Killing Floor 2

Killing Floor 2

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Yoshiro  [developer] May 26, 2015 @ 2:05pm
Content Creation Times
Copied from our forums: http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=109184

I’ve seen posts lately that ask for a roadmap of KF2 development goals. As the person that would make those kinds of roadmaps, let me say, most teams use more agile methods these days. We use both waterfall and agile methodologies during different phases of a project, rather than run from a simple punchlist or roadmap.

Sure we a have a rough list of the features and content we think will be in the full, release version of KF2. That set is not secret. Owners have talked about in videos – numbers of maps, perks and so on. The list also has some “maybe” items penciled in. They range in likelihood from “we’ll fit it in if we can” to “probably not anytime soon, but capture the idea for the future”. The list is not the plan. It may be considered the parent of the plan, but much more detail goes into actually coordinating the team’s efforts.

So, I want to remind people to be skeptical when they read a forum post “confirming” any future features, content, development methods, design documents, the meaning of life or how to get rich quick.
Similarly, people that estimate how long it takes to make a weapon, character, map or zed, to our specifications, are frequently wrong and often grossly underestimating. This can lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment.

To give you an idea of what it takes to make content, let’s look at some of our asset creation pipelines.

A new character, for instance, takes more than 50 developer days and involves about 10 people. Some of those operations can be in parallel, like working on an outfit and speech files, but some of them can only happen one after another.

A new weapon might take about 65 developer days and pass through 14 sets of hands, in 70 steps, between concept art and finished zed killing machine. That includes multiple passes through programmers and animators to go from first to final state.

A new perk may include new character animations, 4 new weapons, new skills, lines, shoot/FX animations, sounds, trader icons and lots of testing and balancing.

A new map is no small undertaking at more than 250 developer days. I know lots of mappers and modders can make them faster, but I think you have seen that our maps are of a satisfying size, are decently detailed and run on most PC’s and different graphics settings. We try to make them as solid as possible and that includes finding and fixing hundreds of bugs (800+ on Paris) before we let anyone else play them.

The actual calendar time it takes to accomplish this work is heavily influenced by our capacity. In this about 50 person company, there are 30-some programmers, designers, artists, animators and leads plus fewer than 10 testers. Our capacity utilization runs about 90%. In other words, we keep busy.

So please, rest assured, we have not stopped working on KF2. We’re not slacking or having a party or counting cash. We are making the game, because this is what we do and what we like to do.
Know that QA did not take 3 weeks off, there are no finished features or content being withheld, we do read posts and we want to get more content out as much as you want to see it.
Last edited by Yoshiro; May 26, 2015 @ 2:06pm
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Showing 1-15 of 571 comments
Thranduil May 26, 2015 @ 2:10pm 
Thanks for the update on everything, its great to know just what it takes to make everything.
JimmiRustler May 26, 2015 @ 2:22pm 
Idk why you try Yoshiro. No convincing people who can't even read.
Solaire of Astora May 26, 2015 @ 2:25pm 
Game is still in it's early shoes and feel like a full game. I remember when KF1 came out, the very first mod and the full game. Had less classes than it has now and 5 core maps. Medic grenades and guns also weren't there, but are in KF2. So pretty awesome work so far and Manor rocks!
TenshiRay May 26, 2015 @ 2:29pm 
I knew content creation takes a lo of time. When I heard the dev say "6 months", my eyes were wide open in surprise of such a claim. Each perk needs at least a month testing- no way can everything be done in just 6 months.

Just know that for each negative person showing up lately, there are at least 10 who will defend you. Keep it up!
Cheetah May 26, 2015 @ 2:30pm 
Thanks for this. Good to get an idea of how long things take.
Pombau May 26, 2015 @ 2:32pm 
I cant join on any VölterMansion server they all have passwords o.O can anyone help me pls? everyones playing it and i dont have a password lol
Solaire of Astora May 26, 2015 @ 2:33pm 
Servers need to update as well, just wait till tomorrow kid and all be fine ;) Billy Mays approved!
Evanz111 May 26, 2015 @ 2:38pm 
It's great to see you guys addressing the complaints, so thank you for giving us a look behind the game. I finally caved in and bought it due to the sale, and I'm happy that I won't be regretting it any time soon!
SKIFREE May 26, 2015 @ 2:38pm 
Keep up the good work!
Don't get upset by bad posts.
You develop videogames, many gamers are young people, young people are not patient (we all have been young once)
We really appreciate your work!
Bigguns 93 May 26, 2015 @ 2:40pm 
Thanks for the update Yoshiro. I think the project is moving along well. Best Early Access I have seen so far.

Only 5% will read stickies, but that 5% will pass on the information.
M@crobyte May 26, 2015 @ 3:17pm 
Keep it up. Take your time.
DeMasked May 26, 2015 @ 3:24pm 
Games take time. Time that people do not want to wait for when it comes to these days of entitlement and wanting things completed right away.

Always sad to see such forums degraded due to the ignorance of people who do not understand what Early Access means and that games and development of games take a lot of time and effort.
GrandSlamSam May 26, 2015 @ 3:25pm 
Isn't the idea of a beta to let the players find the bugs? instead of spending 250 developer days on making a map and finding bugs, shouldnt the testers be able to slice that at least in half? It lets players feel like they are contributing somthing to the game, and speeds up the process.
god1h.darkO May 26, 2015 @ 3:29pm 
Well.. I understand that TW wants a good game but the problem doesn't seem to be that.

IMHO, problem is a TOO early game, because of that people get bored fast and start asking for updates.

Beyond numbers seems like the quantity of employees is not at the altitude of many player's expectations. (Quantity of employees, not quality)




Kozzy May 26, 2015 @ 3:32pm 
Keep up the good work Tripwire! Love the game so far! :dwarven:
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Date Posted: May 26, 2015 @ 2:05pm
Posts: 571