BOOM! THE END.

[dsmart]

So I have decided to re-think my approach to continuing the series or I would just be wasting time, effort and money, given the current industry climate.

NOTE: As of this writing, there isn't a single game like this (capital ship command) in existence. None. There is a reason for that.

Despite the fact that the entire series has made a lot of money, recouped it's costs etc over the years, I go and release it for free on Steam, and a bunch of mean, ignorant people, who can't be bothered to read ("How do I quit the game?" Seriously, wtf!?), have spent their time doing the usual review bomb crap that that they do across the Steam eco-system.

They did the same ♥♥♥♥ with Line Of Defense when I foolishly did a Steam freeplay weekend in order to do some wide testing of the SteamWorks features we were using[lodmmo.com]. The results are in my March 15th State Of Play update[lodmmo.com].

And I ran a report. Most of you here, haven't even bothered to i) post a review ii) down voted that crap that's on the review page.

Do you know why, even AppStore devs/pubs remind you to review and/or rate their products?

So, if you can't be bothered; neither can I.

A 93 (neg) v 52 (pos) rating ratio is not the sort of thing that is going to inspire me to keep spending, time, effort and money on a free game. Especially when 53% of them are one-line nonsense by people with one or two games in their inventory, and less than an average of less than 9 mins in the game.

And with that...

• The upcoming 2.03 patch[www.3000ad.com], will not be released for the free version. I will release it for the paid versions[www.3000ad.com] only.
  
• I am going to roll whatever designs I had for Universal Combat ADV into either a $39.99 Steam Early Access program or as paid DLC in my upcoming Line Of Defense game, since that game takes place in the same universe.

Game development is a two-way street.

[Marley Random]

Sorry to hear that.
I understand you've had your fill of trolls or obnoxious people, and that sooner of later things would escalate.
It was decent of you releasing UC for free on steam. Kudos for that. Just like you did with the older titles.

Your move to make the patch available for the paid version only stings, but it's well withing your rights.

#sigh# Another day on the NET

I do hope however, that UC:ADV will come as a stand-alone to steam one day.

Cheers

[mflacy]

Good thing that I have the paid version too.

It never crossed my mind to look at the review page since, frankly, a large number of reviewers are absolute cretins. Not all of them, mind you, but most of the stuff posted there is absolute dreck.

[Panda]

Don't let them get to you my friend, you know who your player base is, you know who your fans are, and you know who is loyal to you. That's all that matters. I lost my paid version of UCCE with my drive and forgot which site I bought it from hahah so no doubt I'll just buy it again so don't worry, you do as you feel is best for you and you can be certain us that support you will follow.

[dsmart]

Originally posted by john.baum:

I do hope however, that UC:ADV will come as a stand-alone to steam one day.

Cheers

That is still the plan. That way, I know that only those interested in the series, will bother to pay for it in Early Access.

Originally posted by Lazychan:

Don't let them get to you my friend, you know who your player base is

Exactly. Which is why I am only going to release the patch for them because anyone who is a fan of the series, won't mind paying for the game. After all, it's currently only $19.99

[Panda]

the free game as is on steam is 100% playable and sure there are some.. nuances.. that can be mildly irritating at times but nothing game-breaking, I keep going back to it over and over anyway!

But the fixes and tweaks in the new patch will make the game even better and more enjoyable, so I think it's a fair and sound decision to save this update for the true supporters who enjoy the game as-is version enough and are into the genre enough to want to enhance it. Heck the free version will act as a teaser!

Can't wait for the update I'll have to dive deep into my dozens of emails and find that electronic receipt or nah I'll just buy the game again give you some well earned beer money, nobody expects you to work for free!

Keep up the good work

[dsmart]

I have already created a patch for the paid version which will make it work with Steam. This way, those who have the paid version, just need to install it alongside the Steam version. Then use the update to merge the two builds, making them the same. Then you can uninstall the standard version and continue playing the Steam version.

[dsmart]

Originally posted by john.baum:

Sorry to hear that.
I understand you've had your fill of trolls or obnoxious people, and that sooner of later things would escalate.

As an example, this person never posted a "review" before. He was banned from the forum yesterday, and immediately posted this review, which has now been flagged.

[abydos21]

Originally posted by dsmart:

Originally posted by john.baum:

Sorry to hear that.
I understand you've had your fill of trolls or obnoxious people, and that sooner of later things would escalate.

As an example, this person never posted a "review" before. He was banned from the forum yesterday, and immediately posted this review, which has now been flagged.

Correct me if I'm wrong but what was said in the review seems to be accurate. Announcing a patch and getting people's hopes up and then dashing those hopes is not appropriate, IMO.

[dsmart]

Nothing he said in the "review" is accurate. That's not what the review of a game is for. It's about the game. And this is something that even Valve is now looking into because a lot of devs and pubs have been complaining. This "review bombing" is against Steam guidelines.

That said...

Yes, you are right to think that saying that I was going to release a patch, then changing my mind is probably upsetting. However, this is a free game. I didn't promise anything, to anyone.

Most especially, I am not going to allocate resources (nobody does this for free) to patch a free game when we can't even get people - who btw are downloading and playing it in large numbers - to post reviews (good or bad). The number of people playing the game, totally outnumbers those who are not (and thus posted silly reviews).

I run two "for profit" companies, making various products. They are not charity. And everything comes at a price. Which is why I mentioned in a previous post that it is a two-way street.

Also, if you actually took the time to look at the v2.0 changelog[www.3000ad.com], you will see that this free release is NOT even the full game, like the paid version.

This means that releasing a patch, which has seemingly grown beyond what I had originally planned, means building, testing, patching, for not only the free Steam release, but also the various paid versions[www.3000ad.com] (which have DRM that also has to be patched and tested).

And the issues that I was planning on addressing in this patch, do not break the game's functionality in any way, shape or form. In fact, most, though annoying, have workarounds.

Even those that result in a crash, have a workaround; and one of those crashes (the docking with a foreign shuttle) isn't even supported in the game; and the only "fix" is to prevent you from doing it.

Aside from those, everything else are interface graphics glitches which don't break the game, nor take away from the experience in any way, shape or form. There are recent and newer games currently on the market with similar issues. And they are paid games.

Basically, there is no way that I would release a patch to a free release, and not release it for people who have PAID for the full game, and who continue to buy it.

And FYI, over the years, I have released free versions of various games[www.3000ad.com], and never went back to patch them.

Anyway, this morning I released a minor update that doesn't add/fix any functionality to the game.

[PTCGho5t]

smart move Smart :) can't wait 4 the update and new EA Release............GO DEREK!

[dsmart]

btw, this morning it occured to me that since I have a designed 16 mission campaign surrounding the conflict in Lyrius on which the Line Of Defense MMO game is based, that I should probably just create a paid DLC for this game.

Doing so will allow me to not only roll the patch into the non-Steam paid versions, but also allow the DLC to patch the free version.

So anyone who buys the DLC, will get the new campaign scenario, the full game (remember, the free version is NOT the full game like the paid versions) and the patch. The free non-Steam paid versions will only get the patch as planned, as I won't be releasing the DLC outside of Steam.

Doing this will bring both the Steam and non-Steam versions up to par; with the added bonus of the DLC paying for maintenance of the free Steam version.

What do you guys think?

[Flock of These]

I always liked messing around in your games, but I never put in the time to have any idea what Im doing. Thats totally my fault. I do love watching the huge battles though. Really learning the games is something I always plan on doing, but never get around to it. I'll buy this game or the DLC. It will give me an excuse to invest the time. I prefer DRM free and all that, but if I have to deal with DRM then I would rather go with the Steam DLC. I bought UC: A World Apart a long time ago, and it only let me activate it 3 times.

[PTCGho5t]

Originally posted by dsmart:

btw, this morning it occured to me that since I have a designed 16 mission campaign surrounding the conflict in Lyrius on which the Line Of Defense MMO game is based, that I should probably just create a paid DLC for this game.

Doing so will allow me to not only roll the patch into the non-Steam paid versions, but also allow the DLC to patch the free version.

So anyone who buys the DLC, will get the new campaign scenario, the full game (remember, the free version is NOT the full game like the paid versions) and the patch. The free non-Steam paid versions will only get the patch as planned, as I won't be releasing the DLC outside of Steam.

Doing this will bring both the Steam and non-Steam versions up to par; with the added bonus of the DLC paying for maintenance of the free Steam version.

What do you guys think?

awesome :)

[Vanguard(Aqua)]

drop it as a DLC ill buy either or but honesty now adays its probably easier to just do it via steam and you avoid DRM lockouts and such

[Panda]

Originally posted by dsmart:

Originally posted by john.baum:

Sorry to hear that.
I understand you've had your fill of trolls or obnoxious people, and that sooner of later things would escalate.

As an example, this person never posted a "review" before. He was banned from the forum yesterday, and immediately posted this review, which has now been flagged.

Downvoted o/