Just found out that Philippe left the Ageod team back in April which was a bit of a shock considering he was with the team since the beginning. Pocus is still with the team and alongside him the McNeils from Slitherine are listed as officers of Ageod.
Phillipe was quite active on the Ageod forum so he'll be missed.
Ageod changes (http://www.ageod-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=52751)
Pocus also posted that they expect to announce the new engine sometime in September: "Probably in late September, we have our annual convention 'Hall of Wargamers 2018' in mid-September, then I believe the communiqué will be issued."
And i thought that Philippe was Ageod...(with Pocus of course) :(
Oh bummer. I hope AGEOD continues to develop good games even though Philippe is gone. They definitely need to publish a new engine.
A new engine would be nice, but what they really need are some tighter procedures for QA and a better method of game support after release.
Under the current system map errors are very likely to creep into games before beta, and screaming and yelling by testers doesn't seem to make much difference (the graphics budget has a habit of being exhausted before you can get around to figuring out what needs to be fixed).
The use of sub-contractors has attracted great talent, and they've done some amazing work.
At a guess, the way the contracts and sub-contracts are written seems to force a lot of things to fall between the cracks, and administrative constraints have probably make it harder to get things fixed. Part of the fault may lie with an over-zealous legal department, but I detect the fingerprints of a large, creaky organziation. It's not enough to invoke the old saw about never letting lawyers make business decisions. Somebody outlined the terms of those sub-contracts before the lawyers drafted them.
On its own, Ageod probably could have resolved these issues, but I suspect that the Matrix umbrella has added fuel to the fire. Let's hope that Philippe finds a way of channeling his vision into a new computer game company when he gets tired of turning out board games.
^Sad to hear but in all business these days the lawyers and the shareholders seem to dictate business direction.
I agree, let's hope Philippe starts another company and is successful.
Quote from: Philippe on September 07, 2018, 12:59:32 PM
A new engine would be nice, but what they really need are some tighter procedures for QA and a better method of game support after release.
Under the current system map errors are very likely to creep into games before beta, and screaming and yelling by testers doesn't seem to make much difference (the graphics budget has a habit of being exhausted before you can get around to figuring out what needs to be fixed).
The use of sub-contractors has attracted great talent, and they've done some amazing work.
At a guess, the way the contracts and sub-contracts are written seems to force a lot of things to fall between the cracks, and administrative constraints have probably make it harder to get things fixed. Part of the fault may lie with an over-zealous legal department, but I detect the fingerprints of a large, creaky organziation. It's not enough to invoke the old saw about never letting lawyers make business decisions. Somebody outlined the terms of those sub-contracts before the lawyers drafted them.
On its own, Ageod probably could have resolved these issues, but I suspect that the Matrix umbrella has added fuel to the fire. Let's hope that Philippe finds a way of channeling his vision into a new computer game company when he gets tired of turning out board games.
I always thought you were Philippe from Ageod!
I'm pretty crazy but I don't tend to talk about myself in the third person (unlike Julius Caesar).
My name can get pretty confusing when hanging around Ageod, because Pocus' real name is Philippe too.
Quote from: Philippe on September 08, 2018, 12:13:34 AM
I'm pretty crazy but I don't tend to talk about myself in the third person (unlike Julius Caesar).
My name can get pretty confusing when hanging around Ageod, because Pocus' real name is Philippe too.
You could change your name to Phillistine!
And I briefly thought you were from AGEOD when I first saw your posts.
I'm frequently asked if I'm an artist when I show up at openings with my artist girlfriend, and I always used to say that I was a philistine. But I try not to do it any more to keep peace in the home.
Wait, so Philippe isn't Philippe? Oh man, it's too early for this... #:-)
Philippe is Philippe, just not that Philippe.
I didn't want to be the first one to admit it, but I thought the same thing!
Don't feel bad. I thought Ageod was some guy's name. Maybe Philippe's brother.
Johnny Ageod?
I was thinking 'Jacque' since it's French. Or 'Bertrand' perhaps.