DCS F-4E Phantom II Release Date Announcement- May 21st 2024

[Gunfreak]

41 minutes ago, Nealius said:

Arguably the QC and "proper testing" should be finished at minimum a full business day before scheduled release. If that can't be done then reevaluating how release dates are set may be in order.

I'm just relatively happed they announced this now, and not 1 hour after expected patch release. 

[BIGNEWY]

folks please remember the forum rules when posting. 

thank you 

[Lionel Mandrake]

4 minutes ago, Eugel said:

Well, do you think there would be less complaining if they didn´t give out a date ?

There would be less complaining if they managed to stick to the date they picked. And there'd certainly be less complaining if these delays were rare and isolated not the rule as they have become.

[Viking 1-1]

4 minutes ago, Eugel said:

Well, do you think there would be less complaining if they didn´t give out a date ?

At least I could have saved my day off. 

And in my surroundings if you schedule a date, you have to stick to it. And not change it. Again. And again. Aaaand again.

I love ED and DCS, but this is just not professional.

[Jarhead0331]

4 hours ago, BIGNEWY said:

Hi folks, had a little tidy up in the thread, please stay on topic here, and discuss DCS F-4E only. 

Exciting day today, final checks in progress CDN being prepared, so keep your fingers and toes crossed. 

thank you 

The second he posted this, I knew it was going to be delayed. BIGNEWY totally jinxed it.

[mondo]

5 minutes ago, Ben149 said:

It worked for all the content Creators too, why wouldn't it work for us then?

It's a different build that will go to a different environment with possibly a different distribution layer. It's very possible that it's not possible to test absolutely everything until it hits that environment as well because having test environments that are identical to your live ones isn't always possible for numerous reasons.

 

It's not a simple as developer writes code, compiles code, puts on server and you download. While I agree theres always room for improvement I've sat in the seat where ED is right now and what is working is their pre deployment process caught something which is great and shouldn't be ignored. 

[BIGNEWY]

2 minutes ago, Jarhead0331 said:

The second he posted this, I knew it was going to be delayed. BIGNEWY totally jinxed it.

Murphy's law for sure

[Predator-78]

This module release is very unfortunate. Release day postponed several times, making the situation more frustrating as many, including me, had perhaps organized an evening to finally enjoy the Phantom. A message like this appears on the same day as the release, after others of patient waiting. What can we say? That's okay, we're still waiting hoping not to read any other last minute press releases.

Inviato dal mio SM-G998B utilizzando Tapatalk

[TobiasDeVil]

I'm just wondering why this message isn't actually posted on the main page, but only on the forum. I think certain public announcements should be entrusted to the pros.

[Czar66]

"Oh noooo, what's going to be of me left with only my 10+ modules and 5+ maps along with all the 3rd party mission creation apps to entertain me without the F-4E?? :((( Dang...."

Remember folks: It is a pixel plane in a videogame.....A healthy perspective is not 'acting tough'. Try it, it is nice.

All the best for Heatblur and their endeavor of pushing the limits on DCS modules. Day 1 purchase for sure.
1 more day gifted to read the manual. Release it when it is ready.

[flameoutme]

Heatblur as a company stands above and alone in the DCS world.  At least that has been my experience. So many software developers set a release date, the work slips, but they release anyways to the disappointment of fans.  Riddled with bugs.  In fact, I'd say that is the rule today not the exception. 

But Heatblur has a reputation for wanting to get things right, at least to the maximum extent possible.  So if they have delayed release again, I'd rather it be that than feeling the frustration of things not working right.

I do feel bad for anyone who has taken time from work for the release.  I know it's disappointing. 

Flameoutme

Edited May 21 by flameoutme

[bfr]

24 minutes ago, ECTAE said:

A lot of people here act tough, as if the issue doesn't bother them. What angers me is the lack of professionalism. That's all. The problem isn't about delaying the launch by 24 hours. I think most of us here are adults with jobs and other obligations, and it's likely that delaying the patch by 24 hours won't have any impact on our lives. But the mess that represents the fact of having even released a trailer with a specific launch date within a 15-day margin and 6 hours before the launch is unacceptable in any professional environment. I'm not saying it's impossible, but if I present a project a day past the deadline in my company or in state administrations, I would end up in the unemployment line. It's this kind of errors, bad practice, and poor Quality Control that will end up ruining this video game. Fifteen days is plenty of time to notice an error 6 hours before. And on the other hand, if you have faith in meeting that deadline within 24 hours, how does the programmer know that it will take exactly one day to complete the task? They had 15 days to do it and didn't, so by that logic, a single day doesn't make sense either. Anyway. Another reason to stop pre-ordering.

 

 

Outlook on delays depends completely on the overall situation.  If something absolutely definitely has to go on a given day at a given time then you probably stack your deck so everything going out is frozen with plenty of time to go. If  the need arises and a minor delay isn't going to be the end of the world (and lets be honest, it isn't in this case) you cut things a little finer. And even with the best will in the world, stuff still comes out of the woodwork from time to time.

As for 'how do you know it will take exactly one day', it may well take a lot less than that. Bumping it a whole day when you don't need the whole day means you aren't rushing it and also all your support/contingency arrangements in terms of peoples working hours are likely exactly the same as if they'd hit the original deadline (rather than delaying by a few hours but possibly then hitting 'release' and everyone signs off for the day straight after).

[Thump]

1 minute ago, Czar66 said:

"Oh noooo, what's going to be of me left with only my 10+ modules and 5+ maps along with all the 3rd party mission creation apps to entertain me without the F-4E?? :((( Dang...."

Remember folks: It is a pixel plane in a videogame.....A healthy perspective is not 'acting tough'. Try it, it is nice.

All the best for Heatblur and their endeavor of pushing the limits on DCS modules. Day 1 purchase for sure.
1 more day gifted to read the manual. Release it when it is ready.

This one's not on HB from the sounds of it....

[zildac]

1 hour ago, Iaincoe said:

Yeah pretty poor lack of communication

I was getting a tad worried they have yet to email me a license number, turns out I wouldn’t have needed it ! 
my last preorder purchase EVER 

btw can I ask has anyone else not get a license following their purchase? 

 

Got it no more than a minute after I placed my order...

[Hiob]

Patch-Releases and even worse Module-Releases will always be a Catch-22 situation for ED.

[Viking 1-1]

Now I finally understand.

DCS stands for Delayed Combat Simulator.

[bfr]

25 minutes ago, Ben149 said:

It worked for all the content Creators too, why wouldn't it work for us then?

Chances are the preview build they were given isn't exactly the same as the one that is due to be released (that will include other changes to DCS/other modules). Also you don't know if that preview build came with "its mostly fine but this bit is still not quite right so don't do this/that" caveats attached.

[BIGNEWY]

8 minutes ago, TobiasDeVil said:

I'm just wondering why this message isn't actually posted on the main page, but only on the forum. I think certain public announcements should be entrusted to the pros.

Posted on the patch status page, the update thread, here in this thread, and on discord, where it was also pinged to every server following the updates news. 

[Lurch1o]

I must admit I'm struggling to understand what the issue over 'pre-order' is?  I pre-ordered the module and it makes zero difference to waiting for the release and then ordering it apart from giving the developer a bit more incentive as they see the pre-orders go up. Why the 'never going to pre-order again' stuff?

 

Release it when it's ready then I'll enjoy flying it, bugs and all.  Until then I've got plenty to enjoy in the game.

[frostycab]

3 minutes ago, TobiasDeVil said:

I'm just wondering why this message isn't actually posted on the main page, but only on the forum. I think certain public announcements should be entrusted to the pros.

That's actually the most annoying thing from my point of view. I can't see anything on the HB website about a delay, nor does there appear to be anything on their Twitter. You either have to search through the various pages of this thread to find the actual announcement of a delay, or try to work it all out by sifting through all the comments on their Discord. A simple announcement that's easy to find and in an obvious place would be better.

As for the delay itself, I'm ok with it. If something is broken then something needs fixing. No point crying about about it.

[Slippa]

Like I said, they forgot the pilots sandwiches.

[pii]

20 minutes ago, BIGNEWY said:

Murphy's law for sure

Don't be shifting the blame and throwing Murphy under the bus, we know who it was... 

[frostycab]

8 minutes ago, bfr said:

As for 'how do you know it will take exactly one day', it may well take a lot less than that. Bumping it a whole day when you don't need the whole day means you aren't rushing it and also all your support/contingency arrangements in terms of peoples working hours are likely exactly the same as if they'd hit the original deadline (rather than delaying by a few hours but possibly then hitting 'release' and everyone signs off for the day straight after).

Thanks for highlighting the problem here. Yes, they could just delay for a few hours, and everyone would be sat at their computers for hours getting all worked up about things and complaining more and more. By simply saying "We'll push it back until tomorrow" they've been upfront and said "Don't waste your whole day waiting for a fix because it might take a while." They've freed the most anxious people from the tension for today, and also given themselves time to test and re-test whatever fix they come up with so that this hopefully doesn't happen again.

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

14 minutes ago, flameoutme said:

Heatblur as a company stands above and alone in the DCS world.  At least that has been my experience. So many software developers set a release date, the work slips, but they release anyways to the disappointment of fans.  Riddled with bugs.  In fact, I'd say that is the rule today not the exception. 

But Heatblur has a reputation for wanting to get things right, at least to the maximum extent possible.  So if they have delayed release again, I'd rather it be that than feeling the frustration of things not working right.

I do feel bad for anyone who has taken time from work for the release.  I know it's disappointing. 

Flameoutme

 

Cyberpunk 2077^TM or Heatblur, the choice is obvious.

[TobiasDeVil]

6 minutes ago, frostycab said:

That's actually the most annoying thing from my point of view. I can't see anything on the HB website about a delay, nor does there appear to be anything on their Twitter. You either have to search through the various pages of this thread to find the actual announcement of a delay, or try to work it all out by sifting through all the comments on their Discord. A simple announcement that's easy to find and in an obvious place would be better.

As for the delay itself, I'm ok with it. If something is broken then something needs fixing. No point crying about about it.

For me, just a short sentence at the module that the date is moving, and can be removed again after the release, would be enough.