As promised, here's the "Ask the Devs" thread. This is your chance to put a question directly to the dev team.

Here's how it works: You post questions and I'll compile and pass them on to the devs over the course of the next few weeks. When we've got a nice Q&A done, I'll post it in a new thread and then we'll open a new "Ask the Devs" thread.

I don't think I have to say this, but please, keep your tone civil as any rude or disrespectful questions will not be answered. For everyone whose question is picked, you'll go into a drawing to win a nice CrimeCraft prize pack including a t-shirt and more!

--KevinB

Last Edited on: Nov 05 2009 09:28 PM UTC (May 22 2012, 07:10pm GMT)

Hi, I have been playing for a month now and have started to lose my motivation to level due to the lack of missions, storyline and skills. Is there any plans to add more missions and storyline so it doesn't feel like a grindfest? Also are you going to redo or add anymore skills?

Last question. I have noticed all classes of guns sound the same: ex: All assault riffles pretty much sound the same. Is there any plans to make all the guns more mmmph to it, if you know what I mean.

Thanks!

Last Edited on: Oct 12 2009 05:15 PM UTC (May 22 2012, 07:10pm GMT)

 when will the free/unlimited trial be such as the date the exact date? will the game download be able for download on he site? and will it be forever?

thank you if you answer my questions have a nice day  cant wait to get in to the game via unlimited trial =D

hey can you use a game controler instead of the keyboard

Is there any plans to make a First Person View?

As the community Rep, and with some of the knowledge collected by OGHaze during  his time in San Francisco, I feel that this is the perfect place and time to have some of the community questions answered by the people who Haze got to spend time with!  So I will be posting some of the Community Questions here so we can try to get some direct answers!

With so many people having so much difficulty leveling their craft and the Gang Production Tabs putting out such small amounts over a four day production run, are there any plans to revemp the crafting, and are you looking into making crafting from the gang bank possible and seperating the house craft from the gang bank.

Can you give us any solid word on the Virtual Memory Crash and the progress that has been made in that area?

When is the official Release Date for the new content?

Can you give us some stats on one or two of the new weapons or items that will be available come update time?

Is it true that we are currently playing on less then 10% of the official content for Crime Craft?

Now for some of the community's big questions!

Regulator BuiConstrictor

Why are we not allowed firefights in the lobby?

PerpetualRage

How does one go about breaking into the Gaming industry in to such an area as Game Development?

JillVallentine

Are you looking into the option of Volunteer GM's, and if so, how would one go about applying to be a Volunteer GM?

GhostRaven06

So, since release (besides minor patches) what suggestions (from feedback), and/or improvements have been added to game?

mehsdomi

Thinking about buying the game and read all the reviews and watched all the videos but it doesn't tell you what you do at 50. Do you just kill people or is there actual stuff to progress your weapons. Basically does the game stop at 50.

Millertime

There is no community feedback, is anyone in contact with the developers?

By community feedback I meant the developers indicating that they even hear our feedback. Probably not the best term to use on my part. Of course plenty of players have complained about the game, my point is that to date we have nothing to make us believe they are even reading it, much less acting on it. No list of "things in progress" or a response to a widespread issue saying "We are aware of the issue and working on it".

The forum moderators are not employees of Vogster, they just police these forums. I don't see anyone in contact with the developers posting here, other than Capo posting "dev blogs" which are nothing more than highlights of game features, and notes on the two minor patches that have released since retail. He doesn't post in any threads started by the players, or comment on issues raised by them.

MacDeath

Is there a way to leave feedback suggestions , information with them (Vogster , Developers, Sponsers)directly? Without having to go through this site and its staff?

I really like this game a lot... and want to see it grow ... but there are a few problems here that really really need to be taken care of and for reasons I don't care to discuss I am not comfortable sharing it with the staff here.

DRogers inquires about Gang Wars:

My gaming community and gang have been waiting for at least some news about when Gang Wars will start we all believe it will add to player experience for all players within a gang and give more incentive to keep playing. So I ask that some details concerning when Gang Wars will be online and details about Gang Wars be posted?

daley7199 asks about the NPC's roaming the city, constantly telling him off!

Really? Come on Vogster you certainly can come up with some better use of dialogue for the NPC's roaming around Sunrise City. Its pretty boring having every NPC just there to tell you off. Will the NPC's become more interactive and offer more missions or jobs in the future?

DeathClown sends his praise:

I just wanted to take some time to thank the creators who worked hard to make this game possible!

I have been trying to get a game like this made since I first played DAOC. You guys have done an awesome job so far! Sure things arnt perfect, but its the first of its kind, and people just need to be patient! I just wanted the developers to know their hard work is appreciated and I for one will be renewing my account when my 2 months is up! Onces again good job, and I cant wait to see where this game is going!

-DeathClown

Lmaosaurus:

First, let me say that Crime Craft is an amazing game compared to a lot of what has been released lately. It is sad to see such a low population.

My question is when is the new content coming, and how big of a change will we see?

Revolution:

The ability gap between low and high level characters seems to make the decision to stay or go for most new players. With this in mind, are you going to implement "Level Based Instancing" to help balance the game play and give players a better chance of getting through a round without being perma-owned?

Reality:

When will Gang Wars be available?

Deathwish:

In its current state, the games anti cheat software just does not seem to be doing its job. It becomes all too obvious at points when there are no GMs on.

Will you be implementing more anti hack and anti cheat programming.
 

GhostRaven06 Asks:

Heres a question.

"if the forum and game feedback section is where devs read suggestions, and topics, why is there an individual going to social event, to discuss additions, enhancements, and modification to the game, to sponsors?"

=================================================================

Well, I will let you guys start with those few, and as more questions are added here, I will be sifting through the oodles of suggestions that I have sitting on the sidelines and if they are not addressed here I will happily post them here for you guys to mull over.

Thanks to all the Devs for your hard work and dedication to our community and the game!

OGNightHawk

What are the plans to expand the weapon variety? I have been scrambling for a revolver for a while now, and with such a large criminal universe, you think there would be larger amounts of illegal guns. Just so you know, I and others would enjoy more guns, even if that means looking backwards to grab some oldies but goodies. Also would enjoy a double barrel shogun. Mad Max anyone?

What are the plans to enable vehicular combat? It is a feature that would add a lot of value to the game, especially if you had to work to make one. An engineer makes the chassis and engine, a chemist for the tires, battery, and gas, a tailor for the wheel and upholstery(more for style than substance, but have something for them to do, maybe white wall tires, etc.), and a gunsmith for mounted weapons. Make vehicles very dependent on a gang and you can balance it out.

How much content are you going to add in the coming months? And how are people who have an already negative connotation of this game going to overcome the bad beginning hype to experience the game?

What kind of content are you going to add to the world zones? More specifically, how are you going to encourage players to enter somewhere other than Oceanside to play a match?

How are we going to be able to interact with our gang houses in the future? Are we going to be able to buy different shaped areas, multiple levels, new music, stripper poles (like I wanted so many months ago)?

What are you going to do about music? You have a partnership with Napster. I suggest you utilize that to its full potential.

What kind of new clothing can we look forward to? Will we be able to have more influence on what we make as tailors (i.e. colors, symbols, slogans)?

When will recreational drugs be available for use in lobbies? (This one is key for me)

That's it for now. I will sure to be back later with more questions for sure.

Edit:

What are your plans to get this game out more? What kind of advertising line-up do you have prepared? By the way, pants do NOT count as advertisement in my book.

Can we expect more ways to customize our gangster? What if I want to look like Notorious Biggs? Or Bigg Pun? Or Soldier Boy? Or anyone? Can we look forward to more cosmetic gear (Sunglasses, chains, watches, money clips, guns in-lobby, top hats )? How am I going to be able to stand out from the noob and the other level 25s?

What are the plans to evolve the story, and how will that affect future content? Will player choices now affect how they are able to play the game later? Will your choices affect all of your characters, so that people cannot reroll to gain the benefits of all potential factions in the future?

How will you make me want to stay? What are your plans for money sinks once everyone gets to level 50 and has the best gang house stuff and best gear and best/most optimized skills for themselves? What is going to keep me coming back?

How does what we do in the game affect the city? Shouldn't prices at least fluctuate on how well we can defend the city? Shouldn't we have events where certain areas of the city are cut off, and you have to fight to the other side and reconnect various areas? It is the Apocalypse am I right?

Edit: Spell check. I should have used it the first time.

What kind of premium goods do you have lined up? Do you have more swag from sponsors? How are you going to make me want to wear my Atticus t-shirt? It currently has no value in combat. But at the same time it looks much better than the crappy jacket that tries to be a sweatshirt that I have on now. Exploit that!

How are you going to increase character customization from the get go? will you implement sliders? Or different pre-configured weight/muscle builds? Again, how will I look unique in a sea of people trying to be more awesome then I am? (As if they could )

Can we get more interaction between the actual developers and us? I know that this thread is designed to do so, but when there is a ten page thread on a crash, we want to at least get a "Hey, its a big thing we are working on. Expect to be waiting for x period of time. But don't worry. We are going to sort this bugger out" kind of message from a developer. You don't know what a little attention will do to your gaming community.

And when can we start seeing referral codes? I know several people who are interested in the concept, and want to try it out, but can't because I can't get the disk over there for them to install and update the game.

Edit: I just remembered about skills

Are you going to fix/rebalance the skills you have now (Molotov [filtered]tail and Incendiary ammo are absolutely broken)?

What new skills will you implement? Will you go after more taciturn things like a bandoleer? Will you add a potential to add a bandoleers, or even two crossed, to clothing in return for a reduction of movement speed for bullets?

Will you implement more combat equipment, such as tactical shields? For larger maps, would it be possible to implement either a UAV or some other sort of radar enhancing bit, other than the skill, which I wouldn't touch with a ten and a half foot long pole?

Can we look forward to a loot system that is more balanced than not? Will you change the system so you can rely more on your gang than your individual drop ratings? Is that what you intended on doing with the economy in the first place?

What will the feature set of the free Crimecraft experience contain? How will it compare to the $5 and $10 feature set, outside of getting new content faster? Will people who subscribe for the full $10 a month have some sort of buff (I heard that there was something to do with the experience earned) attached to their characters? How will you balance this accordingly?

Since you are making an application for the iPhone (which I assume is for the iTouch as well) and Facebook, do you think it would be wise to look for an app that will let me monitor auctions and organize/craft materials from my phone? Can we expect any sort of phone app that lets us interact with all of the options you would encounter in the city sans signing up for an instance?

Will you stick with the third person view? What will you be doing to fix the problem where if a person stands behind you at a certain distance, they can obscure your view? If you attract a significant amount of people in the coming months, I expect that it will be something that you will need to address quickly.

Will you make a first person view for those who don't like the third person view? It can exist similarly to the style of combat in the game Fallen Earth (google it Developers, it has a lot of the things I have been talk about in here[Well mostly about the car bit, but whatever]).

Can this post be any longer? Is there a character limit to what I can post? Is there a way I could possibly misspell more words?

Edit: Spelling again.

Edit:

Will partially destructable environments be featured in the content/be added to previous content? How will a player's interactions with an environment affect his gameplay experience in the future?

How will you upgrade animations in the future? Right now they are awkward, and if you have a stock on anything the stock is going to go through your arm while you sprint.

How will you react to major problems in the future? Can we expect immediate hotfixs, or are all problems going to be resolved over a long period of time?

How are you going to fix the scoreboard issues? How are you going to allow my character, who I have slaved away upon (not really but its a question) to have his name in the lower level scoreboards if it falls off? Would this entail some sort of arcade mode where you are given a choice of level five gear and told to have fun? Would this feature, if implemented, be exclusive to the subscribers?

Most likely more to come.

Last Edited on: Oct 13 2009 06:42 PM UTC (May 22 2012, 07:10pm GMT)

Quote | Rekas posted on Oct 12 2009 05:24 PM UTC

What are the plans to expand the weapon variety? I have been scrambling for a revolver for a while now, and with such a large criminal universe, you think there would be larger amounts of illegal guns. Just so you know, I and others would enjoy more guns, even if that means looking backwards to grab some oldies but goodies. Also would enjoy a double barrel shogun. Mad Max anyone?

What are the plans to enable vehicular combat? It is a feature that would add a lot of value to the game, especially if you had to work to make one. An engineer makes the chassis and engine, a chemist for the tires, battery, and gas, a tailor for the wheel and apholestry(more for style than substance, but have something for them to do, maybe white wall tires, etc.), and a gunsmith for mounted weapons. Make vehicles very dependant on a gang and you can balance it out.

How much content are you going to add in the coming months? And how are people who have an already negative conotation of this game going to overcome the bad beginning hype to experience the game?

What kind of content are you going to add to the world zones? More specifically, how are you going to encourage players to enter somewhere other than Oceanside to play a match?

How are we going to be able to interact with out gang houses in the future? Are we going to be able to buy different shaped areas, multiple levels, new music, stripper poles (like I wanted so many months ago)?

What are you going to do about music? You have a partnership with Napster. I suggest you utilize that to its full potential.

What kind of new clothing can we look forward to? Will we be able to have more influence on what we make as tailors (i.e. colors, symbols, slogans)?

When will recreational drugs be available for use in lobbies? (This one is key for me)

Thats it for now. I will sure to be back later with more questions for sure.

Edit:

What are your plans to get this game out more? What kind of advertising line-up do you have prepared? By the way, pants do NOT count as advertisement in my book.

Can we expect more ways to customize our ganster? What if I want to look like Notorious Biggs? Or Bigg Pun? Or Soldier Boy? Or anyone? Can we look forward to more cosmetic gear (Sunglasses, chains, watches, money clips, guns in-lobby, top hats )? How am I going to be able to stand out from the noob and the other level 25s?

What are the plans to evolve the story, and how will that affect future content? Will player choices now affect how they are able to play the game later? Will your choices affect all of your characters, so that people cannot reroll to gain the benefits of all potential factions in the future?

How will you make me want to stay? What are your plans for money sinks once everyone gets to level 50 and has the best gang house stuff and best gear and best/most optimized skills for themselves? What is going to keep me coming back?

How does what we do in the game affect the city? Shouldn't prices at least fluctuate on how well we can defend the city? Shouldn't we have events where certain areas of the city are cut off, and you have to fight to the oteh side and reconnect various areas? It is the Apocalypse am I right?

Simply Effin Astounding Rek!

Hmmm.... boards still empty.

Well on behalf of the excellent teams working on this project, and for the benifit of the community, lemme see if I can give ya a bit of knowledge without getting deleted, and see just how close i am.

Seein as Rekas went to all the trouble of posting what would have been the second part in my questions section (good job Bud :D) I will answer those to the best of my ability without giving away too much.

What are the plans to expand the weapon variety? I have been scrambling for a revolver for a while now, and with such a large criminal universe, you think there would be larger amounts of illegal guns. Just so you know, I and others would enjoy more guns, even if that means looking backwards to grab some oldies but goodies. Also would enjoy a double barrel shogun. Mad Max anyone?

To my knowledge, the weapon choices will be expanding, and as far as the weapon balancing goes, that was one of the top issues alongside the Virtual Memory Crash affecting many of Sunrise City's blossoming Community.

As of yet, I am not officially allowed to say anything specific on the number of weapons being added, or any stats, but as soon as I get the go ahead, you will be the first to know! *whispers 5 slots*

What are the plans to enable vehicular combat? It is a feature that would add a lot of value to the game, especially if you had to work to make one. An engineer makes the chassis and engine, a chemist for the tires, battery, and gas, a tailor for the wheel and apholestry(more for style than substance, but have something for them to do, maybe white wall tires, etc.), and a gunsmith for mounted weapons. Make vehicles very dependant on a gang and you can balance it out.

Vehicular Mayhem would niid some pretty big spaces, and this idea has been brought up before. Some thought has been put into this, but as of yet, The Big Update is where the most attention is being focused.

To add to this idea, transport within the city could be limited to several styles of small transportation.  Skateboards, scooters, pocket bikes, hell unicycles, tricycles and clown cars would work.... and it would kinda be funny to see 50 gang members all stuffed in a clown car goin to bust up a rival gangs crib!

How much content are you going to add in the coming months? And how are people who have an already negative conotation of this game going to overcome the bad beginning hype to experience the game?

Well the second part of this question is not for me to answer, as I feel it is up to the people that left to make that decision for themselves.  They will always have access to the Unlimited Free Trial.

As for the amount of content comming, well to put it quite bluntly, alot.  Vogster and Team Crime Craft stated from the beginning that there would be agressive updates, and they have had some time to work on content.  Those of the community that may have been lucky enough to go through all stages of the beta were granted peeks at stuff that is still not back.  The Developers have been paying attention to the community ideas, and it is very possible that you will see some of your ideas upon stepping into The New Sunrise City which is set to open in the next 2 weeks or so.  If the math is right and all my sources check out, the answer is in the post I made earlier.

"Is it true that we are currently playing on less then 10% of the official content for Crime Craft?"

What kind of content are you going to add to the world zones? More specifically, how are you going to encourage players to enter somewhere other than Oceanside to play a match?

Well, the addition of The Sunrise City Times is a start, but I think the main content is going to deal mainly with the new NPC Gang, and the newspaper will tie into that.  From what I could put together there NPC "Quest" content is going to expand, but I cannot say how much.  With the new content, my best guess would be the NPC gang is going to direct players to other districts. After that I would have to say it's not our fault our district is so popular :P

And a bit of deeper thought on that question from my point of view as both a community member and a gamer.  If I were to put an NPC gang and newspaper in, I would definitely want the npc gang AI tied directly to player stats and with a good programer you could have the npc gang handing out hits on specific gangs and players making the headlines.  Then top it off nicely with the NPC Gang bustin in for a beat down in the gang house!

How are we going to be able to interact with out gang houses in the future? Are we going to be able to buy different shaped areas, multiple levels, new music, stripper poles (like I wanted so many months ago)?

But there will always be gang houses!  If you are looking for the answer to the mini games question, that is something they want to look at in the future.  But for now, you will be getting recreational substances to play with in the city :)

What are you going to do about music? You have a partnership with Napster. I suggest you utilize that to its full potential.

This question has been posted many many times but mostly in the form of a suggestion.  The most feedback that the community has been given was in Haze's trip, and all they did was smile and nod and take notes..... and then theye got him liqour.....  Draw your own conclusion!

What kind of new clothing can we look forward to? Will we be able to have more influence on what we make as tailors (i.e. colors, symbols, slogans)?

Well there was some stuff available in the betas that I liked but have not seen return yet, and I am sure that they had more that they did not have the time to show us, so i will hazzard a yes on that one and say there will be some more clothing options, but I cant really say how personalized it will get yet.  Watches different hats, shades, chains and the bling would be so sweet, and I hope we can look forward to that as well.

When will recreational drugs be available for use in lobbies? (This one is key for me)

OOPS!!  I already ruined the suprise on that one! For all of you who may feel recreational at this point in time refer back to my answer for the music question....  What do you mean what music question, for pete's sake scroll...... oh nevermind.

What are your plans to get this game out more? What kind of advertising line-up do you have prepared? By the way, pants do NOT count as advertisement in my book.

Well, they have been hitting press release stuff, and sponser stuff, and now they are on some social networks as well, with full plans to expand upon that.  But I am not a Vogster Employee, or anything so I cant really go into their whole marketing network..... They got guys for that.

Can we expect more ways to customize our ganster? What if I want to look like Notorious Biggs? Or Bigg Pun? Or Soldier Boy? Or anyone? Can we look forward to more cosmetic gear (Sunglasses, chains, watches, money clips, guns in-lobby, top hats )? How am I going to be able to stand out from the noob and the other level 25s?

How detailed you will be able to get, I don't know, but there will be more options.

What are the plans to evolve the story, and how will that affect future content? Will player choices now affect how they are able to play the game later? Will your choices affect all of your characters, so that people cannot reroll to gain the benefits of all potential factions in the future?

I kinda touched on this earlier with the introduction of the NPC gang.  Alot of the "future" will depend on the content given by the NPC gang and the community as it evolves.

How will you make me want to stay? What are your plans for money sinks once everyone gets to level 50 and has the best gang house stuff and best gear and best/most optimized skills for themselves? What is going to keep me coming back?

More Content!

How does what we do in the game affect the city? Shouldn't prices at least fluctuate on how well we can defend the city? Shouldn't we have events where certain areas of the city are cut off, and you have to fight to the oteh side and reconnect various areas? It is the Apocalypse am I right?

Sorry Rek, lobby firefights are still a no go, but there is a confirmation that the idea is liked by more then a few and that could be something for the future. ;)

There you have it, with what has been gathered for the community, with alot of effort on everyones part, those are the best answers I could give.

I will post more as time allows.  Today was a work day, and now its my me time so I am gonna head into Sunrise for a bit!  See you inside the walls!

Simply Effin Astounding

Elder OGNightHawk

why, in gods name, isn't there a jump or climb feature?  sniper goes to highest tower to snipe for his friends! or you climb boxes, or jump around.  I mean seriously.  i've seen this game over and over and all i hear are complaints about it.

+JUMPING

+CLIMBING

+BETTER SERVERS

+EVERYTHING YOU DIDN'T THINK OF OR WROTE OFF BECAUSE OF WHATEVER REASON