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STEAM Announcements & Updates 2014 II - The Definitive Edition

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B

BigAT

Member
How does Rush Bros. compare to Electronic Super Joy? From the outside, they look like similar games and I really enjoyed ESJ.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Intheflorsh said:
I only buy the definitive editions.
Click to expand...

Myst: Written in hypercard originally for Mac, images saved in 8-bit colour with very very very careful palette optimization. I believe the original resolution was 320x240-ish

Myst Masterpiece: Rewritten codebase, images saved in 24-bit colour, movies rendered with higher bitrate, higher quality sound. 640x480 resolution.

realMYST: Whole game remade in 3D with enhanced visual detail, with free movement instead of screen-by-screen movement. Rime Age added.

Every Myst console port after realMYST: Game with 2D images, but instead of using the original pre-rendered 2D images, using snapshots taken from the realMYST engine for some reason. Most include Rime Age.

I haven't tried rM Masterpiece yet, obviously, but realMYST is definitely what you want among the original three releases.
 
jshackles

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Not a bad little bundle:

ModBot said:
I am giving away 3 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line below that corresponds to the key you want (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering).

Rules for this Giveaway:
- If you are a lurker you are not eligible for this giveaway. You need five or more posts in either the current Steam thread or the previous one to be eligible
- This giveaway is a LIGHTNING raffle. The winners will be selected by random draw 15 minutes after the draw was created. Any games not claimed after that point will be given away first come first serve.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two:


PixelJunk Shooter -- MB-D8706147C3FC8E95 - Taken by Freedom = $1.05. 9 entrants total.
Rush Bros -- MB-8BCA71D932BAE9C2 - Taken by bronson. 4 entrants total.
SangFroid Tales of Werewolves -- MB-99BC07928203150B - Taken by nexen. 4 entrants total.


t1391616774z1.png
Click to expand...
 
C

C00kie M0nster

Member
Stumpokapow said:
Myst: Written in hypercard originally for Mac, images saved in 8-bit colour with very very very careful palette optimization. I believe the original resolution was 320x240-ish

Myst Masterpiece: Rewritten codebase, images saved in 24-bit colour, movies rendered with higher bitrate, higher quality sound. 640x480 resolution.

realMYST: Whole game remade in 3D with enhanced visual detail, with free movement instead of screen-by-screen movement. Rime Age added.

Every Myst console port after realMYST: Game with 2D images, but instead of using the original pre-rendered 2D images, using snapshots taken from the realMYST engine for some reason. Most include Rime Age.

I haven't tried rM Masterpiece yet, obviously, but realMYST is definitely what you want among the original three releases.
Click to expand...

Is there a reason III and IV aren't available for digital download anywhere?
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
C00kie M0nster said:
Is there a reason III and IV aren't available for digital download anywhere?
Click to expand...

Welcome to PC gaming in the 90s-early 00s.

Myst: Developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Broderbund
Riven: Developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Broderbund

Broderbund is bought by the Learning Company. Mattel buys The Learning Company. Mattel has rights to publish future Myst games, Cyan Worlds is working on Uru rather than Myst. Mattel gives away The Learning Company to a third-party investment firm. That firm divides TLC's assets and thus Broderbund's assets between Riverdeep and Ubisoft

Myst III: Developed by Presto Studios, published by Ubisoft
Myst IV: Developed by Ubisoft, published by Ubisoft

Myst V: Developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Ubisoft
Uru: Developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Ubisoft

I suspect there's a rights hangup related to the fact that those two games were not developed by Cyan Worlds.
 
C

C00kie M0nster

Member
Stumpokapow said:
Welcome to PC gaming in the 90s-early 00s.

Myst: Developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Broderbund
Riven: Developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Broderbund

Broderbund is bought by the Learning Company. Mattel buys The Learning Company. Mattel has rights to publish future Myst games, Cyan Worlds is working on Uru rather than Myst. Mattel gives away The Learning Company to a third-party investment firm. That firm divides TLC's assets and thus Broderbund's assets between Riverdeep and Ubisoft

Myst III: Developed by Presto Studios, published by Ubisoft
Myst IV: Developed by Ubisoft, published by Ubisoft

Myst V: Developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Ubisoft
Uru: Developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Ubisoft

I suspect there's a rights hangup related to the fact that those two games were not developed by Cyan Worlds.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that great write-up. I knew they were published by Ubisoft but since they put out Myst V, I assumed they had the rights for the franchise. If a publisher (that is still in existence) puts out games, what ownership of the property do they have? Myst IV looks to have been completely made by Ubisoft too. This whole thing has been bugging me for some time as these were some of my favorite games growing up.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
C00kie M0nster said:
Thanks for that great write-up. I knew they were published by Ubisoft but since they put out Myst V, I assumed they had the rights for the franchise. If a publisher (that is still in existence) puts out games, what ownership of the property do they have? Myst IV looks to have been completely made by Ubisoft too. This whole thing has been bugging me for some time as these were some of my favorite games growing up.
Click to expand...

It's not clear to me who owns the actual IP. I'm guessing both do. I'm guessing that Ubisoft (-> Mattel -> TLC -> Broderbund) had the rights to publishing, but Cyan Worlds had some sort of right of first refusal on development and because they went to make Uru, that's why the external developers were able to make Myst III and IV.

It could be something as simple as no rights issue beyond Ubisoft not caring at all and Cyan Worlds only working with Ubisoft to secure the games they're getting royalties for, being Myst 1, 2, and 5? Not sure.
 
C

C00kie M0nster

Member
Stumpokapow said:
It's not clear to me who owns the actual IP. I'm guessing both do. I'm guessing that Ubisoft (-> Mattel -> TLC -> Broderbund) had the rights to publishing, but Cyan Worlds had some sort of right of first refusal on development and because they went to make Uru, that's why the external developers were able to make Myst III and IV.

It could be something as simple as no rights issue beyond Ubisoft not caring at all and Cyan Worlds only working with Ubisoft to secure the games they're getting royalties for, being Myst 1, 2, and 5? Not sure.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for your informative guesses! :)

I only hope that I can boot those games up someday. I would like to play this series through again (my discs stopped working).
 
S

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
C00kie M0nster said:
Steam Music is extremely meh at the moment. It takes forever to load your music. It took me over a minute to select an artist or album (which are the ONLY two options at the moment). There's no options for playlists or anything. Only a fraction of my albums were loaded as well. I was surprised they would release something in this form to be honest.

It's extremely bare bones at the moment and I would definitely hold off on using it over iTunes or your player of choice.
Click to expand...

Are you unfamiliar with the concept of a beta?
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Stumpokapow said:
It's not clear to me who owns the actual IP. I'm guessing both do. I'm guessing that Ubisoft (-> Mattel -> TLC -> Broderbund) had the rights to publishing, but Cyan Worlds had some sort of right of first refusal on development and because they went to make Uru, that's why the external developers were able to make Myst III and IV.

It could be something as simple as no rights issue beyond Ubisoft not caring at all and Cyan Worlds only working with Ubisoft to secure the games they're getting royalties for, being Myst 1, 2, and 5? Not sure.
Click to expand...

Cyan does, apparently:

Trademarks
Cyan, Cyan Worlds, Myst, Riven, D’ni, Cosmic Osmo, Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds beyond the Mackerel, Spelunx, Spelunx and the Caves of Mr. Seudo, The Manhole, The Manhole Masterpiece Edition, the Cyan logo, Uru, Stoneship, Bug Chucker, and others that we may have missed are trademarks of Cyan Worlds, Inc.
Click to expand...
 
E

Evrain

Member
Just noticed I have a leftover MK Kollection from HiB... I'm a bit wary to activate it, as I dread it will become unplayable as GFWL goes down with a crash. What would you all suggest? Activate it? Collect it? Give it away? Toast it and add butter?
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Evrain said:
Just noticed I have a leftover MK Kollection from HiB... I'm a bit wary to activate it, as I dread it will become unplayable as GFWL goes down with a crash. What would you all suggest? Activate it? Collect it? Give it away? Toast it and add butter?
Click to expand...

You'll still be able to play the single-player portion post-closure with an offline/local profile.
 
D

dxhc99

Member
Instructions for participants:
I am giving away 2 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line below that corresponds to the key you want (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering).

Rules for this Giveaway:
- If you are a lurker you are not eligible for this giveaway. You need five or more posts in either the current Steam thread or the previous one to be eligible
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two:


Pixeljunk Shooter -- MB-FEF2F3639520EECA - Taken by RS4- - Taken by RS4-
Interstellar Marines -- MB-2EEB2A68C3D56CC9
.
 
K

Kammie

Member
Haven't kept up with this thread for months since I've been obsessively playing Path of Exile (and still am).

Just wanted to know, is the family sharing now available to everyone, or is it still in beta?
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Kammie said:
Haven't kept up with this thread for months since I've been obsessively playing Path of Exile (and still am).

Just wanted to know, is the family sharing now available to everyone, or is it still in beta?
Click to expand...

It's still in closed beta. You can join the group to reserve a spot, but it's likely not far off from being made public.

Edit: Beaten.
 
T

Tame

Member
odd, paid the top tier indiegala bundle but only
Cubicity - Desura - GL
Interstellar Marines - Steam

"BTA" Tier
Beast Boxing Turbo - Steam
Interstellar Marines Spearhead - Steam
has shown up on my Indiegala account


Rush Bros - Steam
Sang-Froid Tales of Werewolves - Steam
PixelJunk Shooter - Steam
are missing
 
Y

YianGaruga

Banned
Just bought the Indie Gala (BTA) and only see keys for

Beast Boxing Turbo
Interstellar Marines
Cubicity

The rest are missing.

Has that happened to anyone else before?

EDIT: Nice timing, heh
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Evrain said:
Wasn't even sngle player tied to authenticating the game via SSA?
Click to expand...

The GFWL FAQ states that offline profiles can be used to play a game (minus online features, achievements and DLC) without ever connecting to the service, including for activation purposes:

Do users have to create a LIVE account to play a Games for Windows — LIVE game?

No, you can play offline without ever connecting to Microsoft or creating a LIVE profile. Games for Windows — LIVE supports the creation and use of an offline “local” profile that exists only on the user’s computer. This account will let you play the single player portions of the game, but the user will not be able to play multiplayer, gain achievements, or take advantage of the other LIVE features. However, Microsoft strongly recommends that users who wish to play offline create an online account and then use that account to log in “offline.” This makes the end-user experience better, since it ensures that saved games, purchasing /downloading add-on content for the game, and keeping the account across Xbox LIVE, Games for Windows – LIVE, and Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone remains consistent.

Do you need to activate to play when using an offline account?

No, if you create and sign in with an offline account, the Games for Windows — LIVE service is not contacted and therefore no activation or Internet connection is required.
Click to expand...
 
L

Last Baron

Member
Been playing a bit of Skyrim. Is it me or are people unwilling to give me the full value of items anymore since it became known that I'm dragonborn? I'm picking up robes worth 300 gold and I'm only being offered like 50 when I go to sell them.
 
Z

Zafir

Member
wetflame said:
Indie Gala charges me tax because I'm from the EU. Booooooo.

Edit: Plus it does the conversion from USD to EUR, which I then have to convert to GBP. I'm getting double screwed over here. Oh well, at least the games are cheap.
Click to expand...
Yeah same problem. :(
 
E

Evrain

Member
JaseC said:
The GFWL FAQ states that offline profiles can be used to play a game (minus online features, achievements and DLC) without ever connecting to the service, including for activation purposes:
Click to expand...
Whew, thanks for the clarification! I missed that part.
 
F

FloatOn

Member
I'm pretty damn excited about Strider coming out on february 19 actually. I may knock it out in lieu of one of the games I've committed to beating on the backlog for it this month.

After beating Guacamelee last month I'm itching to play another metroidvania.
 
S

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
N

NG28

Member
RealityExists said:
I'm pretty damn excited about Strider coming out on february 19 actually. I may knock it out in lieu of one of the games I've committed to beating on the backlog for it this month.

After beating Guacamelee last month I'm itching to play another metroidvania.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm looking forward to it. Saw a video of the devs playing it and it looked really good.
 
T

Turfster

Member
GMG has LA Noire Complete Edition 75% off, 20% off voucher works too.

Nightmares from the Deep keys are now available in the Indie Royale Halloween 2 bundle.
 
S

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
C00kie M0nster said:
To my knowledge I thought beta release was a near-finished feature complete application that only has bug fixes and user suggested adjustments left.

Steam Music is not that. It's an alpha release as far as I'm concerned.
Click to expand...

You should let Valve know that they mislabeled it according to your knowledge then. What a grievous oversight on their part.
 
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