TO Developers:

[Sushi_Rocks]

Please add a damn Steam workshop so that we can subscribe to the community updates

[Toliman]

Dude, there are no developers.

Tim Schafer fired the 3-4 people working on DF-9 back in 2014, and moved the artists onto other work once the money dried up.

As JP LeBreton said, on the 19 August 2014, "Double Fine is not a random fly-by-night indie dev and we are not going to silently pull the plug on Spacebase or any other in-development project. Doing so would be disastrous for our reputation and it would kill us emotionally/"

So, naturally, Tim Schafer pulled the plug and called it 1.0 in September, 5 weeks later. Gotta keep paying rent in San Francisco's most expensive suburb somehow,

Because of DF-9's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with the 1.0 release, Seam changed their policies on Early Access Games so that Early Access Developers couldn't bait and switch on features, and had to offer and meet a roadmap to backers so they couldn't just drop development in a hole for 6+ months, as DF-9 did back in 2014.

Tim Schafer, then moved to a different platform to grift people and built up Fig, an even more dubious investor platform, offering people to invest in Psychonauts 2, with USD$3.8 Million in "Preorders", which has been in development since 2015. Great stuff. They just brought out an alpha, 4 years later if you paid the higher tiers to get access.

DF-9 has some unofficial developers, who have built a mod platform and patches on top of the old game, but you'd be best to look at Spatials galactolgy or BugByte's Space Haven,

or the space base builder genre on steam, including astroneer, planetbase, surviving mars, oxygen not included, etc. which are terrifically better base builder games in every way.

but no, this game died years ago, the money from any sales likely goes into the DoubleFine budget helping Tim Schafer wax his back hair every week.

[Sushi_Rocks]

I know all of that. My imagination of this is that even Tim Schafer would just have to click on a Steam developer button for "enable workshop" or something.

Probably pretty delusional, but meh.

[Skenners]

I asked them to years ago when we first started doing the patches. I even offered to buy spacebase from them but they're not willing to let it go or do anything with it. its a super sore point for them.

-Skenners

[Sushi_Rocks]

Originally posted by Skenners:

I asked them to years ago when we first started doing the patches. I even offered to buy spacebase from them but they're not willing to let it go or do anything with it. its a super sore point for them.

-Skenners

Thank you for trying! You are ma hero ^^

Also thank you for providing these patches.

I guess there are still enough people buying into their... "project" to make it reasonable to keep the franchise rights.

Very sad. I saw how they begged for new money for Psychonauts 2 on Kickstarter, but I hope that the word of what they do gets out. I was on the forums and can still remember their "delay and do nothing"-tactic regarding the work on DF-9 and the lack of commitment in the forums.

Maybe there is some hope on the horizon if they fall on their feet someday. As far as I heard they are still using people's money to live in San Franciscos most expensive district....

[Acer Spacer]

Originally posted by Skenners:

I asked them to years ago when we first started doing the patches. I even offered to buy spacebase from them but they're not willing to let it go or do anything with it. its a super sore point for them.

-Skenners

Skenners if everyone in the games industry was even a quarter as competent as you and your group the games scene would be so much better

[Skenners]

Originally posted by Acer Spacer:

Skenners if everyone in the games industry was even a quarter as competent as you and your group the games scene would be so much better

Originally posted by Sushi_Rocks GER:

Thank you for trying! You are ma hero ^^

Also thank you for providing these patches.

Thanks Guys! It was a group effort for sure.

Sometimes it just takes time.

Another factor is that because of how Spacebase is made (within the code) theres a lot of 3rd party stuff in there and a lot of tools required to make it. We have a lot of trouble cracking the music stuff for instance, even though we have the codes and passwords for the encryptions.

It also uses other party tools for graphics and 3d rendering stuff that they legally cant sell (at least not without having me to broker a deal with them as well to take it on). If they were interested, id be more inclined to be in contact with those 3rd party people, but DF has to be willing.

-Skenners

[Sushi_Rocks]

Originally posted by Skenners:

[...]
Another factor is that because of how Spacebase is made (within the code) theres a lot of 3rd party stuff in there and a lot of tools required to make it. We have a lot of trouble cracking the music stuff for instance, even though we have the codes and passwords for the encryptions.

-Skenners

Couldn't you just replace the whole section with unecrypted stuff?

I am an idiot when it comes to programming, but I am curious.

[Skenners]

Originally posted by Sushi_Rocks GER:

Couldn't you just replace the whole section with unecrypted stuff?

I am an idiot when it comes to programming, but I am curious.

of course, but it would take months of coding to replace it, or find an open source replacement for it, then adapt it to what it is.

Think of the game like a tree, its roots are the code and the roots are all intertwined with other roots and all over the place. One thing will connect to another to another to something else entirely different, so if you were to go untangle it, you're bound to cut something off and make far more bugs than started.

It should never have got to that point, but thats a Double Fine thing to answer for. Good coding will be documented, well coded and make actual human readable sense. Planning didnt look like it came into it (and according to its history of coming from a hackathon, makes sense as to why).

A few people have tried and failed, im just one of the few that have made it further than the rest and even Im giving up after this final patch. Best to start again from the start and do it right the first time.

-Skenners

[Sushi_Rocks]

Originally posted by Skenners:

Originally posted by Sushi_Rocks GER:

Couldn't you just replace the whole section with unecrypted stuff?

I am an idiot when it comes to programming, but I am curious.

of course, but it would take months of coding to replace it, or find an open source replacement for it, then adapt it to what it is.

Think of the game like a tree, its roots are the code and the roots are all intertwined with other roots and all over the place. One thing will connect to another to another to something else entirely different, so if you were to go untangle it, you're bound to cut something off and make far more bugs than started.

It should never have got to that point, but thats a Double Fine thing to answer for. Good coding will be documented, well coded and make actual human readable sense. Planning didnt look like it came into it (and according to its history of coming from a hackathon, makes sense as to why).

A few people have tried and failed, im just one of the few that have made it further than the rest and even Im giving up after this final patch. Best to start again from the start and do it right the first time.

-Skenners

Are you making your own game?

[Skenners]

Originally posted by Sushi_Rocks GER:

Are you making your own game?

Ill be making my own titles, not so much spacebase related. But eventually, if those other ones go to plan, then i'd like to come back and redo this the way it should have been done. But to make a game like this great, not only requires proper leadership, but multiple programmers which means money and backing.

So, IF I can make some other titles on my own to prove my own worth in the games industry, then ill come back and MAKE SPACEBASE GREAT AGAIN! MSBGA!! etc :D

But it would be a complete rewrite with new graphics and sound and originally start off closed to the public.

I have an idea that you should release a game as closed for at least a year to give yourself enough money to create sequels or other titles which are also closed off for a year, then open source the code after that year to the community.

If you cant make a game decent enough to sell well in a year, then its just a crappy game and let the community have at it and see if they can make it better based on your code.

-Skenners

[Sushi_Rocks]

Originally posted by Skenners:

Originally posted by Sushi_Rocks GER:

Are you making your own game?

Ill be making my own titles, not so much spacebase related. But eventually, if those other ones go to plan, then i'd like to come back and redo this the way it should have been done. But to make a game like this great, not only requires proper leadership, but multiple programmers which means money and backing.

So, IF I can make some other titles on my own to prove my own worth in the games industry, then ill come back and MAKE SPACEBASE GREAT AGAIN! MSBGA!! etc :D

But it would be a complete rewrite with new graphics and sound and originally start off closed to the public.

I have an idea that you should release a game as closed for at least a year to give yourself enough money to create sequels or other titles which are also closed off for a year, then open source the code after that year to the community.

If you cant make a game decent enough to sell well in a year, then its just a crappy game and let the community have at it and see if they can make it better based on your code.

-Skenners

Well, a decent game could also sell for many years. Bethesda is still selling Skyrim after all.

If you go for a kickstarter, you shouldn't need any professional skills. You just need a decent presentation and then you will have enough money to pay some other programmers.

What titles do you work on currently?

[Skenners]

Originally posted by Sushi_Rocks GER:

Well, a decent game could also sell for many years. Bethesda is still selling Skyrim after all.

If you go for a kickstarter, you shouldn't need any professional skills. You just need a decent presentation and then you will have enough money to pay some other programmers.

What titles do you work on currently?

true, but i doubt im going to make a skyrim level game as an indie dev. Im a far better project lead than a programmer, but who knows?

Ive thought of kickstarters and early access and a few other options including an ICO where the tokens can be converted into in-game currency for use in game.

Theres a lot of inherent problems with going those routes, largely a good indie game should be made in about a month or two at a cost of 10-15k, but adding on other things will distract and take away from the game production. Then theres the love lost in others that did kickstarter and took the money and ran like a certain company that was bought out by microsoft *cough* :D

Currently working on freelance work and job hunting, then working on the patch. So not too far along with my own games. One im working on im keeping on the low, but another one i want to work on will be based on the seasteading institutes work.

https://www.seasteading.org/floating-city-project/

-Skenners

[Grumpy Old Gamer]

Gameis dead, devs grabbed the cash and ran as fast as they coud.

[Mush]

Originally posted by Shadow Raider:

Gameis dead, devs grabbed the cash and ran as fast as they coud.

nononono, that is not what happened.

Indiegogo (i think, I could be wrong) gave a "loan" to Double Fine to make this demo.
Double Fine, as the double fine dubious company it is, used the First income this title generated (money that should have gone into development) to pay of that "loan".

or if you really want to go dark, they both used early access to get paid and leave.

so not just "dev's ran with cash", it was quite a bit dirtier than that.

[Sushi_Rocks]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/09/microsoft-buy-double-fine-productions/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rockpapershotgun%2Fsteam+%28Rock%2C+Paper%2C+Shotgun%3A+Steam+RSS%29

Microsoft bought Double Fraud. Is there hope for Spacebase DF9?