Creature Devlog Special: 4. Hopper

I like how this is two years old but we can clearly see silhouettes of two monsters we still don’t have >.<

Trust, it’s on the forefront of my mind. Just like the tables and chairs post that was a year plus old and we still can’t interact with them.

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Fun fact: there’s actually six monster types that aren’t in the game. The Stalker, the Pounder, the Guardian, the Worm, the Block Parasite, and well… Titans.

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Did you add the rock thrower?

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Yeah, that’s the ground basher dude.

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Wait. Those were two separate ones!

Seven!

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Darn that time is finite and there’s only so many hours in the day too :smirk:

They’re not in game yet. Hoping some new ones will make an appearance in 2019!

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2020 is the year of the Hopper.

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Crazy idea… What if we get entirely new creatures that they never showed us! We gotta catch them all!

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Boundless Calendar?

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New Oortian calendar. I have a feeling 2019 is the year of the hunter

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You’re implying that you could “catch” them. Remember when they promised us animal husbandry?

Nope don’t remember that. If there ever was, there was no timeline applied to it

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There’s never a timeline. Sadly.

It’s how they can show us ladders and then… well…

Or. Better yet… Fish.

And now Eight. (I’m going to stop counting at that, because it depresses me.)

It’s probably for the best if it depresses you that much … especially as all you’re doing is looking at concepts that arose throughout early access development. They still could be introduced later or entirely new ones developed that fit the direction that game goes in, who knows :man_shrugging:

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It’s sad that this:

is the excuse that I was expecting. There are thousands of things that could make this game amazing, still. Obviously. So, sure, things could be added. Okay, so fish aren’t 100% needed. Sure. But, ladders, and other improvements to the game are a must. Please don’t use that excuse when justifying a slow pace for development. It has little to nothing to do with this argument. The fact of the matter is that we, as the players, were enticed by this, much like a carrot on a string. If you really want me to further justify why some people, myself included, are disappointed by the level of content progression, I can point to the most recent example of the table and chair.

In December of 2015, they introduced us to the concept of something as rudimentary as a block that aesthetically improved the quality of the game.

Then, close to three years later, we have one iteration of these props that is non-functional, clunky and occupies a full block worth of space for each piece. The tables don’t link, or form larger ones. They remain simply separate.

To add to that, there was the controversial issue of nerfing bomb mining that was shoehorned in there.

So, please don’t insult my intelligence or resolve in this endeavor. And please don’t tell me that I’m looking back at early concept art like it is some sort of fantastical creature that will never come to fruition. These tantalizing promises were made to entice the player base and show proof of concept. It may not come to pass, and they may never be in the game, fine. But for the few of us who saw them and waited with baited breath, that is a slap in the face.

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It’s not about giving or not giving content; it’s about resources management and priorities. Ever since it’s initial ideas the game and it’s scope has changed a lot.

A company always has to balance time and resources and choose what’s more important to do in a given situation. I’m sure many of the concepts will be later introduced into the game, as well as some might never see the light of day. It’s just about managing a company’s resources (time and money) and try to get the best desirable result. It’s easy to think of all the things that haven’t come yet, but let’s not throw down all the other things they have implemented that weren’t in the initial concepts.

It’s prove enough that they dedicate the time that’s for themselves to answer and help player’s (they respond and help on weekends at super early or late times for them and try to the best job they can) it’s prove that they care and are constantly looking at doing content for the game.

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Agreed. Teasers are supposed to show what is coming soon… and much of this stuff is WAY behind schedule. A minecraft modder could have made a better table and chairs in half a day, so don’t pretend like it was some huge achievement to get those in game… sigh. If some of your bigger players who make communities happen start getting frustrated, you know there’s a problem

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That is another typical response. Not saying your opinion on the matter isn’t valid, because it is, fully, but now you’re using reductive logic. The amount of resources consumed in the deployment of a simple prop are minimal at best. I, personally, have created more assets in a single sitting that had functional purpose and direction. It does not take long, even with a minimal amount of talent.

The difference here is that the people that have been hired on to this company have tremendous talent and potential. This isn’t a logistics issue, and if it is; if this is some matter of bureaucracy that is halting the development process or preventing the deployment of assets, then there are bigger problems here. As it stands, I have invested a great deal of time in this game, as a player, and I would like to see that my investment has some merit.

The next excuse here is that “it’s just a game”.

Well, that’s false, based on your own logic. This is a business and represents the livelihood of the creators that are behind it. It is not something that they can simply walk away from. However, there are things that stall, delay, and otherwise draw attention away from content creation.

Sure, there could be server problems or things that require bug fixes, but not every member of their development team tackles those issues. Proper management would allot some work hours to the sole pursuit of fixing those issues. Other specialists would be responsible for other projects and issues of their own. So, even if there are things that they need to focus on, the business itself is akin to a hydra, and if one head is indisposed, the rest should still be fighting fit.

For what you’re saying to be true, it would require that all their staff to divert their attention to some bug fix or something else because resources demand it. They would have to be laying off the people who couldn’t accommodate this. Sending people who prove incapable of any technical knowledge on furlough or something else. Because their are a finite number of resources.

A better excuse, and yes, it is still an excuse, is that they are focusing on the core game itself, and creating frameworks to enable massive content dumps. However, that also means that the content is still developing or developed, and now, it seems to be all about giving or not giving content.