Is there any point in suggestions? Do authors listen?

[Gorlom]

Oh no, of course i didnt mean to say "why devs are not listening" and i understand that game is very new. I was just asking whether or not there is a point in offering suggestions, because i had experience with both games that authors do like to listen and actually care, and games where there are countless good suggestions but game author takes the game where he wants it to go, often ignoring most of them, except single very obvious ones.

PS: Forums for mods and suggestions are great idea, but again, is there someone who watches the forums and will make such subforums?...

Justin and Matthew were very forthcoming when communicating with the beta testers. They listened and implemented some suggestions and explained why they could not or did not want to implement other suggestions.

I believe they will read every suggestion if they aren't already. That is the kind of people they are.

[Whale Cancer]

I'm pretty sure the modders are listening.

Yeah, too bad a lot of people make suggestions that are well outside the scope of the engine.

If things are outside the scope of the current engine, we should... remake the engine and make it open-source!

I'd imagine this would have a tonne of legal issues? But, I've this project around. Haven't commented on it as I'm just a hobbyist when it comes to programming and doubt I could be of any help.

[Hissatsu]

There is no way you can legally forbid someone to create a game engine that mimicks your engine, unless it is patented, and even then its not a crime to make it, but to use it (see how LAME works with MP3 patents). This is widely acknowledged practice that you remake or upgrade game engine, but either supply your own assets (graphics sounds music etc) or require original game to play. This was done countless times, for example:
- Transport Tycoon
- Doom, Hexen, Heretic, Strife etc
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Jagged Alliance 2

However, this is really not required if game authors are willing to listen to suggestions, and introduce at some point a way of external scripting, so that something they dont want to do could still be done by modders.

[splette]

I support the idea of having a separate subforum for just the mods. It would be halpful to keep things a bit more in order.

Besides, I do hope they listen and once the bugs are fixed will extend the game.

[Kaerius]

Justin and Matthew were very forthcoming when communicating with the beta testers. They listened and implemented some suggestions and explained why they could not or did not want to implement other suggestions.

I believe they will read every suggestion if they aren't already. That is the kind of people they are.

Often that way with indies, which makes it gratifying to test, and often play, their games.

Some of the big time studios on the other hand are really hard of hearing. For example during the Tabula Rasa beta, there were some changes to xp gain that while they may have seemed reasonable to the devs, DESTROYED the entire brothers in arms, us against the aliens feel of the game, and thus basically destroyed one of the main draws of the game. There was a massive outcry among the testers, they were not listened to, and the game failed as we predicted it would.

[Icehawk78]

Oh no, of course i didnt mean to say "why devs are not listening" and i understand that game is very new. I was just asking whether or not there is a point in offering suggestions, because i had experience with both games that authors do like to listen and actually care, and games where there are countless good suggestions but game author takes the game where he wants it to go, often ignoring most of them, except single very obvious ones.

PS: Forums for mods and suggestions are great idea, but again, is there someone who watches the forums and will make such subforums?...

One specific suggestion that I've seen that indicated to me that the devs are reading and paying attention to the suggestions which "work" was the adding of the "hover to show paths" in the most recent patch. Surprisingly, nowhere on the forums did I actually see the devs acknowledge this idea in the numerous topics requesting/suggesting it (though I may have missed it).

But, lo and behold, with a new build, cometh forth a new feature, highly sought after and requested.

So, yes, I'd say there's a point to the suggestions, but to be implemented, it would likely either need to have very little impact on the core gameplay (while adding something valuable), or have a very compelling case made for the very positive impact of the change on the core gameplay.

[marksteele]

a lot of suggestions are on https://getsatisfaction.com/ftlgame

[Whale Cancer]

There is no way you can legally forbid someone to create a game engine that mimicks your engine, unless it is patented, and even then its not a crime to make it, but to use it (see how LAME works with MP3 patents). This is widely acknowledged practice that you remake or upgrade game engine, but either supply your own assets (graphics sounds music etc) or require original game to play. This was done countless times, for example:
- Transport Tycoon
- Doom, Hexen, Heretic, Strife etc
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Jagged Alliance 2

However, this is really not required if game authors are willing to listen to suggestions, and introduce at some point a way of external scripting, so that something they dont want to do could still be done by modders.

And Star Control II. But some of these have the support of the original company.

Also, games like zDoom don't distribute the original assets. So if you guys do entirely new sprites, that sidesteps the entire legal issue.

[Doom Lich]

There is no way you can legally forbid someone to create a game engine that mimicks your engine, unless it is patented, and even then its not a crime to make it, but to use it (see how LAME works with MP3 patents). This is widely acknowledged practice that you remake or upgrade game engine, but either supply your own assets (graphics sounds music etc) or require original game to play. This was done countless times, for example:
- Transport Tycoon
- Doom, Hexen, Heretic, Strife etc
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Jagged Alliance 2

However, this is really not required if game authors are willing to listen to suggestions, and introduce at some point a way of external scripting, so that something they dont want to do could still be done by modders.

And Star Control II. But some of these have the support of the original company.

Also, games like zDoom don't distribute the original assets. So if you guys do entirely new sprites, that sidesteps the entire legal issue.

What overdrive is doing is it provides none of the assets actually. If you read the thread it basically states you'll need the original game installed because overdrive won't come with the assets.

[Tuesday]

If posting a SUGGESTION. Please keep in mind we've worked very hard to finish this game and the current priority is only bugs and tech support. There are no plans for updates in the immediate future and once the release calms down we will be taking a break from FTL. When posting a bug PLEASE give as much detailed information about bug as possible: what you were doing; if you can reproduce it and especially a screenshot. The clearer the description, the quicker we can fix it. We will respond to your inquiries as soon as possible but there are only two of us and the launch is keeping us very busy. Please be understanding of any delays.

^ on the website: https://getsatisfaction.com/ftlgame