The start of actual news

[Canada Guy]

BLSTK,

That is so true. I worked in Japan for over a year and they put in some crazy hours and I have some friends that work in HK who are putting in 50-60 hour weeks. Not to say that some of them do not work like dogs but they spend crazy amount of hours in the office but actually don't do anything productive for some of the time. The boss or fellow employees were there though and it would look bad if they actually left on time.

Screwing the pooch for 2-3 hours in a 10 hour day happens a lot but better to save face.

[sburke]

Oh man do I ever remember that well in Japan at Cable and Wireless/IDC. A whole room of people just sitting around surfing etc waiting for the boss to leave...and hoping he wouldn't decide they needed to go drinking with him.

Almost zero productivity.

They even have an expression to apologize for leaving before everyone else despite that it is already after 8pm....

[Vark]

When I was working for my companies international franchise department, I told a Norwegian director about my hours worked,in the UK. His response was, 'what are you in the f'ing stone age? As a UK teacher now, I'm easily doing 12-15 hours a week unpaid overtime, on top of my normal 40 hours + a week, many of my student's parents are easily working similar hours.

[Canada Guy]

That was one of the things I loved about mainland Europe. I have lived in Japan, HK and in New York but in Europe I actually felt relaxed. Less hustle and bustle, more sitting at a sidewalk cafe with a glass of wine or Nutella filled crepes on a Paris street.

I have to say that they seem to have found a better balance of life and work than we do in North America. Even Canada seems crazy compared to Europe. And just try sitting on the street with a glass of wine. That protestant work ethic has gotten us far but boy are we uptight about enjoying the simple joys in life.

[BLSTK]

Can you say "siesta"?

[Canada Guy]

It is getting bad when we are talking about work hour comparisons when we should be talking about timelines for MG vs Bagration.

Looking at previous threads, it seems that MG was almost at the beta testing phase a few months ago. I know that testers cannot comment but usually we get something (1-2 screen shots or even a hint of some new items or some such) from BF. They are not on the boards which is a good sign of late.

Did we not get at least the tigers in the lilies 6 months before CMBN? It cannot be more than 6 months out can it?I would be happy with a 10 second movie on YouTube on a pre-alpha build. I have played all the GL scenarios already. Am in the mood for more.

[Battlefront.com]

Quick update...

Everything is going fine, but various summer activities are definitely reducing productivity. Which is the way it should be

One thing to note is that comparing the timeline for a past project isn't necessarily relevant. We're doing things quite a bit differently as we get better at doing concurrent development. Arnhem, Bagration, and Black Sea (yeah, that's a Modern bone) are all very far along their respective development cycles.

Remember, just because we're not posting a screenshot every day doesn't mean work isn't going on. As evidence... Fortress Italy. The game was something like 10 months into development and 2 months away from release before you even knew it existed.

Screenshot releases aren't a good measure of where we're at in development. In fact, they never have been for us or any other game. Example? Duke Nukem Forever's first screenshot was in 1997. Release date was 2011. 'nuf said

Steve

[MeatEtr]

**WARNING**

Harsh language found in that youtube link.

[MeatEtr]

...Black Sea (yeah, that's a Modern bone) are all very far along their respective development cycles.

Steve

Nice, not even us testers knew about that one.

[Vanir Ausf B]

No more "Shock Force 2", eh? I like the change.

[kohlenklau]

See guys? My lil bunny foo foo plan totally worked...

Rub his cute lil ears!!!!

But uh oh "Everything is going fine..."

fine - FINE.... F-I-N-E...... First Installment November Expected????

The Walrus was Paul!!

[Battlefront.com]

"Shock Force 2" is not the right title for the new game. Following the logic of our Families Shock Force = arid setting in Syria, so we need something new to call this particular flavor of temperate modern warfare. Black Sea is the development name. No idea what the actual name will be, but it's good enough for now

Note that we do intend to redo the original Shock Force content. It's going to be a huge undertaking because of all the changes that have taken place since the original engine was made. Same reason there's been no Upgrade offer for it. We would if we could, but the amount of work that needs to go into that is almost as if we're doing it from scratch. That game will be called Shock Force 2 and it will follow Black Sea.

Steve

[sburke]

"Shock Force 2" is not the right title for the new game. Following the logic of our Families Shock Force = arid setting in Syria, so we need something new to call this particular flavor of temperate modern warfare. Black Sea is the development name. No idea what the actual name will be, but it's good enough for now

Note that we do intend to redo the original Shock Force content. It's going to be a huge undertaking because of all the changes that have taken place since the original engine was made. Same reason there's been no Upgrade offer for it. We would if we could, but the amount of work that needs to go into that is almost as if we're doing it from scratch. That game will be called Shock Force 2 and it will follow Black Sea.

Steve

hot dang, a new version of shock force!! Cool!

[Chops]

Note that we do intend to redo the original Shock Force content. It's going to be a huge undertaking because of all the changes that have taken place since the original engine was made. Same reason there's been no Upgrade offer for it. We would if we could, but the amount of work that needs to go into that is almost as if we're doing it from scratch. That game will be called Shock Force 2 and it will follow Black Sea.

Steve

Steve, thanks for the new information. I am not clear on exactly what you mean. Does a "redo" mean starting a new game from scratch, with an expected development cycle of about 12 months? Also, any plans to do the same with CM:Afghanistan?

[Fizou]

Very good news with a revisit to Shock Force and that everything is going smooth

Any chance for more bones regarding Arnhem.. the next thing up for release

[Michael Emrys]

Black Sea is the development name. No idea what the actual name will be...

Black Sea is actually kinda cool sounding, although it suggests naval warfare and that might not be cool. Tell ya what though, why don't you reserve that title and make your next big project a modern naval warfare game? In 3D? Has anybody ever done that or done it well?

Michael

[BletchleyGeek]

One thing to note is that comparing the timeline for a past project isn't necessarily relevant. We're doing things quite a bit differently as we get better at doing concurrent development. Arnhem, Bagration, and Black Sea (yeah, that's a Modern bone) are all very far along their respective development cycles.

Great to hear that, Steve. I'm really looking forward to Bagration and Arnhem.

Remember, just because we're not posting a screenshot every day doesn't mean work isn't going on. As evidence... Fortress Italy. The game was something like 10 months into development and 2 months away from release before you even knew it existed.

Just one suggestion, which I'm sure it has been made before but I think it doesn't hurt reinforcing the point

I think that keeping some sort of minimalistic dev diary would be very welcome by the community here. It doesn't need to have the "production values" one sees on, say, Paradox video blogs. I'd say that entries shouldn't take more than hour (or less) to compose.

Just letting peeps know about new features or how the modeling of units and equipment goes, would help a lot to keep the buzz on your gig, get early feedback and give people things to talk about, in these forums and elsewhere.

The signal-to-noise ratio may be high, it always is, but you know, I think there are quite a few very knowledgeable individuals around (I don't include myself to be part of that group, mind you)

[c3k]

Black Sea

Obviously a "flag of convenience" for a new game, in a new direction. "Black Sea"? Hmm, obviously a nautical flavor. And what, or who, was a "black plague" upon those who sailed the bonny blue? Well, PIRATES, of course! And, just to drive the nail into the coffin (or spike the windlass, or whatnot) we have the famous BLACKbeard the Pirate.

Ipso facto, BFC has now branched out into a Golden Age of Sail Pirate Game. Woot! 3d wenches and billowy jibs? Shiver me timbers and brace the mizzen', there's a stiff wind afoot.

Am I close?

Ken

[akd]

I'm calling BS on that c3k. Obviously Space Pirates.

[sburke]

I'm calling BS on that c3k. Obviously Space Pirates.

Space = Black Sea.

[MeatEtr]

I'm still waiting for the ultimate... Space Lobsters vs. Space Pirates. The mother of all CMs! :eek:

[BLSTK]

I'd say Black Sea sure beats Wait 'n' See any day.

Thanks for the update Steve.

[Paper Tiger]

I doubt that BS will be the final title . Glad to hear that CMSF will get an upgrade. I installed it on my 'new' hard drive a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely LOVE the vehicle models. But the editor is so dated with only 8 AI groups, a limited number of ways to fit walls together and the game sports old MG behaviour. I don't mind the desert setting at all. I grew to love it in CMSF and I'll be happy to return to it and craft some more missions if it gets an update.

One other reason to love the Modern Era game is that you can design without being constrained by history. As JonS is admirably demonstrating in his 'Sherrif' thread, crafting a historically accurate WW2 scenario is an ENORMOUS of work. It will be nice to be free of these constraints once again.

Arnhem, Bagration, and Black Sea (yeah, that's a Modern bone) are all very far along their respective development cycles.

Good to hear as these titles have already been in active development for well over a year now so looking forward to seeing some screenshots

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showpost.php?p=1370433&postcount=3

[A Canadian Cat]

Everything is going fine, but various summer activities are definitely reducing productivity. Which is the way it should be

Excellent news - including the bit about people taking time off in the summer.

One thing to note is that comparing the timeline for a past project isn't necessarily relevant. We're doing things quite a bit differently as we get better at doing concurrent development. Arnhem, Bagration, and Black Sea (yeah, that's a Modern bone) are all very far along their respective development cycles.

Awesome news. There have been a couple of threads about keeping CMBN up to date with new changes recently. It seems that your plan to keep both products game engines moving forward and up to date has resonance. Could you comment on how you feel you will be able to scale that going forward? Reading your post it hit me once you have Bagration and Black Sea out you will have four games using the new system and plans for more. Do you plan to keep all of them up to date with engine improvements? Do you feel that your first step in this direction went well - from an internal point of view?

[womble]

If "Black Sea" is about land operations in the plains north of the Black Sea, "Black Earth" might be a better moniker. Or has 60 years of collectivised farming reduced the once-fertile loam to a pale dust?