to be fair, save for the length of time in dev (feature creep?) that is how early access was supposed tow ork
Stamets@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Said this on /c/gaming as well but
I have no doubt that this bug played a part in their sales… However… The game was in early access for a decade before it actually released in 1.0. This was the 1.0 change log:
Changelog 1.0.0 - 12 december 2024
Adds:
- Guidance system: uses the completion tree to display objectives and help the player to progress. The guidance system can be disabled in Game options.
- Option to change the direction only when moving with the keyboard (player is not facing automatically the mouse)
Changes:
- Quests and dialogs with the crystal have been removed and replaced by the guidance system
- Worm transformation is always visible
Various bugs fixed
So to be honest, I’m not entirely sure that that launch was much of a launch to begin with… While the bug definitely had a part to play, I’m not sure this would have sold anything in the first place. It’s a terraria clone that was dragged through early access for a decade before launching in a way that doesn’t actually feel like a launch.
Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 1 day ago
Stamets@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I would agree if not for this. This is a list of all of the things that they promised in early access that they would add to the full game. Guess how many of these things are there?
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? Here is the list of the features that we still need to implement:
Themed dungeons | Biomes: post-hell | Biomes: sky | Technology | Vehicles & Mechs Grapple hook / ninja rope | Modding compatibility | God Saucer (minigames area) Tower of 100 challenges | Themed parallel dimensions | Fluid dynamics Biomes: oceans | Fishing | Programmable robots | Wiring | Pipes | Thunder Fire (buildings can catch on fire etc.) | Achievements / Game encyclopedia / Compendium Temperature | Gas dynamics | Dynamic buildings (build your ship)
minimalfootprint@discuss.tchncs.de 23 hours ago
While I agree that the changes for 1.0 don’t look like enough to make it a full release, a lot of gamers categorically refuse to buy a game in early access and wait for the 1.0 release for the “full experience”. Nobody can say how many sales would have been generated.
Valve offers somewhat high visibility for a very short time as compensation. That doesn’t cost them anything and is very disappointing. Refund of some of the paid fees, or a discount for the players out of Valve’s pocket doesn’t sound unreasonable to me.
echodot@feddit.uk 22 minutes ago
Yeah but this game was in early access for a decade. A decade. That’s giving me star citizen vibes, except in this case the game wasn’t popular.
Tonava@sopuli.xyz 10 hours ago
a lot of gamers categorically refuse to buy a game in early access and wait for the 1.0 release for the “full experience”
I refuse to buy early access games just because if they sell enough, the devs won’t complete the game and it’ll be stuck in the “10 years in development” -phase
Pyro@programming.dev 19 hours ago
Many devs will incrementally update the early-access versions to be close to 1.0 before release. 1.0 doesn’t have to be a massive update, it just signifies the point when the devs think the game is complete.
Stamets@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
This was not one of those situations though. Every reddit thread talking about this game has a ton of people who were playing at the time or after launch and all saying that it’s just a poorly done game.
I got it when it came out and tbh… it’s just not very good. I think a big reason games in the indie world become well sold is because of positive word of mouth (Balatro, slay the spire, vampire survivors etc) and this one was just… not good. I wouldnt recommend it personally. Source
That whole thread is filled with people talking about the state of the game before launch of 1.0 as well as the launch. Also some very good points about the weakness of their financial choices if they ended up broke at the launch of 1.0.
chisel@piefed.social 1 day ago
No, you’re wrong. Every wishlist is a guaranteed sale on launch day. When people see that number tick from 0.5937.5 to 1.0, they can’t help themselves. The trick is, they have to see it on launch day in an automated email. Otherwise the sale is lost for good. Literally every true gamer knows this.
Mangoholic@lemmy.ml 23 hours ago
No a wishlist is not a guaranted sale. We had 213 wishlist and 12 sales on launch.
njm1314@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Do you think your game would have sold better if you were better at picking up on sarcasm?
Goodeye8@piefed.social 21 hours ago
I think the other guy was being sarcastic.
Tenkard@lemmy.ml 22 hours ago
That’s around 5%, assuming the same performance for 130k it’s 6500 copies