TBCB 2013 = Total Disappointment

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russchard
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun 21 Jul, 2013 10:11 pm

TBCB 2013 = Total Disappointment

Post by russchard »

I still have the original "Title Bout" game from the 80s, along with all the additional boxer sets until they stopped making them. I think TBCB has done an exceptional job (in MOST areas) of capturing the fun and flavor of the original board game. Before I discovered the computer version of the game, I practiced honing my programming skills because I knew that the original Title Bout would translate wonderfully into a computer game for my own personal enjoyment. Once I found TBCB, there was no need to continue because I realized that the designers had done a better job than I could ever DREAM of doing. Between the original Title Bout and the subsequent TBCB, I am frightened and embarrassed to think about how many thousands of hours I've spent with them over the last 30 years or so.

I say all that to establish that I am a FAN. A HUGE fan. In fact, other than the board game "Monopoly" that I played with my older siblings from the time I was 6 or 7, there is probably no other game in my life that I have as much personal, emotional, and historical investment in as much as TB/TBCB. I want the game to be a huge success on all levels, commercial AND critical.

Having said all that, TBCB 2013 is a buggy mess that was nowhere CLOSE to being ready for commercial release. The game crashes and/or "hangs" constantly, the user guide is HORRIBLY inadequate, and I find myself having to repeatedly reset my display resolutions when the game dumps me out. My only comfort is that TBCB 2013 cost me half what previous versions cost.

Honestly, I say this with no ill intent or deliberate disrespect to any of the people that worked on the project, but at the end of the day, this product just doesn't measure up to contemporary professional standards. It breaks my heart to be so critical, but even a loyal fan has to inject some reality into the situation. I bought this version the instant I learned it was available, but it's been a brutal disappointment.

I had to refer to the TBCB 2.5 User Guide to make sense of game elements that the 2013 version doesn't even address. Even between the two, there are game elements that are never addressed or explained. I learned through this blog that (and I'm recalling this from memory, so don't kill me if I'm a little off the mark in my description) that when you create a new "game", the "Simulation" check-box has so function whatsoever. It simply serves as a placeholder for FUTURE modifications, but it has no function in the 2013 version. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!? You intentionally throw a gameflow element on the screen that is disabled and that serves no function whatsoever other than to present itself as a "bug" and you don't bother to explain it??? How many users will make the effort to scour through the online blogs to find an explanation, rather than assuming and accepting that something is wrong with their installation? The documentation is AWFUL.

Another example of lousy code/documentation: when selecting fight strategies, sometimes a "(+)" will appear after the text description of the selected strategy. Obviously, the symbol means SOMETHING because the programmer took the trouble to write code to display it, but it is NEVER explained. I'm sorry, but that is just sloppy work.

Those points may seem trivial, but they reflect a greater failing. I just spent three hours reviewing and "tweeking" boxer ratings and being careful to "save" after each boxer, only to lose it all when the program crashed. Apparently, saving an individual boxer doesn't mean anything unless you also "save and exit" the entire game. That is just piss-poor programming design.

I feel so conflicted even writing all this. Like I said, I am a huge fan and I want this product to be the best it can be, but I am HORRIBLY disappointed at the quality of the work. Even at the current price point, I feel ripped off. This should have been a pre-release beta testing, not something people paid hard-earned money for. I had hopeful expectations for the 2013 update, but this 2013 version makes me wish I simply had a current set of boxer cards for Title Bout. I'd rather play the board game than this frustrating PC garbage.

Sorry to be so critical, but you can't improve unless you know what's wrong. Trust me...in this post, I only scratched the surface.
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Paul Norman
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Re: TBCB 2013 = Total Disappointment

Post by Paul Norman »

I am sorry you are having a rough time. :(

TBCB2013 is a complete re-write to enable further progress on the franchise. The game was in private beta for months and public beta after that. There were no crash bugs reported by the public beta at the time of release. Even so, I continue to support and reslove issues and I am concerned about the crashing. I was not aware any remained. Can you please check you are running version 1.2 (ticker bar at the bottom of the startup screen). If you are please email me (someone@pisd.co.uk) with more detailed info on the crash and I look into it. Please include if its a new game or an imported game from TB2.5. If you are not running version 1.2 you can downlaod it from your webstore account and upgrade.

Both the game and the manual enjoy coninuing support. Despite all the testing it is not possible to find every eventuality especially when importing data from earlier versions of the game. I always welcome feedback on bugs, tho please try to be precise in your discription so that I can find them.

Help me fix your issues so you can enjoy this version as much as the previous ones...
russchard
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun 21 Jul, 2013 10:11 pm

Re: TBCB 2013 = Total Disappointment

Post by russchard »

Thanks for your concern to my frustration. Lots of designers would blow off any complaints, so I sincerely appreciate your willingness to review my issues. I regret that in venting my frustration, I didn't give credit to the EXTENSIVE improvements that have been made in this version. Plus, no matter how frustrated I may get with particular points, I still think this is the most statistically accurate sports sim I've ever played. From the first time I played the board game version, I thought this was one of the most brilliant recreations I've ever seen, I'm traveling right now so I haven't had a chance to spend much time with the game, but I'll make a list of the issues I've encountered as well as some suggestions for improving and subsequent releases.

Again, thanks for being open to input and I'm sorry if my first post came on too strong. I just had high expectations and was VERY frustrated.
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Paul Norman
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Re: TBCB 2013 = Total Disappointment

Post by Paul Norman »

Thats OK... I understand this is a much loved game and emotions will run high at times... My Job is to listen to all feedback and keep improving it with each release.
SugarRay
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed 24 Jul, 2013 3:04 am

Re: TBCB 2013 = Total Disappointment

Post by SugarRay »

I haven't had any issues with the game and I've been playing it for a week.
That was a big concern of mine. I have bought every version of this game on the computer and still have the floppy disks when it came out in that form about 13 years ago.
Three years ago, I bought the OOPT version and it took literally 5 minutes for the game to save after I did a bout. That's not an exaggeration. I stopped playing however when I would load the game and discover that in three different occasions, all my previous bouts had been erased.
So far, after a week with this version, not one issue. I'm playing it on a laptop with Windows 7.
Very pleased.
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