Thanks for the roadmap, Brad! Q2/2015 is actually a later release date than I had expected, but this is good news. I'm glad you're allocating such a long development period with public/semi-public testing to this classic in the making. :) Quite enjoying what I've seen of the alpha so far.
[quote who="Tridus" reply="114" id="3407829"] I sure hope nobody complaining about Steam ever buys anything on their phone or tablet, because those app stores are far, FAR more restrictive than anything Steam is doing.[/quote] Mobile games cost 99 cents often, a handful of dollars at most. A new Steam game costs $40-50 frequently. But yes, I felt too trapped by Apple and switched to Android after three years of using iPads. Took less than $150 to replace pretty much ever
[quote who="Frogboy" reply="75" id="3406725"]As for Steam dominance, I think at this stage, I think that Valve has proven to be a good thing for the PC game industry. I can't think of anyone who has done more to help make PC game development viable than Valve. Certainly NOT Microsoft.[/quote] Valve is good for PC gaming in the same way that dictatorships are initially good for countries that are in poor shape. It's a "Good Thing" for now, and probably for a while longer,
He means that your expectations to get depth, complexity and also " combat [that is] like you are watching Battlestar Galactica" are unrealistic. That'd be unrealistic even if Stardock wasn't an indie developer and had a bigger budget than they do. I like the animations in FE just fine and perfectly functional. If I want to watch a movie, I watch a movie. :)
Steam allows you to download games in all supported languages, even if they are added later. So if GalCiv3 will support other languages, you'll almost certainly be able to get it.
I think Stardock has learned from Elemental. They went out of their way to make up for it, apologized multiple times, handed out more free stuff than I felt was necessary, and Fallen Enchantress was a solid release. Not perfect perhaps, but nothing at all like Elemental had been, and above the average quality of today's releases. Personally, I feel it's past time to let them live down the Elemental fiasco.
They said that they haven't set a cut-off date yet, but will give advance warning once they do. I think (hope!) that "winter" means "sometime in November to February". I paid up so that it's out of the way. :p
I don't plan on switching back to Linux in the foreseeable future (some work-related software is Windows-only, but we're working on that), but when the opportunity presents itself, I'd like to switch my laptop back to ArchLinux. Since GalCiv3 will be one of those "play for years" kind of games, I'd be happy to see a multi-platform version (I'd include Android here, but that's a wet dream). But since DirectX 10/11 were already mentioned as requirements, I'm
[quote who="Magecite" reply="29" id="3405914"] I am seeing a lot of hate here for steam.[/quote] I don't think it's hate. More like an awakening of the awareness that one big fish in the pond that eats all smaller fish may not really be beneficial for a healthy balance in the long run. Statistics that say that 98% of the PC gamers use Steam are a bit misleading if you consider that plenty of games aren't sold elsewhere, or require Steam even if you do buy the
Sounds like a neural network, which is pretty awesome! I'm perfectly fine with always online for a purpose like this, provided it automatically reconnects after disconnects, doesn't mind lag, and only sends minimal data.
[quote who="RonLugge" reply="10" id="3405419"]Oh boo-hoo. Waa. Waa. I don't like the price point I bought at. Let me buy it cheaper. Maybe we should ask for discounts when the game's price gets cut a year after launch?[/quote] Discounts are fine. Offering a game with a 10% pre-order bonus (as the only bonus) and then selling it at 30% off on the release day is not the same as a sale a few weeks or months later. Besides, they did say that it was a
[quote who="Voqar" reply="3" id="3404949"] I would say I'm surprised that people STILL dislike Steam, but I used to be that way, so whatever floats your misguided boat. You'll come around eventually. [/quote] Let me share with you when I started to question if the Steam boat is really a luxury liner or if, under all the glitter, it may not be a prisoner transporter. I have about 800 games on Steam and probably spent several thousand bucks over th
Yay! I really welcome the multiplayer support! TBS and MP make for such a lovely pair! Very much looking forward to the start of the alpha!
True, it doesn't mention that the actual release version is included. But I think it's far more likely to be an oversight (because of how obvious it is) than malicious intent. It would be pretty short-sighted to tank their reputation like this. I'm not worried.
Elemental had eroded some of my trust, too, but the way FE was handled pretty much restored it again. I've played Brad's stuff since the OS/2 version of GalCiv and always enjoyed the games (Elemental aside). He's also one of the few who care about the quality of the AI. Sure, he's not always consistent with his views (e.g. re: Steam), but heck, I'm not, either. A thinking man changes his mind, after all. ;) Gotta adapt to new developments and insights.
[quote who="Chibiabos" reply="4" id="3405118"] I think I still have a GC2 disc around somewhere, but its just the vanilla version. I bought the full edition with all expansions on Impulse a few years back because it was so cheap which means the disc I have is redundant.[/quote] I have the tin box somewhere, but it's just collecting dust. It's curious in a way. My handheld games increase in value every year (old GB/A carts especially), while PC games just never reta
You can disable the notifications, too. Preferences -> Friends, and uncheck all "display a notification" options.
Nah, I re-bought it on Steam when it was on sale at some point. :) GalCiv1, too, but I think that's too old now.
[quote who="Chibiabos" reply="12" id="3405067"] I still don't like Steam. I thought Brad didn't either, but I guess he changed his mind. It seems like he changed his mind before divorcing Impulse.[/quote] Not that he can't do it himself, but in his defense: From an economical perspective, a developer or publisher of PC games can't really ignore Steam. It's just too popular, which of course doesn't help the concerns. Plus, from a developmental
It's pretty common for publishers to just convert dollar prices to euros 1:1 (making "stuff" more expensive for Europeans), so I was very happy to see that the $99 founder's edition wasn't €99, but actually ~€75. So, thanks for using a proper exchange rate! It's a small thing, but nevertheless a gesture that's appreciated.
I woke up to Stardock's announcement, skipped coffee, bought the version with the earliest access immediately, and now I'm re-downloading GalCiv2. It's great to have a game of this calibre to look forward to. :)