›

ODK Roadmap for Developers

ChapelChapel Posts: 10Member
in General Development
Hey Ouya Team...would it be possible for information to be shared with developers indicating a feature roadmap for the ODK?

We have some huge unknowns right now, like the ability to properly set 720p resolution and the absence of any profile management, friends lists, and achievements.

I'm working on a new build right now, and I would love to know whether I should plan on "homebrewing" my own profile management, friends list, and game invitation system, or if I should just hold tight for a little while because Ouya is planning to release these imminently.

The difference between the ODK including these features in Q4 of 2013 or Q1 of 2014 might be the decision-making point for me.  It's a catch-22, because if I implement something non-native to the Ouya, then it will fall out of favor once native support for these features is added in, but if I wait for something from Ouya...then I have no idea how long I will wait.

I know this might not be "public" information...but it would stand to reason that at least some guidance should be provided by the Ouya team to help us developers plan out our builds accordingly.

Thanks!
--RB

Comments

  • zedutchgandalfzedutchgandalf Posts: 4Member
    I would love this. We're completely in the dark atm, and a little bit of light would be great :)
    I don't need a really detailed plan, but just some general idea...
    But maybe people would yell at them too much if they scrapped/delayed something then...
  • LususAnimatLususAnimat Posts: 32Member
    On any other console, all developers would have signed an NDA committing them to not leaking future plans to the press, and the manufacturer would have much more freedom to share this kind of information with developers.
  • ChapelChapel Posts: 10Member
    Yeah, I don't think what I'm looking for really qualifies as something to be protected under NDA.  I'm not looking for implementation details or anything like that.  Just a feature roadmap that says if some feature will be supported and when we can expect it.

    One of the huge reasons for the success of so many games has been the social component.  When Xbox LIVE unified your online gaming identity ... rather than each game having their own identify for each player ... that sparked a huge surge in online gaming functionality.

    Without the Ouya gaming community having this type of unified identity, we as developers are fracturing our userbase.   That's not good by any measure.  I don't want to do this if I don't have to.  I can wait (I can even be patient while waiting) as long as I have some idea when it's coming.  I'm not going to delay my build for a year while those features get developed...but I might be willing to wait 3 months.  The problem now is that I have no idea how long I'll be waiting.

    If any of the ODK devs are listening...please discuss this internally and see what you can share with us.  Some of these features are really important.
  • SpoonThumbSpoonThumb Posts: 426Member
    OUYA said after retail launch they will be working on social features. I suspect going by OUYA's history on these things, that we will get these within a couple of months, but that they won't be especially sophisticated, and will be iterated / built upon over time.

    My suggestion would be that use 3rd party services / APIs (of which there are many for android out there), but not spend too long / get too involved with making something super-complex and deep. This with a view that at some point you'll probably need to integrate OUYAs own home-grown system on top of what you've already made
    Twitter
    Website
  • LususAnimatLususAnimat Posts: 32Member
    Chapel said:
    Yeah, I don't think what I'm looking for really qualifies as something to be protected under NDA.  I'm not looking for implementation details or anything like that.  Just a feature roadmap that says if some feature will be supported and when we can expect it.
    That is an NDA sort of thing, actually. Say that someone from OUYA said in passing "Working on leaderboards right now; hope to be done in September" on the current forum. If they end up not getting leaderboards done by then or have to prioritize something else higher, then at the end of September, Twitter will explode with people complaining about how OUYA failed to deliver leaderboards by the deadline and is therefore DOOOMED. 

    The problem with a public forum like this is that everyone posting on it has to simultaneously think in terms of communicating useful information to developers, and in terms of communicating polished PR sound bytes to the press. The advantage of an NDA-protected developer forum is that they can drop the need for PR polish and talk strictly to developers. 
  • SpoonThumbSpoonThumb Posts: 426Member
    edited August 2013
    LususAnimat said:
    Chapel said:
    Yeah, I don't think what I'm looking for really qualifies as something to be protected under NDA.  I'm not looking for implementation details or anything like that.  Just a feature roadmap that says if some feature will be supported and when we can expect it.
    That is an NDA sort of thing, actually. Say that someone from OUYA said in passing "Working on leaderboards right now; hope to be done in September" on the current forum. If they end up not getting leaderboards done by then or have to prioritize something else higher, then at the end of September, Twitter will explode with people complaining about how OUYA failed to deliver leaderboards by the deadline and is therefore DOOOMED. 
    Like that doesn't already happen with everything OUYA touches :p

    In fact, people are shouting about how OUYA has given no indication they are working on this or that, and is therefore DOOMED.

    Moreover, the people doomsaying on twitter probably aren't OUYA's eventual target market, so it doesn't actually matter right now.

    Plus NDAs are an anathema to what OUYA represents, which is open development. Of course, it'd be nice if OUYA actually walked the walk when it came to being open. Right now they seem to be stuck in this horrible place where they've been burned in the past by a hostile press for being too open, but they're not closed and secretive enough to truly have control over their image and message

    To my mind, you either have to be 100% transparent and open, or not at all, or you get screwed from both ends, and that's exactly what is happening to OUYA

    Post edited by SpoonThumb on
    Twitter
    Website
Sign In or Register to comment.