AVWW 1.0 Now To Launch On April 23rd

[x4000]

I am concerned that Valve is so busy working on the Ricochet sequel that they will not have an opportunity to get this posted today.

Not sure if you're joking; I'm not sure what Ricochet is, actually, or that would probably answer that question.

At any rate, Valve are quite a lot of people, not just 5 like Arcen.  They're also located on the west coast of the US, so it's only 11am there at the moment.  The internal builds of the game are mostly set up for windows, and getting close on OSX, and the store page and integration and stuff seems to be ready.  So it's kind of down to the last things from the look of it.  The engineer assigned to this game is one of my favorite guys at Valve, and he was up in the middle of the night last night doing some work on it.  So they're definitely not marginalizing the game from anything I've seen.

[Bluddy]

Not sure if you're joking; I'm not sure what Ricochet is, actually, or that would probably answer that question.

At any rate, Valve are quite a lot of people, not just 5 like Arcen.  They're also located on the west coast of the US, so it's only 11am there at the moment.  The internal builds of the game are mostly set up for windows, and getting close on OSX, and the store page and integration and stuff seems to be ready.  So it's kind of down to the last things from the look of it.  The engineer assigned to this game is one of my favorite guys at Valve, and he was up in the middle of the night last night doing some work on it.  So they're definitely not marginalizing the game from anything I've seen.

Wow. You seem to have a pretty good working connection with Valve. That's a good asset to have!

[x4000]

Not sure if you're joking; I'm not sure what Ricochet is, actually, or that would probably answer that question.

At any rate, Valve are quite a lot of people, not just 5 like Arcen.  They're also located on the west coast of the US, so it's only 11am there at the moment.  The internal builds of the game are mostly set up for windows, and getting close on OSX, and the store page and integration and stuff seems to be ready.  So it's kind of down to the last things from the look of it.  The engineer assigned to this game is one of my favorite guys at Valve, and he was up in the middle of the night last night doing some work on it.  So they're definitely not marginalizing the game from anything I've seen.

Wow. You seem to have a pretty good working connection with Valve. That's a good asset to have!

I'm not going to inflate my position with them; but when you release (now) six titles over three years with a partner of that size, you inevitably wind up exchanging emails and so forth with a dozen plus people.  It was pretty cool watching the Portal 2 credits at the end of that game, because I was able to pick out all these folks I knew.  But "knew" is a relative term -- we're on different coasts and have never met in person.

But yes, having a long working relationship (and not doing anything stupid to mess with them) with them is certainly an asset.  It doesn't make for rainbows and ponies, because they really don't play the favoritism game, but that's something I really respect actually.

The best analogy I can give is to a midlist author who has a three-year working relationship with six books with one publisher.  He knows the publisher pretty well, and they know him, but at the same time he's not Stephen King.  Sequels to existing novels that already sold well are probably a sure-in thing with that publisher.  Anything new... well, it's considered on its merits and so that author probably gets pretty nervous no matter who the publisher is.  Because, let's face it, he isn't Stephen King.

Still better than being the unpublished novelist cold-submitting a manuscript, though.

[Nodor]

I am concerned that Valve is so busy working on the Ricochet sequel that they will not have an opportunity to get this posted today.

Not sure if you're joking; I'm not sure what Ricochet is, actually, or that would probably answer that question.

At any rate, Valve are quite a lot of people, not just 5 like Arcen.  They're also located on the west coast of the US, so it's only 11am there at the moment.  The internal builds of the game are mostly set up for windows, and getting close on OSX, and the store page and integration and stuff seems to be ready.  So it's kind of down to the last things from the look of it.  The engineer assigned to this game is one of my favorite guys at Valve, and he was up in the middle of the night last night doing some work on it.  So they're definitely not marginalizing the game from anything I've seen.

Gabe Newell did an interview with Seven Day Cooldown.  A Link to coverage by Rock Paper Shotgun is below.   

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04/23/gabe-on-ricochet-2-delay-but-he-doesnt-mean-ricochet/

It was a joke.  But alas, the interwebs and humour, they do not combine well without cats.

[x4000]

Hahaha -- awesome link, thanks for that.  That was a great little read that I had missed.

[Bluddy]

I have a concern about the trailer. The gameplay in it is captured at a very high resolution. Since most people view trailers in youtube-sized windows (including on Steam), the result is that it looks like a game about tiny people running around strange looking landscapes. The detail of the art is lost and instead, the least visually-appealing parts of the game stand out: big things like the urban crawlers, and the overall random shape of the randomly generated land (which cannot by definition be aesthetic). Obviously on a huge monitor you get to see the details as well, but you don't in the video. I can look up random AVWW videos on youtube that'll look much better (at least to me) than the trailer because of this resolution problem.

If it's doable, I think a lower-resolution-gameplay trailer would serve as better advertising for the game.

[x4000]

It's definitely not doable; that one took weeks to prepare for a contractor, and I have zero money now.

In terms of the trailer, the reason we do it at those high resolutions is because otherwise youtube compression eats them alive and they look terrible.  Though youtube apparently has improved their compression in the last year, because we've seen notable improvements even at the high resolution without changing anything on our end.

[Motoki]

Thanks for the quick replies! I've had my eye on this game for a while so the Steam part just sort of seals the deal for me. I hate to be anal about that but I have so many digital games that I probably need an intervetion  and having them all organized in one place is the only way I can keep track.

Anyway, I will try and be patient and keep an eye out. I'll get the game one or another eventually. 

[x4000]

Cheers!  It's looking like it should be ready in another hour or two at most... hopefully.  We're checking out some of the final stuff and the list is getting shorter.

[jonasan]

hey guys,

I'm eagerly waiting the full release and hoping for a great reception. Cant see it on steam yet, but its up on gamers gate.... along with two ancient player reviews of the very very early beta, no option for adding a new review, and most _interestingly_ a price of 13.46 euros which they claim is a 10% discount from the list price of 14.95 euros (i'm in spain).

now i know that you guys are going to sell this after release for 15 US dollars on your site, steam, gamers gate etc.....

so my question is who is making the extra money when these companies convert your suggested price from US dollars to other currencies without out doing a proper value conversion for the currency? In this case they are selling your game for 17.70 dollars and they are claiming you suggested 19.75 euros as a good price point.

don't get me wrong, i completely believe that the price you guys are shipping this for is a steal and that there is much much content and enjoyment here than can be found in most AAA titles for much much more money.

after talking with the guys at valve about suggested price points - do you not worry about the potential impact on sales of higher prices in countries outside the US?? (i wonder what the price would be in english pounds??)

also, you think they will take the beta review off the AVWW page on gamers gate and start fresh with new reviews for the finished product??

you guys are usually on top of everything before we think of it.... i am just wondering how all this works...??

oh, have been trying to break 1.0 all weekend and apart from an issue a couple of times with spawn points after traveling through ventilation shafts - getting stuck on the corner of the terrain [had to shrink and then resize to get free] everything else seems brilliant. It really is a great game guys, in just the same way as AI WAR it feels like you have created a universe and let me tell my own story within it - just superb! 

[Jimmy James]

Ahh, glad this thread exists. You mean to say it's coming out on Steam today, soon? I've been looking for it on and off this morning. I'd purchase it directly if you could guarantee it'd transfer. Anyways, congratulations on all the positive coverage. I had heard about the game ages ago but didn't want to take the plunge unless people were saying good things.

[keith.lamothe]

and having them all organized in one place is the only way I can keep track.

I so know what you mean.  I would probably play the games I got from Gamersgate and Impulse a lot more if I'd gotten them from steam instead

[x4000]

Yikes, the pricing on GamersGate was completely wrong -- thanks for catching that!  The full price of the game is $14.99/£9.49/€11.49.  So then the discounted price for this week is 10% off of that.  I've made the needed corrections now.  I'm not sure what happened there, but those definitely are not the prices that were intended.

As for reviews of the game on GamersGate, I don't know that they will want to take down the old beta reviews but hopefully people will put up new reviews and just push those down the page anyhow.

Cheers jonasan, thanks to the tip on the prices there and for trying (and happily failing) to break 1.0.


And Jimmy James: welcome!  Should be any hour now on Steam.

[jonasan]

no worries on the catch. glad to hear your doing even pricing across the board/world.

lets hope it hits steam with a fanfare and sells really well.

looking forward to seeing whats in-store for us in 1.001 and beyond!

[jonasan]

having just checked gamersgate the new price is inline with what you said, including the 10% off - down to 10.34 euros...

... but the list price still reads 14.95 euros ?!