Please make this game availible on GeForce NOW service

[Leo3ABP]

Hi!

Can developers bring this game to GeForce NOW?

For those who don't know, GFN is a cloud gaming service which allows to run games on a remote gaming rig and stream it to PC, Mac, or even android tablets. This is a convenient way to enjoy even the latest games while not having a gaming rig accessible. It costs nothing for developers to opt in their game into GFN, and afaik GFN is defacto an official steam partner for cloud gaming.

So please, consider this option. I'm fairly certain that there is not an insignificant number of players who would benefit from this game being on GFN, and for developer/publisher it is an opportunity to generate extra sales virtually at no cost.

[Shiro]

Don't know much abt GeForce NOW; googled it. Apparently, some companies (such as 2k games) actually left GeForce NOW at some points. And this doesn't seem to be just politics. This "costs nothing" part, thus, looks like free cheese... Perhaps adapting the game requires some extra work that shall be done each time game is updated? Insufficient data

[Lappland^^]

say that on discord so there is a higher change they'll answer

[Leo3ABP]

Originally posted by Shiro:

Don't know much abt GeForce NOW; googled it. Apparently, some companies (such as 2k games) actually left GeForce NOW at some points. And this doesn't seem to be just politics. This "costs nothing" part, thus, looks like free cheese... Perhaps adapting the game requires some extra work that shall be done each time game is updated? Insufficient data

You should do more research before making bold claims about free cheese. As I mentioned in the original post, GFN cooperates closely with steam and acts as its remote play service provider. If the game is available on steam and has cloud saves, then it is compatible with GFN, no changes to the code needed afaik. Back in the early days most of the games eligible to the condition above were available on GFN, but then it changed to the "opt in" model, likely for legal reasons. So now devs need to contact NVIDIA and express their intent of their game being provided through GFN, and submit some simple artwork for the game banner in the launcher.

I find it interesting that you dug up information about 2k yet seem to be completely clueless how GFN works, or at least pretend to be that way. Basically, GFN runs servers with Steam/EGS/Uplay clients, which handles game updates games the normal way. When you log in, a virtual machine is created which fetches an updated copy of the game from the server. In case server version of the game is not up to date (which can be an hour or two after the update is released), then your game will download update normally through Steam/EGS/Uplay client, whichever is tied to the particular game. The reason why cloud saves are needed is because virtual machines are not persistent but created for each game session, so your saves need to be kept at a cloud. Since most games on Steam/EGS/Uplay have cloud saves anyway, no additional game integration is needed.

When it comes to 2k, some publisher think they entitled to receive a cut from NVIDIA (it is a subscription based service with free unlimited trial), so they not willing to opt in. Hopefully sooner or later they realise that they are only loosing money that way, and change their mind.

If you want a first hand experience about what it takes to post a game on GFN, you can ask devs of Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic. They have added their game on GFN at my request and have been pretty open about the process. So maybe they will tell you in more details what it takes to join GFN.

[Japzzi]

Just buy the game? As far as I understand you can play your games on their system.

Besides why should the devs add it to Geforce Now? What do they earn from it?

[Shiro]

ok thanks for explanation. I had rough understanding of how this works, now it's slightly better.
So, apparently this server is very good for games that normally require strong PC and never have mods. Such games are easily handled by service while providing sizeable benefit for player.
Barotrauma has moderate requirements. Not sure about potato (some say it will work but be laggy), but some budget PC surely will handle it. So some benefit may be possible, but not surely. No point of using cloud service when playing from PC does it just as well and for free.
Mods gonna be harder issue, however. For how much I like vanilla content, half servers play with mods. And from what I dug, mods are not handled too well by GFN. Especially if choice of mods can be seen as random and your only real option normally is to download extra mods on spot.
Also question about cloud saving. Are saves kept in cloud for VM usage only, or can be downloaded to PC? If former, then it might cause additional inconveniences for when people want to edit save.
ok it's all for now, may question your brilliant suggestion some more in the future

[The Flaming Pike]

Hi, just a quick intervention here. There is no reason to react aggressively on such a subject, and overall there is no reason to berate others if they lack information on any subject. If you encounter people who don't know details about something, there is a way to inform those people without ridiculing them, antagonizing them or painting them in a corner. Those who seem uninformed may in fact be truly uninformed and immediately coming to the conclusion that they are trolls or toxic posters shouldn't be your first reaction.

[Leo3ABP]

Originally posted by Shiro:

ok thanks for explanation. I had rough understanding of how this works, now it's slightly better.
So, apparently this server is very good for games that normally require strong PC and never have mods. Such games are easily handled by service while providing sizeable benefit for player.
Barotrauma has moderate requirements. Not sure about potato, but some budget PC surely should handle it. So some benefit is possible, but not surely.
Mods gonna be harder issue, however. For how much I like vanilla content, half servers play with mods. And from what I dug, mods are not handled too well by GFN. Especially if choice of mods can be seen as random and your only real option normally is to download extra mods on spot.
Also question about cloud saving. Are saves kept in cloud for VM usage only, or can be downloaded to PC? If former, then it might cause additional inconveniences for when people want to edit save.
ok it's all for now, may question your brilliant suggestion some more in the future

Yes, modding is the issue since you do not have a direct access to game files. With an odd exception it is possible to use mods from steam workshop, though there is no official support for this yet. When it comes to editing a save file, then again - you dont have a direct access to the games file unfortunately. However, if the game in question uses steam cloud, it should be possible to sync saves to your own pc, edit them, sync to steam cloud again, and then they would hook up to GFN.

Also while there certainly a focus on providing high-end demanding games for obvious reasons, there are a lot of "potato" games there too, even FTL (I dont think you can get more potato than that). What Nvidia (and probably steam as they are in official partnership for remote play) wants is to have all steam games available through GFN
service. In the end it is a win-win situation for everybody. Nvidia gets more customers due to more games on their platform, publishers get more customers due to more people, including those without gaming pc's buying their games to play through GFN, Steam and other stores like EGS get increase in sales due to same reason, and last but not least players can enjoy top-tier games even from a potato laptops. And as I mentioned previously, there is virtually no cost to devs for integration or maintenance to be available on GFN.

There is another service that is currently actively growing, called Shadow, which allows you not to merely launch games, but actually gives you full access to a remote PC built specifically for you. I have not used it (as it is not rolled out in my country yet) but as I understand the idea is to let you fully use a remote PC as your own desktop, so you can mod and do virtually everything with it. Shadow's offer looks interesting, but they are slow to roll out gaming rigs, and also there are concerns with EULA's as some companies have explicit closures about forbidding to launch games on remote desktops (this is why GFN switched to opt-in model to make sure they not break any EULA's of various devs and publishers).

Personally I have used GFN for over half a year since my gaming pc died, and for the most part I am very satisfied. Sure, it is not as good or flexible as having own gaming machine, but you cant beat the price (for me it costs around 5 euros a month being a subscriber), especially with the current situation around employment due to COVID-19 and stuff. So it has been a saving grace for my gaming needs, and something like 95% of games that I want to play are available there, so I'm satisfied. When it comes to modding, I have succesfull used workshop mods for Stellaris, EU4, HoI3 and cities Skylines in the past, so again - even some modding is not off-limit. Though of course it may vary from game to game, especially if mods are not supported through steam workshop.

[pyr0kid]

as the system requirements already list 7 year old parts and runs on every major operating system, i see no reason why the devs need to put time into making the game more available.

anyone who wants this game can already get this game.

[The Flaming Pike]

Alright, this is the second time I have to intervene in a short matter of time.

First, let me be clear: there is always room for discussions and suggestions, but there is a correct way to do this without provoking one another. Unfortunately, this thread has gone on the wrong path and it doesn't seem to be going back on track.

Secondly, I believe this suggestion concerns publishers, not developers. Unfortunately, I believe only the devs are going to read this here, and I'm afraid that they are more focused on actually building the game rather than having it on other platforms at the moment. It is still in early access, after all.

Then again, I don't speak for the devs or the publisher and this is just my personal interpretation of things.

Thirdly and finally, I think the main message has been sent, the thread has a few informative messages about GeForce Now. Maybe the devs/publishers will pay attention to it. Other than that, I believe we have come full circle. The last messages that I had to moderate indicate there isn't much to be added on the constructive side of things. I'm locking this thread. If a dev wants to reply, it will still be possible since they are forum admins. Other than that, I don't think there's much more to be said.