During a recent interview with Joystiq we talked about the state of the game, and we thought that we should also address you fans directly with what was said.
As we all know, the release of Magicka was chaotic at best. Many of you encountered game breaking bugs but still saw the potential of the game. The “stress test” that Magicka has gone through has been very good for us, to see many of the flaws and mistakes, and we want to be clear on what we intend to do about them. There are also things we would like to be upfront about now, things that with almost certainty will not be fixed in the foreseeable future.
Some of the things we intend to fix are:
Some of the things we already know now can’t be fixed:
Its been a tough month, and we know that the state of the game at release was far from what we all wanted it to be. We have done our best to improve the game, and we will continue to do so, with your help. Many of you have been extremely forgiving for our mistakes, and all we can say is thank you.
As we all know, the release of Magicka was chaotic at best. Many of you encountered game breaking bugs but still saw the potential of the game. The “stress test” that Magicka has gone through has been very good for us, to see many of the flaws and mistakes, and we want to be clear on what we intend to do about them. There are also things we would like to be upfront about now, things that with almost certainty will not be fixed in the foreseeable future.
Some of the things we intend to fix are:
- Bugs: We intend to fix the major bugs still in the game. Some might take a bit longer than others but as long as you keep sending us reports and keep writing on the forums, we will keep working on them.
- Falling through collision: This is of course a big issue and we have it high on our list. We are aware of what is causing it and it we will work on it until it is no longer an issue.
- Network efficiency: We hope to improve this as much as we can, it is only a matter of time to go through the code and polish it as much as possible.
- Progression saving: This is a big requested feature from the community and we do agree that we will have to look it over. We have discussed some ways to improve it but at the moment we are evaluating what would be the best solution. Hopefully we will find one that everyone consider to be an improvement to the game.
- PvP: We did promise this in the game, and we will implement it. The community is already arranging PvP tournaments and we are learning a lot for balance by watching you play. In the meantime I suggest you sign up for the unofficial tournaments and keep PvPing.
- Long term balancing: We hope to keep polishing the game with balance changes for as long as people keep playing, be sure to voice your opinions on the forums and we will be sure to listen.
Some of the things we already know now can’t be fixed:
- Integrated Graphics cards: This is a big issue for many of the laptop players, and I am sorry to say that it wont get much better. It was an early design decision to use shader model 3.0, and we can't change that without rewriting large parts of the game engine. I hope that those who bought Magicka and still can't play it will find the opportunity to do so in the future.
- Mod support: We do love modding, but we simply do not have the time to develop tools for the modders to use. This has not stopped the community from modding anyway, and we will, without taking too much time from the main development, try to make Magicka more mod friendly. Things like being able to turn off VAC on your server so you don't run the risk of being VAC banned comes to mind. Many of us comes from the modding scene, don't think that we will forget you.
- Compatibility for OSX/Linux: The game was not made with Linux or OSX compatibility in mind. It is simply too much work to make it work in those environments. I know that some has had luck using Wine to play Magicka, it is amazing what the community can do.
Its been a tough month, and we know that the state of the game at release was far from what we all wanted it to be. We have done our best to improve the game, and we will continue to do so, with your help. Many of you have been extremely forgiving for our mistakes, and all we can say is thank you.