The developers behind Starbound the in-development 2D sandbox game have detailed how the beta will be released. This is after hitting a milestone of over two million dollars in pre-orders!
It will be done in 3 different stages and I have broken it down very simply for you.
Stage 1
-Could get multiple changes a day
-Characters may need constant wiping
-Very risky
Stage 2
-Mostly feature complete
-A good time to test a low spec PC to get the game optimized for it
-Main quest line won't be in
Stage 3
-Everyone should try it at least at stage 3 to give feedback before the final release
Source
I am so excited for this game words cannot express.
One thing to note is the beta may be steam only, they stated on twitter this is because they can easily push updates constantly and quickly and state it would be a pain to do that using the Humble Store which is fair enough. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
It will be done in 3 different stages and I have broken it down very simply for you.
Stage 1
-Could get multiple changes a day
-Characters may need constant wiping
-Very risky
Stage 2
-Mostly feature complete
-A good time to test a low spec PC to get the game optimized for it
-Main quest line won't be in
Stage 3
-Everyone should try it at least at stage 3 to give feedback before the final release
Source
I am so excited for this game words cannot express.
One thing to note is the beta may be steam only, they stated on twitter this is because they can easily push updates constantly and quickly and state it would be a pain to do that using the Humble Store which is fair enough. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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No, no it isn't fair enough or fair at all. I don't use Steam. I will not install it for any one or any combination of games. I refuse to support DRM*. I was also promised, as someone who preordered, access to beta. Without Steam, I have no access. I looked forward to the beta as much as anyone, and the disappointment is difficult to channel into words. If I had money to waste, I'd talk to a lawyer. Probably wouldn't have much of a case, but a nicely worded legal document might have been enough for them to reconsider. As it is, I'm screwed. If I cancel my preorder, I don't get the game at all. If I don't cancel my preorder, then I'm saying it's OK to screw me over, it's okay to lie (mislead? conveniently interpret?) about being DRM-free.
*Before the inevitable simpleton says "but it's not using DRM", please realize Steam itself is DRM. Digital Restriction Management. It doesn't matter if they use something on top of that, that in itself is more than enough. If you don't install Steam and become a valve in their machine, you don't get access. Therefore it violates the promise of DRM-free. For convenience. Of some. To the exclusion of others. Pah...
*Before the inevitable simpleton says "but it's not using DRM", please realize Steam itself is DRM. Digital Restriction Management. It doesn't matter if they use something on top of that, that in itself is more than enough. If you don't install Steam and become a valve in their machine, you don't get access. Therefore it violates the promise of DRM-free. For convenience. Of some. To the exclusion of others. Pah...
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Quoting: Quote from Dawe*Before the inevitable simpleton says "but it's not using DRM", please realize Steam itself is DRM. Digital Restriction Management. It doesn't matter if they use something on top of that, that in itself is more than enough. If you don't install Steam and become a valve in their machine, you don't get access. Therefore it violates the promise of DRM-free. For convenience. Of some. To the exclusion of others. Pah...
Steam itself is DRM. So is the Humble Store. So is Desura. So is the game requiring you to put in a key to activate it. Short of them just offering the game download for free and telling people not to download unless they've paid for it, there is going to be DRM on a commerical game.
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Quoting: Quote from KameSteam itself is DRM. So is the Humble Store. So is Desura. So is the game requiring you to put in a key to activate it. Short of them just offering the game download for free and telling people not to download unless they've paid for it, there is going to be DRM on a commerical game.
You have a very strange sight of DRM. As Humble Store has NO DRM. Desura is also no DRM. For the activation key it depends on the activation process
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Quoting: Quote from Dawelots of complaintsIt's your choice to not use Steam, not theirs. They also haven't said they won't have any beta outside of Steam just that the early ones might not be on Steam as it will be too time consuming for them. So calm down dear.
I find people who think Steam by itself is DRM confusing, it's no more DRM than having to log into a website to get a download rather than having a direct download link.
Steamworks is DRM which is different.
Also Desura does allow DRM.
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Quoting: Quote from EnlightendQuoting: Quote from KameSteam itself is DRM. So is the Humble Store. So is Desura. So is the game requiring you to put in a key to activate it. Short of them just offering the game download for free and telling people not to download unless they've paid for it, there is going to be DRM on a commerical game.
You have a very strange sight of DRM. As Humble Store has NO DRM. Desura is also no DRM. For the activation key it depends on the activation process
Really? You don't have to log in? Or use a key to get access to the games? Ya know, just like you have to do with steam or desura?
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Quoting: Quote from KameReally? You don't have to log in? Or use a key to get access to the games? Ya know, just like you have to do with steam or desura?
On Steam I have to login for PLAYING my games. THAT IS DRM and THAT is the difference.
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Quoting: Quote from EnlightenmentQuoting: Quote from KameReally? You don't have to log in? Or use a key to get access to the games? Ya know, just like you have to do with steam or desura?
On Steam I have to login for PLAYING my games. THAT IS DRM and THAT is the difference.
No, on steam you have to login to play SOME games. Many games do NOT require you to be logged in to steam. I'd say a significant portion of the Linux games on steam are like that.
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Quoting: Quote from KameNo, on steam you have to login to play SOME games. Many games do NOT require you to be logged in to steam. I'd say a significant portion of the Linux games on steam are like that.
Sure, there are some games on Steam which don't rely on the Steam-Framework. But that's about 1% of all the games on Steam.
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Quoting: Quote from EnlightenmentQuoting: Quote from KameNo, on steam you have to login to play SOME games. Many games do NOT require you to be logged in to steam. I'd say a significant portion of the Linux games on steam are like that.
Sure, there are some games on Steam which don't rely on the Steam-Framework. But that's about 1% of all the games on Steam.
Okay? Are you against games with DRM in them, or against any distribution system which allows games to have DRM? And again, a game can utilize the steam framework and still not have steam required to run. See Dungeons of Dredmor for an example.
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With Steam, you log in to install a game every time. No DRM means you log in to *download* the installer... and never forced to log in to install or play that game. No DRM means you can *choose* to log in for a patched version if you care to.
Non-Steamworks games on Steam are a pain in the ass to copy out and archive for later installation; in fact, no care is made whatsoever that it be easy for you to remove the game and play it elsewhere. A DRM-free installer (like the Desura standalone downloads, Humble, Shinyloot, Fireflower, etc) makes that as easy as possible.
The above can be useful for older games. Here is a practical example of why it's handy even on new-ish games With a DRM-free game not on Steamworks, I can easily archive and reinstall any previous patch revision. Not all patches are beneficial!!! Try to roll back a few patches on an arbitrary Steam game. Give it a shot and tell us how that goes.
The downside is that patching is an annoyance, a pain in the ass, and is incredibly wasteful of bandwidth. The best solution has barely any attention at all; a digital distribution service providing an integrated client that can do incremental patches, happens to be open source, permits but discourages DRM, and alternately permits multi-platform DRM-free installer downloads.
I do believe that the DRM-free issue is strongly stacked toward single-player games. For multi-player games, there is already a notion of always-on DRM in the form of logging in to one's leaderboard profile, match-making, cheat prevention, server ban lists for repeat offenders of malfeasance, and intra-game/team chat. Giving developers really good tools to handle all that in a easy, reasonably secure, and streamlined way with a nice programmer's API is one of Steamworks' greatest value-adds. Developers love it for that purpose.
Personally, those features offer me little benefit, and I'd prefer to not have a client ever get in my way. Others have different needs.
Anyway, the above is my personal definition what is and is not "DRM". Simply having a log-in to download a file for the first time does not qualify. If that were the case, then liquor transactions at a shop could be DRM... you can't take the merchandise until they see your personally-identifying card?! Ludicrous! Claiming that a simple log-in to one-time-download an installer is equivalent to Steamworks plus Steam Guard is equally ludicrous.
Non-Steamworks games on Steam are a pain in the ass to copy out and archive for later installation; in fact, no care is made whatsoever that it be easy for you to remove the game and play it elsewhere. A DRM-free installer (like the Desura standalone downloads, Humble, Shinyloot, Fireflower, etc) makes that as easy as possible.
The above can be useful for older games. Here is a practical example of why it's handy even on new-ish games With a DRM-free game not on Steamworks, I can easily archive and reinstall any previous patch revision. Not all patches are beneficial!!! Try to roll back a few patches on an arbitrary Steam game. Give it a shot and tell us how that goes.
The downside is that patching is an annoyance, a pain in the ass, and is incredibly wasteful of bandwidth. The best solution has barely any attention at all; a digital distribution service providing an integrated client that can do incremental patches, happens to be open source, permits but discourages DRM, and alternately permits multi-platform DRM-free installer downloads.
I do believe that the DRM-free issue is strongly stacked toward single-player games. For multi-player games, there is already a notion of always-on DRM in the form of logging in to one's leaderboard profile, match-making, cheat prevention, server ban lists for repeat offenders of malfeasance, and intra-game/team chat. Giving developers really good tools to handle all that in a easy, reasonably secure, and streamlined way with a nice programmer's API is one of Steamworks' greatest value-adds. Developers love it for that purpose.
Personally, those features offer me little benefit, and I'd prefer to not have a client ever get in my way. Others have different needs.
Anyway, the above is my personal definition what is and is not "DRM". Simply having a log-in to download a file for the first time does not qualify. If that were the case, then liquor transactions at a shop could be DRM... you can't take the merchandise until they see your personally-identifying card?! Ludicrous! Claiming that a simple log-in to one-time-download an installer is equivalent to Steamworks plus Steam Guard is equally ludicrous.
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