Messages

1

Gameplay / Re: A La Carte - Recipe tool-tips

« on: December 10, 2007, 01:26:53 am »

Awesome that you're considering this Alec! Could such a tooltip extend to the minimap icons too?
Am absolutely loving my Aquaria experience thus far, and this would be one thing that would make it even more enjoyable.
On the topic, now that we've purchased the game, do we get all these extra goodies you guys might be patching in, in the future, gratis?
Only reason I ask is that this sometimes isn't the case with casual games, and I did have a look around, but didn't notice anything mentioned on this.

Thanks!

2

General / Re: Steam?

« on: October 17, 2007, 01:34:01 am »

And your comments bely your ignorance of all the rights you're slowly giving up.  I'm well aware of what Steam is capable of, and I'm also well aware of the moves it's helping the industry make.  I never said that Steam is strictly a form of DRM, I said it's a crappy service that restricts the use of many of its products which would otherwise be free of said restrictions if the product were purchased elsewhere.  I won't even get into the numerous problems the program has caused me in my time with it, because that would obviously be a waste of my time.  I've said all I need to, I have no desire to say any more.

Heh, I hate to say it...but Quemaqua, you're a naysayer with a chip on your shoulder!
I see Steam as the logical polar opposite to traditional DRM- purchasing a product on Steam gives you the right to install it on other computers, it gives you the right to download it as many times as you please, the right to back up your data to cd/dvd/hdd, whatever happens, as the purchase is tied explicitly to your account. There are also less obvious rights, such as that which Valve has said from day 1; if ever the Steam medium needs to be shutdown (though judging by their remarkable success, this is very, very unlikely) they have 1 routine to run and all of your applications become immediately unlocked from the Steam account.

So, I fail to see in what form Steam is restricting my rights? Sounds like the rhetoric of a liberalist biting his own tail to me. Or a prospective pirate.

Granted, Steam used to cause many, many problems, and those new to the medium can't appreciate some of the turmoil we all went through in its first 2 years of implementation...but I'd have to say in the last 12 months particularly, it has been extremely stable. I've not had 1 problem or issue with it, and have been through a number of activity-bombarded "launch" unlocks without sweat. I can vouch for 95% of my steam friends network too; I had to talk 1 person through how to refresh his steam cache, and that's -IT-.

And one cannot even talk about the benefits to the developers. Instant access to, what was the last count? 13 million active users.

I really hope Valve comes through for Aquaria, and that Steam is taken up. Anyway, fingers crossed on my part!

3

General / Re: Aquaria FAQ

« on: September 29, 2007, 05:20:57 pm »

Spot on xander, that was implied throughout my OP.  It's the market exposure that you wouldn't otherwise have access to that is Steam's greatest boon.
Great that you have some empirical evidence too, didn't know that about Darwinia. But yah, out of respect for Alec's request, let's curb the Steam talk so he can concentrate on releasing!

4

General / Re: Aquaria FAQ

« on: September 29, 2007, 02:18:12 am »

We'd be using a system similar to Moonpod/Starscape on our own site.

Another big difference for developers is that while Steam lets you reach a wider audience, Valve also takes a sizable cut of the profits. If you buy direct from an indie developer's website, you know that ~97% of your money is going to support the developer.

Thought I'd chime in my first post on something worthwhile In response to your earlier message, as someone who reluctantly used steam at first (due to Half Life 2), I now find I'm purchasing more and more titles on the online content delivery medium. It hasn't been for any reason other than convenience- convenient distribution, convenient access and convenient portability (I can switch steam to offline mode when I head off to uni and still play single player games on my laptop during classes, yipee!). Then when I get home I can login to steam on my desktop, and my games are there waiting for me too.

As a developer, I'd imagine you would have to weigh out the opportunity cost of losing a percentage of profits to valve against the sheer mass-exposure that a highly popular distribution system as Steam offers. Would you be better off marketing from the website, or have Steam market for you? This is something that only you can really answer/decide on- but there's no real reason you couldn't do both, right? At least that way your website sales would all end up in your pocket still, whilst exposing Aquaria to those that may not stumble across the website either.

I'd really love to see Aquaria make it on Steam, as I believe it acts as a viable alternative to costly retailing/packaging distribution. At the end of the day though, I don't know how Valve's internal developer-model works, and if the cuts are hefty it may not be appealing to you at all. Either way, I've been tracking Aquaria ever since I first saw it on igf, and it looks remarkable! Can't wait to get these grubby paws on it, whichever way you decide to release!