You may know a small british game developer by the name, Introversion. You may not - but do the titles, Uplink, Darwinia or Defcon sound familiar?



They've just opened pre-orders (including alpha access, ala. Endless Space) so if you're into the "build/manage" sim kind of game you should check it out. If only to keep up to date with the development







http://www.introversion.co.uk/prisonarchitect/

Well i don't get it (yet) why excactly a Prison, but I'll have a look at it!

I heard the game is pretty solid, but it has a ridiculous $30 price point. I mean, seriously... when indie games come out for 15/20 bucks it's often pretty controversial, but taking a jump to $30 seems a bit obnoxious, and the game doesn't seem to have earned that price. Castle Story seems a lot more robust and its Kickstarter cost was only $15.

Day 2 : I'm still enjoying myself immensively - especially with some of the game breaking bugs that appear now and then. My medical ward is being held by prisoners who were knocked out in a big riot.



As for the price - It's a mix of several things. For one they wanted to make alpha testing less "public" - in other words, by charging full price for alpha access they don't get flooded with testers who focus more on complaining, less on testing. (I'm in the Planetside 2 beta and it is a nightmare situation on that end). A lot of kickstarter games require upwards of 50/100$ for alpha access - of course since PA doesn't have a lower "pre-order" i can see your point in that it feels expensive.



They are far from indie though - In the traditional sense anyway.

Mansen wrote:
As for the price - It's a mix of several things. For one they wanted to make alpha testing less "public" - in other words, by charging full price for alpha access they don't get flooded with testers who focus more on complaining, less on testing. (I'm in the Planetside 2 beta and it is a nightmare situation on that end). A lot of kickstarter games require upwards of 50/100$ for alpha access - of course since PA doesn't have a lower "pre-order" i can see your point in that it feels expensive.

They're calling it 'pre-order,' meaning I should be able to buy the game now and, beta or not, have it at release. The current pricing systems indicates to me that they plan on having a similarly high price point upon release - in fact, most Kickstarters charge less for pre-orders than they do upon final release.[/quote]

Mansen wrote:
They are far from indie though - In the traditional sense anyway.

Explain?

Fenrakk101 wrote:
They're calling it 'pre-order,' meaning I should be able to buy the game now and, beta or not, have it at release.

I don't understand a word of that sentence.

Fenrakk101 wrote:
The current pricing systems indicates to me that they plan on having a similarly high price point upon release - in fact, most Kickstarters charge less for pre-orders than they do upon final release.

Which hurts their profits immensively - they are dependant on pulling in a set amount of money to be able to finish their game at all. If kickstarter project makers could, they would charge release date price - especially those who are already trying to reach a niché market.

Explain?

They've made games that have made it big - several times. They've gotten deals with microsoft for Xbox platforms. They're about as "Indie" as Minecraft is these days (that is not at all)

Mansen wrote:
I don't understand a word of that sentence.

Yeah, I worded it pretty poorly. Basically what I'm getting at is, why don't they have a cheaper option for people who want to pre-order the game but don't care about getting into the alpha/beta? Something that would be more indicative of the final price point?

Mansen wrote:
Which hurts their profits immensively - they are dependant on pulling in a set amount of money to be able to finish their game at all. If kickstarter project makers could, they would charge release date price - especially those who are already trying to reach a niché market.

See my above comment. There are probably people who would pay $10 or $15 just to support the game and guarantee a release copy, but are turned away by the fact that they need to pay $30 to get anything in return. The only real downside to having a cheaper option would be the fear that some people who would pay the $30 will instead pay the cheaper price, but I think it would still ultimately turn a profit to make the change. My fear is that the $30 option is still indicative of the final price point.

Mansen wrote:
They've made games that have made it big - several times. They've gotten deals with microsoft for Xbox platforms. They're about as "Indie" as Minecraft is these days (that is not at all)

Torchlight is also indie, but it was made by the same people who made Diablo 1 and 2. What kind of big deals have they made? As in, can you name any games they've produced or worked on?

Why don't you go ask them? It's not like I'm their PR guy



Torchlight isn't what I'd call indie by a long run - They're a big team of people with lots of experience in the field. Indie is more of a "garage" amateur (or at least inexperienced) programmer term. If you look at the conventions for indie games, you'll see anything but Torchlight, Endless Space, Natural Selection and such games.



In short, Small team != indie.



Either way this is going far off topic - my main point is. If you love building games (especially Dwarf Fortress depth ones) then you should keep up to date with the game, or try it out.

Mansen wrote:
Torchlight isn't what I'd call indie by a long run - They're a big team of people with lots of experience in the field. Indie is more of a "garage" amateur (or at least inexperienced) programmer term. If you look at the conventions for indie games, you'll see anything but Torchlight, Endless Space, Natural Selection and such games.

I think your misconception here is that indie games are not made by inexperienced developers. Inexperienced developers make games for sites like Newgrounds. That's where Edmund McMillen got started, and then he sold The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy as paid games, which are both very much indie, even though he (as the artist) and his programmer companion were both fairly experienced.

Mansen wrote:
In short, Small team != indie.

Not always true, not always false.

Mansen wrote:
Why don't you go ask them? It's not like I'm their PR guy



Torchlight isn't what I'd call indie by a long run - They're a big team of people with lots of experience in the field. Indie is more of a "garage" amateur (or at least inexperienced) programmer term. If you look at the conventions for indie games, you'll see anything but Torchlight, Endless Space, Natural Selection and such games.



In short, Small team != indie.



Either way this is going far off topic - my main point is. If you love building games (especially Dwarf Fortress depth ones) then you should keep up to date with the game, or try it out.

Stare of Death! oO - who knows, who knows, maybe you are the PR guy, undercover

Nah just joking, but you just reminded me to give Torchlight a try!

Tredecim wrote:
Stare of Death! oO - who knows, who knows, maybe you are the PR guy, undercover

Nah just joking, but you just reminded me to give Torchlight a try!

Muahahaha



I'll admit I did get a free copy of the alpha for donating to an earlier project a while back though, so I guess I'm a bit biased in the "pay for gaem" department - though I've kickstarted 3 projects this month with 100$ or more already

Mansen wrote:
Muahahaha



I'll admit I did get a free copy of the alpha for donating to an earlier project a while back though, so I guess I'm a bit biased in the "pay for gaem" department - though I've kickstarted 3 projects this month with 100$ or more already

Well kickstart-support is a nice way to support someone

Someone on the IV forums decided to start a Lets-Play series on the alpha. Good for showing off some actual gameplay instead of trailers. Should help people "on the fence" decide if the game is something for them.



Again - alpha is very much alpha. Some of the rooms don't have a purpose yet - some equipment isn't working.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo4kqKoFMM8