Cash For Game Titles Question

Well I've contacted people from Steam and from Desura. Only Scott Reismanis, from Desura, has returnd my inquries so far. Scott and I had an interesting conversation about the system and what they plan to do, so I thought I would share some of what was disscussed.

Right now they are in a private beta, but he told me if I wanted in he would add me. I don't know if he is adding anyone and everyone, but I believe if you want in you need make a ModDB account and send him a message and ask to get in.

He explained the service in detail. He told me there are no fees to sell a game, but they take a percentage of the sales 30% - Them, 70% - You. The system is an app like Steam, except you control your games site(Store front), content, price. They finished work on their patching system, and they are now working on the finance system (Setting price, Tracking orders). He also talked about an "Optinal C++ SDK" which will allow stat tracking, accolades(Trophies, Achivements), and Authentication(DRM).

From what he was telling me Desura is a Social Gaming network somewhat like Steam. Members can take screenshots ingame and post them up for disscussion. Feedback of games comes straight from the community as do reviews.

If you have a question about anything ask me, he may have told me allredy and I forgot to post it. Once someone from Steam contacts me(If they do) I'll post that here to.

Thats really cool, i was really looking into this new system from ModDB since i found out yesterday. So it could be possible to make this Optional SDK into a Plugin probably? Im planning on working a longer term game with construct and possibly want to sell so this seems like a good idea by me to use.

Scott and my conversation went on longer and I asked he directly about a few more things.

ME- Does Desura offer an Affiliate program, or a way to profit split between a group?

Scott- "It is up to you, to separate payments out to your team"

ME- Many people including me use game creation systems like, RPG maker, Game Maker, Indie Game Maker, or Construct, does this have an impact on them releasing games through Desura?

Scott- "We support any game that is good and bug free, you will have to check the licence you have with game maker to find out if you can sell a game made using that tech. I�m not sure you can."

ME- This C++ SDK do I have to incorperate in into my game?

Scott- "Oh and the SDK is optional"

So far he seem extremly nice and professional. I forgot to mention Scot is the Founder/End boss of Desura, so what he says is all true. are there any questions I should ask him?

Oh wow, sounds really good

is there any plan for this to be a standalone client for this network or will it stay as a social network? Like i know it is a social network for gamers and a portal basically for developers. But is there any plans to become a standalone client for games and downloads like Steam?

Im really excited about this program. It seems like it is going to make a big difference in the world of gaming for developers and gamers.

Right now it goes hand 'n hand with ModDB, but in the future they may become a stand alone client. right now they're an app that delivers ModDB content to you, but I think if the community grows and profit is made then they could go the stand alone way. The other question in my mind is how long untill Valve hears about this and tries to buy them out? but right now they don't stand to be a threat to Steam, due to the fact they don't have any licences with upper tier developers (EA, Activision, Ubisoft, ect) so we just have to sit back and see what happens.

Yeah but the indie scene has grown a lot and it seems to keep growing so this could be interesting to see how well it grows just from this alone could be a big impact. But only time will tell.

After thinking about this, why not make your game in C++? There are many Packages that make game programming with C++ as easy as Construct (but you have to code them) All the messy graphics and sound are made easy, and you can even do full 3d with them. The only draw back is you have to pay for them, but $50 - $200. Though if you have a good enough game the price is not a factor.

The bottom line is if i wrote C++ games in those packages you can too. LOL

He sent me a Beta invite, so far it's pretty much facebook,steam,blogspot,youtube,photobucket, and phpBB all crammed together. Don't get me wrong it works quite well, the interface is intuitive and user friendly, the presentation of contents is nice, and the community aspect is smart. there's not much to do there sine it's a beta and there are only 1 - 2 hundred people signed up, but from what i saw i was amazed at how it works.

some of the things I loved about it.

Navagation - it's really easy to get around, it feels like a web browser (Chrome, FF) home buttons and mutiple tabs.

Presentation - The UI is good, it's not flashy or overpowering, which makes it feel nicer.

Content Presentation - All Mods/Games have their own section with all kinds of content. When you click on a game it takes you to that games section, there are tabs Community, Media, Blog, Patches, About, Info. in the commuinity tab you will find the forums on that perticular game, under the media tab you find screenshots and even trailers, the blog tab has the developers blog about the game, and patches has a list of available patches, about gives you info on the game and developer.

some things I didn't like about it.

Structure - when you go to find a game a list appears none of the options are Indie games.

The Development tab - figuring out this system of adding games is not userfriendly at all

Publishing - in order to publish/sell your game on desura they tell you to use their program to turn a zip file in to a MFC file, which desura can change and update. it take a long time to do that.

After thinking about this, why not make your game in C++? There are many Packages that make game programming with C++ as easy as Construct (but you have to code them) All the messy graphics and sound are made easy, and you can even do full 3d with them. The only draw back is you have to pay for them, but $50 - $200. Though if you have a good enough game the price is not a factor.

The bottom line is if i wrote C++ games in those packages you can too. LOL

I can program in C++, I went to colege to learn computer programming. It's not that I can't it's that when I make a game it's usually for me and a few friends, so I use tools to make it easyier to do and save time. I'm sure there are many programs out there that make .cpp files for you, but if I was gonna do that I would just do it all from scratch. I didn't go to school for game programing, but I'm sure I could figure it out. The reason I've been asking all these people from steam and desura about publishing games made with construct like software is to bring to their attention the vast amounts of creativity out here, not everyone knows how to program, but a lot of people have good ideas for games and I don't think game development means you are set to using a high level language, I think people should be allowed to release their game no matter what they used to create them.

[quote:kywptf7b]...I don't think game development means you are set to using a high level language, I think people should be allowed to release their game no matter what they used to create them.

Totally agree with Bustercube.

Speaking of gamesales further:

Found some interesting article recently. (Link) Pretty interesting info for independent game developers

Im in college right now for computer science, and C/C++ is no difficult matter. I might look into writing my own engine for the ability to put in on many platforms. Construct does make it really easy to prototype a game though so that makes it something i would prefer to use.