Hello, I just bought this game. Wanna know why? Of course you do.

[doctorfrog]

Hey all, I'm doctorfrog and I just bought this game.

I just heard about this game today. I've played all of five minutes of it. I'll be honest: I don't know if I'm the best player for this sort of game, but I like military engagements in space. Pew pew! Time will only tell if I stick with this game or it ends up sitting dry on my Best Intentions list.

So why did I plunk down my change and not just spend more time with the demo. (Side note: $20 is not a small sum to me at this time.)

• We've covered the first one: pew pew, space guns. Yes, please.
• I read some of the author's blog. I like his stance on DRM. It happens to be the very first developer stance on DRM that matches my own view. Piracy is bad. DRM isn't good. Arcen is taking the brave stance of: "I'm not going to use DRM. Please don't pirate my game." That's worth a lot to some of us out here.
• An extension of the above is that I like to own my games. In fact, I insist upon it. I like to know that I can pull them out of a drawer ten years from now and fire them up without asking permission to some server somewhere. I'm not a baby, and I'm not a thief. I will not support DRM schemes that limit my ability to play. However, I will support developers who trust me and treat me with respect.
• The game is $20. Like I said before, that's a lot for me right now. If it were $25, I honestly wouldn't have gotten it. I know this is a compromised price for the developer, but I also know this: $20 occupies something of a psychological sweet spot for many people.
• The author is obviously passionate about what he's doing. He has a clear idea of what he's going for, and it looks like he's executing it well. It's worth a little money to see him take it wherever he's going, and it looks like he'll be giving me something back in return, in the form of continued support and development. My money isn't just going into a corporate system, it's going right back into this game.
• It feels good to stick up for the little guy. I'm a little guy, too. Here's to you, guy.
• Finally, here's probably the biggest reason why I'm supporting this developer: he's developing the kind of game I would if I were a developer. In the renaissance, artists were propped up by wealthy patrons. I'm not wealthy, and games may or may not be art, but when I see something I like, sometimes I support it if I can.

Now, let's see about that tutorial...

[x4000]

Welcome to the forums, doctorfrog, and thanks for your support.

That's a very interesting take on the whole thing, and I have to say that's pretty cool.  It lines up with why I've made a very few purchases of my own in the past (Canabalt, which I bought on the iPhone even though I'd already played the free flash version, for example).  You don't see a lot of that sort of attitude, and honestly I hope you enjoy the game and it turns into something that you bought because you really like it (as with Canabalt for me), but I'm happy that you see us as worth supporting in either event.  Thanks!

[doctorfrog]

My pleasure. I've only acted on this motivation once or twice myself. I bought Introversion's Defcon practically sight unseen because the premise excited me, but also because I realized I was contributing meaningfully to the long-term life of both the game itself and the developer. I guess it was a real PBS donation drive moment, where you're not giving money simply because you want a finished product, but because you recognize something of yourself in what you're paying for. I can't create games like this, and I'm not terribly good at them when I play. But I can have a small influence in the overall success of the product itself by investing in someone who is.

There's two ways that this game is mine to own: I can install it anywhere I like without DRM, so there are no restrictions on my ownership, and my small investment in its development makes me something of a small-time shareholder. That's pretty neat, and it's a feeling you don't get with either buying big-box games, nor when you pirate them.

Have you considered creating a high-res DVD or CD jewel box label for the game? Example: http://www.thecoverproject.net/

[Revenantus]

Hey, doctorfrog.

I believe that many here, myself included, are pretty in-tune with your philosophy there. I think that the anti invasive DRM culture is growing in strength; hopefully it'll rub off on more developers as time passes.

I don't view DRM as intrinsically evil, but the fact is as it stands there are no DRM solutions that don't cause problems for legitimate customers. As you say, who wants to be stuck with a useless game because the activation servers are no longer available? If a DRM solution that didn't cause problems for customers (limited activations, general inconvenience, etc) but still prevented piracy existed, I'd be all for it. Causing harm to your legitimate customers in an attempt to make things more difficult for pirates hardly seems fair.

It was the demo that convinced me to buy the game. I read reviews heralding the game's AI as a major improvement over what most AAA developers were putting out. At first, naturally I suppose, I was a little skeptical; How could a small indie developer develop something so sophisticated in such a short amount of time? The demo quickly convinced me that the game was everything it was advertised to be, and the AI has grown in sophistication by a fairly significant amount since the first version I played.

I hope that game lives up to your expectations.

[Revenantus]

Have you considered creating a high-res DVD or CD jewel box label for the game? Example: http://www.thecoverproject.net/

There's no complete printable DVD box label yet (there certainly will be in the future), though there is some fantastic cover art  created by Arcen's highly talented artist, Philippe Chabot. Currently it can be seen on the front of the game manual - http://arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,1609.0.html

[x4000]

I can post a high-res PNG of that if people are interested, we have it in a format (DVD case shape) that is ready for printing for game boxes -- mainly because we have some retail deals in the works actually, and there's a fair chance of seeing us in stores in a variety of territories within 3-6 months or so.

[Volatar]

I can post a high-res PNG of that if people are interested,

I would like that.

[x4000]

I can post a high-res PNG of that if people are interested,

I would like that.

Here you go!  http://arcengames.com/share/PC_Box_Front.png

It's around 12MB, and is meant for printing at 300dpi.  While I was at it, I decided to upload that to the cover project, too, so that should be there before long.

[Revenantus]

Could be quite interesting to feature some of the game's planets on the labels - low-res mockups attached. Perhaps they could be regional?

Is there any chance I could have the 'AI War: Fleet Command' text separate from the background? I might have a play and put some nicer ones together, even if they only get discarded when Phil draws something awesome.

[doctorfrog]

I can post a high-res PNG of that if people are interested,

I would like that.

Here you go!  http://arcengames.com/share/PC_Box_Front.png

It's around 12MB, and is meant for printing at 300dpi.  While I was at it, I decided to upload that to the cover project, too, so that should be there before long.

Spiffy! I'm burning this sucker to a disc and putting it in a DVD case on my bookshelf.

[x4000]

Could be quite interesting to feature some of the game's planets on the labels - low-res mockups attached. Perhaps they could be regional?

Is there any chance I could have the 'AI War: Fleet Command' text separate from the background? I might have a play and put some nicer ones together, even if they only get discarded when Phil draws something awesome.

This one is fairly low res, simply because I didn't really have time to go pull the full-res version of that from the full PSD (which is 300MB+) at the moment:  http://arcengames.com/share/AIWarLogo.png

Bear in mind that, our boxart mockup is pretty much just that, and even though we've made it huge for possible retail deals, we don't really get to control that.  Mostly it represents the game online in a much-reduced format, and retail partners will design their own boxes based on art assets we give them and marketing text we provide, along with their own marketing department and their knowledge of their target audience in their territory.  In some cases, that also goes for the manual -- they'll use yours as a guide, but then do their own thing.

I look at this is being kind of like how novelists (except the mega-bestsellers) have absolutely zero control over their own covers.  We get a tad more input than that, but it's still very hands-off with retail, sadly.

[x4000]

Spiffy! I'm burning this sucker to a disc and putting it in a DVD case on my bookshelf.

Very cool!

[Baleur]

Agree agree agree agree..
Galactic Civilizations 2 is probably the best example of how the entire DRM market is a big scam. It simply isnt needed to ensure huge sales.
I wont get into piracy too much, but the point is that if a product is GOOD, it will sell. Period. Thats why GTA4, Call of Duty 4, Left 4 Dead, Homeworld, the Hearts of Iron series and Galactic Civilizations 1 & 2 sold massive numbers.

Now, adding DRM on top of that is utterly pointless. All games get pirated (all of the above did), and they get pirated by specific groups that has the tools neccessary to re-write the .exe in any way they need. The only thing DRM prevents, is private n00bs such as ourselves to make a copy to a friend or two. And the issues it brings can be massive (remember Starforce?)

So in essence what makes DRM a "scam" in my view, is that those DRM corporations NEED piracy to keep doing business. Its quite like the military, they NEED the threat and danger of invasion, in order to justify their own existance. Its also a very poor business model in the long term, if your entire business depends upon the adversary. Its not profitable, which is why it cant be honest.

Think about it. If your business is focused on eliminating piracy, and piracy is eliminated, who's gonna buy your next DRM version if there is no piracy?
Its a big scam, in the sense that first of all it isnt needed, and secondly that everything gets pirated anyway.

Build a quality product, and the sales will come.
Build a poor product, and they wont.

[Kaptein]

i mostly bought it because it reminds me of when i coded game engines i also coded linked servers (propagation!)
it was cheap, and people seemed to be talking tactics, which is a rarity in this age, and my nemesis
then as the first poster mentioned, passion about ones project is everything, and it will always show in a game, especially in gameplay
as for negative aspects, for me its mostly keybinds/ui (not that bad really, but unfamiliar and for some i imagine hard to learn, so its more a predicted negative aspect)
and graphics, especially the size differences between structures and mobile units, or rather the not easily distinguishable difference between them

the only thing i *sigh* missed in this game was an achievement for dieing within 5 minutes of the first game
then again i like to start hard (medium actually, 2xMedium AI7)