool]

No offence, but I don't beleive much advice here is helpful. People are just saying what they think without
justifying why. I'll explain the process of how I develop a map, hopefully you'll agree with the concept.


An alpha is before a beta, meaning less complete than a beta usually. Development companies usually release
an alpha, then later on, a beta.

On my maps, my alpha is only developed enough to deliver some basic gameplay, terrain, an idea of what the
story/objective is and what makes the game unique. Its not much fun at all to play, but the audience can give
feedback on what you could add, etc. I try to host the map a few times with different people to get a broad
range of ideas. It's important to know what people want to see in your map. After all, your trying to make a
map that the people enjoy.

So, once people help shape the image of my map, I work on it and later release a beta of the map. This is
nearly done, just maybe missing the ending, has some minor bugs, missing a few bits and pieces, etc. This is to ensure
im on the right path, and not wasting my time polishing things that a beta could warn is a failure. You may
want to release a couple of beta versions. Up to you.

Then if im lucky, everybody enjoys the map, then I can fill in the gaps and start polishing.

Release the finished product

 

[darkzxx]

yeah, alpha state is when you haven't really completed the whole map, just the basic triggers , terrain, units and stuff and reached a state where it is playable..and because it's playable, people are allowed to test it and provide feedback on where you can improve on :3