Steam not mandatory, I implore you

[Lusekofte]

12 minutes ago, Krupinski said:

Despite what some may think of Steam, it's huge for publicity especially for niche genres like this.

Yes I think this sim can benefit by using steam 

[migmadmarine]

My ideal would be something similar to Il-2, where I can own on steam just for the better download speeds, but buy direct from the site. I'd hate to see a DCS like situation where you can buy on either, but only some things are available on steam, and things bought on the sight aren't honored on steam or vise-versa. 

 

[LuftManu]

Im fine with both options! As long as availability is the same, I think many won't mind 

[SharpeXB]

I don't mind Steam, not a problem for me

[FurphyForum]

At the end of the day, I'd rather see the coin go into the coffers of the game devs.

 

[PaladinX]

Since the first day with Steam. Never had a single problem. Nearly 600 Games on my Steam list. Could be Steam exklusive, no problem with that.

But the solution with a Steam and a Stand-Alone Version is nice, too. But they really should be compatible to each other.

[MustangMike]

I'd much rather run the game through Steam than some proprietary installer. I've lost count of the amount of times I've fixed games by running Steam's repair cache function. Between that, auto updates, and the other extra functions, its 1000% worth it to me. 

[JediMaster]

Back 20+ years ago the games were sold in stores who took a cut of the price, plus there were the physical costs of the disks, packaging, printed manuals, etc.

The very idea of getting 100% of the purchase price was left to a very few industries but gaming wasn't one of them.

Many smaller developers now have what they call "supporter editions" for this very reason. It's a way to give them more money using these platforms as they need them. Maybe get free skins as a bonus, or early access to DLCs (or even include one in it), whatever.

It doesn't help for those who dislike Steam but it does help for those who wish the devs got more money from it without needing to go some cumbersome donation or crowdfunding route (which often take percentages anyway).

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

@Jason_Williams I also hope that you make standalone installation possible.

 

I find Steam (and other store clients) mildly intrusive and infantilizing.

 

 

[JFM]

If it’s on Steam only, I’ll buy it. If it’s not on Steam, I’ll buy. But I’m ******* buying it. 

[DBFlyguy]

I really never understood the steam hate.... the amount of games I've discovered on Steam (Ready or Not, Gunner Heat PC, Squad, Post Scriptum, Zero Hour... etc) that I would've never otherwise never known existed makes it worth it alone.  Plus the fast and reliable DL speeds for updates. 

I've got Great Battles on standalone and I only did that to "support the devs..." at the time.  All my other games including DCS and MSFS are on steam and despite the missing a sale from time to time, I wouldn't go to standalone. But.... I'll probably get Combat Pilot on standalone since the dev I bought standalone Great Battles for is here now and not at Great Battles anymore... 👍

[javelina]

12 hours ago, JFM said:

If it’s on Steam only, I’ll buy it. If it’s not on Steam, I’ll buy. But I’m ******* buying it. 

Amen brother!

[Mysticpuma]

I'll support whatever the developers choose as in their best interest. 

I have no issue with Steam and use it for many games, I do have BoX without Steam..... I just don't care! 

Give me the game, thats all I need from the team 👍

[Jade_Monkey]

I wouldn't put too much weight towards the Steam whining here, these people would be running the game out of floppy disks if they could.

Not a fan of steam taking a decent chunk out of devs' revenue but if their audience reach and dev tools provide a benefit to the team and it's worth the tradeoff, don't think twice.

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

On 10/29/2023 at 9:05 AM, Jade_Monkey said:

I wouldn't put too much weight towards the Steam whining here, these people would be running the game out of floppy disks if they could.

It's not that radical.

My favourite distribution is GOG.com because I can keep offline installers forever on my floppy CD DVD hard drive  SSD without worrying about DRM, forced updates, or mandatory social/store clients.

If that's not feasible, something like Il-2 GB's standalone installer is a reasonable alternative.

To me, it's about control and the ability to avoid unwanted software required just to play a game.

That said, if Steam is the only viable option for the developer, so be it. It's not the end of the world.

[CPT Crunch]

I'd pay a premium for a non-steam version.  Prefer to keep that kiddie crap off my system.

[RossMarBow]

On 5/23/2023 at 5:31 PM, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, I didn't find it in the forums, but I implore you developers not to make that Steam or any other similar platform is mandatory for the installation of the game. The "Great Battles" modular system is the best I ever found in the domain of combat flight sims, and this is exactly what I want for your project. The player should feel free to install a standalone module "in Steam" or a standalone module that is "Steam free" at 100%. If, again, sames as in 2011 with "Cliffs of Dover", it is required to install a platfom for the execution of "Combat Pilot"... I simply won't purchase the game.

If you don't use steam, or GOG launcher, or EPIC launcher

The devs have to build their own steam/launcher: which takes away from real game dev time AND is actually far less secure and trustworthy
IL-2 launcher just did what steam did
You also have to then handle all the financial stuff

I know you dislike steam for whatever reason
But many people will not give their card details to the company IL-2 used to handle transactions
And so love that IL-2 has steam

Most people want the features of steam i.e. anticheat, updates, downloads, unified login, etc. etc.

Even if they don't like steam itself for whatever reason

Edited November 9, 2023 by RossMarBow

[Mysticpuma]

I mean, let's cut to the chase here, it's about making money and then that money turns into a revenue stream to develop more content, which then gets sold to make a profit, which then....etc, etc.

Limiting the market for the company making profit is not something that I would consider as financially astute and let's be honest, Jason will know how the Steam and Direct purchase stats work out. I guess we'll find out when it eventually comes to market, but I wouldn't see a reason for a company to avoid Steam if it means damaging revenue?

[Trooper117]

It makes no difference to me... whatever route Jason takes, or even what it's content is or how it's displayed or what game engine it uses, this is going to be the only modern rendition of the aviation war in the Pacific... there really won't be anything else to choose from.

Of course there is DCS, which I really like, but you only get snippits of different types of air warfare, not a full blown sim concentrating on a theatre of war, so I discount them as being a pacific war sim.

[lapwin]

All my games are in Steam. I find it easy to use, helpfull, and a good platform to manage my installs. So, I have no problem that this sim is being distributed on Steam. Marketing-wise (large target-audience) it might be helpfull to kickstart this project (early access etc). Just my 0.2 cents

 

 

[ZachariasX]

I'd hate it to be on Steam.

If it is not possible otherwise to code a functional MP game otherwise, then that would raise some fundamental questions on the venture as a whole. But I am aware that today, we look at programmers generally as not being able to do their job properly. ("It's a software problem, we can't do anything about that.")

Just for those who think Steam being a cheap way for distribution, a laucher and anticheat. Given jason had to pay like 30% of his revenue, how would be the cost structure of a game be when the launcher is >10% of the work of a flight simulator? Or maybe you could just start the effin game and do things there??

But yes, why not do both given there are some who can't do without.

As for me, really just give me a friggin game that I can install on a partition that I can play and maintain with user priviledges. Spare me rootkits.

 

[Skelthos]

The appeal of Steam is not that it is mandatory for good MP or for anticheat etc, it is player reach. Steam has some 120 million active users monthly, and is 75% of the market for digital distribution of games. There are a lot of potential missed sales by avoiding it entirely 

I think the smart thing to do is the same trend we see with other popular flight sims and offer it both stand and on Steam. 

[Ghostrider9667]

Please, no Steam, if at all possible!

[Ghostrider9667]

Okay well, do what makes the most sense financially for the devs, and the future viability of the sim.  But for the love of God, don't limit my number of USB controllers like Steam has done in the past.

[Skelthos]

12 minutes ago, Ghostrider9667 said:

But for the love of God, don't limit my number of USB controllers like Steam has done in the past.

Steam would have no real interest in such arbitrary limits, infact I would argue that the opposite is true. They make their money selling other people's games, trying to dictate what APIs, etc are used by those other people, which would drive devs away from the platform not get them to drastically redesign their game.  

When you run into limits like this, it is likely not the distribution platform, but rather a limitation that the game devs built in, or an artifact of the API used by the devs. Random example: The XInput API that used to be part of DirectX had a hard limit of 4 USB game controllers, if you made a game using XInput for controllers that was the limit, no matter where or how you distributed the game. 

Not trying to support or defend Steam, but would rather see them brought to task for their questionable business practices, rather than things they likely had no control over.