Beta access?

[BHunterSEAL]

First off, I found this through SSC and it looks amazing--exactly the kind of game I'm in to. It seems like a freeform, more feature-rich (and I hope-to-God, less buggy!) version of The Precursors. I'm really into space sims, have probably played dozens over the years, and this looks to be in the top of that class, something that has a lot of replay value.

I gather from the forums and website that you are currently looking for a publisher to release the mostly-finished version of the game, which is in private beta. Since I have not seen any reference to actually getting in on the beta--at least on these forums--I was wondering if it would be possible to get access, mostly since it's not possible to buy the game right now. I'll add that I've been involved in a few other betas before and generally know the kind of feedback that you're looking for--feasible changes and bug-fixes that can be implemented in the short-term, prior to release. I won't waste your time with far-fetched feature requests.

If not, best of luck finding a publisher. This sounds like something the Russians over at 1C would pick up.

[Jabberwocky]

Hi BHunterSEAL,

I never got around to playing The Precursors, but it certainly looked like there were some cool ideas. I always found it mysterious that the game didn't receive more attention, based solely on the screenshots I saw. I didn't realize it was buggy - that could certainly have something to do with it.

You sound like you know your stuff. I can't send the game outside of the developers right now, because that could negatively impact my ability to negotiate a publishing deal - they would rightfully be very nervous if there were any copies of the game were "floating around" which could lead to a pirated version before the official ship date. This would have a devastating effect on sales. I'm certainly not suggesting you would do this, but I need to play it safe.

Things might change once I finalize a publishing deal. If I am distributing the game myself, then I probably will want some outside beta testers. If I'm working with a publisher, it's going to be their call.

Thanks a lot for offering - hopefully it's not too long until I can get the game in your hands one way or another.

[Rendezvous]

Sign me up if you do need beta testers!

[BHunterSEAL]

Thanks for the feedback--your concern about piracy is completely justified and totally understandable, having a version floating around on the P2P sites would be a disaster for your efforts to secure a publisher. I do recommend you pick up Precursors over at GG, it's a nice play and it could help your thoughts as you close out development on SP.

I wrote a bunch of stuff, then thought the better of posting it here, so expect an e-mail from an MSN account shortly.

[DJ Die]

Just a word of advice Jabberwocky....Dont ever deal with 1C ive heard some nasty stuff about the way they deal with devs besides you wont get much money from sales....

As for piracy concerns: there are two well maybe 3 reasons people pirate games. The third and probably least of your concern are people that hate certain "protection" softwares like StarForce which cause lot of problems with your PC in some cases but this can be avoided by simply not using this problematic software. Second are people that simply wont buy the game for any reason and there is pretty much no way to make them buy the game so no reason to concern yourself with those people.... First and probably largest group are people that wont buy overpriced software for many reasons and best way to deal with this problem is simply by choosing appropriate price tag.

Anyway there is big chance your game will be pirated as long as its good enough and i dont think you should concern yourself with that too much unless release price for you game will be too much above say 30USD or so which would make it too costly for most people....I for one would never pay 60USD or 60Eur for any single game simply because thats way too much in my country....(Sure it may be ok in Canada or USA but certainly not here) so some developers will have to be without my money until i find reasonable price on Steam sale etc. and until then i simply wont play their game

Oh there is one other reason people download pirated copies of the game: to try it out and see if its worth buying because for some people demo simply wont do if there even is demo...


Precursors was pretty good game even with the bugs one of the problems was lack of publicity for its release and many people didnt even know it was released in english....

[Constantine]

some game developers say every pirated game is one lost sale but thats not true. not everyone who pirates a game would have bought it. like djdie said some pirate it because of the drm or to test it to make sure it works if you dont have a demo.

[Jabberwocky]

@DJ Die, @Constantine
Totally agree with your thoughts on piracy. I am open to selling the game DRM-free, although of course the distributor/publisher will have a say on this. I don't endorse piracy, but agree that the current methods of combating it often make things worse, particularly when they negatively affect the customer experience.

The main point I wanted to make though, is that if a game is pirated before it is released, it's a really bad scene. Then, the only option to get the game is to pirate it, until it is eventually released. And this would definitely affect publisher negotiations.

@everyone
Thanks for your thoughts on the various different publishers. I appreciate your opinions on this.

[echo]

This is the best:
Invincible mutant scorpion plagues pirated game

Croteam sneaks unstoppable enemy into illicit copies of Serious Sam 3

Croatian indie studio Croteam has executed an imaginative plan to infuriate those who illegally download and play Serious Sam 3.

One pirated version of the new PC shooter, which appears to have been deliberately leaked to various torrent sites, features a mutant scorpion that have proven to be invincible.

As shown in the video below, published on DSOGaming, the gun-wielding daemon-arachnid-hybrid appears to be immortal, and thus prevents players from progressing.

Croteam has not publicly commented on the anti-piracy measure.

Game breaking anti-piracy bugs are fairly uncommon in videogames, though the history of them dates back to the early ‘90s.

How about an invincible space alien in pirated copies?

[Jabberwocky]

@echo -
Wow, that's cruel.
Funny, but cruel.

[Chips]

Curious, has http://www.kickstarter.com/ been suggested yet as a way to get this game published ?
I'd certainly put down cash now if a project was setup.