Update Progress

[Spadge]

I'd just like to say that most of the issues reported so far have already been fixed and are currently being tested prior to resubmission of our update code. We'll need for that to be tested and recertified before it goes live. I'll update again when we have timings on that.

The 4player lobby issue (5th player joining causing host lock and other player problems), a few minor leaderboard things, the rope weapon stuff, the jetpac fall damage, etc are all sorted out.

Additionally, the AI has been sorted out, it now takes 1-2 secs max for the AI to think. (our apologies for that). As a result, the challenges can be completed much faster. Also, we stopped the AI doing those crazy, unnervingly accurate grenade shots too...

We're currently not sure if this means the leaderboards will reset or not, I'd probably propose that they're left alone since the times can be beaten (and not the other way). The bizarre issue that leads to times of zero will be fixed, obviously :-)

The first DLC is around the corner with a total of 6-7 new visual themes coming through the spring/summer... so look out for that. 30+ voice sets are on the way too.

Keep on wormin'

[mathesar]

Woah thats great news all around :D

Any chance on adding some more worms music from PC versions? :cool:

[Spadge]

The music and all theme-related audio is planned to come as free downloads where we can manage it (unfortunately it's not as simple as us serving up tons of free stuff). The 50mb limit hurt us a little bit, but never mind, it'll make no real difference in a month or two.

[Wormetti]

Some existing times will be impossible to beat without the rope glitch. Reseting the challenge leaderboards is the only fair thing to do but it will annoy a lot of players.

[Spadge]

Ah yes, i forgot about the conversation we had about that. We talked about posting a page of the current top 20 for history's sake too. (If they get reset, which is probable). Thanks for reminding me of my train of thought (it's a busy old station).

[Luther]

Thanks for reminding me of my train of thought (it's a busy old station).

/peforms CAT scan. Yep.

[MtlAngelus]

Where did Luther's post go?
Also, is it not possible to just reset the ones where it can be confirmed that the Rope Glitch could have an effect on the time? Just wondering.

[Luther]

Where did Luther's post go?
I deleted it myself so as to not hijack the thread with my razor sharp wit. I don't know where posts go when I delete them.

[Spadge]

Very funny. I restored it.

Thanks Luther. If only you knew...

(Knocks one bun off the summer party food list.)

It's have a go at me day, today. The producers, Luther and even the bloody cleaner.

[Spadge]

Where did Luther's post go?
Also, is it not possible to just reset the ones where it can be confirmed that the Rope Glitch could have an effect on the time? Just wondering.

No, I'd imagine that not to be the case.

[AZ01]

It's great to be informed of the update's progress, looks promising, nice work.

Am I right in assuming the likely leaderboard reset will be confined to the challenges leaderboards? I, at least, don't see a reason as to why the multiplayer leaderboards would need to be effected, considering that the fixes made have no major bearing on the results of these games and the positioning of players on the leaderboard.

The DLC sounds excellent, a lot more themes/ voicebanks than I had expected.

Again, nice work.

[Haoshiro]

It's great to be informed of the update's progress, looks promising, nice work.

Am I right in assuming the likely leaderboard reset will be confined to the challenges leaderboards? I, at least, don't see a reason as to why the multiplayer leaderboards would need to be effected, considering that the fixes made have no major bearing on the results of these games and the positioning of players on the leaderboard.

The DLC sounds excellent, a lot more themes/ voicebanks than I had expected.

Again, nice work.

Sadly, the rope glitch may very well factor in, although I'd agree that with so little time (hopefully) between original release and update, it would only effect the Overall scores, and that will matter less and less as time passes.

[AZ01]

Sadly, the rope glitch may very well factor in, although I'd agree that with so little time (hopefully) between original release and update, it would only effect the Overall scores, and that will matter less and less as time passes.

That would be a shame. I've yet to see the rope-glitch in action, it hasn't made its mark in any of my ranked matches (or player matches, mind).

[worMatty]

I liked the AI thinking. It was funny. And the wicked grenade shots where he'd hit the ceiling, bounce back, off a wall and on to your head were astonishing.

[KungFuRuss]

woo!! Hope we get some northern voice sets. I would think so. I've heard spadge's accent.

[Spadge]

I liked the AI thinking. It was funny. And the wicked grenade shots where he'd hit the ceiling, bounce back, off a wall and on to your head were astonishing.

It still thinks - just faster :-)

"Astonishing" heh

[Wormetti]

I'm sure you will still see them thinking about pizza or football, it just won't take as long. I'm curious about the change to how AI uses grenades, which AI level will this effect, what was wrong with it before?

[Spadge]

I'm sure you will still see them thinking about pizza or soccer, it just won't take as long. I'm curious about the change to how AI uses grenades, which AI level will this effect, what was wrong with it before?

Essentially it can't throw them at full strength which it used to do the crazy riccochets, now it has more time (ironically, faster) to fully calculate more tangible shots.

[OctoPoos]

Any chance of making it so whenever the campaign goes into sudden death, and after you beat it, the time you beaten it isn't at 15:00, its at more than 15:00 that you beat it?

[geocab]

Thanks for keeping us informed, Spadge. I can't wait.

[Wormetti]

Speeding up the AI will be a great improvement. Is there anything else that can be sped up? The land and objects appear to take just as long as the PSP took to draw them but they are also much higher resolution than they were on PSP.

[velocity]

Can anyone tell me what the rope issue is?

Also, has the shotgun glitch been spotted, I haven't seen anyone talking about it. It happens when shotguns are limited and you take a shot, but get damaged on the first one. You'll not lose a shotgun if this happens.

So if you start with 2 shotguns but hit youself on that first time using it, you still have to next go.

Not sure if this would be easily spotted as the ranked games give you unlimited shotguns.

[Wormetti]

Can anyone tell me what the rope issue is?

Multiple weapons in one turn glitch (aka rope glitch) (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?t=32056).

Also, has the shotgun glitch been spotted, I haven't seen anyone talking about it. It happens when shotguns are limited and you take a shot, but get damaged on the first one. You'll not lose a shotgun if this happens.
Most people would have shotgun on unlimited so i'm not surprised that bug wasn't found, good job finding it.

[sPideS]

Hooray Voice Banks!!!


What A Waste Of Money!!!!

[Plasma]

Hooray Voice Banks!!!


What A Waste Of Money!!!!
Hooray Spam!!!


What a Waste Of Effort!!!!

[Metal Alex]

Essentially it can't throw them at full strength which it used to do the crazy riccochets, now it has more time (ironically, faster) to fully calculate more tangible shots.

How about a new "AI level" with that still enabled?

[LiveFan]

Great to hear about the upcoming update. My wife, especially, is looking forward to more backgrounds and voice banks.

Of course, I must ask if there's even a glimmer of hope, in a future update, for allowing multiple profiles online? We'll keep our fingers crossed.

In any event, thanks for keeping your fans in the loop!

[Spadge]

Hooray Voice Banks!!!


What A Waste Of Money!!!!

Even if they're free?

[pcarmalt]

Some great fixes there, especially the AI thinking time, well done!

[vgslag]

Well done on fixing the stuff up guys.

Most of know how much of a bummer it is to see these things come up after you thought it was all good to go so well done on a quick fix :)

[trinifella]

This is very good news

[AndrewTaylor]

Even if they're free?

Especially if they're free!

Well, assuming free ones make the worms say things like "After a shot like that, I like nothing more than a relaxing drink of Pepsi™ brand cola."

[geocab]

Especially if they're free!

Well, assuming free ones make the worms say things like "After a shot like that, I like nothing more than a relaxing drink of Pepsi™ brand cola."

You know, with a game like this, I think I'd find that hilarious and it would fit in nicely with its tone.:D

[Metal Alex]

Hooray Voice Banks!!!


What A Waste Of Money!!!!

Failed attempt to use caps, to read even "free downloadable content", to be nice, and to having a brain at all.

[sPideS]

Well considering they say the content will be both free and premium, it still is a waste of money if you bother to purchase it.

[bower]

Failed attempt to use caps, to read even "free
downloadable content", to be nice, and to having a brain at all.

that really did make me lol, cheers :D

good news on the update :cool:

[geocab]

Well considering they say the content will be both free and premium, it still is a waste of money if you bother to purchase it.

Why do you assume that you feel the same as everyone else? Or vice versa?

Unless you know what is being charged for, how can you judge what is worth it and what isn't?

[xxItachixx]

Great Game Guys, im wondering...

The weapon selection is ubberly small, will you guys ever released a DLC wich will add more weapons like in WWP or WA? i mean it would make the game so much more fun.

Please?
thx

[aem]

I think the weapon selection is just about perfect. I can't think of anything I really miss except parachute. Stuff like super sheep and baseball bat are overpowered in my opinion. The game is pretty balanced as far as weapons go.

[Luther]

Spides is trolling. Pay no attention.

[Spadge]

Well considering they say the content will be both free and premium, it still is a waste of money if you bother to purchase it.

All of it (free or otherwise) is OPTIONAL. I would suggest you cease constantly flaming (most of which based on having little to no information on what you're flaming - or bothering to read what we've said) or find yourself locked out of these forums.

We have absolutely no issue with constructive criticism but tire quickly of trolling fools.

For the record, I've got you on ignore, so well done.

[MotorX]

On a lighter note I can't wait until the update. I'm excited for some new themes, free or not, and I love the voices. Please tell me we'll have some robot voices coming up. :)

[worMatty]

If you want a robot voice, smash a screwdriver in to your speakers.

The speechbanks will likely be the ones found in second-gen Worms games. FYI there's a monotone computery voice bank.

[daleroy]

Have you noticed the bug where the Human controlled teams get reset to AI teams after a round? You have to go to settings from the main menu and set them back to Human control. Thankfully all the stats still remain after this happens.

[Spadge]

Have you noticed the bug where the Human controlled teams get reset to AI teams after a round? You have to go to settings from the main menu and set them back to Human control. Thankfully all the stats still remain after this happens.

Is this the issue after a draw and a team exits?

[daleroy]

Is this the issue after a draw and a team exits?

Nope. Only had one draw and it had no problems. This is all local play only, using multiple controllers (one per team, 3 teams normally). Also sometimes resets the controllers to the first one only, so all teams use that one.

[Wrathchild]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, or even if it's intentional or a bug, but something I've noticed. When hanging from a rope, and selecting grenade or cluster bomb, you can't change the weapon's fuse setting.

And this would be more of an enhancement request than a bug report, but as long as I have your attention :) Would it be possible to change the display when selecting a grenade or cluster bomb to include the current setting of the fuse? It seems to sometimes reset to a default of 3, other times keeps whatever setting you last used. In either case, pressing the button one time to change the fuse length always changes the setting to 1 second. I liked the way it was in previous versions, where the first press only shows what it's currently set to.

[SirMossy]

What was that.. 7 new backgrounds and 30 voicebanks?

Thats actually awesome. Good job guys.

[Stoners01]

In over a decade of playing I my mates and I had one (long) session when the worms kept saying "fell off a tree". It was on W2 I think, and I never heard it before or after. Given that stuff like "run away" and "incoming" have entered the vernacular don't underestimate the extent to which the voice banks add just another dimension of excellence.

[Glenn]

Also, we stopped the AI doing those crazy, unnervingly accurate grenade shots too...

Don't stop it, put in an AI difficulty. Call it Crazy Unnervingly-Accurate mode or some such thing.

[Spadge]

We have to be careful about adding/changing too much - we don't wish for another 3-4 months test cycle. As it is there's enough process to go through :-/

[Glenn]

We have to be careful about adding/changing too much - we don't wish for another 3-4 months test cycle. As it is there's enough process to go through :-/

Then put it in the sequel, whatever. :rolleyes:

[geocab]

We have to be careful about adding/changing too much - we don't wish for another 3-4 months test cycle. As it is there's enough process to go through :-/

I really hope that MS sees quotes like this and makes it easier for you guys (developers).

[Spadge]

MS have been great to be honest, it was a very frustrating period for all (and more so that some issues slipped through the net). The process is the process and there's no skipping it really - people kind of assume you can just put things out and thats not the case.

[cngodles]

I want Napalm Weapons!

[tdmcg]

Oh yes! The napalm bombs and napalm strikes were classic! And make the shotgun weaker. It is way too powerful in the xbox live game. It just doesn't make sense that a shotgun does more damage than a mine, grenade, or bazooka.

[SpaceInsom]

And make the shotgun weaker. It is way too powerful in the xbox live game. It just doesn't make sense that a shotgun does more damage than a mine, grenade, or bazooka.

But it's pretty much always been that way. Those three hit for 45 points max, and both shotgun blasts hit for 25 each, for a total of 50. The deal is the 'nade and the 'zooka are long range weapons, and the mines used to be very useful for setting traps. That last part isn't true anymore, since they now all have long timers, and are pretty much worthless.

If anything, you should be asking Team 17 to fix the mines. At least the ones you drop should have quick timers, otherwise what's the point?

[AndrewTaylor]

Actually, for the longest time grenades and bazokas did 50 damage each. Two well placed shots were key to trimming down the enemy's ranks early on.

[SpaceInsom]

Actually, for the longest time grenades and bazokas did 50 damage each. Two well placed shots were key to trimming down the enemy's ranks early on.

True. I guess "always" was a poor choice of words on my part. I've played all the old 2D worms games, but I wasn't really thinking when I said that. I think ever since after Worms 2, BnG weapons now only do 45 max.

That still doesn't change my thoughts about the mines as weapons in this game, though. Can anyone explain a good use for those things?

[ninjarat]

Yeah, you can set the mine fuse to 1 second and still make them somewhat useful.

[locke16]

thanks for the update guys

Although I have to wonder how something like the cpu thinking time ever got through testing in the first place. lol

Did you guys not notice it? Did it not annoy you?

[spanky]

Cant wait to see new Background Themes! How are things going on?

[AndrewTaylor]

thanks for the update guys

Although I have to wonder how something like the cpu thinking time ever got through testing in the first place. lol

Did you guys not notice it? Did it not annoy you?

Thinking times have always been in Worms games; you get quite used to them.

What surprises me more is that they didn't write an AI routine as good as the current one before the games release, but then they managed to make one after it, apparently in a few days. That's some impressive work.

[Wormetti]

The AI was only slow because it was running at PSP timings and not taking advantage of the XBOX 360.

[AndrewTaylor]

It was only slow because it was running at PSP timings and not taking advantage of the XBOX 360. The fix was probably very simple.

...Well then why not do it before the game's released? It just seems odd to me that you could improve something that much so soon after release and not think to do it before.

I mean, I do that kind of thing all the time. But there's only one of me.

[worMatty]

Maybe they thought the amount of time it took the AI to think was fine and only made it shorter after impatient people complained.

[AndrewTaylor]

Maybe they thought the amount of time it took the AI to think was fine and only made it shorter after impatient people complained.

Well yeah, but if you can flick one switch in the code and make the AI faster, surely you'd do that to begin with? It's not as if a long wait and a short wait both have their advantages. Short waits are better. That's how things work. If they could have made the AI this fast to begin with, why didn't they, and if they couldn't, why can they now? What's changed?

[Spadge]

The code was brought over and left as is since no-one really felt it was a major problem. Once highlighted we took the opportunity to improve it, that's all - since we had to do an update anyway - mostly due to some things that had gotten through the testing.

[Turboman]

What rope glitch? Also when are the gamerpics hitting the market place?

[Spadge]

Soon, final round of testing.

One tweak we are making to ranked games is that mine-fuses will not be as long. They are likely to be short or even random (0-2secs) to spice things up a little and stop people "mine farming" on the first turn. It'll also allow for a lot more strategy since mines currently are no obstacle. We'll be play-testing this a little more prior to the update, which we're hoping will be a week or two at the most (along with a stack of DLC).

[Turboman]

Cool, It's like waiting for worms all over again. :) Any hints at a price for the DLC? *cough* 400?

[Spadge]

No, still waiting on that, we'll let you know when we can.

[SpaceInsom]

One tweak we are making to ranked games is that mine-fuses will not be as long. They are likely to be short or even random (0-2secs) to spice things up a little and stop people "mine farming" on the first turn.

Holy cow, you do listen! Now I'm looking forward to the update more than ever. Thanks for the info. :)

[Metal Alex]

Holy cow, you do listen!

Well, Worms Armageddon is waiting for a new patch to come "soon"... and the game is like 7 years old. Yes, they DO listen, but not lots of game-developing people do.

Keep it like that, beer devouring people!

[Turboman]

Soon, final round of testing.

One tweak we are making to ranked games is that mine-fuses will not be as long. They are likely to be short or even random (0-2secs) to spice things up a little and stop people "mine farming" on the first turn. It'll also allow for a lot more strategy since mines currently are no obstacle. We'll be play-testing this a little more prior to the update, which we're hoping will be a week or two at the most (along with a stack of DLC).

I forgot to ask, The DLC that is hopefuly coming in a couple weeks includes the stuff you said in the first post right? i.e. 6-7 themes, voice banks. etc..?

[Spadge]

Voice banks, a theme (they all won't come at once), gamer pics, a theme, some audio.. plenty more lined up!

[Turboman]

Voice banks, a theme (they all won't come at once), gamer pics, a theme, some audio.. plenty more lined up!

Good enough. Thanks. ;) Can't wait til the new themes though.

[velocity]

Soon, final round of testing.

One tweak we are making to ranked games is that mine-fuses will not be as long. They are likely to be short or even random (0-2secs) to spice things up a little and stop people "mine farming" on the first turn. It'll also allow for a lot more strategy since mines currently are no obstacle. We'll be play-testing this a little more prior to the update, which we're hoping will be a week or two at the most (along with a stack of DLC).


Aw dude, please, please, please make the mines random. Its the only think missing. We had a marathon session last night, 7 of us round winner stays on, and everyone was going, 'these mines are too easy!'. We've all been worming from the beginning and all agreed this would make a huge difference to game dynamics.

At least you could make it an option.

Do you intend these changes (shorter mines) to just be in ranked schemes or will they be overall, including custom schemes?

[SpaceInsom]

Voice banks, a theme (they all won't come at once), gamer pics, a theme, some audio.. plenty more lined up!

I know you already said the DLC is going to be pretty fairly priced, but if we're going to be getting it piece by piece, I just hope you (and MS, seeing as they have final say) are really careful in coming up with that price. 50 points a theme might seem really low, and almost sounds fair, until you notice that just the seven added themes would be nearly half the cost of the full version.

I was hoping for all the themes at once, and priced no more than 100 MSP. And even that might be high. That's an 8th the cost of the whole game, for something that most reviewers thought should have been included in the first place.

This is just an example, of course, but let's say this was the final price. Did making this DLC cost you 1/8 the time and money you spent making the full game? If you're going to work on the game after it's done, I'm fine with paying for that work, but I want just that, to be paying for THAT work. I don't want to pay an amount that's just insane when compared the cost of the full game.

This is what I'm afraid of, but it sounds like the whole issue is out of your hands, and again, the final say belongs to MS. Anyhow, good luck with the final pricing. I hope you can strike a good balance that goes over well with your fans.

[Turboman]

I know you already said the DLC is going to be pretty fairly priced, but if we're going to be getting it piece by piece, I just hope you (and MS, seeing as they have final say) are really careful in coming up with that price. 50 points a theme might seem really low, and almost sounds fair, until you notice that just the seven added themes would be nearly half the cost of the full version.

I was hoping for all the themes at once, and priced no more than 100 MSP. And even that might be high. That's an 8th the cost of the whole game, for something that most reviewers thought should have been included in the first place.

This is just an example, of course, but let's say this was the final price. Did making this DLC cost you 1/8 the time and money you spent making the full game? If you're going to work on the game after it's done, I'm fine with paying for that work, but I want just that, to be paying for THAT work. I don't want to pay an amount that's just insane when compared the cost of the full game.

This is what I'm afraid of, but it sounds like the whole issue is out of your hands, and again, the final say belongs to MS. Anyhow, good luck with the final pricing. I hope you can strike a good balance that goes over well with your fans.


400 points for everything "new" sounds reasonable but I love this game so much I would spend up to another 800 points.

[Spadge]

I know you already said the DLC is going to be pretty fairly priced, but if we're going to be getting it piece by piece, I just hope you (and MS, seeing as they have final say) are really careful in coming up with that price. 50 points a theme might seem really low, and almost sounds fair, until you notice that just the seven added themes would be nearly half the cost of the full version.

I was hoping for all the themes at once, and priced no more than 100 MSP. And even that might be high. That's an 8th the cost of the whole game, for something that most reviewers thought should have been included in the first place.

This is just an example, of course, but let's say this was the final price. Did making this DLC cost you 1/8 the time and money you spent making the full game? If you're going to work on the game after it's done, I'm fine with paying for that work, but I want just that, to be paying for THAT work. I don't want to pay an amount that's just insane when compared the cost of the full game.

This is what I'm afraid of, but it sounds like the whole issue is out of your hands, and again, the final say belongs to MS. Anyhow, good luck with the final pricing. I hope you can strike a good balance that goes over well with your fans.

We've already had this discussion with you and have already stated our intentions. There's a ton of benefits for us by keeping the DLC coming for a while after release (keeps it interesting and fresh - and its what MS like too). Whatever happens with the pricing and packaging, you are free to ignore any/all of it.

It's a shame we didn't have the 150mb to play with, there would certainly be a ton of voices and more themes included from the off, but more/additional themes via DLC were always planned.

Some of the new themes are based on some of the earlier 2d themes and whilst some people will consider it the same art, it isn't, it's all re-done in 3d models and then rendered out in high def - the original stuff was drawn. (We'll prove this by rendering a few 3d scenes for wallpaper and/or some 360 Dash Themes).

For the record, we aim to make all the voice-sets downloadable for free and are currently discussing this with MS along with other things.

[SpaceInsom]

We've already had this discussion with you and have already stated our intentions.

All the time before, I didn't know the intent was to release the DLC piece by piece, and I personally think that puts a new spin on things. I can some advantages in doing that, and some disadvantages. But fair enough. I'll stop bringing up the pricing, and focus on discussing the content itself.

[mrheat75]

The voice update is fine, but I would rather get the weapon set up to armageddon level. The addition of forts would be a big plus. And finally the new theme upgrades are always welcomed. This is the greatest game that was ever made for multiplayer, but the XBLA version really needs those weapons and forts before anything else. Worm on.

[PoeGhostal]

I just want to know when I can download some Worms gamerpics, man.

[Plasma]

The voice update is fine, but I would rather get the weapon set up to armageddon level.
That's nice, but Team17 aren't going to do that.
There's a good chance that they will in a second XBLA game though. (actually, I'm still wondering if W:OW2 will have the extra weapons or not)

The addition of forts would be a big plus.
There's NO chance of that happening! None! Nilch! Nada! Forts only work in 3D!

[SpaceInsom]

There's NO chance of that happening! None! Nilch! Nada! Forts only work in 3D!

It sounds like you've never played Worms Armageddon online. At one time, fort games were HUGE, and they work very well in 2D.

See for yourself:
http://www.blamethepixel.com/maps.php?min=10&limit=10&step=2&mapname=&author=&user=&thetype=4&orderby=id&order=DESC&workswith=wa

[Spadge]

The voice update is fine, but I would rather get the weapon set up to armageddon level. The addition of forts would be a big plus. And finally the new theme upgrades are always welcomed. This is the greatest game that was ever made for multiplayer, but the XBLA version really needs those weapons and forts before anything else. Worm on.

You're actually talking about a new version of Worms there :) You don't just add a few weapons like that. In addition, games on XBLA aren't meant to be constantly revised and amended/abridged all the time - updates are generally reserved for fixes and small exploit tweaks.

We may do something more with Worms in the future though, if MS are willing :)

[Plasma]

It sounds like you've never played Worms Armageddon online. At one time, fort games were HUGE, and they work very well in 2D.

See for yourself:
http://www.blamethepixel.com/maps.php?min=10&limit=10&step=2&mapname=&author=&user=&thetype=4&orderby=id&order=DESC&workswith=wa
Ooh! That's what you meant by forts.
I thought you were talking about a 2D version of Worms Forts: Under Siege.
Something similar to that crappy mobile game.

[SpaceInsom]

I've got question: Will we get any previews of the new content, in the way of images and such, before it's released?

[Spadge]

Once it's up there, I imagine so.

[BoggyB.]

habra una version para pc? :rolleyes:

[SpaceInsom]

Once it's up there, I imagine so.

Do you mean like in the way of a press release type thing, because that's what I meant. Some pictures of the new content to send to various gaming sites and such? In that way, it would put Worms back in the news, and might help sales.

Speaking of sales, how long does it normally take between the original release, and the point when you get to talk about how well the game sold? I was hoping to hear some sales figures by now.

Sorry about all the questions, but the business side of these things always interests me.

[Turboman]

Do you mean like in the way of a press release type thing, because that's what I meant. Some pictures of the new content to send to various gaming sites and such? In that way, it would put Worms back in the news, and might help sales.

Speaking of sales, how long does it normally take between the original release, and the point when you get to talk about how well the game sold? I was hoping to hear some sales figures by now.

Sorry about all the questions, but the business side of these things always interests me.


I can tell you how the game sold. 157634 at the time of post. Look at the bottom of page in this link (http://www.mygamercard.net/leaderboard.php?gt=&g=211&z=&c=&x=14&y=9). The site tracks everyones gamertag so even if you have never been to the site it still has your gamertag in its system.

[SpaceInsom]

Going from the numbers on that site, here's what I've found.

Gears of War: 744489
Geo Wars: 360223
Street Fighter: 345457
Bankshot Billiards: 329368
Marble Blast Ultra: 279118
Doom: 266439
Frogger: 251880
Lumines Live!: 235704
Assault Heroes: 210649
Cloning Clyde: 190076
Heavy Weapon: 172530
Paperboy: 160856
Worms: 157638
Alien Hominid: 150574
Astropop: 132915
TMNT The Arcade Game: 71235
SOTN: 53618
Jetpac Refueled: 26806
Luxor 2: 8921

You can see the releases by date here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBLA#Xbox_Live_Arcade_releases_by_date

Worms seems to be doing quite well. It's beating Alien Hominid, which was released before it, and it's close to the numbers of some games that have been out much longer, such as Assault Heroes and Cloning Clyde.

I'm shocked SOTN isn't doing better. And are that many people really buying crap like Paperboy and Frogger? Those kinds of things make me question how acurate these numbers are. I think maybe they're just if the game shows up on your "games played" list. That still doesn't explain the low numbers for SOTN, though. But if these numbers are correct, I'd say worms looks like a success.

[Wormetti]

123,086 unique gamertags have passed challenge 1 (while their 360 was online). I can see this since one of my gamertags has the longest time on challenge 1. This is not the same as sales since some people have bought the game and never played challenge 1 and multiple gametags can be used with only 1 copy of the game.

[Spadge]

I can tell you how the game sold. 157634 at the time of post. Look at the bottom of page in this link (http://www.mygamercard.net/leaderboard.php?gt=&g=211&z=&c=&x=14&y=9). The site tracks everyones gamertag so even if you have never been to the site it still has your gamertag in its system.

Actually that site isn't totally accurate. But it's a reasonable indication of the more popular titles. Worms is doing well for 4 weeks sales, that much is true.

[rauttiz]

I can tell you how the game sold. 157634 at the time of post. Look at the bottom of page in this link (http://www.mygamercard.net/leaderboard.php?gt=&g=211&z=&c=&x=14&y=9). The site tracks everyones gamertag so even if you have never been to the site it still has your gamertag in its system.

That can't be totally accurate number of games sold because there can be more than one gamertag on a single Xbox 360 but only one of those needs to buy the full game.

[Spadge]

There's also a lot of people who bought it and haven't played yet (don't ask) and also people who have bought it and play offline.

We aren't sure of the official sales figures yet, but I believe (looking at several stats and figures in the public domain) it's somewhere around 150k I'd say.

That's pretty good going in a month, all told. We expect it to be continued to be played a lot more, especially post-update which will cure a few of the connection ills. At one point it was the 4th most popular title across the live service (including all full price titles).

[Turboman]

There's also a lot of people who bought it and haven't played yet (don't ask) and also people who have bought it and play offline.

We aren't sure of the official sales figures yet, but I believe (looking at several stats and figures in the public domain) it's somewhere around 150k I'd say.

That's pretty good going in a month, all told. We expect it to be continued to be played a lot more, especially post-update which will cure a few of the connection ills. At one point it was the 4th most popular title across the live service (including all full price titles).

It's been number one in the last two weeks. Major nelsons blog (http://www.majornelson.com/archive/tags/Top+10/default.aspx) Edit, oh you ment out of everything? Yea that is good going.

[SpaceInsom]

Do you intend these changes (shorter mines) to just be in ranked schemes or will they be overall, including custom schemes?

I also really hope the shorter timed mines won't just be in ranked schemes. About all I play is custom scheme games, and I'd really like to see some of those mines in my own games.

[SupSuper]

habra una version para pc? :rolleyes:A version for PC is pretty unlikely. They'd probably do something new given all the existing Worms titles for PC.

[phoenix96]

habra una version para pc? :rolleyes:

Why would you want that? You've got Worms: Armageddon and WWP already, with a lot more content.

[Razoric]

Any chance you guys will ever add new weapons to one of these download packs?

I'm addicted to this game btw. Never played Worms before and I LOVE it. :D

[Plasma]

Any chance you guys will ever add new weapons to one of these download packs?
Sorry, they already said they wouldn't!

[Razoric]

Sorry, they already said they wouldn't!

Oh... Any reason why?

[SpaceInsom]

Any chance you guys will ever add new weapons to one of these download packs?

I'm addicted to this game btw. Never played Worms before and I LOVE it. :D

Buy Worms Armageddon for the PC. It has 10 times the features, weapons, and options. You should also be able to find it for about the same price as you paid for Worms XBLA.

[Spadge]

WA, being a full price PC product initially, yes it has more content & options (it also didn't need to fit into 50mb!) - but it certainly doesn't have 10x the amount of weapons and judging by people's main comments, they miss 4-5 of the iconic ones and that's about all. It's also low def and doesn't work wirelessly in your living room on a 360 :-)

[Spadge]

The update for Worms XBLA is now in the hands of the test group and due to go into a final certification check soon. We'd hope that this means it's available in the next couple of weeks. It's taken some time because with the title being heavy multi-player there's a lot to check etc. Sorry for the delay.

Our initial DLC offering is approved and will follow hot on the heels of the update.

More details on both the update contents/amendments and DLC content and cost (where applicable) in a week or so.

[Plasma]

Oh... Any reason why?
Same reason they didn't make the game with them in it; the other weapons are too powerful and lessens the strategy element of the game, and the large variety of weapons makes it very confusing for newer players or for friends that don't own the game.

[hobbzinio]

for some reason sometimes when i host a ranked game and all 3 players have joined, when i click start game the whole thing freezes and crashes my 360... this happens on no other game, so it cant be my connection... whats going on lads???

also another suggestion for customizing the worms, i reckon u shud give them things to hold... imagine a worm holding a cigar or wearing a hat, wud jus give them alot more personality...

just a suggestion ;)

[Spadge]

The issue with 3 players joining will be fixed in an update coming soon.

To cure it, if you're hosting wait 20-30secs after the last player has joined and the beeping has ceased.

[WabbyTwax]

I have much appreciation that this game made it to the 360 like it did. There really is no other game like it and it never gets tiring. I look forward to the update and DLC. I already beat all 20 challenges but its nice to know that someone else thought it was a little insane the way those nades were tossed. I will say its disappointing when a host quits out of a ranked match fearing defeat. It only says the connection to the game has been lost and I think that it should give the win to the opponent if he had the fullest health bar. I understand there are many software issues that make this challenging but it would be nice if it were possible.

[Spadge]

I'd just say you report the person if they quit, there's not a tremendous deal we can do about it and it hasn't actually happened to me.

[gcowell]

I'd just say you report the person if they quit, there's not a tremendous deal we can do about it and it hasn't actually happened to me.

Deciding to give it another go, out of 21 ranked quick match joining attempts last night, only six started, the others ended before map selection. Of those six, 5 ended with the host quitting after falling behind. One I was particularly miffed about after pulling off a nice rope around the corner, crate collection and dynamite move. In the sixth I hosted myself. Got three of my worms placed on ledges over water and they died before they could move. That last thing is just unlucky but it made for a very frustrating night.

Games like Hold'em don't boot the other players off if the host quits and it really would have made it so much better to hand off the hosting duties to another player if the host quits. All the clients have all the game state information anyway.

[AndrewTaylor]

Maybe you should pretend to be Spadge. Evidently people behave around him ;)

[worMatty]

Or always host games. It's no fuss on your part and you can't say you join other people's games because you don't like to have an unfair advantage due to zero lag, since the game is turn-based. We call it 'host advantage' in Gears of War, usually when we're doing absolute crap ;) And I'm sure people will appreciate playing in a game where the host isn't a cock-sucking match-thrower.

EDIT: Okay, I expected that to be filtered. I guess it's tolerable.

[WabbyTwax]

Even if you host a game and the other person quits you are thrown a "Game Has Been Disconnected From Server" message. This makes me believe I wont get credit for a win, am I wrong about this?

[Spadge]

First DLC packs...

Date to follow (we're expecting the title update to come first and that's taking priority);

PREMIUM DLC
Gamerpics 150 pts (standard MS pricing)
Worms Dashboard Theme 150 pts (standard MS pricing)

DLC
Speech Pack 1 (FREE) - A dozen or so speech banks. **
Space Theme & Audio (FREE) - New background level to play on
Audio Pack (FREE) - Various background audio and Worms theme

Expect additional speech packs, level themes, more audio, gamerpics and dashboard themes from then on. Some of the content will be charged, some will be free.

**Africaan, Angry Scots, Classic, Cyberworms, Danish2, DanisPyrus, DoubleohSeven, Dutch, Dutch2, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Redneck, Russian, Scouser, Stiff Upper Lip, Swedish & Swedish 2 (Note: It is currently hoped that all speech banks will be supplied FREE).

[Turboman]

First DLC packs...

Date to follow (we're expecting the title update to come first and that's taking priority);

PREMIUM DLC
Gamerpics 150 pts (standard MS pricing)
Worms Dashboard Theme 150 pts (standard MS pricing)

DLC
Speech Pack 1 (FREE) - A dozen or so speech banks. **
Space Theme & Audio (FREE) - New background level to play on
Audio Pack (FREE) - Various background audio and Worms theme

Expect additional speech packs, level themes, more audio, gamerpics and dashboard themes from then on. Some of the content will be charged, some will be free.

**Africaan, Angry Scots, Classic, Cyberworms, Danish2, DanisPyrus, DoubleohSeven, Dutch, Dutch2, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Redneck, Russian, Scouser, Stiff Upper Lip, Swedish & Swedish 2 (Note: It is currently hoped that all speech banks will be supplied FREE).

Wow. You guys at team17 are great. Giving us free content which you guys worked on. Hope MS didn't give you trouble like they did Epic about charging for DLC.


Am I right in thinking the new space theme comes with new objects and not doubble decker busses etc?

[locke16]

thanks Spadge

sounds good

[MotorX]

Cyberworms!!

[Spadge]

Wow. You guys at team17 are great. Giving us free content which you guys worked on. Hope MS didn't give you trouble like they did Epic about charging for DLC.


Am I right in thinking the new space theme comes with new objects and not doubble decker busses etc?

Yeah, all the additional themes come with all new objects, backgrounds and audio.

There are another 6 or so additional themes to come over the next month or two and pretty much all the classic sound-banks. There will be other dash themes and also many more gamer pics.

[geocab]

Since you listed an "Audio Pack" separately in the list, what kind of other sounds are there being added as opposed to whatever comes with the new backgrounds?

And is the gravity going to be different in the space theme?

Thanks for the continous support for this great game!

Geo

[Spadge]

No, gravity remains the same.

Audio packs are ambiences, other music and so on.

[rauttiz]

Games like Hold'em don't boot the other players off if the host quits and it really would have made it so much better to hand off the hosting duties to another player if the host quits. All the clients have all the game state information anyway.

I really hope this "game ends when host quits" could be fixed. This has happened several times when I have been playing. It often happens in long four player games when all host's worms have been killed. If the host quits then hosting duties could be given to one of the remaining players like gcowell suggested.

[WabbyTwax]

This really is a big problem, I think that many people who do this aren't aware that them quitting shuts down the whole game. They probably figure all their worms are dead theres no point in sticking around and they exit.

[EmuZombie]

This really is a big problem, I think that many people who do this aren't aware that them quitting shuts down the whole game. They probably figure all their worms are dead theres no point in sticking around and they exit.


I agree. I didn't even know it did that until one of my friends let me know after I ruined our game.

[Spadge]

I agree. I didn't even know it did that until one of my friends let me know after I ruined our game.

This is a huge problem with all peer to peer games. Thats why microsoft put a player reporting system in there.

[WabbyTwax]

After playing as much as I have I can say it seems they do absolutely nothing about players you report. What can they do, they can't ban a paying customer for deciding to quit a game. I think its just there to make people feel better.

[EmuZombie]

This is a huge problem with all peer to peer games. Thats why microsoft put a player reporting system in there.


My point is this. I play a game with 3 of my friends, none of whom would leave a bad rep for me. I loose early on in the second round. (before my first turn actually, due to horrible placement, but hey, that's life) I just happen to be the one hosting the game. I now have to sit and watch a game that could take 20+ minutes, or disconnect and play something else until they finish and we move on. I can't disconnect because it would end their game. If the hosting duty could be passed on to another player this would prevent this all together and I would be free to move on. With a card game, say Uno for example, the person who created the game can come and go at their free will. While it does not make sense in Uno, since there is never a time when you are inactive and forced to watch, it does make sense to have it for a game of Worms.

If it is a huge problem (and it is) it makes perfect sense to include this feature.

[Midnitte]

Is there a ball park figure for when we can expect the update? =D

[Fatalhitx]

Hey, been playing since WA and only want one weapon. That's it. Maybe two, but thats all. If you could somehow finagle MS into letting you release DLC weapons it would rock! Its nice to see that the updates are coming soon, and fixign some, albeit minor, issues. But the two weapons i want are firstly, the awesomely sweet Holy Hand Grenade. If i got that one I would be happy. Also, the napalm weapon. And on a kinda similar note, what happened to the barrels exploding and napalm flying everywhere?

[Spadge]

Is there a ball park figure for when we can expect the update? =D

We're hoping it'll go through cert in the next week or two.

[Morberis]

Woot, been waiting for that update, and the extra voice packs.

As for the host changing, I believe it was mentioned awhile back that it's quite difficult to code and it would require a massive change to the games code to allow.

[qwertz]

thank you Team 17 for releasing free DLC :o

[Squidtech]

There's NO chance of that happening! None! Nilch! Nada! Forts only work in 3D!
lol.....Go buy Worms World Party, It has forts and it's 2D. Forts absolutely own for 2D worms. It was the best game mode in WWP

[Spadge]

Woot, been waiting for that update, and the extra voice packs.

As for the host changing, I believe it was mentioned awhile back that it's quite difficult to code and it would require a massive change to the games code to allow.

There would be substantial code changes and testing required, yes. It's something we're considering going forward but unlikely to be done for this edition, sorry.

[geocab]

There would be substantial code changes and testing required, yes. It's something we're considering going forward but unlikely to be done for this edition, sorry.


Ah, so there WILL be another Worms. ;)

[Wormetti]

There will be another Worms, it's called Worms Open Warfare 2 . Spadge didn't say it will be on XBLA but i'm sure they will try to get it on there or a variation.

Will the update fix the jetpack sound staying on, if a worm falls in the water with it enabled? It doesn't happen often but if someone flies in the water at the start, we could be stuck with the annoying repeating sound for 20 minutes. Fortunately in ranked games, jetpack is only available in crates and most players avoid the water like it could kill them.

[ninjarat]

This is a huge problem with all peer to peer games. Thats why microsoft put a player reporting system in there.

I think the more pertinent question we should all be asking here is why do we pay $50-$60 a year for Live service anyways? Never really thought about it until now...but it's not like MS even puts up any dedicated servers for their games. So what do I pay for, oh right, ads and other downloads in the Marketplace for me to spend more money on. :rolleyes:

[Spadge]

I think the more pertinent question we should all be asking here is why do we pay $50-$60 a year for Live service anyways? Never really thought about it until now...but it's not like MS even puts up any dedicated servers for their games. So what do I pay for, oh right, ads and other downloads in the Marketplace for me to spend more money on. :rolleyes:

If you don't believe the LIVE service is any good, that's a real strange summise. The infrastructure of the live service is huge and on the whole, pretty reliable and very fast for what it is actually doing on a global scale.

[Wormetti]

For the price, live is pretty good, better than the system the other consoles currently offer but it would be nice if more games had dedicated servers, like PC games.

So was the jetpack noise bug fixed? The other fixes are more important, so I'll be happy either way. I will miss the ability to do challenge 4 in one turn with one of the glitches though.

[j.m.ratkos]

Soon, final round of testing.

One tweak we are making to ranked games is that mine-fuses will not be as long. They are likely to be short or even random (0-2secs) to spice things up a little and stop people "mine farming" on the first turn. It'll also allow for a lot more strategy since mines currently are no obstacle. We'll be play-testing this a little more prior to the update, which we're hoping will be a week or two at the most (along with a stack of DLC).

first off, hats off to the team for creating something which has taken over my 360 (I don't believe that I've played anything since it's release :)

and congrats on addressing the issues in a timely manner. one thing I'd like to see in the next incarnation is the possibility of "dud" mines re-activating themselves further along in the game <insert evil laugh here>. in addition to the random fuse times, this would surely keep everyone on their toes around mines after the first dud decides to go off!

cheers and keep up the good work guys (and gals)!

[worMatty]

People ask me why Maplin charge £4 for our catalogues and I just tell them to **** off.

No, not really. It's just our company does not budget for a free catalogue and does not make enough profit to warrant releasing them for free. Next-gen games consoles do not make any profit when released, but Sony still wants to throw money in the fire by making its online service free, probably in the hope that people will say "Wow, I don't have to spend £30 a year extra, I'm going to buy this expensive DVD player!" Maybe Sony have just discovered some factories to close that they didn't know they had; probably in Wales.

And when you report someone, whether they get fixed or not is not important. It's the satisfaction of telling on them that is the major feature at work. Nah, I'm sure they have some kind of multiple report flagging thing.

[Shamrock66]

This is a huge problem with all peer to peer games. Thats why microsoft put a player reporting system in there.


Yes Spadge, sure we can report people and such, but that doesn't help the situation. The fact is the host is out of worms and I can understand some people not wanting to sit in the game and watch for 20 minutes. Not only that but reporting people doesn't do to much. Bad feedback is strictly cosmetic and carries no threat of ban or suspension from games or Live. Filing complaints carry's a ban suspension, but it takes a whole lot of complaints and quitting a game early is not a basis for Filing a complaint. Its not even a option. To file a complaint the person needs to have alterted game files/hardware, be abusive etc.

All 360 games are Peer 2 Peer and their are plenty of games that use host migration. Obviously its probably to late to patch into this game, but your talking about it like it's not allowed or no ones used it. Even some orginal xbox games 4 years ago had host migration.

[Wormetti]

You can use the file complaint feature. Choose tampering and then cheating "The player used known or unknown in-game or other exploits to influence the results of a game". Quiting before the results are saved is an exploit that influences the results of the game. Whether MS acts on complaints or how many it takes, I don't know. A system that can't be exploited would be better but I have yet to see a game use such a system. My opponents stayed for the whole game in the 5 games I played today, most people are reasonable most of the time (I will regret saying that).

[worMatty]

The simple solution would be to take away points from the host if the game is cut short, and leave everyone else's points alone. I don't care if this is unfair on people who have bad connections or have to go and eat their tea. They should have thought about all the excuses before they hosted the game. How does that sound?

[Kefko]

Another thing, I don't know if this is mentioned yet.

If you play draw in ranked (haven't tried player) it'll ask for a rematch and more often than not the names of one team member get replaced with the names: Worm 8, Worm 9, Worm 10 and Worm 11.

If it's already fixed that's great, I'm just making sure it doesn't get overlooked.

[Wormetti]

I think that only happens if one of the players quit between rounds. I know Team17 is aware of the problem, so hopefully they fixed it.

I would like to be able to scroll around the map when it's not my turn but the camera keeps locking on to the current players worm. Zoom out feature is not as good as being able to scroll around.

[locke16]

This is a huge problem with all peer to peer games. Thats why microsoft put a player reporting system in there.

Halo 2 handles it pretty well.

[worMatty]

Halo 2 was likely constructed with such a feature in mind during development. Adding it to Worms Live, now, appears to be more work than is viable. In Team17's defence, all network Worms games have been this way, and this is the first time I've seen people complaining about it. I doubt they expected there to be much of a problem.

[Fatalhitx]

well, im hosting a game right now and im not quitting, even though i got killed early. Instead, im on this website!

[Monkey85]

First, hi everyone, I've been lurking for a few days and thought I'd finally join in the discussion.

Second, I don't mind the idea of having to watch people play after I get dominated early in the game because it gives me good ideas for how to be a better player. I mean, if I got taken out right the beginning of the game (and it wasn't just bad luck), I probably need to rethink my strats anyways. And God knows I have to do that a lot.

Third, thanks for all the updates on the update, Spadge, it's nice to hear how things are coming on the dlc and the patch. I love the game, and I can't wait to see what's to come!

[Jebus]

Is there any chance that the auto-center of the camera during other players' turns in Live games will be disabled? I'm fairly certain I've seen others complaining about it on these forums, but don't recall any of the mods addressing it (although I must admit it's been a while since I've checked in here).

Anyhow, as long as the camera remains centered on the active worm when the right thumbstick is left alone, and considering that there is already a button to re-center the camera, I can't imagine anyone taking issue with such a feature being removed. And it would certainly silence the gripes of those of us that would like to examine the landscape when it's not our turn, rather than forcing us to watch the active worm who might not even be doing much.

And on a semi-related note, would it in anyway be possible to allow us to bring up the weapons menu when it's not our turn? This would prove most useful when playing Custom Scheme matches (so as to not have to waste turn time figuring out what the host has set up), as well as giving us something else to do when it's not our turn and our opponents aren't exactly rousing our interests.

[Wormetti]

Spadge mentioned that the mine fuse will be shortened or possibly random in ranked games. Will crates still fall on mines? Some crates could be impossible to pickup if the time is too short (rope will help). I don't mind the current mines, as easy as they are to avoid, they still manage to do damage, usually when someone jumps wrong due to backflip and jump being the same button (not necessarily a bad thing, it makes for some funny moments).

The camera lock when it's not your turn is very annoying and really should be changed. Sheep to be droppable from rope would be good but that would be a new feature, so not as important as fixing bugs or the camera.

[rauttiz]

This is a huge problem with all peer to peer games. Thats why microsoft put a player reporting system in there.

I'm now getting a bad rep because people are reporting that I quit early. I have never left a Worms game before it ended but for some reason the game sometimes disconnects me. I hope all these network problems get fixed in the update. Thank you for making the update and free content to the game :)

[Wormetti]

It could be your ISP or maybe your opponents quit.

[Spadge]

I don't think its the game, if this was a widespread issue, we'd have certainly heard of it by now.

[Stokkes]

Spadge,

I created a thread back in March, but received no reply from a Team17 member.

Could you possibly expand on the possibility of adding more than 4 custom teams? It would really be great to double that number (minimum).

Any info you could provide would be really greatful :)

[Jebus]

Spadge,

I created a thread back in March, but received no reply from a Team17 member.

Could you possibly expand on the possibility of adding more than 4 custom teams? It would really be great to double that number (minimum).

Any info you could provide would be really grateful :)

The first reply in your thread was restating what a Team17 member gave as an answer to the same question in the past.

[Fatalhitx]

yeah, btw, the team 17 staff aren't forced to respond to you. These are public forums. They can choose whether or not to post

[worMatty]

Which is why Stokkes asked politely. But thanks for the information.

[HomerRamon]

One tweak we are making to ranked games is that mine-fuses will not be as long. They are likely to be short or even random (0-2secs) to spice things up a little and stop people "mine farming" on the first turn.

Cant we just have this in ALL games ? Why only ranked ones ? Or at least an option in the weapon/scheme setup.

[Fatalhitx]

btw, what exactly is "mine-farming"? I don't think I have encountered this.

[worMatty]

Me either. I guess it's like mine herding.

With fuses at zero, Mineipulation™ would be possible.

Mineipulation is a trademark of Vader

[Jebus]

I imagine mine farming is when someone at the beginning of their turn will just go around setting off all the nearby mines, particularly those near other worms. But I base this solely off it being something I typically see dine, as I can't imagine why the word farming would be used to refer to it.

[Fatalhitx]

ok. well, thanks for the info

[cngodles]

I'm not sure if this was discussed earlier, but I saw this:

All DLC will be OPTIONAL.

So, if we are playing ranked games, will we have to meet up with someone by chance that did download the content, or will it load?

I'm sure lots of people will buy new maps, but its interesting to wonder what would happen if people don't have them.

Love the shortened/random mine fuses idea. This will definatly make ranked games better.

And, is it possible for me to no longer be able to pick up air strikes in cave levels? I hate that, almost as much as picking up kamakazies!

[AndrewTaylor]

I'm not sure if this was discussed earlier, but I saw this:

All DLC will be OPTIONAL.

So, if we are playing ranked games, will we have to meet up with someone by chance that did download the content, or will it load?

I'm sure lots of people will buy new maps, but its interesting to wonder what would happen if people don't have them.

You can play anyone online, but if you play someone who doesn't have the extra maps you've got, you can't use them for that match.

[moco64]

wow all that free content is surprising and makes me glad that I bought worms. I can't believe they actually have a portuguese soundbank thats awesome! Now I'll buy the extra themes even if I'm not interested to show my appreciation and support.

Hopefully microsoft doesnt try to pull any crapola.

[Plasma]

wow all that free content is surprising and makes me glad that I bought worms. I can't believe they actually have a portuguese soundbank thats awesome! Now I'll buy the extra themes even if I'm not interested to show my appreciation and support.

Hopefully microsoft doesnt try to pull any crapola.
Lesson of the Day:
There are other people living in the world who are not you!

[Turboman]

Any news yet spadge?

[Spadge]

Expecting to come out of test and into cert shortly. DLC is agreed but I've requested to wait until after the press release :)

[moco64]

Lesson of the Day:
There are other people living in the world who are not you!

i dont really understand this, did I say something wrong?

[SpaceInsom]

i dont really understand this, did I say something wrong?

No, I think he just misunderstood you.

[CStubing]

Hi Team17 -- Thanks alot for keeping us posted about the impending patch. Worms 360 is really sweet, and it just needs a little spruce up to be a full-fledged player favorite. I'm looking forward to no more crashing! :D

You've probably heard this suggestion before, but I'll make it anyway -- It would be great if we had reserved slots in a multiplayer game. Sometimes you want to host a game and play with 1 friend and 2 random people, but it can be hard to get your friend in before the game fills up.

[rauttiz]

I don't think its the game, if this was a widespread issue, we'd have certainly heard of it by now.

I know the game sometimes disconnects people but it looks the same as if the host quit. Someone sent me a message asking why I and someone else suddenly quit the game so I know it happens to other people as well. The cause could be network lag because I don't currently have a very fast Internet connection.

[Haoshiro]

I know the game sometimes disconnects people but it looks the same as if the host quit. Someone sent me a message asking why I and someone else suddenly quit the game so I know it happens to other people as well. The cause could be network lag because I don't currently have a very fast Internet connection.

Now that you mention it, that has happened to me while I was hosting as well. I thought everyone else quit, but everyone else thought I had quit.... got some bad rep for it to. :(

[rysfr]

Is there no plans for updates on weapons? ore new weapons?

[Fatalhitx]

Please read some of the posts before you post. As said before, for this current version of worms, there are no current plans to incorporate new weapons, or update weapons.

[locke16]

I agree about the auto center being very annoying. Sometimes I want to plan some of my strategy during other players turns but I cant see my worms.

[rockotaco1]

Spadge, are the leaderboards going to be reset when the patch comes out? I really hope not. I worked really really hard to finally get to number 1 (postnatald is my tag).

Also, why is that when a 2 player ranked match starts (like even just at the beginning of picking a map) sometimes it says session no longer available and the game quits? This literally ruins any streaks I've had and knocks my trueskill rank wayy down. It's SO frustrating. This shouldn't affect Trueskill. It's not my fault the game session ended right as I was choosing a map.

On more thing, the guy who has the number 1 Ongoing score has only played 1 match and he lost it. His score is in the billions. Can't you guys fix that? I mean, that's just crazy lol. My friend JoeyMD is number 2, and he plays all the time. Can't believe that the number 1 Ongoing guy only has 1 match under his belt that he lost lol. His name is Mink something. Thanks guys! I love this game despite some of the bugs.

[Spadge]

Firstly we don't calculate the true-skill, that's Microsoft's bag.

There are some scoring anomalies and are usually the problem of bad data inbetween the game and the server, something which we don't really know when is occuring (it's extremely rare). I'm not currently sure what's going to happen with the rankings, I'll feedback when I know - pretty much all of the common issues should be wrapped up with the update.

[cngodles]

postnatald, you got lucky last night, I had you beat.

Spadge, does the DLC have to be approved by MS as much as this update has to?

[Spadge]

The DLC packs and pricing have all been agreed and sorted now. Once the update is out and running, we can discuss that (most likely there will be a MS press release also).

[Fatalhitx]

So, is the testing and certing for the update done? I can't wait to see the new stuff!

[Turboman]

The DLC packs and pricing have all been agreed and sorted now. Once the update is out and running, we can discuss that (most likely there will be a MS press release also).

Is cert finished?

[TristUK]

The DLC packs and pricing have all been agreed and sorted now. Once the update is out and running, we can discuss that (most likely there will be a MS press release also).
Good to hear Spadge! Really looking forward to this :cool:

[SupaPhly]

it would be really cool if there were more weapons added, but I guess its not going to happen

[qwertz]

this is taking way too long :(

[Spadge]

It takes as long as it takes, that's the way it is. ALL of the functionality is retested at the QA labs. It shouldn't be too much longer though.

[MotorX]

Thanks for at least letting us know what's up. No biggie if it takes a bit. For me at least.

[SupaPhly]

next update shout have... HATS and victory dances, lolololololol

[Cashed]

I'm dying for new content before the Halo 3 beta, as I have nothing to do until then. I downloaded Catan, which is fun, but I'd like to get some fresh Worms action in! Let's get this content out!

[worMatty]

Congratulations! With your rousing words, you have successfully decreased the time it will take for the new content to come out by 0.3.

[Fatalhitx]

.3 what? but anway, Im glad that team17 is making sure that all this content is bug-free and ready to play. Wouldn't you rather have a bug-free experience and wait a little bit longer, than have a completely broken experience and have it now? Just whenever you can get the update out Team 17, is fine by me.

[AndrewTaylor]

.3 what?

Seconds, I think.

[Spadge]

We've now cleared the major certification loops, so it shouldn't be much longer before the update goes live and downloadable content arrives.

[MotorX]

How 'bout now?


Now?


Alright, just kidding. But seriously, now?

[lightsup55]

We've now cleared the major certification loops, so it shouldn't be much longer before the update goes live and downloadable content arrives.
SWEEEET!

I'm hoping sometime around next week maybe? Maybe?

None the less, I can't wait.

[hobbzinio]

cant u give us all a date??? im sure that wud not be too difficult

[Spadge]

Unfortunatly not, we have to wait until MS say it can go live.

[Turboman]

Unfortunatly not, we have to wait until MS say it can go live.

but it's ready to go live?

[hobbzinio]

i have a feeling ppl r gonna get ripped off with the pricing

[lightsup55]

Unfortunately not, we have to wait until MS say it can go live.
My GUESS is that it'll be Wednesday as all download content for arcade games such as a new arcade game (trial and full version), themes, picture packs, and other miscellaneous content (i.e. maps, characters, weapons, etc.) are released that day. Hence why Microsoft called them "Arcade Wednesdays".

So the bottom line is this:
I DON'T know is if it would be released this week, next week, or whatever. All I know is that it'll MOST LIKELY be on a Wednesday.



So IF any new arcade related stuff becomes available, it'll be on Wednesday.

Keep in mind though, SOMETIMES there is nothing arcade related on Wednesday. An example of this was on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 that Major Nelson posted about the day before (http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/02/20/xbox-live-arcade-for-the-week-of-2-19.aspx).

Other times we get something, even if it is only downloadable content for an existing arcade game. An example of this was on Wednesday, September 06, 2006, the PGR 3 theme deck for UNO (http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2006/09/06/Xbox-Live-Arcade-Uno-PGR3-Deck.aspx) was the only arcade related release. Then on Wednesday, November 01, 2006, the Kameo theme deck for UNO (http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2006/11/01/Arcade-Kameo-Uno-Theme.aspx) was the only arcade related release.

The most common is when we get 1 new arcade title.

And then we may occasionally get 2 or even 3 new arcade titles on the same day.

[Spadge]

It need not be a wednesday, since it's an update, not a launch title, we should find out this week.

[lightsup55]

It need not be a Wednesday, since it's an update, not a launch title, we should find out this week.
Well yeah, the update could be released any day as they generally are (even for retail games).

But the download content would be on a Wednesday.


Although wouldn't the download content only be released AFTER the update is live (thus meaning the update would be released either before or on the same day as the download content)?

Does the update allow the download content to be used in the game or has that been a feature when the game first came out?

[Spadge]

DLC hooks have been in since release, but some additional code modifications were required that's meant the update comes first.

[Skandil]

It need not be a wednesday, since it's an update, not a launch title, we should find out this week.

Hang on, is it just the update you are talking about here or the update AND the download content? Will the they be released at the same time? Also the downloadable content - you said its gonna be several things - are they coming at the same time, or spread over a while?

[Spadge]

Hang on, is it just the update you are talking about here or the update AND the download content? Will the they be released at the same time? Also the downloadable content - you said its gonna be several things - are they coming at the same time, or spread over a while?

The update will come first then the first wave of DLC soon after (if not at the same time)

[TristUK]

The update will come first then the first wave of DLC soon after (if not at the same time)
Sounds good Spadge!

Cheers for keeping us up to speed. :)

[Spadge]

We've now been informed it's approved and certified.

We'll find out in the next few days when it can go live, the first wave of DLC now has a date (it's this month) but I can't say when. The Update will come before it.

[mac_411]

Well, that's good news to hear! I can't wait to start playing it!

First, I gotta get my 360 repaired. It gave me the 3 red lights last week, and the box should arrive tomorrow. Hopefully, it'll come back as good as new before the new DLC is released!

[lightsup55]

We've now been informed it's approved and certified.

We'll find out in the next few days when it can go live, the first wave of DLC now has a date (it's this month) but I can't say when. The Update will come before it.
Hopefully the update comes before next Wednesday (May 16th) as the Xbox.com calendar (http://www.xbox.com/community/calendar/) has set that day as primetime in Worms at 9 PM Eastern / 6 PM Pacific (2 AM Thursday May 17th in United Kingdom). I know it is late for UK gamers, but the times are set relative to U.S. time. It is set by Microsoft, so don't shoot the messenger.

And maybe we will also get the download content on that day. But I'll wait and see.

[Spadge]

The update should certainly be out prior to that.

[DarthSmurf]

When can you reveal what the DLC specifically is?

And maybe how much?

[Spadge]

No, not yet, sorry - I've been asked to keep that under wraps, detail wise.

Additionally, look out for news regarding the update next few days. We're ready to go live, but there's some final details to organise - but not much longer now. We will make a full announcement in due course, along with a full list of what the update solves etc.

[wickedfool]

Spadge, I have a question concerning DLC. I remember a while back you said that Microsoft has a say as to when a developer can release downloads for their games. I have heard other developers mention a suggested time table for content as well. Yesterday I noticed that Catan, which has only been out for a week, already has DLC available. What prevented Worms from getting DLC so quickly (Themese, voice banks, etc)? Was it certification or was the content not ready at the time of release?

I am just curious as to what the Microsoft process is because it seems to be inconsistent between games. I know a lot of work goes into this stuff so I am not complaining, I would just like to hear your perspective on how this stuff works.

[cngodles]

Oh my, I hope it comes out before the 16th, because I'll be locked into the Halo 3 beta for 3 weeks starting that day.

[cngodles]

The suspense is killing me. I can't wait to see the new DLC!

[worMatty]

Have a free Team17 goody bag to reward your enthusiasm!

Seriously, put annelid on it, will you?

[SupaPhly]

are there any plans to put a vibration function into the game in near future?

[Chebab]

are there any plans to put a vibration function into the game in near future?

It's already there, if you're talking about controller vibration. Try to open the personal settings for your profile, and select vibration.

[Rambeezy]

yeah can't wait for the DLC & the update. But when the Halo 3 beta comes out, well i guess i'll have higher gaming priorities then.

[Spadge]

We now believe that the update will go live on Weds 23rd May, sorry it's not sooner.

[mac_411]

Oh, that's fine for all of us! Thanks for telling us a week ahead. Halo 3 this week, new Worms DLC next week! I'm liking this.

All I need is my Xbox 360, which is coming back from repair this Friday!

[chachi]

He said update, not DLC. The DLC comes some time after the update.

Any word on how long after?

[Spadge]

Can't say, but it will be less than 8 days after... ;)

[wormworm]

YaY

Good job Team17.

Can't wait for the new Ranked game setting, Wooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooooo :)

[V1NC3NZ0]

How is it that you included the portugese language set, but you have failed to give us Aussies any vocal representation?

Say Spadge, is it within your power to give us any indication as to what these other themes will be? I miss the jungle background from WA. Also missing, as a level template, was the floating island levels. Ninja-rope mayhem! Surely this could be brought back?

[lightsup55]

How is it that you included the portugese language set, but you have failed to give us Aussies any vocal representation?
I believe the language set is required by Microsoft for the game to be released in all Xbox Live regions.

As far as vocals go, it was mentioned in another thread that new vocals would be added as downloadable content on Xbox Live Marketplace. Team17 hasn't mentioned what exactly will be added or even when to expect it.

I'm sure Spadge can elaborate more on the subject.

[SupaPhly]

which is even funnier is that theyre even going to release an Afrikaanse voice set (in worms its called Africaan) and xbox live isnt avaliable in south africa (I registered mine through UK)

[Stoners01]

which is even funnier is that theyre even going to release an Afrikaanse voice set (in worms its called Africaan) and xbox live isnt avaliable in south africa (I registered mine through UK)

Cool idea... gets my vote. Get them worms saying "lekker like a cracker", "moenie soek" and "maak hom vol, skaap" whilst laying into the other teams with an AK47. Add in functionality to allow a team to steal crates from the other teams and it will feel like I'm back in sunny Durbs again.

[hobbzinio]

so the update will go live tommorow???

[Spadge]

Yep, thats the plan :) All systems go afaik.

[hobbzinio]

do you know what time??? as im home earlier from college and fancy a day of worms lol

[Spadge]

Nope, I presume it'll sometime early am UK GMT

[ninjarat]

I'm going to place my bet on 4am eastern time NY. Why you ask? Because that's when they usually do their Wed updates for the Arcade. Just go to bed and chances are when you wake up tomorrow it'll be there. Even higher chance of it being there after you return from school/work tomorrow. ;)

[hobbzinio]

today is the day

[lightsup55]

The Title Update is NOW out!

Keep in mind that it works just like the 2007 Xbox 360 Spring Dashboard Update that went out earlier this month...

If you do NOT receive the update the moment you load the game, you should receive it sometime later today. So please be patient.

[Wormetti]

I love the faster AI. The trueskill leaderboard remained but all the others were reset. If anyone wants to be on top of the boards for a short time, play now.

[lightsup55]

I love the faster AI.
Hell yeah. Makes for faster times on challenges just because of it.



The trueskill leaderboard remained but all the others were reset. If anyone wants to be on top of the boards for a short time, play now.
Don't know why that was, but I'd surely like to try playing a ranked match.

Oh and don't get too close to a mine.

[hobbzinio]

i thought that the mines were gonna have variation, like some wud blow up instantly and some wud take 3 seconds or so too... cos so far every mine more or less blows up instantly...

[ninjarat]

nope the mines are varied...i haven't run into many 3 second mines but 2 seconds i've seen. *just* enough time to get out of there with a 2 seconder. :)

Hey wormetti, congratulations...i see you on the leaderboard. No idea how you guys are doing the first challenge in under 10 seconds, but congrats. :P

[lightsup55]

nope the mines are varied...i haven't run into many 3 second mines but 2 seconds i've seen. *just* enough time to get out of there with a 2 seconder. :)

Hey wormetti, congratulations...i see you on the leaderboard. No idea how you guys are doing the first challenge in under 10 seconds, but congrats. :P
Look at me, I'm rank number 2 (just under Wormetti) for Challenge 1. HA HA!

[Wormetti]

Look at me, I'm rank number 2 (just under Wormetti) for Challenge 1. HA HA!

smogui knocked you to number 3. I haven't beaten my previous time yet. I never figured out how anyone got lower than 5 seconds.

[rauttiz]

smogui knocked you to number 3. I haven't beaten my previous time yet. I never figured out how anyone got lower than 5 seconds.

I just got to number 3 :) I don't remember my previous time anymore but I was somewhere close to 50 on the old list. Maybe with a programmable controller you could get lower than 5 seconds. With my reflexes I can just beat 6 seconds.

Thank you Team17 for the update!

[Stoners01]

No idea how you guys are doing the first challenge in under 10 seconds, but congrats. :P

There's a thread in here somewhere that describes exactly how to do it (involves getting on a jetpack, dropping dynamite next to the first enemy worm, he blows up and kills others, you fly to left of screen and activate mine, killing the fourth).

Check out Challenge 3 though - owned by me (gamer tag is Demorrigan - Stoners is my team name). Now that all glitches are removed its going to take some work to beat 10 seconds on that.

[hobbzinio]

after more in depth analysis the mines definetly make the game more tactical and more about skill... you cant just jump anywhere now and it makes u use weapons/techniques u wud not have used in the past... i think they just annoyed the hell out of me, cos i wasnt used to them but i will get more used to them as time goes on, im sure...

good job team 17, good job...

[ninjarat]

i'm having problems with the new update. i seem to get dropped more often in games. also when i'm in the lobby with the host sometimes he'll tell me he sees 4 ppl in the lobby....i just see 2 or 3. everytime this happens when the host launches i get the game session not available message right at the start of the game. anyone else experiencing this?