Buying the rights for Zap!

[Quartz]

Sorry for being insulting.

I'm not convinced it could "go" either.

But its a much, much better shot than some website nobody has ever heard of like desura or gamejolt.

This^

[watusimoto]

We actually seem to be getting a lot of hits from GameJolt, though I can't say it's resulted in any more regular players. GJ does a much better job that Desura at providing feedback to devs about people interacting with the game. Either that, or no one is coming from Desura.

Steam will never become a dependency. We have some experience integrating remote game sites, because we have pretty good integration with GameJolt. We can probably follow that model with Steam as well.

We actually seem to be getting a lot of hits from GameJolt, though I can't say it's resulted in any more regular players. GJ does a much better job that Desura at providing feedback to devs about people interacting with the game. Either that, or no one is coming from Desura.

The thing with Desura is that it acts as a replacement for Steam, however due to relatively slow development and there's a major amount of games that are either free or pay for only, people are probably getting the idea of what Desura is. GameJolt is strictly free games only, which also has gathered tons of popularity from Youtube LPers.

Steam will never become a dependency. We have some experience integrating remote game sites, because we have pretty good integration with GameJolt. We can probably follow that model with Steam as well.

I *think* Steam is required when you integrate trophies or achievements like that, but I'm really not sure..

http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/FAQ.php

http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/abou ... steamworks

These should give you an idea as to how the Steamworks api works.

By the way, as Linux is becoming more popular every day..

YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY HAVE GOT TO PUT A HIGHER PRIORITY ON LINUX

I saw the lack of a Linux version on Desura when it first popped up and it did see a couple of newcomers but not regs, that was when Linux wasn't on Steam and was a selling point for Desura.

GameJolt still lacks the Linux port, Steam I do believe expects the exact same format, a universal binary (or files) that is downloaded to the SteamApps folder and Steam launches the game and you play it.

Pardon my caps.

[watusimoto]

I think in order to get a Linux version up on GameJolt, we'd probably need a version where everything is statically linked. I personally prefer this model of development, but there are good arguments about why it is better to use system libraries and not statically link everything. Our current Linux build system relies on certain libs existing on the local machine, and I'm just not sure how we can work around that with GameJolt.

I think in order to get a Linux version up on GameJolt, we'd probably need a version where everything is statically linked. I personally prefer this model of development, but there are good arguments about why it is better to use system libraries and not statically link everything. Our current Linux build system relies on certain libs existing on the local machine, and I'm just not sure how we can work around that with GameJolt.

So what exactly is stopping you from making a version like that? If it's for GameJolt and Steam you really should consider it, because Linux is slowly but surely getting more and more popularity. Seriously, it was a major missed opportunity when it was first released on Desura without Linux support. :/

[watusimoto]

The main thing stopping us is that we need some limit on how many versions of Bitfighter we build for a given release. We already do 2 versions for Windows, 2 for Mac, 1 for Desura, 1 source archive for Arch to build from, and launch several other customized build processes for various variants of Linux.

Adding more to that just makes maintaining things that much more complex. I already feel as if things are a little out of control on this front.

[raptor]

For what it's worth, the Desura Linux build is:
- standalone
- dynamically compiled
- includes all the library dependencies within the archive
- has a wrapper script that loads a 32bit or 64bit bit binary and respective libraries from a sub-folder
- compiled on Ubuntu 10.04

This basically means it'll act like a portable archive that will run on most Linux systems out-of-the-box.

The main thing stopping us is that we need some limit on how many versions of Bitfighter we build for a given release. We already do 2 versions for Windows, 2 for Mac, 1 for Desura, 1 source archive for Arch to build from, and launch several other customized build processes for various variants of Linux.

Adding more to that just makes maintaining things that much more complex. I already feel as if things are a little out of control on this front.

Ah okay, but if/when you get Bitfighter on Steam, Linux is a definite must, and trust me when I say this, the build will be worth it considering the amount of a million players online per day.

[kaen]

I want to set up a build bot again, which could be taught how to do all of this building and packaging very cleanly and automatically.

[Lone Wolf]

I support the greenlighting, and I think it would be neat to have the steam integration things.

As for offering paid content, I've seen free Steam games offer no or completely free DLC, so there should be no issue there. If the need were to come along however, maybe make a ship customization pack (custom shaped ships - I know this has been discussed and tinkered with before)?

The Steamworks API also seems useful because if more badges were to be implemented, instead of having a bunch of icons by your name in the scoreboard, you could have an organized list on your profile. Because much more badges wouldn't fit in the scoreboard. Heck, Sky_Lark's badges already overflow into his stats on the scoreboard!

But for the time being,
Steam -> Add Game -> Non-Steam Game -> Bitfighter.exe
Boom.

[Skybax]

Just sayin, I would TOTALLY pay a dollar just to have Bitfighter on my Steam account.. so if you put it up for $.99 I would buy it.