Feb. 1, 2005. Where is Version 1.1?

from PolMach Forums
In a previous post Frogboy mentioned that the v 1.1 update would be ready in January. Does anybody know the status of it? Please let us know. I love this game and can't wait to see what is next.
13,516 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
The challenge we currently have is getting Ubi Soft to approve of any changes. All changes that we make have to go through Ubi Soft which has essentially no budget left for QA. So 1.1 is mostly going to be new portraits and issue tweaks. Which should add a lot to the game still hopefully.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Is it just me or have publishers become a Great Evil in the software industry?
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Reply #3 from PolMach Forums Top
Is it just me or have publishers become a Great Evil in the software industry?


Shhhh...its just you. Don't let them hear you.
Reply #4 from PolMach Forums Top

Well let me put it like this. Stardock is self-publishing Galactic Civilizations II. It's difficult not being able to put out updates whenever we want to however we want.

Ubi Soft isn't "evil". It's just that they want to ensure that anything with their name on it is a quality product and so it needs to go through their QA. But the business case for putting out a free update on something after the election is probably quite difficult.

Reply #6 from PolMach Forums Top
Any new candidates in 1.1? Come on, you can tell us...
Reply #7 from PolMach Forums Top
Okay, Maybe I've missed something...

Here's my thing, if Stardock has to go through Ubisoft for QA and it doesn't have any more money in their budget to do Quality assurance, how are they going to be able to do QA for anything else?

Is the QA dept out of money totally for just Political Machine or out of money to do QA on any game?

Sorry, I don't have a understanding of how this works up there in Corporate so this is why I have a few questions that have struck me suddenly.

It may very well be something perhaps I've misread and completely misunderstood, I'll say that upfront. But nonetheless, it is a question that is heavy upon my mind.

It just appears to me (from what I have read) that it would take money to do QA on a product yet to be released and perhaps not so much money on a product that's been out for several months and is not a critical update, just an upgrade. But according to Frogboy here, there is 'no money' for QA.

So...ummm (thinks how to approach the question)

If there is no money left in the budget for QA (Quality Assurance) why is Stardock doing Galactic Civ II and that has to go through Ubisoft-right?and they can't even put out a new patch?

Hopefully there is a simple answer to my loaded potato of a question.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Well, I don't know, but here is a personal theory.
The game was released a few months ago. Now, after the end of the elections in the USA (the main market for this game I presume), and months after the first release, the game is probably not going to sell many more copies for UBisoft. So, they might be thinking, "why spend money on QA for a 'dead' game, we already have the money of those who would buy the game", so they just let it slip. Same thing happens IMO with many other companies and games. Another example is what happened with Starfleet Command III. Where IIRC there was never an officialy released patch from the publisher, since they released the game too early to be released near the Star Trek Nemesis movie, and after months they were probably thinking, "what is the point of wasting money on fixing it? since as they were seeing it whoever was going to buy the game already did. I am not saying they were right, or that this is what happened, just my personal theory.
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
If there is no money left in the budget for QA (Quality Assurance) why is Stardock doing Galactic Civ II and that has to go through Ubisoft-right?and they can't even put out a new patch?

Well , I think that Frogboy has responded in the previous post
Ubi Soft isn't "evil". It's just that they want to ensure that anything with their name on it is a quality product and so it needs to go through their QA. But the business case for putting out a free update on something after the election is probably quite difficult

So Ubisoft has no money for the QA, and the patch has to go through their QA, since they sell the games at retail

Well let me put it like this. Stardock is self-publishing Galactic Civilizations II. It's difficult not being able to put out updates whenever we want to however we want.

If I understand correctly, Stradock doesn't plan to use Ubi Soft for selling GCII. So the money problem of Ubi Soft QA won't have any effect on GCII.
Reply #10 from PolMach Forums Top
I notice they have a new game they are buying national ads for. They have the money, they choose not to spend it because the elections are over and the game will become irrelevant until 2008.
Reply #11 from PolMach Forums Top
Still waiting? I don't understand the whole QA thing. Can't you release it with a disclaimer or something? Please explain.