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A couple of questions...

bluecuracao

Novice
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
42
ok, my fault.. thought i read 800x600 somewhere... but still, damn. 1024x768 is not enough. i demand widescreen support! or would it be too much work?
 

Shagnak

Shagadelic
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Arse of the world, New Zealand
bluecuracao said:
And windowed mode? come on.. theres not one single game i played in windowed mode, not even monkey island or summer olympics back in the Amiga 500 days.. Looking at my desktop with all the work waiting while playing is not an option for me..
Well, it would fix your scaling problem. Stop moaning.
 

bluecuracao

Novice
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
42
Well, it would fix your scaling problem. Stop moaning.


what? stop being so yesterday. if you want to actually sell this game outside of the codex population you have to meet some minimum standards. and one of these is being able to play in fullscreen. ALL games were playable in fullscreen at their time of release, even if you go back 20 years.


AoD looks really beautiful in its most recent incarnation, the story and dialogue is amazing (according to VD) and it could have a much wider impact than you expect (omg sellout). there are a lot of rpg-fans pissed with the recent developments in pc-gaming (especially people 20+), and AoD is a real masterpiece for an indie game.


VD said in another thread he expects to sell 50-70 box copies. with a bit more PR and a little more user friendliness (like being able to play in fullscreeen) this game can easily sell 500 or even 5000 boxes worldwide. the target audience is out there, you just have to reach them.
 

Shagnak

Shagadelic
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Arse of the world, New Zealand
bluecuracao said:
Well, it would fix your scaling problem. Stop moaning.
what? stop being so yesterday.
But windowed mode is very today. It's the new pink.

ALL games were playable in fullscreen at their time of release, even if you go back 20 years.
So fullscreen is the one that is "yesterday" then? Make up your mind.


Even if it can do the native resolution of my LCD, I'd still like windowed mode. And if it's easier to deliver than faffing around trying to meet widescreen demands, then good. Give the devs some time to concentrate on things that really matter, like gameplay. If VD wastes an extra month trying to get widescreen working due to your whingeing then a million* AoD fanboy ninjas are going to sweep down on you and demonstrate their elite ginsu skills. (*Okay, more like a few dozen, whatever)
 

bluecuracao

Novice
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
42
Shagnak said:
So fullscreen is the one that is "yesterday" then? Make up your mind.

ok you got me there^^ i just wanted to say you sounded like 'everything making it look better is just empty hype, just go play in a tiny window on your desktop, the game isn't about the graphics anyway!'

Shagnak said:
Even if it can do the native resolution of my LCD, I'd still like windowed mode.

i doubt that.. for what?

Shagnak said:
And if it's easier to deliver than faffing around trying to meet widescreen demands, then good. Give the devs some time to concentrate on things that really matter, like gameplay.

well, if im not mistaken, supporting different resolutions is relative easy (there are a lot of 'resolution hacks' for older games made by fans even without having the source code for example, that make them run in higher resolutions). the biggest problem would be making UI's for all the resolutions, but this can easily be solved by making only the game window larger and keeping the UI in the same size centered at the screens bottom. making this will certainly not take months.
 

Jasede

Arcane
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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
bluecuracao said:
ok, my fault.. thought i read 800x600 somewhere... but still, damn. 1024x768 is not enough. i demand widescreen support! or would it be too much work?

Alt.
 

Shagnak

Shagadelic
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Messages
4,637
Location
Arse of the world, New Zealand
bluecuracao said:
Shagnak said:
Even if it can do the native resolution of my LCD, I'd still like windowed mode.

i doubt that.. for what?
I often play games while "work related" things (and by that I don't necessarily mean my paid job) are happening in the background, and I want to periodically check their progress. And other stuff. Often I will be monitoring work that is occurring remotely.

The point is that windowed mode makes it easier for me to do this.
 

Shagnak

Shagadelic
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Messages
4,637
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Arse of the world, New Zealand
Jasede said:
bluecuracao said:
ok, my fault.. thought i read 800x600 somewhere... but still, damn. 1024x768 is not enough. i demand widescreen support! or would it be too much work?

Alt.
Not as far as I can tell by checking his IP.

bluecuracao said:
well, if im not mistaken, supporting different resolutions is relative easy
Possibly, I'm not certain how they're developing the UI. But if it were to require stuffing around then I would rather time be spent other things. If it is easy, I apologize in advance and will console myself for the shame I feel with the fact that I am getting windowed mode, yessirree.
bluecuracao said:
making this will certainly not take months.
Probably not. I was exaggerating the point. There won't be any ginsu-wielding ninjas turning up at your house either. :wink:
 

bluecuracao

Novice
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
42
Shagnak said:
I often play games while "work related" things (and by that I don't necessarily mean my paid job) are happening in the background, and I want to periodically check their progress. And other stuff.

The point is that windowed mode makes it easier for me to do this.

yeah, thats pretty much the only reason to play in some window, if you do other stuff all the time.. but honestly, if i play a game i play a game and dont want to be disrupted. and thats the way most people think.

so while windowed mode is good for you and all, please make AoD a little more accesible to the 'masses' (so you may be able to counter the current trend in the industry).
 

Jasede

Arcane
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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Shagnak said:
Probably not. I was exaggerating the point. There won't be any ginsu-wielding ninjas turning up at your house either. :wink:

That's what Shagnak says - but if you delay this project you'll surely get the fursuited hitman squad sent to you.


I really don't get what's wrong with a 1024x768 mode. Either use that in fullscreen and learn to live with the scaling or use a window. Let's assume you have a 19" monitor and run it in 1024x768 - just minimize all other windows and make your desktop black. It's exactly like playing on a smaller monitor - a black background with the game in the middle. Hide the taskbar and you're set.

Addndm: Buying a bigger monitor was a mistake. It's impossible for me to focus on 19" unless I sit 3 meters away from the screen. Big screens suck.

---

Or are the masses unable to minimise windows, set the desktop to black and hide the taskbar?
 

bluecuracao

Novice
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
42
Jasede said:
Or are the masses unable to minimise windows, set the desktop to black and hide the taskbar?


you really see this from the wrong perspective. irontower wants me to pay for their product, then why should i be bothered to make it work/look right? thats the same fucked up logic that bethesda uses to excuse their buggy games (if you don't like it, mod it).


really, it's not a big deal to support more resolutions, the main problem is the interface scaling and this can easily be worked around, like i said before.
 

Nick

Iron Tower Studio
Developer
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Messages
317
Location
Over the hills and far away
bluecuracao said:
really, it's not a big deal to support more resolutions,
True.

the main problem is the interface scaling
True.

and this can easily be worked around, like i said before.
False.
That workaround you've mentioned above will work, but I don't think it will look great. I'd prefer to keep the proportions, and Elhoim's interfaces aren't easy-scalable. We'll try to do something about it, though, but later.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
bluecuracao said:
AoD looks really beautiful in its most recent incarnation...
Time to get new glasses.

... the story and dialogue is amazing (according to VD)
I said the storyline is pretty damn good, not "amazing", and I said nothing about dialogues.

...the target audience is out there, you just have to reach them.
Tell that to Troika, Sir-Tech, Looking Glass, pre-Morrowind Bethesda, etc. Here is a simple fact: the hardcore RPG audience is very, very small. Let's remove people who don't buy games on-line, digital or boxed, and this number becomes even smaller. Let's remove people who are biased against indie games (there is no way some asshole in his mom's basement can make a game worthy of playing and, especially, of paying for) - the number gets even smaller. Etc.
 

bluecuracao

Novice
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
42
That workaround you've mentioned above will work, but I don't think it will look great. I'd prefer to keep the proportions, and Elhoim's interfaces aren't easy-scalable.

Well, it will certainly look better than the mess thats created when my lcd is trying to upscale, but..

We'll try to do something about it, though, but later.

Nice, good to hear!

Vault Dweller said:
Time to get new glasses.

I don't wear any glasses, but thanks. Anyway, why so biased against your own game? It does look beuatiful, especially the screens with heavy shadows/lightning-use (campfire) and the one in the dark alley at night with some robbers. i'm not talking about next-gen beautiful (hdr, hqaa, dx10) but more in terms of artistic quality and mood.

I said the storyline is pretty damn good, not "amazing", and I said nothing about dialogues.

Ok, sorry. But pretty damn good is pretty damn close to amazing.. and you said a lot about dialogue, to be honest. ;)

Tell that to Troika, Sir-Tech, Looking Glass, pre-Morrowind Bethesda, etc. Here is a simple fact: the hardcore RPG audience is very, very small.

Right, but it's not 'i-only-sell-50-copies'-small. All the companies you mentioned had sales in the 100.000.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
bluecuracao said:
Anyway, why so biased against your own game? It does look beuatiful...
Thanks for the kind words. As for my position, just trying to be realistic. I'm very, very proud that we've managed to make something that looks THAT good, but calling it "beautiful" is a hell of a stretch. Thanks anyway.

Right, but it's not 'i-only-sell-50-copies'-small. All the companies you mentioned had sales in the 100.000.
Games that are being sold in stores will always outperform games that are sold online. Not to mention magazines exposure and publishers campaigns. I believe we can get 2-3% of that sales volume at best.
 

bluecuracao

Novice
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
42
Vault Dweller said:
I believe we can get 2-3% of that sales volume at best.

Seems like a pretty low guess to me, but even if i go by that number and do the math, thats roughly 80-90k$ turnover. And all i'm saying is that by doing a publisher/developer campaign for yourself and not doing things like forcing people to play in a window you can propably tenfold that number and reach 20-30% of that 100k market (over time). ok, thats a pretty high guess now, but you get the idea. If you have a good game, make sure everybody knows about it. But i suppose you already know that since it's pretty obvious ;9

ahh.. whatever, just do your thing. i believe in you and set me on the preorder list!


btw: heres a screenshot of the "workaround". looks good to me.. like i said, better than the blurring that happens through monitor upscaling. and you can fill the "black boxes" with some concept art or something, not a big deal ;) http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/album_ ... pic_id=868
 

GhanBuriGhan

Erudite
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
1,170
I'd say its word of mouth that will sell this game, if it sells. Considering that VD is well networked within the hardcore crowd, if the game is good, it will sell within that circle, and maybe even a little bit outside it, if enough people talk about the game on various forums. I don't think he can achieve much with a classic PR campaign, because its just not that kind of game. Getting exposure on gaming sites and having a good website will help, though.
 

Roqua

Prospernaut
Dumbfuck Repressed Homosexual In My Safe Space
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
4,130
Location
YES!
Word of mouth and the coat-tails of having FO3 in the lime light. How many people are playing FO1 and 2 for the first time now? If the game gets the "spritual successor to FO" tag Iron Tower is sitting pretty. Big Mags and sites will play the shit out of it just to have some different kind of FO3 related news, causing seven year olds to dl the demo buy the droves so the can talk about it hear and on the gamespy and bethesda boards before night-night time.

If the cards are played right not only could this game be a major success, but it could be the catalyst that breaks indie games into the mainstream. But VD will have to release it soon so the hype and word can build and pick up along with the hype and word of FO3.

You hear that VD, you have to release soon. Stop moving buildings around and wasting money on art assets and nonsense. Focus on the gameplay and get it out the door, the whole indie rpg scene hinges on your next move, will you fail us or will you lead us to victory, thus bringing down your arch-nemesis, Pete Hines and stealing his thunder? Its win-win in every possible way for every party involved (besides Bethesda and Pete might commit suicide after having FO3 compared and contrasted with an indie game. I am the King and I so order it to be so.
 

Roqua

Prospernaut
Dumbfuck Repressed Homosexual In My Safe Space
Joined
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Messages
4,130
Location
YES!
No one else sees this opportunity? Its perfect timing. The gaming community as a whole is getting riled up, this is the perfect time for word of mouth to generate steam. If you play your cards right by this time next year you could be a multi-thousandare.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
A multi-thousandare? Sounds awesome. Thank you for your enthusiasm, Señor Roqua.

Anyway, there is still some stuff that needs to be done. At the mean time, here is a picture of what we are tweaking at the moment:



That's an elevator.
 

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