Impulse: We're listening
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 by Frogboy | Discussion: PC Gaming
We are prepping a major update for Impulse for release prior to the upcoming release of Sins of a Solar Empire v1.1.
Version 1.1 of Sins of a Solar Empire is the first update to the award-winning PC strategy game to require Impulse for downloading the update. During the beta process of Sins v1.1 we got a lot of feedback from players -- a lot of it very negative.
The first question people ask is, why are we requiring Impulse for Sins of a Solar Empire? We released a number of stand-alone patches for Sins earlier in the year so why require Impulse now?
There are a number of reasons. The most obvious reason is that Impulse wasn't available then. In the user manual for Sins of a Solar Empire we actually mention Impulse as it was intended to be used for updating the game.
But more importantly, Sins of a Solar Empire v1.1 is a gigantic update. It's even a bigger update in many respects than the recently released Galactic Civilizations II v2.0 (which also requires Impulse). Making a smart installer for it would have required a great deal of effort to keep the size under control.
There's a lot to making game updates that aren't obvious. For instance, does the game update combined with the demo allow the player to have essentially a full game? You'd be surprised to discover how many games in the past have fallen into that problem. Having Impulse simplifies that sort of thing.
In addition, there's the issue of on-going support for Sins of a Solar Empire. Ironclad and Stardock want to put out more releases and make it easy for people to get the micro expansion packs such as Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment which is scheduled to go into public beta shortly. Impulse vastly simplifies and improves this user experience.
So what are some of the things we've done with Impulse that will be out soon?
Check out the screenshots below:
Besides the user interface being cleaned up, the performance has been significantly enhanced. It's a lot snappier all around, particularly on Windows XP systems.
Another addition is that tabs are only displayed when there are items in them. So if a program is being downloaded, a download tab shows up. If there are updates, the update tab shows up. The idea is to provide a much cleaner experience.
So does this mean that Impulse is perfect? No. We still have a lot of features to add to it. We're always striving to make it better.
But hopefully users will be able to see some of the progress that's been made based on their feedback. When Sins of a Solar Empire v1.1 ships, hopefully users will find Impulse to be something highly useful rather than as simply a download manager.
Stay tuned!
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Reply #22 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 11:35 AM
[quote who="-=XX=-Nephilim" reply="21" id="1936082"]When can we expect clan support, match making system, leaderboards etc... for Sins (and other games) via Impulse!?!?!
This is the real update I am waiting for [/quote]
Where did I get the impression that the upcoming Impulse update would include these things? Are we not getting matchmaking?
Reply #23 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 11:42 AM
This is the real update I am waiting for
Demigod will be the pilot game for the advanced stuff. Sins 1.1 should be getting the basic Impulse matchmaking, but the leaderboards, achievements, etc is tied to Demigod. Dunno if Sins will take advantage of it once it is out and available, though.
Edit: Hey, who borked the quote button?
Reply #24 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 11:45 AM
basic is fine as long as it's integrated well and comes out with 1.1 
Reply #25 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 11:52 AM
When can we expect clan support, match making system, leaderboards etc... for Sins (and other games) via Impulse!?!?!
This is the real update I am waiting for
Demigod will be the pilot game for the advanced stuff. Sins 1.1 should be getting the basic Impulse matchmaking, but the leaderboards, achievements, etc is tied to Demigod. Dunno if Sins will take advantage of it once it is out and available, though.
Edit: Hey, who borked the quote button?
But how on earth are you going to "matchmake" clan or a player withour ranking him / them up in the first place - and if you have to rank them up one way or the other in order to matchmake eventually, then it is easy to create some sort of leaderboard too...
In short - all this should be closely linked - and I can only hope Sins gets this kind of treatment... It needs it if its ever to have life online...
EDIT:
In fact I really wouldn't mind some sort of official response to this one... if possible at all 
Reply #26 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:03 PM
Launch Impulse now, go to the Community tab and there will be a button to check for games - that's the basic matchmaking. You'll be able to host/join games without needing to launch the game and sit in the ICO lobby. It doesn't work now of course, but it's got the basic idea.
Reply #27 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:11 PM
Of course that's assuming you can get the archive to work anyway. So far, no cigar. My latest test had the same old result, failure to restore.
Reply #28 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:11 PM
But that is not matchmaking... We have that now anyway... Definition of "matchmaking" is finding the right partner for your skill level... Be that 1 v 1 or Clan v Clan...
Bah... I hope it evolves bit more from what you just explained... 
Reply #29 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:27 PM
You have still NOT provided an easy way for people without Intetnet access to patch their games. Talk about marking patching difficult.
This was the problem I had. I am not allowwed to install any SW on my PC at work. SO there is no way I could have install IMPULSE to get the patches. I believe my local library has similar restrictions.
Of course going to a game site and downloading a traditional patch and burning in to a DVD is not a proper use of company resources either. (DON'T DO THIS)
My only solution was to get faster internet at home. (I'm only paying a bit more, so it was worth it.)
Reply #30 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 11:44 PM
Looks great . Still wondering why the undeletable tabs in the first place . . .
Anyways, a cleaner interface is always good. Performance enhancements are always a welcome addition. Looks like it's going to be a welcome update.
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Reply #21 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 11:25 AM
When can we expect clan support, match making system, leaderboards etc... for Sins (and other games) via Impulse!?!?!
This is the real update I am waiting for