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The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
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Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
No, thanks to Steam we no longer need to put up with SecuROM, TAGES and other intrusive shit that was likely to lock up your computer and spy on your pr0n.

Instead we have Steam doing all of that, except it doesn't lock up our computers anymore...
 

Wirdschowerdn

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Steam isn't intrusive in the sense that it installs malware into your Windows system folder. It's a self-contained program that does it's job well.

Also, GoG is a potatoman service, run by potato people with potato salaries. It also makes it just too damn convenient for pirates, so a certain degree of DRM is required. Steam is the slickest solution.
 

Jaesun

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I personally didn't find any of HL2's music even remotely inspiring or even memorable. It fits, but was for the most part boring. Compared to say Deus Ex which has a fantastic score...
 

Metro

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HL2 was okay. Nowhere near as good as people hyped it to be. I doubt we ever see HL3, people just don't give a shit about it anymore. Not compared to more L4Derp or TF2 hats.
 

Jaesun

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If you don't think Valve has a HL3 in production you are sadly delusional. (WHEN it will come out who the fuck knows).
 

Akratus

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I personally didn't find any of HL2's music even remotely inspiring or even memorable. It fits, but was for the most part boring. Compared to say Deus Ex which has a fantastic score...

Nobody insults Kelly Bailey! Nobody, you hear me?!




 

MicoSelva

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Codex 2012 Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Divinity: Original Sin 2 Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
http://richg42.blogspot.jp/2014/11/state-of-linux-gaming.html

GabeN needs to pull the plug on SteamOS, Steam Machines and that silly controller and entirely focus on game development for DirectX. I bet the reason we don't see L4D3 and HL3 yet is because they can't get Source 2 run properly on this piece of shit OpenGL abomination. What a waste of everybody's time.
Yeah, I am actually expecting it to be a timed exclusive for SteamOS for a while, when it finally comes out. It is not like they need money from the sales, and it would be hard to find a better promo tool for their new platform.
 

Metro

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If you don't think Valve has a HL3 in production you are sadly delusional. (WHEN it will come out who the fuck knows).
'In production?' That could mean anything. Like a few pieces of concept art lying around the floor of the janitor's closet. I think it's more delusional to think they're actively working on it in any capacity. Especially with Steam blowing up into the monster it has become with the marketplace, DOTA2 cosmetics, etc. It's been a decade. In another five years... or ten... or who knows... people will give even less shits about it. I would wager the number of hours spent on HL3 this last year at Valve could be measured in single digits... if not less.
 

Metro

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He won't abandon SteamOS. His challenge is to unseat Bill Gates/Microsoft as far as gaming platforms go. I suspect it's what drives him since, as a billionaire, he has little else to prove.
 

Spectacle

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He won't abandon SteamOS. His challenge is to unseat Bill Gates/Microsoft as far as gaming platforms go. I suspect it's what drives him since, as a billionaire, he has little else to prove.
I dunno if the plan with steamOS is to directly attack Microsoft, or if Valve just wants to have it as a backup in case MS goes full Apple and locks down windows to only run software from the MS app store.
 

pippin

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I personally didn't find any of HL2's music even remotely inspiring or even memorable. It fits, but was for the most part boring. Compared to say Deus Ex which has a fantastic score...

I agree with this. HL's music was very discreet and "to the point", which in the end made a big service to the game's atmosphere.
My favorite thing about HL2 were the character designs, especially the gross aliens. Some of them were really creepy. But the gameplay is gimmick after gimmick, which is not fun at all.
 

tuluse

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I personally didn't find any of HL2's music even remotely inspiring or even memorable. It fits, but was for the most part boring. Compared to say Deus Ex which has a fantastic score...
HL2 is the last game I remember with an actual rock soundtrack.
 

LESS T_T

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Codex 2014
Recently I read this article which basically say that Steam Discovery update doubled Desktop Dungeons' revenue without any extra efforts from the developer's end. So while there's some quirks, it seems Discovery system quite effectively recommend games to intersted players.

As far as I understand this recommendation system is based on the tags that submitted by users. But some games doesn't have enough tags relevant to them. For example, Lords of Xulima is pretty much an open world, exloration-heavy and crowdfunded CRPG, but there is no 'open world', 'exploration', 'crowdfuned' and 'CRPG' tags on its store page. So I assume that it will be less recommended to classic RPG players compared to others.

For a tag to be appeared on store page, there should be over certain amount of submissions. So how about we submit appropriate tags on inclined but less known games, so that games can be recommended to potential players (buyers)?

Well, I don't know if this can be considered abusing or violates Steam's Terms of Service.
 

Multi-headed Cow

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As far as I understand this recommendation system is based on the tags that submitted by users. But some games doesn't have enough tags relevant to them. For example, Lords of Xulima is pretty much an open world, exloration-heavy and crowdfunded CRPG, but there is no 'open world', 'exploration', 'crowdfuned' and 'CRPG' tags on its store page. So I assume that it will be less recommended to classic RPG players compared to others.
Added open world and crowdfunded just for you. Although by "Added" I mean added my vote to it. The tags typically take more than one person going for 'em for them to show up, especially if there are already tags for something.

Also His Royal Highness Gabe Newell knows me too well.
Apply a tag you've used on other products:

Vaporware
scam
unfinished
Abandonware
Will Never Be Finished

:M
 

Infinitron

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MCA and others on HL2: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-11-18-half-life-2-remembered

Dan Marshall, Size Five Games

"You've arrived in City 17, you've had a taste of the atmosphere, the dystopian tang in the air, and you're starting to itch for something to shoot at. Before you get the gun, before you get the crowbar, even, there's this sublime little bit of game design, dashing through buildings, guided by citizens ushering you through the apartments.

"There's this building tension, a succession of 'moments' that get increasingly frequent, like a rising heartbeat. Suddenly there's a Combine coming up the stairs and the whole thing erupts into this mad, brilliant rooftop dash. Bullets pinging against the wall next to you, the sinister crackle of radio chatter chasing you, and you're just madly, desperately clambering to find the path forwards. A gunship buzzes you, and guides your eye towards a tank on the streets. Barely-visible ground troops take potshots at you as you dart across a ledge. Finally you're in through a window, and a door bursts open and Combine charge towards you. You turn, and the door behind you does the same.

"You're never really in danger, of course, and it ends in an inevitable failure. But that chase remains such a thrill, such a pitch-perfect masterclass in action choreography. I'd play a whole game like that."

Tom Francis, Suspicious Developments

"Looking back on what I wrote at the time, my mind was apparently f***ing blown by the digital acting - the nuance, the warmth, little expressions and inflections I'd never seen a game pull off before. And I was in love with the combat - it was my favourite shotgun ever, and the gravity gun was limitless joy.

"Those things have since lost their novelty, but the thing that's stuck with me is its sense of place. And of those places, Highway 17. It's a route that runs along the coast from City 17 to the prisons at Nova Prospekt, and you gun it in your wireframe buggy as Antlions pop on your hood. But once you plough through those, it becomes a quieter drive. There are bleak little houses on the clifftops along the way, and it's up to you whether to stop off and investigate.

"If you do, you'll find them weathered and abandoned, repurposed as rebel hideouts, fallen to the headcrabs or annexed by the Combine. The dead trees, the misty view, and the calmly shimmering sea gave them a quiet sadness. The fact that they were optional made them feel real: places that existed with or without me. And choosing to investigate was one of the few times when Half-Life 2 made me feel like a survivor of a tragedy more than a freedom fighter. Scavenging for scraps among the remnants of isolated places long lost. Hitting a boat with a crowbar for +25 health."

Adrien Chmielarz, The Astronauts

"The core Half-Life 2 was never immersive to me, I couldn't buy into the story and the world.

"However, I admired each minute of the game for how smart it was. I remember this little combat set up where you had to roll up a gate, but it took time and any enemy attack interrupted the action, causing the gate to slowly go down again. It's a solution replicated quite often these days - like many other things from Half-Life 2 - but at the time it was a wow moment for me.

"And the game was densely peppered with smart solutions like this. You just knew you were in the presence of something very special. But, as I said, I wasn't immersed. It was all too good, too calculated, you could feel the designers' presence every step of the way. "I did feel immersed in the Episodes, though. To this day I am not quite sure why. I do know, though, that the Striders' attack on the White Forest is one of those rare moments in gaming where the gameplay, the world, and the storytelling perfectly mesh together into one nuclear blast of synergy that only a handful of games managed to offer in the last 10 years."

David Goldfarb, independent

"Caveat: I'm old, so I don't recall that many moments with much clarity any more. What I remember best from Half-Life 2 was a sound. I had to listen to it again today to refresh my memory.

"The sound of the Strider. Maybe it's weird that this is the thing I latched onto. There were so many firsts in Half-Life 2 that to pick a thing which was, at the end of the day, just some incredibly good sound design seems like it's missing the point.

"But here's my argument, I guess. That one sound told me everything I needed to know about the game. It was mournful and lonely and wounded in a way that made me think about everything that must have happened to make this thing sound this way. How was it born? What kind of world would have to exist in order for this thing to fit in? There was a feeling of deep, grounded reality in the sound, like someone had been standing there with a boom mike in the middle of City 17, waiting for one of these things to come by, risking their own life just to bring us this one noise. So even though the totality of Half-Life 2 was this amazing collection of incredible 'I've never seen that before' stuff, it all started for me with the one sound, that awful wail like the lighthouse monster in Bradbury's short story, relentless as the tides."

Scott Warner, Visceral Games

"One of the things that Half-Life 2 did better than any other game I can think of is how it introduced gameplay features to the player. New mechanics and weapons are not just pickups you find on the ground after killing something - nearly every one of them has a carefully crafted sequence that teaches the functionality of the system we need to learn and keeps it firmly in the universe. Think about how much time we spend with D0g and the gravity gun, learning how to control the Antlions and encountering Striders for the first time. Interacting with objects in the world doesn't just get some text on-screen to inform the player of what to do, but instead is presented menacingly by a Combine soldier who threatens to shock you with his stick if you don't comply. Even the crowbar is presented to us as 'our old friend' by another old friend. Thanks to Valve's attention to detail and their clear synergy between narrative and gameplay, our immersion is rarely broken in Half-Life 2 by cheap tooltips or gamey tutorials."

Warren Spector

"The most memorable moment for me was tossing the ball for D0g - but saying that will surely cost me much gamer cred!"

Jordan Thomas, Question LLC - working on The Magic Circle

"I'm not sure if this answer will be rogue, controversial, or incredibly common, but honestly the thing I remember most keenly is playing catch, and then fetch, with D0g. It sits high among a very small number of tutorials which have ever allowed me to forget that I was being taught, and remember it instead as a moment I had lived.

"Although heavily scripted like other scenes before and since, the heavy involvement of the physics simulation, and the interactive honesty to involve one of the game's central mechanics (in a scene which also introduces a semi-major character and effortlessly weaves small notes about his relationship with Alyx into the action)... The elegance of it struck me hard at the time. Clearly, it inspires run-on sentences.

"You're getting to know these two through action as much or more more than dialogue, and the kinesthetic part of your brain, which would normally rebel against a scene this long, is consistently engaged - in a non-violent way, to boot.

"Reviewing it again on YouTube now, the slight moments of churn where the scripting has to wait for the physics simulation to settle, etc - are still explained relatively well by D0g's robotic nature, which is a conceit Valve would go on to exploit masterfully for years to come without ever making it an excuse for lazy presentation.

"Cases where D0g would miss, or you would - they were gamey, but in a way that felt true to all physical play; project atoms into space and sometimes the trajectory isn't ideal, the margin for error in intent is pretty friggin' wide. You might, perchance, bean your baby brother and never hear the end of it.

"That moment remains a great example, to me, of a case where the compositional elements were strong enough, and enough white (or negative) space was left for me to express myself within it via the systems - that I actively filled in the gaps, remembered it as smoother and more natural than it truly was. That rosy hindsight effect tends to be a hallmark of greatness, especially in games, where most of us still handle quiet "human" moments so awkwardly, all these years later."

Chris Avellone, Obsidian Entertainment

"The gravity gun - sorry, Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator - was one of the best gaming 'tools' I've seen given to a player. It's perfect for puzzle-solving, exploration, and combat, especially choosing your ammo, which can come with all sorts of advantages and drawbacks.

"So my happiest moment was this: after going through the game dreaming that the gravity gun worked on enemies, the moment it went supercharged blue in the Citadel and I was able to punt Combine soldiers around was one of the most satisfying moments I've had in gaming. As soon as I targeted the first enemy, my room was filled with joyous streams of profanity. As a game mechanic advancement, it made me empowered - and made me totally forget that my other weapons were vaporised in light of the new power I had. (Well played, Valve.)"
 

Infinitron

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http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/...s-and-guidelines-for-early-access-developers/

Steam Updates Early Access Rules, Guidelines For Developers
Valve appears to recognize Early Access has burned some customers, and it needs to clarify what the platform is really for.

Monetization of the development process has proven controversial. While Steam's Early Access program lets players participate in creation, it's led to confusion and anxiety when games go off the rails. Valve issued new documentation to developers about Early Access today, suggesting it knows it's an issue.

Several developers confirmed the existence of these new guidelines to me this morning.

The updated documentation is broken up into sets of "rules" and "guidelines," and opens with Valve trying to define exactly what Early Access is. It's mostly familiar, but written with the benefit of experience.

"Steam Early Access is a way to invite customers to get involved with your game as you develop, so that you can get the feedback you need to make better informed product decisions and to ensure the best outcome for your customers and fans. When you launch a game in Steam Early Access, there is an expectation by customers that you will continue development to a point where you have what you consider a 'finished' game. We know that nobody can predict the future, and circumstances frequently change, which may result in a game failing to reach a 'finished' state, or may fail to meet customer expectations in some other way. We work hard to make sure this risk is communicated clearly to customers, but we also ask that developers follow a set of rules that are intended to help inform customers and set proper expectations when purchasing your game."

First up, rules. This aspect is non-negotiable for Early Access participants. Valve now asks developers to specifically brand games as being in "Early Access" when Steam keys are being distributed off-site. This makes sense. Nobody should be buying a Steam key for a game without knowing it's not quite finished yet. Besides branding, Valve also asks developers to communicate the current status of the project.

"We work really hard to make sure that customers understand what they are buying when they get an Early Access title on Steam. But we've seen that many of these titles are sold as keys on other websites where there is no explanation of what Early Access is or what the current state of your product is now versus what you hope to achieve."

Interestingly, developers are now asked to avoid "specific promises about future events." This is likely to avoid developers bragging about how their game will eventually have co-op and other features that might be axed. This could lead to projects being more vague but more realistic about can really happen.

"For example, there is no way you can know exactly when the game will be finished, that the game will be finished, or that planned future additions will definitely happen. Do not ask your customers to bet on the future of your game. Customers should be buying your game based on its current state, not on promises of a future that may or may not be realized."

Next, Valve requires developers to launch on Early Access as the same time it's unlocked on other storefronts or web sites. Furthermore, sales have to be consistent, and developers cannot charge more on Steam than they're charging elsewhere. Consistency is key.

"We expect Steam customers to get a price for the Early Access game no higher than they are offered on any other service or website. Please make sure that’s the case."

What follows next are a series of guidelines, recommendations borne out of Valve watching some developers crash and burn on Early Access. We've all witnessed this. When it happens, it hurts everyone. Consumers begin to distrust Early Access (and the idea of participatory development more generally), and become wary of buying into the promise of new games, even if the circumstances are very different.

Since this section is so interesting, I'll just quote the whole thing.

"Don’t launch in Early Access if you can’t afford to develop with very few or no sales.

There is no guarantee that your game will sell as many units as you anticipate. If you are counting on selling a specific number of units to survive and complete your game, then you need to think carefully about what it would mean for you or your team if you don't sell that many units. Are you willing to continue developing the game without any sales? Are you willing to seek other forms of investment?

Make sure you set expectations properly everywhere you talk about your game.

For example, if you know your updates during Early Access will break save files or make the customer start over with building something, make sure you say that up front. And say this everywhere you sell your Steam keys.

Don't launch in Early Access without a playable game.

If you have a tech demo, but not much gameplay yet, then it’s probably too early to launch in Early Access. If you are trying to test out a concept and haven't yet figured out what players are going to do in your game that makes it fun, then it's probably too early. You might want to start by giving out keys to select fans and getting input from a smaller and focused group of users before you post your title to Early Access. At a bare minimum, you will need a video that shows in-game gameplay of what it looks like to play the game. Even if you are asking customers for feedback on changing the gameplay, customers need something to start with in order to give informed feedback and suggestions.

Don't launch in Early Access if you are done with development.

If you have all your gameplay defined already and are just looking for final bug testing, then Early Access isn’t the right place for that. You’ll probably just want to send out some keys to fans or do more internal playtesting. Early Access is intended as a place where customers can have impact on the game."

Every single one of those bullet points has been echoed before. Being able to see how a game goes through the ugly, often frustrating process of development is amazing, and the benefits certainly outweigh the problems. Game development has previously been mysterious. Now, less so. Yes, players will occasionally get burned on a game that doesn't pan out. That sort of risk is just inherent to these kinds of ventures.

Nonetheless, it doesn't absolve developers (or Steam/Valve) from making sure consumers are aware of the leap they're making. Failure is always a possibility, but if everyone is communicating, that's okay.

These guidelines and rules seem like a step in that direction, but the guidelines remain exactly that: guidelines. They're not rules, which means developers might still be tempted by potential Steam sales.

Vault Dweller
 
Last edited:

Multi-headed Cow

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"Early Access developers must also avoid "specific promises about future events," such as when a game will be finished or what features are planned for future updates. "Customers should be buying your game based on its current state, not on promises of a future that may or may not be realized," Valve writes."

That kinda sounds like Valve having a written example to point to to say "No bro we can't give you a refund, we said we only wanted early access games to be sold as-is, look right here". Seems full of crap to tell developers not to talk about what they're working on/planning for early access, since 99% of early access games are varying degrees of shit since they're not done. Even the best games are like Invisible Inc which currently has a rock-solid base of gameplay to work on, but if that's all I got for my money I'd be pretty damn pissed because it's so barebones.
 

Infinitron

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Updated post with full set of new guidelines from source.

Seems full of crap to tell developers not to talk about what they're working on/planning for early access, since 99% of early access games are varying degrees of shit since they're not done.

Maybe the point is to get rid of those 99% and remain with the 1%. Alternatively, it could push Early Access games to drop their prices to make the proposition more worthwhile.

The most likely outcome of this however is that developers will find ways to sneakily deliver "promises" to gamers in a way that doesn't trip Valve's radar. Like by describing them in a more a general, non-committal manner, or by making it obvious within the game itself that something is planned even if it's implemented yet.
 

Infinitron

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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-11-25-valve-updates-gift-rules-to-limit-steam-key-sellers

Valve updates gift rules to limit Steam key resellers
30 day wait now required.

Steam has moved to limit the quick re-sale of gifted Steam keys by applying a 30-day wait before they can be sold on.

The rule change, announced today by Valve's Tony Paloma, is an attempt to clamp down on scammers who trade gifts which are later revoked due to problems with payment.

"All new games purchased as a gift and placed in the purchaser's inventory will be untradable for 30 days," Paloma wrote. "The gift may still be gifted at any time. The only change is to trading.

"We've made this change to make trading gifts a better experience for those receiving the gifts. We're hoping this lowers the number of people who trade for a game only to have the game revoked later due to issues with the purchaser's payment method."

Steam key resellers and rival retail sites have been known to buy up game keys in bulk using fraudulent payment details, then sell them on at a discount to ensure quick sale.

Customers who snap up these keys are then left out of pocket if Valve is unable process the original payment, which then causes the keys to be revoked.
 

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