Road Redemption Released For Linux, It's In Bad Shape

Regarding the game: Kudos to the developers for owning their mistake and correcting it quickly. Exemplary.

Regarding this article: As I write this, it's been 11 hours since the developers corrected their mistake. The sooner it is updated to reflect the above information, the better for the readers, the developers, the author, and GoL's reputation.

Regarding Early Access: There's absolutely nothing wrong with the EA. It allows players to become involved in the game development process and (this part's important) --- It's strictly voluntary. No one has to buy an EA game ever.

For those thinking about buying an EA game, Steam has placed a warning on every EA store page that clearly states, in a sky blue box, on a black background:

Quote"Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development."

[Italics and emboldening mine.-- p.boom.]

I cannot fathom how people buy games clearly labeled "not complete" (i.e., unfinished, incomplete, not-all-there) and then find the gumption to complain about it with a straight face, let alone try and feign some sort of moral high ground.

I'm even more flummoxed by those who say they are opposed to the very existence of EA on Steam. What are they afraid of? What are they opposing? Community? Collaboration? Creativity? Choice? That seems unlikely.

I can only guess they've made a bad EA purchase and now lack the character to admit their mistake, own it, learn from it, and move on.

Caveat emptor friends and neighbors. For the uninitiated, caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware." To quote the OED:

Quote"The principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made."

So caveat emptor y'all. :)


Last edited by Nanobang on 20 November 2015 at 3:42 pm UTC

Just to be clear - I'm not against a concept of beta testing and pre-release access (though personally I avoid using unfinished versions of story intensive games), but it seems these ideas were perverted to turn them into substitute for real releases. Unless they claim some iterative development model (which is rather weird for consumer oriented games), such versions shouldn't be labeled as releases. If developers want to get funds before real release - let them turn to crowdfunding. If they want to have extra testing user force - let them open alpha / beta testing program and not claim that unfinished games are "released".


Last edited by Shmerl on 20 November 2015 at 3:43 pm UTC

Quoting: PicoboomRegarding this article: As I write this, it's been 11 hours since the developers corrected their mistake. The sooner it is updated to reflect the above information, the better for the readers, the developers, the author, and GoL's reputation.

Some of us are human, and you know, actually need to sleep overnight.

I'm more forgiving for early access titles so long as issues do get fixed. The next few weeks and months will tell the tale.

Quoting: PicoboomI'm even more flummoxed by those who say they are opposed to the very existence of EA on Steam. What are they afraid of? What are they opposing? Community? Collaboration? Creativity? Choice? That seems unlikely.

I don't think anyone is opposed to testing unfinished programs. Concept of alpha and beta testing is an established practice. What people are concerned about, is turning this into a revenue stream, which in practice can lead to lowering quality obligations and diluting the concept of proper releases.


Last edited by Shmerl on 20 November 2015 at 3:59 pm UTC

I feel like I am still playing the wrong build. A good 60+ FPS is obtained on my GTX970, but I have lots of crashes so far. Every so often in the middle of a match. None the less I can't wait for a more stable version. I was quiet the fan of Road Rash. (Now if someone could just make a Interstate '76 clone for Linux).

Quoting: Beamboom... and this is why they should stop selling pre-releases.

Quoting: BeamboomThen go use a crowdsource service on it, imo. If it is unique enough it should gain attention.

There's so much junk coming from these low resource "indies" - and so much abuse of that program to milk the market

I am fine with early access & the whole green light process for the most part. Yet I do think it could be improved so I am kind of with you. It would be fantastic if this system was more open access per se.

For example, Valve could make a section in the store page dedicated to nothing but early access and just remove Greenlight. Anyone can upload to it without a fee. Early access games are downloadable by all to play without purchase. On the uploaded game, the developer could turn on an optional time limit of play of 1-2 hours, but if a new build is released the 1-2 hour cap is auto reset. The individual likes the game after playing, they can fund it to receive a full license on said account or gift copy, a special piece content not found in free copy, & perhaps a small say in how the game should progress. Valve could add the purchased games to your profile in a new section called "Early Access Games" allowing advertisement away from the full release games to all your friends.

Once the game meets some Valve placed goal both in sales and votes (maybe something else) it could leave early access stage and be featured on the real store. The free copy might even be able to turn into the full releases demo fixing yet another problem of not having demo's.

In this system, early access games could maybe obtain special Steam keys so Greenlight Bundles could still happen, but it would be more for votes than sells. This way if you back a game in a bundle at least you know you obtained something instead of having that blank "Added when greenlit" in your bundle that may never happen.

To me this would be much easier on actually buying a game marked "Early Access". I tend to add these types of games to my wishlist to rot away until they are released. If I could test a game out for myself, I would likely buy more of these here and there. Instead I just see some possible horrid images or PR video that literally tells me nothing about the games.


Last edited by UnholyVision on 20 November 2015 at 6:43 pm UTC

Quoting: ShmerlI don't think anyone is opposed to testing unfinished programs.

Hi Shmerl. I absolutely agree here. I don't think anyone is opposed to testing unfinished programs/games either. I must have not been clear about the point I was making because I didn't mean to suggest anything remotely like that when I wrote about people opposing "the existence of EA on Steam." (Quite honestly, I'm at a bit of a loss to imagine how anyone might be able to misconstrue opposition to EA on Steam as meaning opposition to testing unfinished programs,) but, people being people, I'm sure such a thing could happen.

I also appreciate your pointing out how "people are concerned about . . . turning this into a revenue stream." I agree, there absolutely must be such concerns.

Quoting: PicoboomQuite honestly, I'm at a bit of a loss to imagine how anyone might be able to misconstrue opposition to EA on Steam as meaning opposition to testing unfinished programs,)

If you view early access program on Steam for what it really is - providing testing versions for people before the release, then opposing having such program could be mistaken for opposing testing, that's why I said it's not what people are opposing, and explained that the problem is not with testing, but with framing this testing like a release and purchase of a product, while it's really nothing of the sort.


Last edited by Shmerl on 20 November 2015 at 8:16 pm UTC

Quoting: ElectricPrismIt was doing at least 40 FPS @ 1080p on my 970. Devs published the wrong build.

I get random crashes in co-op races with 2 xbox controllers on linux.

I don't know if it's controller-related. My family just finished 7-8 races playing 4 player with no crashes, all xb360 controllers.