Still don't understand purpose of this remaster

[vitalik1700]

I just read the pinned post, and... no. just no

Consortium had 1.5k reviews on Steam, which is very, very good number for Steam. A whole lot of people played the game and found it not bad ("mostly positive"). Reaching more might be possible, but re-releasing the title doesn't look like a step in this direction. As a result game just stopped having 1.5k reviews and started having 10. Depressing.

Writing this just to say that funneling these "very little resources" spent on remaster into infrequent cosmetic updates for The Tower would be much better.
If it would be the case, I might be mildly sympathetic to iDGi, but now I'm just infuriated with "a bunch of guys making unrealistic plans, bad decisions, and empty promises".

[Darke]

Normally these sort of remasters with a rename are to update things for a re-release on more modern consoles or stores. I've no idea about the VR stuff, but maybe it needed to be updated to release on the metaquest, or they've got plans on dropping it on gamepass or consoles.

[Thrie]

There are a whole pile of reasons for this Remaster, most of all using a modern game engine which allowed us to fix many systemic issues related to the Source Engine original. We've already had owners of the original who just received the Remaster for free tell us that they couldn't even load the original without crashes or other issues but can now play the Remaster just fine. This kind of thing makes us very happy: we owned these folks a game they could actually play.

The Source Engine cannot port to anything else, including V.R., Xbox, Playstation, Steam Deck, etc. Also, using V.O.I.C.E. with Source was impossible, and we wanted V.O.I.C.E. available in both games for obvious reasons. We also had a LOT of hindsight/feedback issues with Consortium that we wanted to address, such as the ending. Because both games are now on the same game engine, the transition between them is now seamless, and the systems that make up their guts can function the same between games.

Furthermore, "infrequent cosmetic updates" to the Tower are meaningless at this point. We have a game to finish that requires a full budget and team. Also, the many improvements we've made to Consortium's systems because of this Remaster have all gone directly into the Tower. So yes, completing the Remaster simultaneously updated the Tower in many ways. Simply put, we could never build the budget/team we need with the original Consortium being what it was. Now we have options. This Remaster was doable with three people working other jobs. Finishing the Tower is a different animal altogether and impossible with only three of us spending our own money. So, we had a decision to make: stop working on the game world that we love so much (give up) or port Consortium to a modern game engine and as many platforms as possible to maximize its potential. To us, this wasn't even a question.

And frankly, we care about what's best for the game—not how many reviews it has. Trying to push an old game on a dilapidated game engine makes no sense. We've never made much money off these games, but we persist because we love doing it and believe in the concept/game world. We are not doing this for sympathy. This version of Consortium is leaps and bounds better than the original in every way, meaning we are finally truly happy with it and can say we've done everything we can to make it the best it can be.

Lastly, the sticky post you read is quite old, and I suppose it should be replaced with a post from the day of the Remaster's release (the above more or less summarizes this post)::: https://www.idgi1.ca/blog/remastered-v-r-the-tower-and-the-future-of-idgi

[vitalik1700]

Originally posted by Thrie:

Furthermore, "infrequent cosmetic updates" to the Tower are meaningless at this point.

>Much of the criticism we have received about Remastered/V.R. comes from our Tower crowdfunding backers. This usually amounts to thinking we have no intention of finishing the Tower and only want to milk Consortium for all we can.

Well, that's what I'm saying. You PR handling of the situation is atrocious.

Consortium is not a game that deserves a sequel and among all the reasons you try to bring I fail to see valid ones. For me - you are doing it for yourself, maybe for fans of specifally Consortium - which don't seem to be too numerous.

Some kind of hobby project which of course you are free to do.
And which I am free to hate.

[Thrie]

If you want to believe that while disregarding the many clear points I made as to the purpose of this Remaster, no problem. You received the Remaster for free because you owned the original (we're not asking you for anything), and we are only doing what's best to build a path toward The Tower. Whether it "deserves" a sequel is subjective and irrelevant to what we choose to spend our free time on while working other jobs.

Frankly, your original post was justified and deserved an honest and transparent response, and now you're just being mean for no apparent reason. But like you said, you are absolutely free to hate whatever you want. It is the internet, after all.

[SpEciAl_K (kid)]

Originally posted by Thrie:

If you want to believe that while disregarding the many clear points I made as to the purpose of this Remaster, no problem. You received the Remaster for free because you owned the original (we're not asking you for anything), and we are only doing what's best to build a path toward The Tower. Whether it "deserves" a sequel is subjective and irrelevant to what we choose to spend our free time on while working other jobs.

Frankly, your original post was justified and deserved an honest and transparent response, and now you're just being mean for no apparent reason. But like you said, you are absolutely free to hate whatever you want. It is the internet, after all.

I think he just wanted to say it is a strange business decision considering the two towers is in limbo but thanks for the free remaster.

[attiladafun]

Don't listen to critics. I like the remaster

[MeetYourNanny]

Totally agree with the OP. Plus i didnt ask for this piece of trash to appear in my library.

[aethervagrant]

You are free to remove it at any time.
Never realized free ♥♥♥♥ showing up in someone's steam library was a negative.
Devs made a decent game with faults over ten years ago, it's crazy that people who barely remember the game are upset that there is an optional, free, improvement.
Isn't that the sort of thing we, as gamers, want to support? Even if it's not perfect, other companies do the same thing but try to get customers to buy the whole game again.
Could have made a BS "game of the year" edition (always a funny claim) but they chose not to.