1: "Is this game dead?" No, far from it. Delayed, sure, but I'm a big believer in "it's done when it's done".
2: "What are your plans regarding the project?" I need to lose a job or two and really buckle down. I'm currently saving the funds to do just that, and focus a good 30 hours a week on this game.
3: "Can we have an ETA?" I don't do well with deadlines, but I'm really hopeful for an early access release this summer (Early Q3).
4: "Why early access?" Any game needs funding, that's a reality. As of the date I posted this, I've sunk over $6000 into the project, and those are just the logged expenses. A relatively tiny budget next to almost any other game, but a drain on a single person trying to also support themselves. Also, I need a large volume of feedback and bug testing. I can't really understand how other people will play the game without well, other people playing the game. Since I designed it, I don't exactly play like the average Joe.
5: "But early access sucks!" I understand why some people don't like early access. Some people say because games never get finished in early access, although I find that a debatable point, since Minecraft STILL isn't "finished", but I think the hundreds of hours of play I got made it worth $20. Some people want a finished, polished game. I can respect that, and if that's the case, feel free to wait for the 1.0 release! Or buy early and play when it's done.
6: "Have you considered using UDK?" Yes, now more than ever. It's a nightmare task to switch over, but CryEngine is only getting LESS stable and reliable to work with as updates progress. It's become a real one step forward, two step back deal. They recently made a change that makes creating large levels impossible, which means I'm stuck redoing my entire level on a smaller scale. I recently made the mistake of using the new Unreal Engine 4, and I smell a potential summer romance blooming. It's so powerful and flexible, I could rave about it for hours, but I'll spare you.
Any other questions can be posted in the comments, and I'll edit them into this post with the answers. Thank you everyone for your patience,
Adam
How, and why did they make cryengine less capable of open worlds?
In one of the updates a couple months ago, they shrank the maximum level size significantly. Now it's 4x4 kilometers (16km2), previously, you could go up to insane size (16x16km or 256km2). However, my game was made on a practically-sized 8x8 km map. A lot of it was empty ocean, but that was important to make boats/helicopters more valuable vehicles. Now I'm re-creating the level from scratch, and you can pretty much swim between islands, as well as I've had to shrink some land sizes and remove certain areas to fit the world comfortably. I believe UDK can create a level up to 5x5km now, or 25km2, which is almost 10km2 more than CE3 is now capable of.
As for why, I couldn't tell you. A terrible decision if I've ever seen one, but Crytek makes quite a few decisions I disagree with.
Excuses don't bring it closer but I'd say you've got some pretty damn good excuses. Stay strong and take as much time as you need. :)
Thanks guys, will keep you updated on progress :)