Some info on updates?

[ValentinBk]

Hey guys, I have been following Sui Generis for quite some time and it looks really unique and cool. One thing bothers me though, there is little to no information on the progress of the game and what is being worked on. The last dev update has been in October and the last video is from over an year ago.
Also I saw the term "NDA" here several times, which means that people can't even make videos showing the game.

I`m considering to back the game, but I can't really do that based only on early videos and the cool ideas from the "Grand list of dev quotes on features" thread. Update videos work quite well for Overgrowth, I think Bare Mettle should consider doing that too.

 

[666jet]

Agreed they should probably do another video but the devs are busy working on getting a beta build of Exanima I can tell you they have done a lot of work and what I've played of it it's amazing they are working a really big optimisation update with new combat animations I would say it's well worth backing but you can always wait until the steam release of Exanima to try it out

 

[lvk]

If I understood correctly, the NDA is fairly close to being lifted. Initial presentation can make or break a game, and for a studio focusing on a single game (and in need of the funding from the sales of this initial release) that's a pretty big deal - the dev team has unusually high standards they're holding themselves to, in part due to high community expectations.

A lot has changed since some of the videos, and since the underlying systems are still prone to change they've decided to get it right and finalized as soon as possible rather than creating videos of things in place they know will be changed soon. It's somewhat different from regular Kickstarter projects, but the wait should be worth it.

Another possible reason for the lack of updates (this is speculation on my end) is that despite a lot being changed, most of it can only be experienced through gameplay and not so much through videos. The combat for instance has been improved a lot since the first alpha, as has the game's performance, but looking at that through a video would make it look like not much changed at all.

Though the lifting of the NDA would provide a lot of video material on its own; eager community members have private/unlisted gameplay videos that they plan to make public when the NDA is lifted. It's getting pretty close!

 

[Komuflage]

Though the lifting of the NDA would provide a lot of video material on its own; eager community members have private/unlisted gameplay videos that they plan to make public when the NDA is lifted. It's getting pretty close!

But will we really be allowed to show videos of old builds, as soon as the NDA is lifted?
I mean if the reason for the NDA is to prevent people from releasing videos of the game when it's to far from finished, then wont all these soon to be year old videos be a bit deceiving?

 

[lvk]

@Komuflage I don't know if it's strictly forbidden to release videos of past builds, as I'm not sure how NDAs work for software that's being updated, but it's probably still not a great idea for the reasons you mentioned.

I do think the combat technique demonstration videos from the combat demo days still have value for new players, but that also depends on how much the combat changed in the latest build we haven't seen yet.

 

[ValentinBk]

Thanks for the reply everyone, looking forward to the swarm of Exanima videos on youtube when the NDA is lifted