What's Going On at Relic #2 - PLUS RELIC Q&A

[Relic]

In terms of the Q&A please feel free to ask me a question in this thread and I will try my best to answer it. I'll stop answering questions by the end of the week (Friday).

Please form it like this:

Question for Buggo: Ask question here.

Please do not include anything else in your question post. One question per post.

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Since the first time I did this seemed to go over okay, I thought it was about time to make another post like this to make sure the community is aware about what is going on at Relic.

Please keep in mind that all of this is TENTATIVE and could change.

1. CoH Patches

1.5 is on its way. It is in the final stages of testing. There will be quite a few changes in this patch, majority balance and bug fixes.

There will be a server-side fix in between 1.5 and 1.6, dealing with some online issues.

There will be a 1.6 patch as well coming a couple months after 1.5, but I cannot give any information about this patch at this time.

2. DC Patch

The DC patch is coming. It's currently in a community beta test, but still needs to go through testing. There will be quite a few bug and balance fixes.


3. Maps

You will see some new community maps in the upcoming DC patch. We're not sure of the number yet since there is quite a bit of art to be done on them, but you will have new maps to play.

The maps that won the COH contest are being looked at. We are thinking of including some in some upcoming patches but no timeline yet as we still need legal forms from the winners as well as additional art on the maps.

We are hoping to release official map(s) for both games but there is currently no timeline on this.

4. Modding Community

The Relic Mod Wiki is blossoming. Lots of good information on here gets added every day, and is a good place to download both official and unofficial tools: http://wiki.RelicRank.com/

I've been working hand in hand with Corsix and other modders to get new tools released to the community. So far we've been able to release new tools for COH, and we're hoping to get the DC ones working better.

5. COH Online Issues

From now on, please send reports to coh-abuse@relic.com instead of to me. I still receive them, but the reports are handled in a more efficient way.

Please wait 48 hours to send me information. It takes a while for the stats to report so please give it time. Sometimes people assume the stats aren't reporting when they just report a bit slower.

For the most part, stats are working correctly even though they report slow. We are aware of issues with 2v2 and are working on it.

In terms of online drophacking/cheating/teamkilling/verbal abuse etc... Here are the actions so far:
- 126 individuals warned
- 21 accounts suspended
- 4 accounts banned

I've only managed to get through 15% of the reports so far, so if you're a cheater and you haven't heard from me yet, you will


6. General Community Initiatives and Misc

Yes we are working on new games.

My BLOG is available here: http://www.relicrank.com/bloggo/ and it always has new information and personal anecdotes.

You can find everything I have ever posted here .

What's coming up:
- Deadline for Relic's Biggest Fan contest coming up in a little over a week
- March Open House
- Podcast
- Dark Crusade map contest
- Video tour of the Relic offices and video montage of the Open House event
- Much more I can't say yet!

Do you have any ideas for other contests or things I could do for the community? E-mail me at ahenze@relic.com.

I hope this has given you some insight into what is going on. Feel free to e-mail me anytime with questions or concerns.

[Giant Moth]

Yay! More podcasts and corporate secrets revealed in a near future, for your convinence!

[EViLMinD]

Swell. Thanks, Buggo

[Elixir]

Thanks Buggo! It's always nice to know what's going on.

[Mnementh]

Yay. Teh sekrits will not be sekrits forever, we will infiltrate and disseminate :E

Or just wait. That works too I guess

[Moe]

Video montage of the open house? Oh dear.

/me begins compiling the adventures of |drunk

[ÜberJumper]

EXCELLENT!

[BlackLabel]

Sounds really promising to me !

Oh and :

Question to BUGGO - As i remember correctly, there was a clanfeature planned. Is that on the way or do we have to wait a little longer due to more pressing issues ?

[Relic]

Question to BUGGO - As i remember correctly, there was a clanfeature planned. Is that on the way or do we have to wait a little longer due to more pressing issues ?

Answer: Clan feature is being put on hold for a number of reasons that I currently cannot discuss. We still want to do it, but there are some blockers making this currently impossible.

[thetrippleb]

please tell me that ranting forums have spurred a massive balance overhaul?!

this game is sooo close to perfect

[Listoric]

great stuff

i`m looking forwad to the mapcontest ofcourse, but i also fear that you really want to keep your promise and implement the last Dawn of War Winter Assault Mapcontest winners.

As said, i don't think that neither Frostbite River nor Emperors Valley are really getting us anywhere, as one looks like 2 players biffys peril meets valley of khorne, and the other like the ugly brother of outer reaches. :P Bloody Hell is a good map (but i'm biased of course), but it's still not "omfg wtf bbq awesome", maybe to few strategic points on it or to few building space in mains, i really hope that relic at least widens the mains building space, as i think it should be widened now. So, i guess none of the winnin maps get us anywhere near a better esport title. Anyway, let's see what happens.

Also i hope that the changes of DC 1.1 to DC 1.2 are not as big as i think they will be, as DC 1.1 only needs small tweaks, but i guess we will get another "totally new episode" of Dawn of War instead :P

Still, great news nontheless, this is going to be a great year

[TheDividedGod]

Yeeeeeeeeees.

DC Patch and the modding news is GREAT. Also cannot wait for the video tour, should be sick.

Question For Buggo: Are the map contest winners going to end up in rotation online?

[BSilenced]

Question for Buggo: (Along same lines as clan feature) Arranged 2v2 Ladder on its way? or is the answer the same as the Clan Match feature?

[Relic]

Question For Buggo: Are the map contest winners going to end up in rotation online?

It's always a possibility with such high quality maps coming out of the contest. As usual, it depends on how well it fits into the designers' needs, as well as the amount of extra art needed.

Question for Buggo: (Along same lines as clan feature) Arranged 2v2 Ladder on its way? or is the answer the same as the Clan Match feature?

Same answer as the clan match, unfortunately. =/

[Fryloc]

Good to see a community update on what is going on with relic buggo. Thanks

[Listoric]

Question for Buggo: Will existing maps get an update in the next patch? (Like Meeting of Minds, Quests Triumph, Fear, or even older maps that seem to be "kinda" imbalanced?)

[Fish Of Doom]

Question for Buggo: could those old rumors of Relic doing a MMORPG be/have been related to "dark heresy", Games Workshop's 40k RPG scheduled for release later this year?

[Retroboy]

Fish: I expect that one is too specific for Buggo to be able to answer.

Question for Buggo: How many projects are presently "active" at Relic for properties or games that have not yet been released (i.e. non-patching / non-support)?


And I like this format. Good job.

-- Retro

[Relic]

Question for Buggo: Will existing maps get an update in the next patch? (Like Meeting of Minds, Quests Triumph, Fear, or even older maps that seem to be "kinda" imbalanced?)

There is the definitely possibility that at least Fear will get some changes. No word on other maps at the moment.

Question for Buggo: could those old rumors of Relic doing a MMORPG be/have been related to "dark heresy", Games Workshop's 40k RPG scheduled for release later this year?

We can't say anything, of course.

Question for Buggo: How many projects are presently "active" at Relic for properties or games that have not yet been released (i.e. non-patching / non-support)?

More than 2

[the_almighty_moo]

Question for Buggo: Is there any plans to bring back the original Force Commander and/or WA IG General for skirmish and MP in Dark Crusade?


god i hope so they are so much cooler :P

[Relic]

Question for Buggo: Is there any plans to bring back the original Force Commander and/or WA IG General for skirmish and MP in Dark Crusade?

As far as I know there are no plans.

[the_almighty_moo]

thanks buggo my lass, this looks like a job for the suggestion box

[ArtofWar420]

QUESTION FOR BUGGO: Hello Buggizzle. What letter does the title of the one of the new projects begin with?

[Relic]

QUESTION FOR BUGGO: Hello Buggizzle. What letter does the title of the one of the new projects begin with?

Hmmm... uhhh... my official unofficial answer is

[ZellFish]

Question for Buggo. Is what I said in my thread "Somewhat of a confirmation" true, or is GI taking a wild guess?

[naradaman]

3 projects!? omg you just made my day.

[Black]

Question: If relic were an aquatic animal would it be a mammal or a fish?

[Plan6]

It would be an Undersea Mine.

[CrazyBomber]

[insert here lots of praise, thanks, and congrats]

Question for Buggo: Are you taking any suggestions for new game ideas? I'm sure at least a couple of ppl in the team got seriously addicted in X-Com, back in the days... yes, that's a Hint!


[semi-offtopic]
C'mon, one of the best strategy games ever with no decent spiritual successor. Seems to me like a job for RTS guru's! Go Relic!
[/semi-offtopic]

[ZellFish]

Have you not heard of Supreme commander, CrazyBomber?

[PULSTAR]

Question for Buggo: Can you give us any sort of estimated time frame for when we can expect substantiative news of Relic's new projects? (A month would be nice, or even a quarter )

Great work, as always! [insert cookie-cutter Buggo fanboy statements here]

[CrazyBomber]

Have you not heard of Supreme commander, CrazyBomber?

Yes, I have.
Supreme commander is a RTS.
X-Com was a turn-based Strategy game (even though X-Com Apocalypse also had the option for RTS, with was great), where you would have to manage squads of 8-16 people (at most), and would also have to manage base/research/manufacturing on the world view.

There were no scripted missions (except the last 2, but they had dynamic map construction as well), it was all done on-the-fly.
Read the review at Gamespot:

And that was the brilliance of X-COM. The game managed to take two seemingly sterile genres - turn-based battle and resource management - and create a truly engrossing experience.

Sorry for the long and offtopic post, but I really am hoping someday someone will listen...

[Fish Of Doom]

pesky specific questions, worth a try anyway :P.

Question For Buggo: is Relic developing/planning to develop any new game engines, or will it stick to the ones it currently has(Essence and maybe the homeworld engine)?

[Timeless]

Thanks for the update. Please let the team know that an arranged team feature is highly anticipated and if they can pull it off without too much trouble, obs mode as well.

[TheDividedGod]

If Relic busted out a totally revamped and redesigned X-COM game, I think I would cry. I (and many, many others) have been waiting years for ANYONE to pick up the franchise.

[TSAdmiral]

Question For Buggo: Will the original Dawn of War and Winter Assault be getting widescreen support at some point, or is this a hopeless cause?

[Phazon]

Question For Buggo: What is the CoH's balance team/dev teams thoughts on the 1.5 patch in general? Are they happy with what they have produced? (since its been in the works for sometime)

[Al_Ka_Pwn]

Question For Buggo: Will there be new 1vs1 maps out for COH and if so when? Are there any plans to make a system to consistently get new maps and if so when? Finally will 88s get a buff?

And thank you very much Buggo for doing this even tho you didnt have too but were kind enough anyways
and thank you for all the other community related stuff as well.

[PanzerLehr]

First off, a well meant thanks for your continued support to us, the customers, and that you always try to keep us happy. Its really much appreciated. so respect for you *snaps fingers - Ali G style"

Question For Buggo: Is there anthing you can tell us about the expansion that are planned for CoH (since its not one of those 3 new projects? pretty please?

[pyro669]

Same answer as the clan match, unfortunately. =/

No arranged team ladders/matches in 1.5 is a huge dissapointment. :/

[Imperial Dane]

Thanks for the news update Buggo, can't wait to see the DC patch.

Question For Buggo: When can we expect to hear some information about any new projects ? (Just a rough estimate, you don't have to get specific... unless you want to

[Valkeller]

There will be a server-side fix in between 1.5 and 1.6, dealing with some online issues.

We are aware of issues with 2v2 and are working on it.

Question for Buggo: Are that one of the things that will be fixed then or later?

As of now none of my 2v2 ranked games have reported in correctly (8+ games, started to play 1v1 instead).

I think this is kind of strange since BASIC 2v2 works great and reports every game.

[side not; and also the loading screen only show 1v1 rank and not the highest being say 2v2 rank]

[DoltIncognito]

Question for buggo:Cake or pie?

[Tropper]

Yes, i feel the love again!

[Dark_Axel]

Question for Buggo: You replied once that there probably wouldn't be any support added for the Logitech G15 keyboard on the current games (W40K or COH). You did say that relic would look at it for future games. Any news, if Relic has decided in favor for supporting it in their upcoming releases???
Assuming that it will add to the game's UI, or do we need to poll the forums here. To see how many use the G15 or would like support for it, to give Relic a little nudge in their choice.

[wykyd]

personally I use a G15 and am disappointed that there is no support in CoH.

Polling the forums might be a good idea. I know there are a few of us around.

Also my 2v2 basic games record right, but 3 of my last games in 2v2 ranked which i won all under AusHammer, one was recorded as a loss, the other 2 did not register at all.

[demonlord89]

Question for Buggo: Will there be any "surprises" in the 1.5 patch?

[Gratuk]

Question for Buggo: Since 1.5 for CoH is in final testing is it possible to give an ETA on some info on what is in it? or maybe even a estimates ETA if everything goes as planned?

[Simloy]

Question for Buggo: what is the estimated size of the 1.5 patch?

Question for Buggo: Any new maps in 1.5 or 1.6 patch?

[Cable]

Thanks Buggo!