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[hemmingjay]

I doubt it will be finished while the engine is still impressive.

"Next release of Miner Wars is coming this month - we are stabilizing and finishing as many features as possible. Not really adding new stuff, just making existing features stable and polished."

Nice, many months and they aren't adding any gameplay. At best we can hope for a scenario like From Dust.

[Jacob/Lee]

At best we can hope for a scenario like From Dust.

Which is...?

[SirAaronIII]

Something along the lines of "The engine is good, but the game is eh", I believe.

[hemmingjay]

that is correct. I think the vast majority of people are impressed with the tech of From Dust, but found little or no gameplay present.

[Aklyon]

But in two forms instead of one, apparently?

[SeaBee]

Ah, I remember this game. I actually bought it -- oops. Big mistake that was.

"Nothing new to report guys, but we're working hard!" Right.

[Tilla]

Eight months have passed since our last release – and today we are proud to announce our new Pre-Alpha release featuring in-game editor.

New in-game editor with prefab modules:
Build your own space ship, space station or any sort of space-like edifice you can think of. These structures are be made from prefab modules, and in the future we’re looking to feature ’total destructibility’ for these objects. Prefab modules include tunnels, lattices, beams and panels as well as diverse chambers and special devices. You can also upload your hand-made sectors to the server and let your friends play them! We are looking forward to your comments and suggestions, especially the interface and usability of our editor. Some of the prefabs are not 100% finished – you can recognize them easily because of their purple color with no real texture – you can still use those, it just won’t look that pretty (yet!).

New game features, including:
- Completely new GUI including lots of cool HUD icons.
- New player weapons.
- Improved AI (added waypoints, guard mode, more realistic combat behavior).
- New physics engine with multi-core optimizations.

New rendering engine, featuring:
- Image Space LOD (Level of Detail) – seamless LOD with no popping artifacts.
- Deferred rendering with unlimited light sources. 
- Dynamic shadows / Cascade Shadow Maps (CSMs) with blended cascades
- Improved ship lighting from engine thrusts.
- Upgraded shaders, looking even more gorgeous.
- New render quality setting - EXTREME – designed to take advantage of newer hardware.
- New models, textures and audiovisual content.

http://www.minerwars.com/Downloads.aspx

[lordcooper]

Isn't it better practice to do the graphical stuff last?

[Tilla]

Isn't it better practice to do the graphical stuff last?

Graphical stuff ties closely to the core engine I'd think.

[postal83]

Now that this update is out, is it worth the pre-order alpha access?

[SeaBee]

I'm trying to decide if it's worth rebooting into Windows to check out the update. 

[hemmingjay]

OK, I was wrong(mostly). The game has left alpha and is now entering closed beta. It only took 3 years with millions of dollars. They consider it to be feature complete now and will work on bugs and balance for the next few months. Spoilered below is the email they just sent me.
Also, important to note, apparently they just heard of Carley Rae Jepsen.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Miner Wars 2081 – Closed Beta released
26th September 2012

Dear Miner Wars Fans,

The big day is here! After three years of furious development, we are almost at the finishing line.

Miner Wars 2081 has left ALPHA phase and is now officially in BETA. This is an exciting time! We've currently packed in 31 missions, which is about 10-15 hours of straight game play, but could take you much longer considering the free-roaming / sandbox gameplay, in-game editor and multi-player!

Only first 6 missions are dubbed and tested by our team. Remaining missions are in the process.
Screenshot

This update will be only for customers who pre-ordered the game. We're disclosing much of the game content in this update. It's no longer a technological demo; it's got those things you've been waiting to sink your teeth into, and now is the time to give us those last golden ideas...

We haven't forgotten about multiplayer code, we have polished many facets of our networking to include: merchants, mining, drilling, turret, terminal scripts, and over 50 weapons! There are 15 default death-match sectors ready to choose from and you can always build your own death-match sectors in the in-game editor.

We have also added a Hall of Fame death-match sector with banners of our Community Contributors! We wanted to show a little thanks to those who believed in us before we got rolling.

To top it all off, we're introducing Co-op gameplay! And it's not just 2-player, or even 4-player Co-op, but up to 16 players! Check this new video giving a taste of Co-op from the fifth mission: http://www.youtube.com/user/MinerWars

This closed beta will showcase most of the end-game material since the game is almost done. That means it’s feature complete, so the only thing left is bug-fixing, balancing and polishing. If you think something important is missing or doesn’t work well, let us know ASAP. Thanks.

I know we've just met you, and sure this is crazy, check out our new stuff, and we'll read your input! Maybe...


Best Regards,
Marek Rosa & the Miner Wars Team
www.minerwars.com

[ScriptWolf]

I got that email aswell, very happy to finally see the game going somewhere I just hope I can remember my username and password.

Also hemmingjay did you order when they were giving away the mmo version as well. Do you know what's happening with that ?

[hemmingjay]

I did order back then, but I have no idea about the MMO version. To be honest, I don't think it will be a big game.

[forsaken1111]

For as much attention and funding this has gotten, it really doesn't look all that good... :<