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[Anonyma]

As of today, This was announced by valve, set to release in August or later: http://steamcommunity.com/greenlight

And as I understand that Valve usually does not allow for games that are still in development, or games that are not sold, the announcement page seems to imply that Valve is attempting to change the rules in an attempt to garner the favor of independent developers.


In fact, this is a quote from their announcement page:

"Can I post my game concept or early builds?
Absolutely! We encourage you to post information about your game as early in the development process as you are comfortable with. Greenlight will let you define whether you are posting your game as a concept/early build or as a playable game that is nearing completion.

We ask that you only define your game as 'playable game' if you have a playable build that demonstrates the gameplay mechanics and at least one level of your game. Otherwise, please classify your submission as 'concept' until its far enough along that the community can reasonably evaluate the mechanics, scope, and style of your game. Either way, you will probably get great feedback and a good start in building a community of fans around your game."

I am sure that not only myself, but many other fans would want to hear whether or not Bay 12 will attempt to provide availability of it's current game to steam in a similar fashion to that of the availability on Desura.

[JanusTwoface]

TL;DR - I don't think Greenlight is what you think it is, nor (if I'm correct) does DF particularly need Greenlight. On the other hand, it might be interesting to see DF on Steam, but there are a few issues to work through.


I'm pretty sure that Greenlight is more of a way for Valve to crowdsource the decision about which games they should distribute and which they should not, not as actual distribution of Indie games. If Toady One really wanted to release Dwarf Fortress via Steam, I think that it's a well enough known name that Valve would be open to the idea.

The problem though (as it always seems to be) is money. Consider these facts:
- Toady One makes all of his money off of donations. According to him, DF is and always will be free.
- There are Free to Play games on Steam, but all of them have some alternate monetization scheme (none of which are donations).
- Valve/Steam would take a cut of any "donations" to DF (you can't expect them to distribute the game for free).

So basically, Steam would have to implement a donation based payment model and Toady One would have to accept giving up part of his profits to Steam (granted, probably a small part). In exchange, DF would gain the exposure to Steam's user base. I'm not 100% sure that's actually a good thing, but at least it would bring in new users for Toady One, at least in the short run.

One possibility would be to release through Steam and make use of their update mechanism for users while at the same continuing to release the game on his own website. As far as I know, Steam generally doesn't ask for exclusivity on games they distribute, so it's at least possible. Although I'm sure there would have to be some details worked out between Toady One and Steam there, I'm not sure what that would entail.

[Silverionmox]

I'd rather have Toady working on the game itself, than doing essentially administrative tasks to have regular steam updates.
In addition, it'll bring in people with, on average, shorter attention spans and an appreciation that's geared to the spectacular rather than the intricate. So I won't begrudge the decision when Toady decides he needs more money or the game is ready for bigger crowds, but it's probably not a good idea if he wants to keep accepting input from the player base.

[weenog]

This board would be completely clogged with brilliant and novel suggestions to make Dwarf Fortress a multiplayer FPS game.  Team Fortress 2, Dwarf Fortress, it's such an obvious connection, and definitely an improvement.  I don't know why anyone hasn't thought of it before.

I feel dirty for posting that even in jest.

[peskyninja]

This board would be completely clogged with brilliant and novel suggestions to make Dwarf Fortress a multiplayer FPS game.  Team Fortress 2, Dwarf Fortress, it's such an obvious connection, and definitely an improvement.  I don't know why anyone hasn't thought of it before.

I feel dirty for posting that even in jest.

And hats, don't forget the hats. And.... And..... And a stupid trade system.

[Bohandas]

Steam is overrated.

[Shadowclaimer]

Steam is overrated.

Everyone's welcome to their opinions, I for one find it a useful tool for organizing my games and keeping them up to date.

DF is out of place on it though, it has no income, therefor it doesn't work out on a distribution platform like Steam. The easiest thing you can do is simply add it to your library using the "Add Non-Steam Game" button.

[GreatWyrmGold]

A big problem is that DF would need to meet Valve's needs before they'd put it on Steam. Also, do you really want to risk the Bay12 forums being flooded by incompetent trolls? There's DF being known, and DF being found by all the griefers of other games who turn to trolling because of the lack of multiplayer support.

This board would be completely clogged with brilliant and novel suggestions to make Dwarf Fortress a multiplayer FPS game.  Team Fortress 2, Dwarf Fortress, it's such an obvious connection, and definitely an improvement.  I don't know why anyone hasn't thought of it before.

I feel dirty for posting that even in jest.

Don't feel so bad about it. If nothing else, you can always link here.

[penguinofhonor]

Do we really need to talk about how terrible other people are? We already know we're the perfect best forum community ever, a thread pops up once a month or so reminding us of that.

I would support more hats in this game, though. It could be an incentive for toady to update clothing more.

[Jake]

Exactly what problem is this supposed to solve, anyway? Toady probably spends more hosting this forum than DF itself; the .zip file is less than 10MB in size. And as for greater public awareness, he's been interviewed for the New York Times and featured in half the gaming magazines in the English language. There's a limit to what Steam could add on top of that.

[Mrhappyface]

Steam is invasive ad/spyware that eats up too much memory imho.

[miauw62]

Please, we already had the entire "LOLOOL STEAM IS CRAP!" "No it isnt because *good reason here*" in the OTHER GAMES forum thread for steam greenlight.

But that does not mean i want this on steam.
I really dont want DF on steam.

[Wellincolin]

Hey. Steam has got realm of the mad god. And Terraria.

[SquashMonster]

The Steam user base isn't nearly so toxic as is implied in this thread.  They have tons of sim games on Steam already; this is a non-issue.

But there's not much to be gained from putting Dwarf Fortress on Steam in its current form.  It would make downloads a little easier, and when there are safe updates they can be applied automatically.  Valve would probably be willing to put the game on Steam without taking a cut of anything, since it costs them so little and would generate good will.  But again, the benefits aren't that much.

On the other hand, if Toady ever changes his mind and decides that he wants to work with a team, talking to Valve would be a great idea.  They have very compatible ideas about how long a game should be in development .

[FallingWhale]

Steam is good. Dwarf Fortress is good. They, however need not touch.