News on Panther Games

[wodin]

To be honest I think this is good news for Panther and us customers.

[Werewolf13]

ORIGINAL: chops

Ah, this explains why no news on the Med Pack. I am hoping that Panther Games is going with Battlefront.com, so that they an partner up on Operational - Tactical integration.

GAWD - I hope not.

I have all the CM games except the latest Normandy one. They look great and there's an allure to the system that just keeps me coming back but they always turn out to be - and you gun guys out there will know what I'm talking about - safe queens.

[jimcarravall]

ORIGINAL: M J R

"Command Ops 2 (CO2) - The Plan" thread a few topics above this one on the forums is what i hope the dev will continue to follow (other than time scale lol) in relation to how content you already own will be updated to work on the new CO2 engine.

His ideas for the future of CO and how to take it forward sounded good to me that is why i bought in now instead of waiting for the CO2 and the new engine.

My concern is that now with the change in Publishers that the Matrix content i now own will not be made compatible with the new CO2 game engine and it will be a case of having to re-buy Bulge, HTTR, ect.

Based on the kind of customer service Panther has provided to date on CO1 software complaints, I doubt the company will leave existing customers in the lurch by forcing them to repurchase already purchased scenarios.

My guess is at worst, those with existing scenarios in CO1 may have to recompile their maps using the CO2 MapMaker to get up to date.

[wodin]

The change of publisher wont effect content of the game and the future game at all. So hose worried about compatibility don't need to worry.

[BigDuke66]

At least that explains the wrap up of the final patch, simply looks like it had to be now or never.
The future will show if this was a good decision or not.

[Phoenix100]

Werewolf. I'm not a gun guy. But enlighten me, I'd like to know - what's a safe queen?

[jimcarravall]

ORIGINAL: phoenix

Werewolf. I'm not a gun guy. But enlighten me, I'd like to know - what's a safe queen?

It's a gun the owner prefers to leave in the gun safe instead of shooting it periodically.

might indicate it looks nice but doesn't work all that well.

[ComradeP]

So those worried about compatibility don't need to worry.

How can you be entirely sure?

Regardless of whether or not this will be good for Panther Games in the future, fact remains that their plans turned out too optimistic again and that they haven't really explained the reasons for all the delays.

I can understand delays for an entirely new system, but what I don't understand is how you can put up a release schedule with scheduled releases several months away that turns out to be unrealistic. Something is either nearly complete, in which case a release in a couple of months is likely, or it isn't. As it stands, there have been promises but no delivery, and it isn't the first time there have been unexplained delays.

Support from the customer also depends on how reliable the developer seems, and though the customer support and updates for the first title are good, it just doesn't make sense that the release schedule was so unrealistic unless it couldn't be met to begin with.

[Phoenix100]

Ah. Thanks, Jim.

[Phoenix100]

I can understand delays for an entirely new system, but what I don't understand is how you can put up a release schedule with scheduled releases several months away that turns out to be unrealistic. Something is either nearly complete, in which case a release in a couple of months is likely, or it isn't. As it stands, there have been promises but no delivery, and it isn't the first time there have been unexplained delays.

Don't all devs slip their schedules? That's how it seems to me, anyway. And no one seemed to expect that Panther would meet those targets. There have been some delays caused by illness and hospitalisation, you may recall. And many gaps, over the years, caused by Panther having to work to earn a keep in other areas (military contracts, for example), as there aren't enough people buying niche within niche games to feed the family. And then there is the continuous 'feedback' provided on the engine release (from myself included) leading to incessant work on updating, bug-fixing, improving, which - since there's only one coder, basically - means no work can be done on meeting the CO2 schedule. And that's how we wanted it, no? Most people posting in here, anyway (not Wodin, perhaps) - we wanted to have an engine that worked as well as it does now. I think we're lucky to have the game, considering how superb it is and how it's basically put together by one guy (Dave) assisted by unpaid volunteers and enthusiasts. And how many people buy it, I wonder? 2,000? Do the math. It's not big business. The strict schedule thing is the wrong model for how this kind of project develops. No? I keep expecting that Dave will hang up his coding tools (or bin them) and do something more lucrative, or even write books full time. How long has he been hacking away at this game without it being the kind of thing that would make a decent salary for him, whilst at the same time being something that could swallow all your time? So I'm very glad the project continues, at any pace

Peter

[ComradeP]

I agree with that, but what I was trying to say was: if you know all that, don't post a schedule with fixed dates and little explanations for delays. The current state of events was exactly what I feared would happen: lengthy delays, few explanations.

Keep in mind that though we might appreciate all the work being done on CO 1, if you want to stay on the radar you need to release something new at some point. That's also something to consider when talking about generating an income: if you don't release anything new, you make far less money, whilst your costs might still be the same (as you're still working on various projects).

As I wrote in the plans thread: a commitment by us is unilateral, as it more or less always is, but in my opinion it would be nice if we'd be informed more regularly about what the state of the project is. As it happened, many of us showed enthusiasm and/or said we'd buy the various modules, there was some initial excitement over East Front screenshots and then nothing aside from CO 1 patches.

[Phoenix100]

Keep in mind that though we might appreciate all the work being done on CO 1, if you want to stay on the radar you need to release something new at some point. That's also something to consider when talking about generating an income: if you don't release anything new, you make far less money, whilst your costs might still be the same (as you're still working on various projects).

That's very true. True in my world too - writing novels - you quickly drop off the radar if you don't keep publishing.

[CapnDarwin]

One thing to keep in mind from the Dev side of the house is in some cases there are both business and legal situations that may prevent a constant flow of information to the general public. I'm not saying that is the case here, but those are things that can slow information from coming out. Once all of this shakes out I'm sure we will know what plans Panther has for the future.

[GBS]

If it would help I would be willing to "prepay" an amount of say, $200. which panther could use as they wish. I could be like a credit which I could use over time toward purchasing new games and modules as they come out. No middle man, just between me and Panther.If no new products come out, that would be OK as well.I have gotten more than enough enjoyment out of all the Panther Games products I have purchased over the years.

Also, feel like I should pay dazkaz something for all the amazing AARs he has given us.[;)] Bottom line I don't want to see the games in this series fade away.

[wodin]

As soon as a new release comes out it will be front line news again..nothing to worry about..look at David Braben with the next Elite..what 30 years after the last one:)

ORIGINAL: phoenix

Keep in mind that though we might appreciate all the work being done on CO 1, if you want to stay on the radar you need to release something new at some point. That's also something to consider when talking about generating an income: if you don't release anything new, you make far less money, whilst your costs might still be the same (as you're still working on various projects).

That's very true. True in my world too - writing novels - you quickly drop off the radar if you don't keep publishing.

[navwarcol]

Also as far as any fears about your Matrix software not being compatible, it seems this is addressed in the release by saying that it would be.

I agree with wodin in that it is probably a matter only affecting their business end, but with no real effect on the consumer end other than probably at some point to move this forum to the new publisher.... and even there, we are told in the release this forum will stay at least awhile also.

[jimcarravall]

ORIGINAL: navwarcol

Also as far as any fears about your Matrix software not being compatible, it seems this is addressed in the release by saying that it would be.

I agree with wodin in that it is probably a matter only affecting their business end, but with no real effect on the consumer end other than probably at some point to move this forum to the new publisher.... and even there, we are told in the release this forum will stay at least awhile also.

You're right!

Panther has sold the rights to distribute its products to another publisher.

Panther hasn't changed.

Selling distribution rights means players won't be able to use Matrix channels for purchasing new Panther products after the end of October and that Matrix won't have access to Panther's support after the end of October.

As far as predicting the future, stay tuned for the announcement of the new publisher sometime between now and the end of October.

[Werewolf13]

ORIGINAL: jimcarravallah

ORIGINAL: phoenix

Werewolf. I'm not a gun guy. But enlighten me, I'd like to know - what's a safe queen?

It's a gun the owner prefers to leave in the gun safe instead of shooting it periodically.

might indicate it looks nice but doesn't work all that well.

Jim must be a gun guy... [:D]

In CM's case the games work exactly as advertised but for reasons I don't understand myself I just don't find them to be much fun to play. And just like some of the guns I own that aren't that fun to shoot I still take 'em out every now and then to see if anything's changed and it never does or has. Safe queens.

[budd]

Only thing that may affect my buying habits with CO is the DRM used, the support has always been there I see no reason why that should change where ever the forum exists.

[JiminyJickers]

ORIGINAL: **budd**

Only thing that may affect my buying habits with CO is the DRM used, the support has always been there I see no reason why that should change where ever the forum exists.

Yeah, same here. No problem with them changing hands, would prefer they stay. But if the DRM situation changes though, I'm out. But I'm hopeful it won't.