Game News Swords and Sorcery – Underworld Gold Released

[Jaesun]

Tags: OlderBytes; Swords and Sorcery: Underworld

Charles-cgr's Swords and Sorcery – Underworld Gold is now released:

So here it is at last. After a ridiculous amount of Alpha releases, Swords and Sorcery – Underworld Gold is available… Here… Now. In short…

IT. IS. LOOSE.

I’ll spare you the long, boring bullet list. It’s awsum and you’ve gotta try the demo! And possibly even buy the full game and help fund the sequel I’ll be officially announcing in a couple weeks, on this very Dev Blog But just in case you need to know a bit more...

Head off to the OlderBytes website to try the demo or to buy the game for $19.99.

 

[Jaesun]

Congrat's Charles-cgr!

Thank you for your recent purchase using the Plimus.com Online Store, authorized seller of OlderBytes

Now off to RTFM!

 

[Charles-cgr]

Congrat's Charles-cgr!

Thank you for your recent purchase using the Plimus.com Online Store, authorized seller of OlderBytes

Now off to RTFM!

Thank you, Good Sir

 

[Kosmonaut]

 

[Jaesun]

Have some thoughts to share about this game?

 

[Humanity has risen!]

So, has bleed been toned down?

 

[Charles-cgr]

So, has bleed been toned down?

Yes It is now only available in stealth mode, so half the time (at best). It's still quite helpful and nice to see the damage score increase over time but not quite the nuke it used to be.

Have some thoughts to share about this game?

He might be tired of hearing about it, which I can understand. It's finally time for something new.

For those interested in the sequel and it's open world:

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/underworld-sequel.76095/

Thanks for the nth newsbit!

 

[SuicideBunny]

downloadan

edit: no proper window, only fake fullscreen? no sound options? what the hell is it with that anti-piracy splash screen when trying to exit?

Charles-cgr
critique, dood: ok, found windowed mode through randomly pressing f keys after the manual mentioned something about there actually being some game options but not saying anything other than that.
i consider the fact that you have neither an options button on the starter screen, nor listed the option buttons and their corresponding options in the manual a serious oversight. having to watch the intro and create a party just to see what the options are is a huge annoyance.

 

[Charles-cgr]

downloadan

edit: no proper window, only fake fullscreen? no sound options? what the hell is it with that anti-piracy splash screen when trying to exit?

Check out the options from the main view. F4 Toggles full screen (1024x768) and windowed mode. Music, ambient and sound effects can be toggled on / off.

The exit screen is a sort of copyright notice. I've always had that and it's the first time I get a complaint on that front... I always thought it was appreciated as an alternative to copy protection.

Thank you for your support

 

[Charles-cgr]

Charles-cgr
critique, dood: ok, found windowed mode through randomly pressing f keys after the manual mentioned something about there actually being some game options but not saying anything other than that.
i consider the fact that you have neither an options button on the starter screen, nor listed the option buttons and their corresponding options in the manual a serious oversight. having to watch the intro and create a party just to see what the options are is a huge annoyance.

Sorry for the annoyance. I get where you're coming from. Weird though how on day one of the eighth build there are still new things to adjust.

 

[SuicideBunny]

The exit screen is a sort of copyright notice. I've always had that and it's the first time I get a complaint on that front... I always thought it was appreciated as an alternative to copy protection.

remember the old "boss key" some games had, which are sometimes still found in a few roguelikes nowadays? i made and still make regular use of those and sometimes need to close stuff quickly, so having that splash screen is kinda annoying since it takes longer to close. mostly it was just unexpected.

 

[Charles-cgr]

The exit screen is a sort of copyright notice. I've always had that and it's the first time I get a complaint on that front... I always thought it was appreciated as an alternative to copy protection.

remember the old "boss key" some games had, which are sometimes still found in a few roguelikes nowadays? i made and still make regular use of those and sometimes need to close stuff quickly, so having that splash screen is kinda annoying since it takes longer to close. mostly it was just unexpected.

F10
That closes the game and saves in the Inn / bailout slot. If you're in combat you get sent back to the safest square, then it saves and exits. You do have to press 'C' to completely exit, or if you bailed out because you want to reload you can go back to the main screen.

I guess just a reference to the options was too dry for the manual

 

[Mother Russia]

Congrats Charles!

However, $19.99 is a bit too much IMO. Grimrock looks amazing, and plays great too, and was developed by 4 ppl but it cost like $14.99

 

[Charles-cgr]

Congrats Charles!

However, $19.99 is a bit too much IMO. Grimrock looks amazing, and plays great too, and was developed by 4 ppl but it cost like $14.99

But it's been pushed by all the game journalists on the planet. I know it isn't an argument from the customer point of view but then there's UW being turn-based, which means the audience is too small for aggressive pricing. It's a big headache and I ended up deciding to keep it at that range.

Thanks for the congratulations

 

[Overboard]

I know it isn't an argument from the customer point of view but then there's UW being turn-based, which means the audience is too small for aggressive pricing. It's a big headache and I ended up deciding to keep it at that range.

So because demand is limited, you decided that you can afford to bank on elasticity and make no effort to attract more customers with better pricing? Hey I'm interested in your game, but not $20 interested.

A poor grasp of business/economics/pricing like that is why shit like Demise Ascension (pre-bundle) and Conquest of Elysium 3 have a miniscule audience.

 

[Charles-cgr]

I know it isn't an argument from the customer point of view but then there's UW being turn-based, which means the audience is too small for aggressive pricing. It's a big headache and I ended up deciding to keep it at that range.

So because demand is limited, you decided that you can afford to bank on elasticity and make no effort to attract more customers with better pricing? Hey I'm interested in your game, but not $20 interested.

A poor grasp of business/economics/pricing like that is why shit like Demise Ascension (pre-bundle) and Conquest of Elysium 3 have a miniscule audience.

So the science I lack in business, economics and pricing says the lower the price the better? Could be. Or not. Something tells me it's a bit more complicated or it wouldn't be much of a "science". I really can't be sure but if it's at $15 some people will probably tell me it should be at $10 (after all, it has to be worth less than Grimrock since it isn't 3D, at least to some people) and if it is at $10 I'll start reading that if I value it at $10 I surely don't think much of it. Thanks for your insight on academia though.

 

[Mother Russia]

I hope you get greenlit on Steam Charles. You will have to lower your price on Steam to $9.99, and Steam keeps 30% of that, but you will reach a much, much larger audience.

 

[Overboard]

To use your response to the Grimrock comparison mentioned earlier, your reaction to a better quality, better marketed game is to decide that you are justified in taking your inferior, far lesser known game with a much smaller pool of potential buyers and pricing it at a third more?

Hilarious. I have fewer potential customers so I have to gouge them for more.

Oh and by the way, that $15-$10-OMG $0,99 shit is commonly known as the slippery slope fallacy.

Finally:

and if it is at $10 I'll start reading that if I value it at $10 I surely don't think much of it.

If you're going to price on pride rather than any understanding of the market, then there's little more to add.

 

[Jaesun]

Man that beginning is just a tad brutal Charles-cgr, Basic crap weapons, NO armor and no money.

Excellent.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Overboard Better quality by what standards? The two games are only somewhat similar in appearance. Inferior...

Yeah we're done.

Jaesun Thanks for thanking me for beating you up

 

[Overboard]

I hope you get greenlit on Steam Charles. You will have to lower your price on Steam to $9.99, and Steam keeps 30% of that, but you will reach a much, much larger audience.

I dunno man, I've been told that is a disrespectful price, and nobody should have to whore themselves out for that kind of money.

 

[Charles-cgr]

I'm not going to get greenlit if I lower the price. That 's kind of my point. If no one carries it I need to afford advertising. If I advertise a low price I'm not convinced the conversions increase will cover the cut, or even the advertising itself. I may be wrong but I'm under the impression that people that want the game and want to see a sequel will think the price is reasonnable instead of comparing it to Torchlight or Grimrock while those that have at best a mild interest won't buy it for $10 either. Or even $5.

Note the "I may be wrong". I do not have any certainties.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Tell that to the Matrix Games crowd, which has plenty of people paying 40+ dollars or even double for wargames tailored to their living.

It's fine at 20$, Charles, those who like the genre will be glad you made the game and will pay for it. Do not yield.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Or even $5.

Note the "I may be wrong". I do not have any certainties.

there is actually a lot of reading material from all possible sides (distribution platform owners, companies that refused to price lower and lost out on it, success stories with low price tags) available on that and all of it basically says that indie devs have this understandable tendency to overprice their work due to the effort and time they put in and tend to lose out in overall profit. from what i recall the ideal pricing range on pc, once you're on a huge platform like steam (or gog) was around 5 or 6 bucks.

Tell that to the Matrix Games crowd, which has plenty of people paying 40+ dollars or even double for wargames tailored to their living.

matrix games is a publisher of niche products that's been publishing stuff for over 10 years. they are established and (should) know their target audience well enough to judge how much they can ask for what. this is an indie dev with essentially no marketing budget trying to penetrate the market with his first game.
it's not even apples and oranges anymore..

 

[Charles-cgr]

it's not even apples and oranges anymore..

And yet, I'm constantly compared to Grimrock

How about Devil's Whiskey? On Gamersgate at $25 and hundreds of reviews from buyers. Furthermore, as you said, the ideal price point when on Steam is $5-6. Like Winter Voices for example, whose devs went bankrupt last year despite being on Steam around the $5 mark.