Reckoning lead designer begs for console install; discusses demo bugs

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning lead designer Ian Frazier discusses why the game’s demo is buggy, why developer Big Huge Games isn’t happy about it, and begs for console users to install the game.

January 25, 2012 6:15 PM11

“If you have a hard drive, for the love of god, please install,” Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning lead designer Ian Frazier begged gamers. “If you’re on 360, please install. You will have much, much smaller load screens. Please, please, for the love of all that’s holy, install.”

Speaking to the bugs found in the game’s recently released demo, Frazier noted that it wasn’t developer Big Huge Games at the helm of the promotional release. Citing an outsourced job on the demo based on three month old code, Frazier says that some of the more recent bug fixes made to the game were not added to the recently released demo. “So we’re all nervous, like, the demo’s really buggy,” he said.

Frazier promises that the final product “is in way better shape,” which he cites as a source of his nervousness, according to event attendees OXM UK and Eurogamer.

“We’re very not happy about that. But at the same time, the feedback overall has been really positive. Given the bug situation I’m incredibly happy with how positive the reaction has been.” Frazier wouldn’t say that the final game is “bug free,” saying that “no game is.”

Frazier wasn’t prepared to throw the unnamed outsourced studio under the bus, however, saying that the company did a “good job” considering the little support they were offered by Big Huge Games. According to the lead designer, the demo team was forced to cut everything that wasn’t needed for the demo, including “extra art and audio assets” in order to comply with demo regulations for both Microsoft and Sony.

Of course, Frazier’s reasoning doesn’t explain some of the feedback the game’s demo has received on the Steam forums. Have you played the Reckoning demo? What do you think of the game based on your first experience?

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is coming to the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on February 7. The game, which was imagined by the team at 38 Studios, will be published as part of EA’s Partner program.