Quoting: GBeeI don't want to drag out the argument at the expense of discussing what we're here to discuss, but is it really a valid disappointment?

Sure it is. How available or how common 64 bit hardware is doesn't negate the validity of disappointment at not being able to run something.

I don't think it's a bad thing that Feral didn't support 32 bit distros with their last Linux title, but I do think it's bad to say that someone isn't entitled to feel unhappy (I am, of course, not referring to the unpleasant nature in which that unhappiness has been expressed in the past - that's uncool).

Quoting: GBeeThe only people I've ever encountered who still run 32bit distros on 64bit architectures are crackpots who talk about 64bit not being ready for production use. They tend to actually know nothing about it because they aren't programmers.

I was running a 32 bit OS until last year, and I'm a programmer. I might be a crackpot though, who knows ^_^

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: lucifertdarkWhat's wrong with the X-Com port? I know I've only spent a few minutes playing it but I haven't had any game stopping bugs or performance issues, so what's wrong with it?

Astro is disappointed by the lack of 32bit support for X-Com. This is a valid and rational disappointment (although some of the ways in which that disappointment has been expressed are a bit uncool).

If I remember correctly, the X-Com store page didn't state that it was 64bit only, which resulted in some 32bit users purchasing a game that they couldn't play (which sucks, but these things happen).

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: tickInteresting theory, but we should consider more seriously the clue : on the picture I don't think it's an emperor penguin but a king penguin or Aptenodytes patagonicus.

You're right. It definitely looks like a King Penguin to me. I was surprised that people were calling it an Emperor Penguin.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: ShmerlIs it going to be DRM-free? KS page doesn't mention it. I'd confirm that before backing the project.

And the answer there is "yes"! The most recent update also mentions that it's the #1 asked question behind "will there be a stretch goal where you tell us the Secret of Monkey Island?"

Quoting: Segata Sanshiro

Edit > Maybe all these thoughts by Cheese & Segata could be written down into two opposing editorials, would both make a mighty fun read.

I would be up for that! A bit of healthy discussion on GOL would be a good thing and we both clearly hold different views, though it has to be said that Cheese is probably far more knowledgeable on this than me.

That'd be an interesting project to try and coordinate. If I end up with enough free time, I'd be open to doing something like that.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: dubigrasuThanks for the audiocast, great stuff.

Glad you enjoyed it!

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: dubigrasuMaybe you'll convince him to take part on one of your audiocasts someday? :)
I bet he has some interesting things to say.

Like this one [External Link]? :D

He had some neat stuff to say, and was one of my favourite guests (they're all my favourite though). He also joined us for a Painkiller event that we had a bunch of weeks before that. Sadly, I wasn't able to make that one.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: dubigrasuJoke aside, so sorry to hear that, especially now when we need more good porters.

If this means that there's another studio out there with internal Linux know-how, then there's a positive side too (ultimately, I feel that the future of Linux gaming lies with people who do stuff internally) :)

Quoting: dubigrasuI wonder what exactly "leaving the Linux porting business" means. I see he is leaving for The Astronauts, and they're looking into Linux too.

When I spoke to him last week, he said he was looking forward to working with creative people on new projects. I imagine he'll help out with Linux stuff, but it sounds like he's keen to sink his teeth into something that isn't digging through other people's code for existing projects.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Segata SanshiroThere is no denying that the number of successful video game Kickstarter projects has fallen by 20% compared to last year and the total amount of funding has dropped by 50%. The two best explanations for this would be lack of confidence and the second is lack of exposure - both of which the "bad apples" in the Kickstarter barrel hold a great deal of responsibility for.

That drop that you talk about still represents a huge increase beyond the pre-2012 funding amounts for games. I don't think it's fair to expect that there's not going to be a drop off after such an enormous spike.

It might now be harder to attract people than it was during/immediately after that initial surge, but so far as I can tell, the success/failure ratio seems to be more or less the same across all of this, so the impact of any exposure/confidence related issues can't be that large.

Quoting: Segata SanshiroWe now have a situation where the very platform which brought greater egalitarianism has been hijacked and turned into something where established players can get much lower-risk investments at no cost in ownership and where those same established players are essentially the "gatekeepers" to the small ones which could really benefit. It's moved from being a great way to bring small developers on the scene, to just pre-ordering games so that people with decades of experience don't have to talk to men in suits about investment because they don't want to "sell out", or more likely because they don't want to give up a share of their company.

The dynamics don't work like that though. Kickstarter's internal statistics analysis points and these larger figures bringing in people who will then go on to fund other projects, having an overall positive effect on funding levels for games (and other categories of projects) across the board.

Yes, it's hard to run a campaign, and yes it's hard to get noticed. It always has been. I know a number of developers who ran unsuccessful campaigns prior to the 2012 "boom", asking for very modest figures, who weren't able to get anywhere. There was a period immediately afterward where every man and his dog thought that they could get something funded easily, but that window was super small and short lived.

It feels like people are reaching out to industry figures for mentions and recommendations because they know that that is likely to help them get the numbers they need to reach the kinds of goals that are now achievable. I've got a hunch that if you hunt around, you'll find evidence of people seeking endorsement from big names pre-2012, but I imagine responses were be lacking given that crowdfunding wasn't taken seriously at that kind of level before then.

I guess the best question to ask is whether or not it's easier to get noticed by media today compared to say when Jake ran the Kentucky Route Zero campaign, or when Ryan ran the Waveform one? With sites like GOL here doing semi-regular roundups, I'm not so sure that it is.

The flipside, of course is that with Tim Schafer, Peter Molyneux, Ron Gilbert, Brian Fargo, Chris Roberts and other big names now not being as reliant on publisher funding, what is happening to those publishing budgets? Are more smaller developers getting picked up? Has the industry as a whole increased its focus on smaller scale developers? I think it has. Not as a direct result of crowdfunding growth, of course, but I have to imagine that it's had some impact.

Veering vaguely back on topic, it looks like the project has nearly reached halfway. It's interesting to see people's take on the art style. It's not the direction I would've chosen, but I can see that they specifically want to re-create the feel, style and chracter of their Maniac Mansion era games, and it seems like the right choice for that.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Wow, best of luck to Ron and Gary! I feel like Ron may have thrown a few hints of this out when we caught up at PAX Aus, but I completely missed them.

Quoting: Segata SanshiroThe more I look at this, it kind of pisses me off.

There's a bunch of stuff you've been throwing around that I think is pretty uncool, but I'm only going to address the numbers related stuff for now.

Crowdfunding campaigns aren't for everybody. If there are people who want to support this, then let those people do so and be happy. They're willing to take on whatever risk is associated with the project at hand, and should be free to accept that risk. There's no reason to be an internet angrymans every time somebody mentions a developer that you don't like who uses an open platform.

Contrary to what you've been asserting, large crowdfunding campaigns don't make it harder for smaller ones to get through. Crowdfunding is all about community engagement, and whilst Ron and Gary have a head start here, that doesn't prevent other campaign runners from working well with their own communities.

According to Kickstarter's statistics page [External Link], nearly three quarters of successful game related projects are under $20k, and according to the recent blog post [External Link] celebrating 5,000,000 backers, the majority of funded projects have targets below $7k. Statistically, the $75k threshold that you mentioned is inherently risky, and has always been. That's got nothing to do with people "eroding trust" (if anything, it'd work i your favour if more backers were inherently distrustful because as a presumably trustworthy person, it would be easier for you to stand out).

Developers like Double Fine, Uber Entertainment, and inXile Entertainment had contributed astoundingly to the growth of Kickstarter for games. Prior to 2012, 3.6% of Kickstarter pledges were for games, for 2012, that jumped to 23%. There's been plenty of lengthy analysis which highlights that this impact wasn't just a few successful high goal titles, the real impact was in these people going on to fund more crowdfunding projects than the existing Kickstarter community had. It's a fact that these larger projects brought attention and support to smaller projects, and that's even before you take into account the current popularity of highlighting other projects in backer updates that everybody (large and small) seems to be doing.

Quoting: ShmerlIs it going to be DRM-free? KS page doesn't mention it. I'd confirm that before backing the project.

I've shot an email off to Ron. I'll get you an answer on that :D

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I had the opportunity to meet these guys at PAX Aus a couple of weeks ago. They seem really nice and were enthusiastic about supporting Linux :D

View this comment - View article - View full comments