Creator Charles Bonnell on January 29

I will also leave a comment here since these guys do not seem to read the updat area. STOP spamming peoples emails please. 13 emails in two days. Sheesh.

Creator Sam Mayo on January 29

Warballoon, PLEASE stop spamming my inbox! Do you really need to send the same email 5 to 8 times? Even tried unsubscribing but the link didn't work!

Creator Simon Kramme on January 29

My email is getting hammered with your latest update..

No doubt it's great news..

It just don't make the news 5 times better to receive the same mail 5 times..

Please stop the spam..

Creator Mike Overhill-Smith on January 29

Not really appreciative of you spamming my email with the latest announcement six times - can you please restrict your emails to just one?

Creator Calvin Cheng on January 29

Keep em coming, great stuff!

Creator Nathaniel on January 9

Any news?

Creator Nathaniel on January 1

Happy New Year Everyone!

Creator Nathaniel on December 25

Happy holidays everyone!

Creator Wojciech Flis on December 23

holly crap dudes wooooow... you just kill the christmas spirit hehehehe....well done. NONE not the space ship creator none the alpha1.0 works. Well it works but F....me I have no idea whats going on and you crashed my laptop twice. Genious !!! If it wasnt for KickStarter I would think its a VIRUS or is it :P its amazing, slow on the lowest settings!!! My laptop is crap but I can play MassEffect 2 on it. So what it is that this game is so damn powerfull to crash my PC twice.
Well Im haveing a trip to the bug planet right now. Gigant Slow Crushing Bugs !!!!!!!!!......

Creator Nathaniel on December 22

Just trying to help you guys out. The more updates you push out the faster everyone and myself can find bugs.

Creator Graham Kozlyk on December 20

So is there a downloads page for the alpha of galaxies (as i have s.c.i.e.n.c.e.), or is it purely by the broken sendowl?

Creator Nathaniel on December 19

Alpha bug list in the forums please add to any I missed.

Creator Jordan Cooper on December 19

Hey guys, just giving a heads-up that I haven't gotten an invite yet. I dunno if I'm still in the pipeline, though, but just wanted that out there. Thanks! The alpha looks fantastic, and I still hop on the mobile when I get bored.

Creator krayzkrok on December 19

I got the alpha running, the latest update. I can see my ship, but there are no crew on it. I can scroll around, mouse over objects, pause the timer, but... well, I figured there might be some crew.

Creator Nathaniel on December 19

Yeah right click failed to produce results, I also redoubled my efforts in attempting to get it to work going through additional keyboard possible binds but I haven't been able to get any positive results.

Creator Mike Cascio on December 18

I realize you gents must be very busy following the release of today's alpha, but it appears I haven't received anything from SendOwl. Could you suggest a course of action so that I can get started sending crewmembers to their doom?

Creator Nathaniel on December 18

Also Congrats on releasing your alpha!

Creator Nathaniel on December 18

For the life of me I cannot figure out how to get my crew to move. I manage to get a red cube overlay when I tell them to walk and then they point in that direction and nothing more. I attempted pressing every keyboard button in conjunction with the different tasks. (I assume that's what the thought bubble is supposed to convey.) I also could not place any objects. I tried letting the bottom right time run at different speeds to coax my crew to do something but I regret to say that also did nothing. On a positive note the alpha looks very nice and I enjoy the music, load screen, and introduction dialog.

Also while extracting the alpha I got an error that I will post in the forums.

Creator Dave Kin on December 18

You can move your guys, but they will for some odd reason decide to fire upon floors and walls or in the direction of the objects/location you are interacting or moving to. Furniture placement cannot properly detect the places where they can be placed. Some valid placement spots on the ship places your furniture in another dimension. When characters move when furniture placement is in progress, the furniture vanishes.

Creator Psyckosama on December 18

So how do you do... anything?

Creator Nathaniel on December 16

Good stuff.

Creator Robin on December 16

So there was an unforeseen circumstance?

Creator Nathaniel on December 12

Any news?

Creator Nathaniel on November 27

Happy Thanks Giving, go get your grub on Warballon!

Creator Frank Bueckert on November 22

Yes, you're right. I won't be happy until you release the game. But look at what I said right after that: " What will quiet me is the acknowledgement that their actions have been lacking, and a good, honest look at how to resolve it." You want me get off your back? Be honest in your dealings with us. Stop trying to skate over your mistakes, and address them head on. TELL us why you miss the release date, and not some vague, "Well, there were tons of bugs." All I'm asking for is honesty. I won't be happy, but I'll stop criticizing you, as it at least shows some contrition on your part. Your current posts show zero apology nor regret that you're over two years late, and that aggravates me to a very large degree. So long as you make an attempt to address your shortcomings, and how you'll prevent them from making the delivery even later, I will have no issues.

But until you do that, expect me to continue to criticize and berate you for your ham handed dealings with us.

Creator Nathaniel on November 22

Solid rebuttal!

I just want to reaffirm that your inexperience is something I can't and won't judge but will only state in repetition and is not to be taken as a fault on your end, but still remains a bullet point for a factual inquisition.

Another reason why I listed the points earlier is because your inexperienced, I am not saying taking suggestions is bad nor good but can greatly impact the overall scope of the game negatively if left unchecked. (Another reason I refuse to submit game play suggestions simply because the pc is not mobile and we lack a copy.)

The reason I consider the crew needs extraneous at best is simply because I can only see it as a form of aggravation for players in the long run. Granted the "disposable" crew is an issue that requires addressing but can be done with less overt methods that will not effect the core game play. (A in-depth level/xp system would have been sufficient.) I'm leaving out the radiation/heat objects simply because I do honestly agree with those choices.

Spectacle creep is a generalized term for over reaching with game play elements. I used this term because that's what I feel progress is being hampered by.

The engine change is something I need to get my point across for your future projects. I understand your reasons for changing engines, I agree with your reasons for changing engines. But I don't agree with changing engines because that almost always sends a project into limbo or at best sets it back gratuitously. I consistently repeat this point in hopes that you will acknowledge this for the future and plan accordingly with future projects. Plus the unity engine is really simple to learn and use so I was expecting progress to pick up.

Cutting content is something you have to be aware of while in development. A lot of projects I have worked on in the past forced me to cut a lot of worth while content to streamline the game for release. The point I am trying to make is if everything can get put in fantastic, if not don't feel bad it happens to the best of us, but beware trying to cram in everything isn't worthwhile either. Now I won't tell you what to cut simply because I am not on your team and I don't have that right.

I agree, talking about outside interests is unprofessional but the fact that it was brought up by your team is worrying. I say that because if I were to start telling the public about possible third party interests while I was developing a game, other developers and businesses a like will immediately think there is something wrong, or the project is about to be outsourced. The reason I consistently being that up is to make you aware that all business related affairs always stay in house, it is none of our business and never should be so don't make it our business.

The reason a lot of backers are upset is because of the lack of communication. There was no released game design doc for this project and goals your team have mentioned seem unstructured and loose often resulting in a vague sense of what is actually happening with this project.

And as for your last comment, have more faith in your product! Backers want you to tell them that what you are making is going to be a great experience for them to enjoy for a very long time. I understand you know not everyone will enjoy it but don't sell yourself short.

In closing I want to say sorry I was wrong to be so boldly brash on here but I ask that you put yourself in my position and forgive.

Creator Nathaniel on November 22

Frank, I firmly agree with you and your points. But with the information I have I can say for a fact that Warballoon hasn't even gotten their project to alpha let alone a release-able state. I honestly have already tallied this project as a loss a long time ago but then they started showing activity which warranted some attention.

As a game developer I know and truly understand the implications of a game falling into development hell. Unfortunately games can be rather difficult to restore to service after that happens. The reasons I believe are the factors in this are:
-Engine change
-The addition of extraneous unwanted content like "crew needs" that are a laughable and game breaking concept (Does not fit well with other implemented mechanics)
-Inexperienced team
-Spectacle creep (released mobile and wanted PC to be a masterpiece)
-The abandonment of core game play elements to support additional content that should be cut
-Inexperience with the Unity 2D/3D engine (To be honest here this is absolutely embarrassing considering the ease at which unity can be used with 2d art assets and plug and play programming)
-Developers using suggestions taken from non backers (their forums) to influence their long term production goals
-The developers are unwilling to admit that some of their additional content is negatively impacting their game development and are refusing to cut it. Which would most likely send brainstorming sessions into a tail spin/nosedive getting nothing productive done.
-Lack of viable leadership and production goals
-Non existent game production outline
-Zero accountability for the chaos running rampant when interested parties talk about their project

I summed up some points in a previous post here as well sent various "how to" outlines to the developers in an attempt to push them in the right direction. But the game development still feels like its a week end only project. If my team and I had this on our plate within a month we would have had a first playable then in 1-4 months (depending on the game) a raw alpha. But like I said in a previous post I cannot hold these fledgeling developers to my expectations simply because I understand that they have no idea what they are doing. At any rate if they continue to proceed at this rate no studio, company, publisher, etc... will ever take them seriously so I would not worry since they are basically digging their companies grave as we send these messages.

I recommend this position, Give up on this project and team entirely and refuse to grant them further support. Since we are backers the developers is still obligated to give us our "gifts". I honestly feel that if the developers suddenly lost their entire support base they would understand the egregious nature of their massive mistakes.

Creator Frank Bueckert on November 21

Nathaniel, you do have a point. The issue I have is that the decisions that were made were actively detrimental to the responsibilities and obligations they agreed to when this was backed. There's good faith, and there's unreasonable naiveity. Once a project goes past its estimated delivery date by over two years, and the developers decide to *start from scratch*, I tend to get a little suspicious. The actions performed and excuses being offered don't pass muster. I no longer believe the developers are working in good faith, and are doing everything they can to head off a backer lawsuit.

Your point about release dates is good, but I'd like to point out a few facts:
1) They've missed every single release date and deadline they've ever announced. Every. Single. One.
2) They NEVER acknowledge it when they miss it. A developer acting in good faith would head off suspicions by directly addressing it, and why it was missed. We don't have any of that here. Not once, for the half dozen missed dates.
3) They seemed to have learned their lesson over a year ago. There was an article, http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/20/4127328/star-command-kickstarter-release, where they acknowledged that backers had a right to be angry, and that they would no longer announce release dates until it was final. One of the latest updates, though, gave us release dates. And they were missed, and skated over. We still don't know why, except in the vaguest terms. Apparently, they HAVEN'T learned their lesson.
4) And, as usual, they don't acknowledge that they missed it. And are still missing it.

Yes, I am angry. Extremely so. I haven't seen a SINGLE action that has given me any faith that this project will ever release. And every update barely makes mention that that they're thirty months late, and they want us to wait even longer! That's not the actions of a developer acting in good faith, in any sense whatsoever. There HAS to be an update that directly addresses the concerns I, and other backers, have. No more self congratulation on releasing an alpha product, making an "awesome" game that nobody can play, but take their word for that it's awesome.

Warballoon has shown zero contrition or regret for forcing their backers to wait this long. I find that incredibly insulting, not to mention rather arrogant. At no point were we asked if we WANTED to wait for a brand new game that we didn't actually back. They just decided, on their own, that making their backers wait longer was an acceptable choice.

We haven't received our backer rewards yet, for crying out loud! How much slack do we give creators!? At what point do we decide that enough is enough, and hold the creator accountable? I decided a long time ago that I would be vocal about my criticism and massive dissatisfaction with their actions. They don't get to pat themselves on the back anymore, and congratulate themselves on a milestone that should've been gone and done years ago. The only thing that will appease me at this point is the release of the game that they promised so long ago, and I don't mean Galaxies. What will quiet me is the acknowledgement that their actions have been lacking, and a good, honest look at how to resolve it. Self congratulations will just further cement my disgust and certainty that they are defrauding us backers.

Creator Nathaniel on November 20

Frank I do agree that there are issues that should be corrected, and that with the information on hand that the current production outline is lacking. But they are still making progress albeit slow they are still trying to deliver. Personally I would have done the modding utilities after the game was released simply to streamline the process but they are not me. On a side note however the addition of modding tools so early in development (since no alpha was released) makes it look like the developers are tying to coax the community into making assets for them. Mind you I am not saying that is their intentions but merely what it looks like from the outside.

-A lot of people including myself have informed them that their communications attempts are lacking.
-Release dates although a nuisance to the general public can be an overwhelming deadline that can sometimes be unrealistic (For a small inexperienced team) which is understandable.
-Insulting and disrespective comments will often result in your comments being ignored all together, simply because it becomes obvious that an individuals ability to think logically has diminished greatly due to emotions. (In my position that is what I would do at least, so if you feel that bashing them would help I ask that you do that privately via the "contact me" button).

On a positive end I want to say that the Warballon guys have been very open to criticism from my perspective. You have to remember game developers can only do so much with the resources on hand, so sometimes things may not always be as shiny and full of sparkles at the end.

Creator Frank Bueckert on November 18

And, as usual, you completely ignore any criticism you receive. Typical tone deaf response, as per your usual craptacular communication strategy. Don't dislocate that arm too badly patting yourselves on the back for missing your release date by over two years! It takes REAL talent to be that tone deaf and utterly positive (but not really; just arrogance)!

Creator Nathaniel on November 6

Hey dev's make sure you check the forums, I posted a bunch of stuff in the science forum you would like to look at (under the name Einhander). Hopefully those suggestions and bugs found will help in your development.