Enthrone

Since we talk about different game publishing strategies I would come with one more topic.

If there is something I really, really hate, it is game being published exlusively only for gaming consoles (Xbox, Playstation). Why would someone do that? Are the benefits of being exclusive really so big? Don't I want to sell my game to as many players as possible? And yet this is happening, quite often actually. I admit I am PC orthodox, so I may be blinded. 😉

First game which came to my mind reading your description of the game you're looking for, was Battlespire (Elder Scrolls spin-off) released in 1997. The first enemy you met there was a goblin who you could talk to and on the dialog screen there he kept jumping so it looked like he was floating above the ground. But the game takes place underground, so it is propably not it.

Also it seems your game is a little bit older. Hmm... I've played computer games since early 90s and mostly RPGs. I think I would remember such game. Maybe it wasn't PC game after all (Amiga, Commodore 64)?

Do you remember how combat mechanics were designed? Did you press buttons on your keyboard or did you click commands on screen? Or did your weapon follow mouse movements?

Also I wouldn't underestimate power of our minds to remember things nicer than they actually are. 🙂 I mean I absolutely adore Stonekeep and I remember the game to be graphically flawless. The other day I tried to play the game again and I was like - really??

Anyway you have my sympathies. I went through similiar torment not so long time ago when I tried to make a list of all games I've ever finished (btw 137 so far and counting). Some of those games are 30 years old and I spent like whole two days on the internet seaching them...

One more thing - why would present developers sell their games through publishers? Isn't that outdated? I mean I saw a presentation of game designer Daniel Vavra (creator of Mafia and Kingdom Come games) and he was talking precisely about this. How they first had to travel to US to present their game to big studios/publishers like Bethesda or Ubisoft to publish the game through them. But then online stores appeared and after that there was no need for a publisher because they (the developers) could sell the game directly through Steam etc. Online stores have changed gaming business entirely.

I don't know how big cuts publishers used to take but I imagine it being something close to Steam/GOG cuts. A benefit of using a publisher could be a financial support from them - which would turn them into investors and that's the downfall - now they would probably be "nosy" and have some demands how the game should look like.

So yeah, online stores may be greedy but I think they actually benefit independent developers like SW.

I don't know anything about MacBook, I've never used it. But I know a solution when this problem appears in Windows. Maybe it can be a hint for you to do something like that on your Mac.

Solution for Windows (and it works generally for every game which may have the same issue) is this: Navigate to your game install folder, right click on the game executable file (*.exe). Now click on Properties → Compatibility → Change High DPI Settings → click check box at the bottom "Override high DPI scaling behavior. Scaling performed by: Application". Press OK and enjoy. 😉

Note that if you use Steam version, doing this simply on the game's desktop icon, created by Steam during installation, doesn't work. You must actually navigate to your game install folder and perform this on the .exe file which launches the game.

Hope this is somehow useful for you.

10 minutes ago, TriRodent said:

My guess (& it is just that, a guess) is that you 'will' be importing your prince/princess to the new game, but will be essentially starting over again

Yeah, so something like the Witcher between-games transfers which were quite disappointing because they had no real input on the newer games. Few dialog mentions and 1 NPC may appear/may not appear in Witcher 3.

Well, as much as interesting this idea looks like I wouldn't go too far to implement it into the game if it takes too much trouble. I could live without that. Would be nice though, I admit.

On 11/21/2020 at 11:38 PM, TriRodent said:

One difference with that upcoming game compared to all other SW games is that (in theory at this point) you will be continuing with the character/world choices that you made in QW1 - which sounds really cool if he can pull it off).

Does this mean you will be actually able to transfer your character from QW1 to QW2? I guess I´m keeping my saves somewhere safe then...

10 hours ago, TriRodent said:

Hey, I just got promoted to Wingbolt...I'm so proud...

Congratulations! 👍

8 hours ago, googoogjoob said:

Developers/publishers decide when and for how much their game goes on sale, and they can do this themselves. However, Steam also does daily/weekly sales, and bigger sales events (sometimes in collaboration with publishers). These generate more attention, and thus more sales, than a game just going on sale normally does, and Steam asks the developer/publisher if they would like their game to be a daily sale, or whatever. The developer/publisher still chooses how much it goes on sale for, but I presume that Steam mandates, eg, a game must be at least 50% off to be a daily sale, or the like. GOG is, I think, more restrictive in allowing devs/publishers to do their own sales- launch discounts are common, and sometimes a publisher with a decent-sized catalog on GOG (Bethesda, Paradox, etc) will do their own sale on GOG; but generally, GOG does weekly/seasonal sale events that it offers developers/publishers a slot in, rather than letting devs do their own sales on individual games. Neither Steam nor GOG can put games on sale without the consent of the developer/publisher.

Thank you for very detailed clarification. Much appreciated.

Hello,

just out of curiosity - I wonder how this works...

I buy all games exclusively on Steam. When there is a sale for a given game, does Steam somehow compensate it to the game developer? If not (which is likely) who decides if/how often/how big the sale is? Because I've seen many games being on sale very often very cheap and others hold their prices no-matter-what. Some game goes at a discount price only like 10-15% off whereas other goes even 90% off (which is crazy).

I admit I often buy games when they are on sale (same as many others I suppose). But sometimes it makes me feel bad...

I would also like to thank you. Great job! Really helpful.

Any chance adding Avernum 3: RW maps?

Hello,

this is my first post on this forum. I just want to say this:

I am 40+ years old and I've been playing RPG games for more than 25 years. Obviously that's why I love old-school RPGs.  I must admit I have had problems to find a game of my taste lately because the new AAA games just don't work for me. Then I found Spiderweb universe....

First game I played was Avadon: The Black Fortress. I liked it. But it was Avernum: EftP which really got me. I would never think something so simple-looking could have such satisfying game-play. In general I enjoy simple games with simple rules and simple skills and atributes progression. Maybe it's not "hard-core" but whatever. That's why I slightly prefer Avernum over Avadon (well, when I think about it - from the very reason I prefer Icewind Dale over Baldur's Gate). I am currently playing the second Avernum game and then... Well, there are many games to go. 🙂

So I just want to thank Jeff and other people for making these games. You just got a(nother) big fan...