Stormgate Devs Answer Important Community Questions.. ► (Huge AMA Round-up!)

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  • Опубліковано 3 лют 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 81

  • @hancokamper
    @hancokamper Місяць тому +11

    Thank you so much for your dedication and great videos; I'm a Kickstarter supporter of Stormgate, but I haven't played yet as I want to let the game cook a little longer before I jump in. Your videos keep me updated on what's going on, and I really appreciate them! Again thank you! ❤

    • @Stormgate_Central
      @Stormgate_Central  Місяць тому +1

      My pleasure! Thansk for watching and happy holidays :)

  • @Navhkrin
    @Navhkrin Місяць тому +32

    Custom game mode is going to be the killer feature of Stormgate. You can easily remake all the maps on W3 but with much smoother gameplay, you can literally remake Warcraft 3 on Stormgate engine with more players and more features (such as late joining). You can make HotS, DotA 3 and whatever.
    If they can deliver on their Custom map plans, that alone will be enough for this game to sustain a bigger playerbase

    • @koala-ytt
      @koala-ytt Місяць тому +1

      Blizzard famously made $0 on DotA so yes it should be the priority

    • @Navhkrin
      @Navhkrin Місяць тому +4

      @@koala-ytt Blizzard made 0$ on DotA? That is such a shortsighted way of looking at it.
      Majority of W3 revenue comes from appeal for custom maps. They may be free to play, but they are literally the reason why a lot of people purchase game in the first place. Not only that they constantly create free advertisement for the game because they create a shit load of engagement.

    • @koala-ytt
      @koala-ytt Місяць тому

      @@Navhkrin Frost Giant is literally going bankrupt in 1-2 years at this rate, they can't afford not to be shortsighted

    • @Navhkrin
      @Navhkrin Місяць тому +2

      @@koala-ytt That is completely false, being shortsighted is a path to certain bankruptcy no matter how much time you have. Being shortsighted is not the same thing as optimizing for short amount of time. Here we hear Frostgiant talking about more game modes for example, that is IMO a bad approach. Instead of FG making more game modes, they could be focusing on getting Custom map maker out and let players make game modes for them.

    • @koala-ytt
      @koala-ytt Місяць тому

      @@Navhkrin when was the last time you pay for a custom game mode? LMAO

  • @ricordandoilpassato1677
    @ricordandoilpassato1677 26 днів тому +4

    yeah bro it's time to change the channel name

  • @spearwy
    @spearwy Місяць тому +6

    Awesome coverage of the AMA! Thanks stormgate central. Appreciate, the time you put into these vids, keeping us all up to date on the game we are all watching grow and love.

  • @user-ur4nl6dq2x
    @user-ur4nl6dq2x Місяць тому +12

    13:24 For the "bit off more than they could chew" it is important to note the collapse of the games industry since FG started in 2020 - back then the scope of the project was ambitious for sure, but the scope really became untenable only a year or 2 after FG started and funding dried up. I surprised, nay, SHOCKED, that FG is still operating at all given how many other dev studios have collapsed and tens of thousands of layoffs.
    Another question Tim M answered about "how has the gaming industry rollercoaster impacted FG" he responded saying it's one of the hardest times to be indie.
    So with 20/20 hindsight; should they have reduced the scope? I would say no, because the giant grant games video "why the next great RTS will fail" lays it out pretty clearly that without all the pillars FG is aiming for, SG won't be a big success.
    Is the reduction in scope NOW a good idea? I would say yes, given the circumstances of all the factors at play.
    Just my thoughts, i may be wrong, but overall i think they have done a fairly good job with scope - ambitious, but managed.

  • @Envy_Dragon
    @Envy_Dragon Місяць тому +1

    What bugged me about the responses to the lore/story questions was that almost all the answers were variations on "we're changing things." Every single other person who was responding in that AMA could give specific examples, or even just use specific words to identify what needed changes - things about ingame economy, faction identity, "wow" moments - but we still don't know how or what is changing about the storytelling.
    And before anyone says "it's a secret, they can't talk about it"... there are absolutely ways to do that. What did they identify as things that didn't work? What aspects of storytelling are getting reinforced? What ways are they planning to integrate the lore and gameplay? Like... imagine if they'd said this:
    "We're working on communicating character through word choice and decision-making; we know you don't need Barclay to tell you 'I hear Major Galt is a real piece of work' when we can just have Major Galt demonstrate that he's a real piece of work. We also realized that there are characters like Ryker who come off a certain way when you meet them, but make choices later that seem to contradict what we know; in some cases those will change but in others we'll make it clearer that this is new information, character development rather than character dissonance."
    No info is spoiled, but specific pain points are identified and addressed.
    I'm getting pretty concerned! Like... this is the writing team (or writer, singular???) that okayed "IF YOU HIDE, WE WILL FIND YOU! AND WE WILL KILL YOU!" as intro dialog for the first Infernal enemy we face in the campaign, among other things. I do not have faith at this point that the narrative folks actually know what they're doing, and the inability to say anything tangible means that either
    1) they don't realize how important it is to communicate these things (which is weird because everyone else did),
    2) they don't know what they did wrong,
    3) they don't know HOW to communicate these things,
    4) they don't care.
    Actually, "nothing tangible" is unfair, because they did mention that there was a second novella coming. Which I'm not super thrilled about because there was stuff the game made a big deal about, that seemed really important to the story, but that never got communicated because I guess they expected people to read the novella instead of playing the game.

  • @mikeriley2475
    @mikeriley2475 Місяць тому

    Really looking forward to seeing what they can/will do with Stormgate!

  • @zero-lk2un
    @zero-lk2un Місяць тому +4

    custom maps, custom modes, if monetized rigth could save stormgate without mush fuzzle.
    for me, most of whats wrong with the game, is gameplay. stormgate as a "strategy engine" could be the best platform to release crazy and fun modes.
    maybe with some external help from the community we could revive stormgate.

    • @shdwza
      @shdwza Місяць тому

      Not gonna happen if there core game isnt fun. Only successful games have vibrant modding communities

  • @dreioo8759
    @dreioo8759 Місяць тому

    Thanks for the info! The amount of work ahead is intimidating but I'm excited to follow along. The regular updates will be interesting to follow.

  • @austinollinger82
    @austinollinger82 Місяць тому +2

    Yes they need to laser focus on 1v1 and campaign. The only money I ever spent on StarCraft 2 was on the campaign. I believe that’s there best source of income but it must be fun and polished. Having said that I am almost exclusively a 1v1 player but I o play the campaign when first released. 1v1 brings the fun tournaments many people love to watch and brings the most game exposure and both being polished will bring in a lot of people from StarCraft 2 in my opinion. I played StarCraft 2 for over 10 years but have dropped it the past couple months to play Stormgate in the hopes it is the new best RTS

  • @Bagginsess
    @Bagginsess Місяць тому +2

    I was trying out Ryker and his new
    dogs and rocketmen and the ragdolls from all the rocket explosions is good fun.

  • @dennisthorson4159
    @dennisthorson4159 Місяць тому +5

    They've done a GREAT JOB promising a whole lot. They're apparently working on everything all at once. Now we just need to see them deliver,.

  • @Trosmanx
    @Trosmanx Місяць тому

    All that are great news and I hope, that this game will be good at 1.0 release.

  • @marcinluter1195
    @marcinluter1195 Місяць тому

    one that does get cheesed, inscreases its cheese ressistance for itself for current meta

  • @zuiop9993
    @zuiop9993 Місяць тому +2

    Initially I didn't think Stormgate looked very appealing visually, so I decided against playing the game. I got recommended this video and I was surprised of the footage in the background. It seems to look much better than I remember. Did they already implement some visual changes, maybe the lighting or colour palettes? Maybe I should give it a try, at least at 1.0

    • @sluggath88
      @sluggath88 Місяць тому +2

      I’ve played since beta. Visuals have come a long way already. They have tweaked lighting and textures and overall the game looks pretty neat imo.

    • @zuiop9993
      @zuiop9993 Місяць тому +1

      @@sluggath88 It really surprises me what a huge difference relatively small changes make. Thanks for the reply.

    • @Stormgate_Central
      @Stormgate_Central  Місяць тому

      Yep! They've implemented a number of fairly basic yet impactful visual changes through the various patches, and there's a lot more to come :)

  • @drenghel4641
    @drenghel4641 Місяць тому

    ty !

  • @teachmehowtodoge1737
    @teachmehowtodoge1737 Місяць тому +1

    Lezz go! 💪

  • @EmpyreanSky
    @EmpyreanSky Місяць тому +3

    Thanks for the friendly shoutout :D
    And also thanks for compiling this! I've been reading through the comments myself and wanted to make an overview, but sadly Allen's account seems like its got suspended for some reason and his comments disappeared :(

    • @user-ur4nl6dq2x
      @user-ur4nl6dq2x Місяць тому

      His comments disappeared? Odd i can still see them.
      Edit: yeah the comments are still there on mine, you just can't search for them...have to scroll through manually

    • @EmpyreanSky
      @EmpyreanSky Місяць тому +1

      @@user-ur4nl6dq2x Woah you are right! Thanks for the heads up! :D

    • @Stormgate_Central
      @Stormgate_Central  Місяць тому

      My pleasure! Yeah I noticed that about Allen's account as well...kinda weird :/

  • @Red-wb5jj
    @Red-wb5jj Місяць тому +1

    Stormgate’s art direction can change as often as the developers desire, but without significant gameplay innovations, the game risks feeling stagnant. To truly captivate players, it needs deeper mechanics and features that enhance replayability and excitement.
    Procedurally Generated Maps
    Introducing procedurally generated maps would revolutionize the scouting, making it more dynamic and engaging. This approach would also vastly increase replayability, as each match would present unique challenges and opportunities. Players enjoy adapting to fresh conditions rather than memorizing static, handcrafted maps. Age of Empires 2 serves as a perfect example: its map diversity, ranging from Arabia to Nomad or Gold Rush to Black Forest or Team Islands to Arena, requires entirely different strategies and skills, keeping gameplay fresh and exciting across thousand of matches.
    Evolving Economy and Resources
    A more diverse economy system could further enrich gameplay. Imagine resources with distinct mechanics: one tied to fixed points on the map, like gold or minerals, and another that players can harvest or generate anywhere, turning the entire map into potential strategic hotspots. Such a design would shift the focus dynamically during matches, ensuring that battles and critical moments happen in varying locations. Art-wise, resources should also stand out visually, adding aesthetic appeal and aiding gameplay readability. This diversity would make every match unique and create opportunities for more complex strategies, enhancing both player experience and spectator enjoyment.
    Buildable Walls for Strategy and Comebacks
    Walls are essential for creating strategic depth in RTS games. Cheap, high-HP walls allow for defensive maneuvers, buying time, and enabling dramatic comebacks-especially in team games, where protecting allies becomes vital. Walls also influence the flow of battles, shaping chokepoints and forcing creative unit compositions. The destruction of walls can spark tense, exciting moments across the map, keeping viewers and players alike engaged. Without such a tool, gameplay risks losing variability and tactical nuance.
    Aiming Beyond SC2: Learning from Age of Empires 2
    Stormgate aspires to be a next-generation RTS, but to surpass Starcraft 2’s appeal, it must broaden its scope. While SC2 excels in fast-paced 1v1 matches, Age of Empires 2 boasts the highest active player base in RTS history due to its unmatched gameplay diversity and robust multiplayer modes (1v1 through 4v4). Even if one personally prefers SC2, the numbers don’t lie: Age of Empires 2 has found a formula that resonates with a wider audience. Stormgate can benefit from adopting and improving upon these mechanics without losing its identity. Procedural maps, diverse resources, and walls would not make Stormgate a clone of Age of Empires, but rather a richer game that combines the best elements of various RTS titles.
    Embracing Innovation
    The success of RTS games lies in openness to innovation. Just as Stormgate borrows successful elements like early scouting from Age of Empires and player abilities from C&C Generals and AOM, it should embrace new features that foster replayability, strategic variety, and accessibility. Procedural maps, walls, and an evolved economy are not constraints-they are opportunities to craft an RTS that stands out in the modern gaming landscape. By combining the best ideas from across the genre, Stormgate can deliver the diversity, excitement, and depth that players crave.
    To limit its scope would be to limit its audience, ensuring it remains a niche game rather than a genre-defining masterpiece. A broader, more adaptable vision will unlock Stormgate’s true potential.
    Listen to the nay-sayers who like Starcraft 2 will not improve Stormgate much. They want a game like Starcraft 2 and how successful this was and is we can see. It has less active players than SC 1 and Age of Empires 2. So they have to think about if they want to build a game for a niche or they really want to build the best next gen rts possible.
    There are still plenty of things that differentiate Stormgate from Age of Empires. Not only the futuristic setting but also the look and feel of the units, the better technical execution, and the improved unit responsiveness make the game still feel like a Blizzard RTS. By the way, Age of Empires, like Warcraft 3, features units with higher HP, which is one reason Age of Empires has a larger player base as Starcraft 2 and why Starcraft 2 is beyond its potential. Even the developers of Stormgate knows that and that is the reason why they increase the life of all units and structures compared to Starcraft 2. But here the good parts of Age of Empires doesn't stop. There is more like the benefits of procedural generated maps, walls and a bit more different economy. There are also good things for the economy in other games like C&C. The concept of power plants that work a bit like Pylons have a big potential to create interesting mechanics and decisions during one match. Don't just think about the mechanics in other games one by one, but also be creative. Change something in a new direction to the things you take from other games.
    To be successful, a game needs casual players, not just professional ones. The pros will come on their own if the game is successful with the broader audience-if players not only enjoy playing it themselves but also watching others play. Seeing the same revealed maps repeatedly, already knowing how they will be played (as is typical in Blizzard RTS games), becomes very boring for viewers. It lacks the variety and surprises that make for exciting spectator experiences.
    Everyone opposed to these changes should carefully consider their effects: fewer players, longer queue times in ranked matches, fewer tournaments, less support, and ultimately a less developed game. Is that what you really want? Then continue to be endlessly enthusiastic about Blizzard RTS games and ignore everything other RTS games have to offer.
    You can dislike Age of Empires, but you can't dislike walls or procedural-generated maps, because they offer to much for the exciting gameplay and the replayability and from which game these ideas come doesn't matter. There are lot of other games with procedural generated maps and buildable walls.

  • @GBS4893
    @GBS4893 Місяць тому

    In my opinion very creative cheese on pro level is interesting to watch, but cheese is a cancer for ladder play, ladder being most of the pvp players: If and when the player count rises, the whole point of the ladder is that there shouldn't be too much of an underdog
    However when you want to play a few different games, let's say anything that goes beyond the first few minutes and are forced into the same short frustrating scenario over and over again, it gets to become an uninstalling argument after enough time
    Furthermore learning to counter the known cheeses is generally excruciatingly long and frustrating in rts without guarantee of managing it every time (they wouldn't be popular if they weren't winning, it's the point). Cheese is easier to execute than to defend unless we're at pro level, it's unfair by definition and doesn't foster great feelings towards the game
    I really think the position of making cheese way less potent in stormgate was and still is a great idea, games should be fun

  • @revanlord05
    @revanlord05 Місяць тому +6

    I'll be honest, they should've released the editor and custom games at the very least. I still stand with my opinion that they shouldn't gone EA. As it is right now, It ain't chief.

    • @GreenZerg
      @GreenZerg Місяць тому

      >I still stand with my opinion that they shouldn't gone EA
      FG are saying this themselves
      The map editor will be great, personally im only really here for 1v1 and for me its already a really solid game. The rest of the stuff is needed to flesh out the experience and bring in more casual players.

    • @andrewtoledo181
      @andrewtoledo181 Місяць тому

      Agreed with no EA, but whats done is done. I saw some of the new graphical changes and they look promising so far. I think one of the main things is definitely creeps, they shouldn't be that powerful early game as it makes people just PvE for a long time. And yes, map editor! Most players will mess around with Custom maps then probably do a few ladder games once in a while.

  • @ares106
    @ares106 Місяць тому +1

    11:43 IMO Cheese is when a player is using gamey mechanics that are borderline exploits and don't really make sense in the game universe. For example when heroes shuffle items around to escape cooldowns, or exploiting bad creep AI.

  • @cameronhoss4039
    @cameronhoss4039 Місяць тому +29

    "we recognize early access wont appeal to anyone" [looks at Poe 2 early access player count]

    • @Frodonsake24
      @Frodonsake24 Місяць тому +11

      Yeah basically, like 1.0, EA is just an arbitrary stage for a game that wants to take the opportunity. You can have very polished games like PoE2, or Hades 2, you can have some really early versions. Then another diffrent aspect that can varry A LOT depending on the objectives is "how long the EA last". It can be a few mounth, or a year. Or in some case in can last 6 years. You can put a lot into the concept of EA.

    • @cameronhoss4039
      @cameronhoss4039 Місяць тому +4

      @@Frodonsake24 Poe 2 isnt even half done, its just how good the first half is that is keeping the players in there.

    • @Navhkrin
      @Navhkrin Місяць тому +16

      @@cameronhoss4039 PoE 2 is terrible comparison TBH. Because they already had the engine and shit load of mechanics implemented because it is just upgraded PoE 1 engine. Where as in case of Stormgate they started from a harder point (still using UE5 but with no game mechanics implemented).
      Given that significant amount of complexity is implementing mechanics, PoE2 is like 90% done. Even speaking purely from content perspective, PoE 2 is more than 50% done. You are claiming "not even half done" is pure bullshit.

    • @reylightrey1863
      @reylightrey1863 Місяць тому +1

      @@Navhkrin and? They have experience aswell with Starcraft etc. There are not new

    • @Navhkrin
      @Navhkrin Місяць тому +3

      ​@@reylightrey1863 They have some developers from Starcraft team while GGG is filled with devs that are experts of their area and were making around 30m$ every year in profits.

  • @SergjDragunov
    @SergjDragunov Місяць тому +4

    Also all of Tims statements are ridiculous considering these monthly 20k paychecks for himself, ffs nobody adressing that???

  • @LuckyGnom
    @LuckyGnom Місяць тому +1

    If they will make units die quicker, then I want my refund.

  • @Threesixteen3
    @Threesixteen3 Місяць тому +5

    please god stop with the "Some people have said" bullshit. Be specific with your sources. This is basic J-School stuff.

  • @sLiv256
    @sLiv256 Місяць тому +1

    Are people still playing? Why ?

    • @Pakkih
      @Pakkih Місяць тому

      Why not?

  • @ZaxxerDog
    @ZaxxerDog Місяць тому +5

    It's baffling that they still keep talking and having these time consuming, extensive Q&As and interviews instead of just shutting up until the job's done and proving that the game is worth a damn. Is there an AMA every week lol? Seriously just shut the hell up, hunker down and work, come back when you have something substantial to show.

    • @pdrpm8269
      @pdrpm8269 Місяць тому +1

      Bruh, these doesn't even take a lot of time, not anyone else's problem that you have so little brainpower that you need hours to answer a question lmao

    • @ShadowJazo
      @ShadowJazo Місяць тому

      I dont really follow the game right now, but to be in contact with the community is important. But more like once every 1-2 Months. Its a balance to strike.

    • @ZaxxerDog
      @ZaxxerDog Місяць тому +1

      @@ShadowJazo The problem with this is that they keep promising stuff and by doing that they continue to create false expectations. That's what buried the game the first time, that last thing we need right now is any kind of hype for features and improvements that don't exist yet or might never will.

    • @Some_Guy_87
      @Some_Guy_87 Місяць тому

      Agreed (though the wording is a bit strong :o) - they apparently don't need the money from fans because they have investors, so going with the old Blizzard way would probably have been much better. Drop a bomb of a game nobody saw coming, instead of creating hype for years with very little to show until everybody loses interest. Instead the game is still in a sad state and they already start charging money again from people who backed the game substantially during its Kickstarter. That makes me lose hope in the company more than anything.

    • @ZaxxerDog
      @ZaxxerDog Місяць тому

      @@Some_Guy_87 The wording is strong because honestly at this point their communication just annoys me very much. :D For example when I saw Kevin Dong going on about how the second pillar of their design is making things happen that just felt super pretentious and "unearned" to me considering the respectable sized wall of text. Like so far their game is a boring mess with zero focus to the point that some of the gameplay doesn't even make logical sense and now he's trying to reassure people that he knows what he's doing. It's not working which is why silence would be golden.
      Honestly so far the only thing that is positive to me is the fact that they hired a new art director because that seems like evidence that they finally admitted that their art style is terrible.

  • @GoDiMoNsTeR
    @GoDiMoNsTeR Місяць тому

    Hope this game dies already

    • @KorewaKosmo
      @KorewaKosmo 26 днів тому

      Ur life must be this sad lol, why do u even care

    • @GoDiMoNsTeR
      @GoDiMoNsTeR 26 днів тому

      @@KorewaKosmo lol you are 40+ streaming on twitch...who's life is SAD?

    • @KorewaKosmo
      @KorewaKosmo 26 днів тому

      @GoDiMoNsTeR clearly not mine lol