Boxed Project Zomboid

[VamyreLord]

will you guys consider having a retail version of the game when it is finished? because let's face it, digital games sucks monkey balls, don't you just love having a reliable game box in your shelf instead of a file in your computer?

[Guest]

 digital games sucks monkey balls

 

Hippie

 

 

 

Might happen if PZ becomes super famous and genre defining.

[nasKo]

digital games sucks monkey balls

Hippie

I'm not aware if TIS have something planned for this.

I imagine this really depends on how successful the game turns out to be.

Also, I can imagine that it might turn out to be a thing for the fanboy edition.

It's not entirely clear, yet.

[majorpickle01]

While i'm all for a boxed version,  "digital games sucks monkey balls" really rustled my jimmies. A boxed version which is easily damaged and takes physical space is self evidently inferior to a version which takes no real space and can be redownloaded when damaged.

Edit: Hippie (am i popular yet?)

[Guest]

 

digital games sucks monkey balls

Hippie

 

 

I feel as if you're reading my mind(refer to 1st post)

 

Edit: Hippie (am i popular yet?)

 

Hahahaha

[Bloop]

I think that the advantages of digital games just barely outweigh the disadvantages. I'm all for fancy boxes and whatnot, they take up way more (physical) space than a download.

 

 

Commie... Wait no, that's not right...

[VamyreLord]

 

 digital games sucks monkey balls

 

Hippie

 

 

Pfff..."They take so much space..." what, are you guys living in a cabin or something?

[harakka]

One fairly big advantage of digital instead of boxed copies is that the money goes straight to the distributor (Steam) and the developer (TIS), instead of a million hands in between taking their cuts.

[PK'EZ-54]

But with a boxed copy, you could break the disk out of anger.

[Guest]

The inevitable fact is that the future is digital distribution.

Plus digitally distributed games are about 10 times more easier to obtain for people living in other countries, which in turn provides a wider audience.

[harakka]

A developer getting "only" 70% of a ~25 euro Steam sale is most likely a massive improvement from what they'd see from a a 50 euro boxed copy. For a boxed copy there' the publisher, regional publishers, manufacturing costs for the discs and boxes and all additional crap, importers, physical retailers... for starters. There are a lot of hands in between, and everyone takes their cut. A 30%-70% deal where you actually get to keep the full 70% (well, after taxes and such, but those would have to be involved no matter what sort of business we're doing) is very nice.

 

Too bad all this numbers stuff is NDAd to high heaven so it's not very common to come across the developers themselves saying this.

[MashPotato]

Pfff..."They take so much space..." what, are you guys living in a cabin or something?

 

 

Hehe, I'm going through this problem right now I've managed to whittle down my game boxes to my classic LucasArts adventure games--games that I couldn't play again even if I wanted to because many are on 3.5" floppies.

[VamyreLord]

The inevitable fact is that the future is digital distribution.

Tragic I know.

 

 

Pfff..."They take so much space..." what, are you guys living in a cabin or something?

 

 

Hehe, I'm going through this problem right now I've managed to whittle down my game boxes to my classic LucasArts adventure games--games that I couldn't play again even if I wanted to because many are on 3.5" floppies.

 

Even tho I don't need to, I could dedicate a whole room for game boxes. B) My current game collection won't even fill 3 shelves.

[k12314]

 

The inevitable fact is that the future is digital distribution.

Tragic I know.

 

It's a good thing. Physical copies are too fragile and, frankly, are unnecessary. Why not just distribute the data as itself instead of putting it on a physical object? It's silly.

[VamyreLord]

 

 

The inevitable fact is that the future is digital distribution.

Tragic I know.

 

It's a good thing. Physical copies are too fragile and, frankly, are unnecessary. Why not just distribute the data as itself instead of putting it on a physical object? It's silly.

 

I don't know, It's the same reason I don't like having digital books, I prefer to own the physical copies, don't you think?

 

Having a physical copy of a game means it's "secure between your hands", you own it. Whilst digital data might get lost, it is not really safe.

 

Or maybe because of nostalgia; how many years you did have had physical games ranging from catridges to CDs until digital distribution got introduced and became so popular.

[k12314]

 

 

 

The inevitable fact is that the future is digital distribution.

Tragic I know.

 

It's a good thing. Physical copies are too fragile and, frankly, are unnecessary. Why not just distribute the data as itself instead of putting it on a physical object? It's silly.

 

I don't know, It's the same reason I don't like having digital books, I prefer to own the physical copies, don't you think?

 

Having a physical copy of a game means it's "secure between your hands", you own it. Whilst digital data might get lost, it is not really safe.

 

Or maybe because of nostalgia; how many years you did have had physical games ranging from catridges to CDs until digital distribution got introduced and became so popular.

 

 

You can lose physical copies of things too. And I hated having physical games, they would get dirty or scratched up and wouldn't work, and it was just annoying to keep track of them and have a spot for the cases. Digital copies don't get lost. If they are deleted or corrupted, you re-download them. Having a digital copy means you are guaranteed to have that game forever.

[Xydonus]

I don't know, It's the same reason I don't like having digital books, I prefer to own the physical copies, don't you think?

 

 

Having a physical copy of a game means it's "secure between your hands", you own it. Whilst digital data might get lost, it is not really safe.

 

Or maybe because of nostalgia; how many years you did have had physical games ranging from catridges to CDs until digital distribution got introduced and became so popular.

 

 

I hear what your saying, and I agree on some parts. Digital data has its disadvantages, it isn't all rosy dosy in the digital world and having a physical copy can ensure extra security and ease of mind.

 

However, you have to look at this from the developer point of view. For an indie studio, physical distribution is very rare. There's a reason for that; cost. I have no need to explain the sort of financial burden developers have to endure with physical copies as that's been explained further up. From a business point of view, TIS will only ever consider such a thing if it benefits them financially. If they feel that the risk is too great, and not worth it, well, they won't do it.

 

 

 Digital copies don't get lost. If they are deleted or corrupted, you re-download them. Having a digital copy means you are guaranteed to have that game forever.

 

 

I strongly disagree on the quoted part. I've been a victim of digital mess from EA having lost games via their service and being told that they can't find the games and there's nothing they can do. Burnout Ultimate Paradise, BF2 Bad Company and BF2 disappeared completely from my EA account.

 

Also, things like Impulse getting taken over by Gamestop is another example of the murky waters that is the digital world. What guarantees are in place for them to continue the service? How strongly are your digital rights protected? I would argue the digital protection laws are weak at best, with many loopholes.

 

Take Steam for example. Now, it's been reported before when the question was asked about what would happen if Steam ever went out of business, as highly unlikely as that may seem. While I don't have the exact quote, Gabe said on the lines that all customer assets would be protected and that the games will be programmed to function without Steam. That's nice.

 

Except that's nowhere within the Steam Eula (unless this has changed recently) and the word of the man in charge doesn't translate to law nor does it provide a guarantee.

 

So no, regardless of what you may think, having a digital copy does NOT mean you are guaranteed to have that game forever.

[TheCenturion]

I imagine that many a person on this thread would have a change of heart if they didn't have access to their fancy smancy internet connections. THINK OF THE AUSTRALIANS! Or me. Either's good.

[VamyreLord]

I can agree that digital distribution is very developer friendly, especially to indie developers. But I lost my faith in digital game distributors or any service that offer game downloads when you sign to them. Since my account on PSN 2 years ago got deleted (reason unknown to me) and subsequently all games and add-ons associated with it got deleted as well. I'm talking about more than 180$ went with the wind.

 

So what if Steam got out of business or something along those lines, like Xydonus mentioned, not only Steam but most digital services out there, there is no upper protection when it comes to them.

 

I know TIS won't distribute their game in boxes right away, but at least maybe years from now just like how the developers of Terraria did. Two years from its original release, they shipped a retail version as collectors edition. Many players can't or won't buy digital games, so I think developers should consider that; by not having your game in stores, you can't reach those players.

[harakka]

Keep in mind Steam's way of doing things isn't the only one. GOG offers downloadable installers for your convenience, which you can then store as printouts in your videogame bunker, safe in the knowledge that you'll still have the games after nuclear apocalypse destroys all digital distribution services.

[EnigmaGrey]

If any digital service goes out of business, you lose your "subscription" to that service, and therefore its content.

And then we all move on.

[nasKo]

I can agree that digital distribution is very developer friendly, especially to indie developers. But I lost my faith in digital game distributors or any service that offer game downloads when you sign to them. Since my account on PSN 2 years ago got deleted (reason unknown to me) and subsequently all games and add-ons associated with it got deleted as well. I'm talking about more than 180$ went with the wind.

 

So what if Steam got out of business or something along those lines, like Xydonus mentioned, not only Steam but most digital services out there, there is no upper protection when it comes to them.

 

I know TIS won't distribute their game in boxes right away, but at least maybe years from now just like how the developers of Terraria did. Two years from its original release, they shipped a retail version as collectors edition. Many players can't or won't buy digital games, so I think developers should consider that; by not having your game in stores, you can't reach those players.

Valid point. I understand your general point against digital distirbution now.

PZ on Desura is essentially DRM-free, though. So you can easily back it up anywhere, without it getting lost once Desura or Steam belly-up.

Retail distribution is fairly expensive (not only in terms of money) so as stated before, I can see it being a gimmicky limited edition or something.

There are no plans for this as of now, though.

 

While I don't have the exact quote, Gabe said on the lines that all customer assets would be protected and that the games will be programmed to function without Steam. That's nice.

I hear that a lot and noone ever has the quote. I wish someone did because I've read this too.

Until I see it for myself it's hearsay to me. I imagine something like this would have to be part of the ToS or EULA.

I can totally imagine that they intend to do something like this for VALVe-games but I doubt they can do it without the publishers having the last word?

It would be awesome, yes, but eh

[harakka]

"Unless there was some situation I don't understand, we would presumably disable authentication before any event that would preclude the authentication servers from being available." He added, "We've tested disabling authentication and it works.

This quote, supposedly written by Newell on Steam forums at some previous point in time, comes up often in this context. However I've never managed to track the source post down. Also there's this supposed support person reply. However there's nothing about it in the EULA, so they're not obliged to do so.

[Brick]

I've used steam in 'offline' mode and all of my games worked fine

 

 

Mostly I download pirate copies of games I already own simply because I couldn't be arsed going up into the attic to look for the box!

 

I don't know about you but maybe your game collection could fit on a shelf or two..... mine would fill a whole room..... or one tiny usb hard drive, it really is a no brainer

 

One of my biggest pet hates is having to put the cd in, I mean what the hell did I do before steam? just play one game at a time? swapping cds between games is a pain

[Banjo]

 

Pfff..."They take so much space..." what, are you guys living in a cabin or something?

 

 

Hehe, I'm going through this problem right now I've managed to whittle down my game boxes to my classic LucasArts adventure games--games that I couldn't play again even if I wanted to because many are on 3.5" floppies.

 

My mom making me throw out many of my Sierra game boxes when we moved house is still a painful memory.

 

I personally dislike "digital only" games to the point I'll never buy one if I can get it "for real", even if it means spending far more ("On Demand" console games can just go away please?). Obviously I expect to pay more for a packaged retail product, though, just like buying a CD or book over a bunch of MP3 or ebook data files.

 

On the other hand, something like PZ is a little different IMO, because it's a small developer who I'd much rather give 100% of the money to.

 

It's greedy big companies who charge close to the same for their digital downloads (ebooks the same price as paperbacks?!) and don't bother putting manuals in their boxed games that I oppose. Plus, where I am in Australia, downloading 4gb games isn't something most internet plans allow for on a too-regular basis!