An explaination of why HPS release titles when they do.

[Mr Grumpy]

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the manner in which HPS release titles for all their different series, so i have decided to use part of a FAQ that is to be posted to try to put players in the picture to dispel some of the myths of the way things are done and why.

The HPS Development environment is very different from most other software companies. The individuals generally do not make games for a living, rather they do it for the love of building them and the satisfaction of doing it right (OK – there is a little money involved but it isn’t the driving force). As a result there are periods of time when their personal life comes first and work on the game is delayed maybe for months. There are times too when they get tired of working on a title and put it away for a while to work on a new title.

The net result is HPS does not release games on a set time basis (say every six months), when a title is ready a CD is mastered and even then nobody says anything,not until HPS has the CDs back from the manufacturers. When they have a product in their hands to sell they will make an announcement to the public, usually timed for the first Friday of the month.

It is HPS’s hope that this way the games they release are thoroughly tested and ready to release when you get them, but it also makes for a seemingly erratic release strategy.

So because there is no pattern to the releases people tend to look for clever reasons why two ACW games have been released, but we have not seen a PzC for a year like it is some clever sales strategy, when all along it was because two ACW titles were ready and a PzC title was not! ;)

I am involved at the moment in testing a new HPS title, the pace that project is moving forward at is controlled completely by how much spare time I (and the other testers) have to contribute as well as doing our "day jobs" and the same thing is no doubt being repeated in several other projects that are being developed at the moment as well.

So i am sorry if this seems a bit boring in comparison to the conspiracy theories people have, but like most things in life the most simple explanation is almost always the correct one.