Interview From beyond the moons of Saturn, something turn-based this way comes.

[HotSnack]

He didn't mean it literally.

 

[Human Shield]

This is what I would prefer: The possibility to burn the game assets to a DVD (maybe encrypted so they can only be used via Steam) and an online shop where you can order a box and a manual for 10$. I could live with that.

On steam you can right-click and make backups.

 

[bryce777]

Hmm. Well, I loved the art in toee. Everything sounds great, and I really do hope the publishes can get cut out entirely. They are worse than the fucking record executives these days.

I wish he would do something like mount and blade does instead, though. Thermida seems much less fucked than steam.

 

[denizsi]

He didn't mean it literally.

Yeah I noticed that too, somewhat late.

The "no conversation" thing yet the great level of interaction promised between characters sounds weird to me, while they still talk to themselves in lunatic (my own interpretation of what's said in interview) moods.

 

[sheek]

Hmm. Well, I loved the art in toee. Everything sounds great, and I really do hope the publishes can get cut out entirely. They are worse than the fucking record executives these days.

I wish he would do something like mount and blade does instead, though. Thermida seems much less fucked than steam.

Making your own paypal-for-key style online distribution system probably reduces your customer base. With Steam more people will know your game exists and it's probably going to be advertised for you.

On the other hand you have to buy their engine license which is I think why Taleworlds didn't use it because they had built their own.

If you've got enough starting cash Steam is probably better for an Indie dev. In the future I don't see the really little guys using Steam, it will help the middle-size companies the most.

 

[Section8]

You don't have to use source to be distributed on Steam, but I'd imagine the publishing agreement is a bit different.

For instance, if you do license Source, then you get 100% cut of the profits, because you've already paid Valve a licensing fee. That's a pretty compelling incentive.

If you didn't license Source, then Valve would be compensated in some other way. Maybe they take a portion of the profits, or maybe they charge a flat fee, I wouldn't have a clue.

Still, it beats the shit out of the standard publisher model, and as long as Valve don't use Steam's all encompassing EULA for shady dealings. I can't see it happening. Most software EULAs give the end user less rights than a child bride, but if they decided to engage in unethical practices, well, we're on the fucking internet, and that shit spreads like wildfire.

 

[Jinxed]

I don't think many people know this, but on Arcanum, everyone at the company made the same salary and had the same percentage of royalties. Anyone at the company could look through the books at any time and see exactly how much we cost to run. Even on the production side, anyone could question any decision made. There were pro's and con's to this, but in general I still hold a lot of that original Troika sentiment. If you hire a small group of intelligent, experienced people, you can keep everything in the open. It builds a level of trust and feeling of truly belonging to a family. You really feel like you are working together to create something.

And no one during production noticed or thought that making a real time turn based hybrid was a bad idea? WAY TO GO!

Troika game:

What the player experiences: You walk into a bar. The bartender greets you with a fine "Hello Stranger! Come and enjoy a pint of ale on the house!" At this point, you shoot an arrow through his neck.... he drops dead, the bar maid and most of the patrons freak out and run for the door... You laugh maniacally until you notice some guy in the corner (who happens to be the bartenders' brother in law enjoying a pint himself) unsheathing his vorpal sword and coming after you with bloody vengeance in his eyes... You kill him too and take his sword. You search the inn and find a key underneath a bottle of whiskey behind the bar. The key opens a lockbox upstairs in his room where you find a map.

What Troika was thinking: Hey, what if I want to shoot the bartender? Yeah, I hate those stereo-typical jolly fat bartender guys. It'll be more trouble, but we'll make sure you can get the map some how. For the people in the room, we'll have them check against your faction and skills, if you attack anyone, they will determine if they are scared, hostile, or unmoved by your actions. If they are scared they'll run, hostile they'll attack, and unmoved they will just sit there drinking a beer while all hell breaks loose. Yeah, we should put at least on guy in the bar who's tough as nails. The tough quiet dude who calmly drinks his beer... The guy you DO NOT want to mess with. Yeah, and if you kill anyone in this inn, the cops in town will attack you on sight. The more neutral shopkeepers will still sell to you, but they will jack the prices up because even they think you are a cold blooded killer.

So how come Bloodlines had all those safety zones and linear like fuck plot that didn't go any way but the dev's way?


While both Bloodlines and TOEE weren't bad games neither held up to Troika standards or promises. Mentioning those yet again while that's one of the things that went wrong is funney, but sad too.

 

[CorrodedCoder]

As distasteful as it is, sounds like the steam thing is a sensible way to actually build a company which keeps the rights to it's games and keep itself funded.

The bit I really like is the leverage he could end up with over traditional publishers if the game takes off under steam. That way we might see the game appear in the shops some time later, allowing physical media/manuals junkies (like me) to grab it there.

The development environment at Troika reminds me of a company I once worked at (which also didn't survive). I still miss my buddies from that place.

Troika died in my PC gaming hiatus, so anyone tell me how/why they died BTW? More crap Atari distribution antics?

CC

 

[Volourn]

"So how come Bloodlines had all those safety zones and linear like fuck plot that didn't go any way but the dev's way?


While both Bloodlines and TOEE weren't bad games neither held up to Troika standards or promises. Mentioning those yet again while that's one of the things that went wrong is funney, but sad too."


"Troika died in my PC gaming hiatus, so anyone tell me how/why they died BTW? More crap Atari distribution antics?"

Publisher's fault. They are evil. Didn't you know that? They eat babies too.

 

[Jinxed]

Poor management, medium poor game sales, failure to acquire Fallout license, failure to secure publisher for their post apoc project.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

And no one during production noticed or thought that making a real time turn based hybrid was a bad idea? WAY TO GO!

I thought the real-time combat in Arcanum happened because of the publisher's (Sierra's) insistance?

 

[Naked_Lunch]

I thought they needed it for multiplayer, but I don't know if sierra insisted they have multiplayer or not.

 

[Jinxed]

And that's what everyone thought until someone from Troika said it otherwise in an interview. Don't ask me which one as there were so many and it was at least a year ago.

 

[marshmonkey]

good to hear mike is still fighting the good fight, I wish him all the luck in the world.

 

[Deacdo]

Funding is still a big issue, by the sounds of it. Even if you don't go for big budget graphics and all that jazz you're still looking at millions, and that could be pretty tough to recoup...or even get in the first place.

I wonder how much the STEAM engine costs? If Valve doesn't charge for their service I wonder if they charge a premium for the engine (even so, what about when a dev doesn't buy the engine...is Valve doing this out of the goodness of their hearts?).

It would be nice if a lot of big name RPG developers returned at started making STEAM titles. I hear Warren Spectre is making a game for STEAM. The guys from Troika...I'd be interested in their work if they didn't have to play to a publisher's tune. Most of all I'd like Sirtech to rise from the ashes. I was saddened to hear that Linda Currie was working on Railroad Tycoon offshoots

 

[Kos_Koa]

Sorry for the bump, but has their been any more news on this game yet? I've been checking around for a while but found nothing other than links to this site.

 

[Khoram]

Has anyone ever looked into using a publishing on demand service like lulu.com for manuals/maps? I think they even do data cd/dvd-roms as well, maybe you could self publish through a system like that?