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[kinoki]

It was the first game to remind of Sim Hospital. I've played it for a couple of hours but games without a certain objective or goal, or when the objective is too abstract, has troubles keeping me interested in the long run these days. I like it. It's a good concept.

I don't think it plays to Double Fine's strengths and I think it's a waste of manpower since it lacks monotization options for the casual playerbase. Double Fine needs a big seller. Middle Manager of Justice was a nice try but ultimatly failed. DF-9 follows in the same tradition.

 

[MUnited83]

So wait, early access doesn't guarantee that the product will come out? As in finalize?

The product is coming out, it's being released on the 1.0 and considered finalized by the developers.

 

[Katori]

Boy am I bummed. This is the only Early Access game I paid full price for. Double Fine, you let me down. I remember reading that list of features when the game came out and being so excited for what my purchase would bring me.

 

[CecilRousso]

Expected. If it doesn't sell, it can't be continued to be developed forever.

I won't hold that against them, but I do think that the game concept should have been fleshed a bit more from the beginning.

I don't particularly like the "look how far we have come!" picture, but it is pretty good that they at least will do a final push, add a bit more, fix bugs and then leave it open for modding. Gotta give them credit for that.

 

[Sini]

Did none of the promised features make it into the game? Can someone who is well acquainted with it's current state please point out which are the major things that are missing? It's one thing for a project to not follow a roadmap down to the letter, but if there really is a lot of content missing then this is very unfortunate and poor form from DF.

I'll point them out when I get to my computer.

 

[Jintor]

Wtf double fine

 

[Arthea]

good I haven't bough it (in a Finnish game camp I am), but it's bad for those who did, sounded like it could be an interesting game.

 

[deleted]

Wow, I had that on my wishlist for ages and liked the premise and the look.

Is the game somewhat 'complete'?
Is there some kind of endless mode that's fully functional?

If so, I can understand that they won't go and make missions and add every little detail they envisioned, because that stuff costs a lot of money.
If not - well, they shouldn't have started this project if the possibility of abandoning it incomplete was there.

Either hold your goals very conservative and build on it it, if it becomes a hit or don't start it at all. And if you start - make sure to be able to complete it without any sales or it may hit you in the face.

This is really bad publicity for EA and especially for DF. What are they thinking?

 

[saunderez]

Boy am I bummed. This is the only Early Access game I paid full price for. Double Fine, you let me down. I remember reading that list of features when the game came out and being so excited for what my purchase would bring me.

I feel the same way. This is definitely going to permanently tarnish the studio in my eyes. Lesson to be learned - don't overpromise and underdeliver if you're taking the money upfront. People are more willing to forgive missed targets if they're paying after development is completed.

 

[Maintenance]

And I thought this would be safe because of Double Fine. Lesson learned, never buy another game even remotely related to them.

 

[Falk]

WELL

Especially considering I always used Spacebase/Double Fine as an acceptable example of early access with someone you know won't cut and run.

 

[CecilRousso]

If not - well, they shouldn't have started this project if the possibility of abandoning it incomplete was there.

Captain Hindsight to the rescue.

But seriously, this will always be a risk with early access.

These are the kind of projects that a publisher would probably kill off, and where everyone would go "wtf Publisher, why did you kill that game, it looked awesome! You did wrong!"

With early access, they at least get a chance.

And I thought this would be safe because of Double Fine. Lesson learned, never buy another game even remotely related to them.

That's a pretty stupid lesson really . You're basically saying that no matter how good a game they will make later on, where the quality would be proven by reviews, word of mouth, etc, you will not buy it because of this? Silly really.

 

[Askherserenity]

It sounds shitty but (I don't have the game) can't the state of the game right now be considered as finished? How much was the game? Is it missing a lot of content that was kinda promised or talked about?

 

[Coffee Dog]

I mean personally, the only double fine team whose games that i would (and did) pay for prerelease was Tim's Broken Age team. I figured I'd get a fun and well written adventure game for my $15 based off his previous works in the past.

These rookie teams though? They dont have that clout or experience, and I wouldn't trust them at all. All sorts of shit can happen mid development, like what happened to this one; doubly so for rookie teams. Early access is a huge risk, both for the customer and developer, and I think in this case it was the wrong way to go for both parties.

I think the biggest takeaway from this is that quite a few people (not me personally) took the double fine logo as a badge of quality in and of itself, and that's totally tarnished now. Sorry to those that ended up getting burned.

 

[Amir0x]

Doublefine should be careful they don't squander the goodwill they've built with gamers over the years.

 

[dex3108]

After this i am sure DF doesn't know how to handle their money rationally.

 

[Kreunt]

Damn, I was really interested in this game, glad I didn't buy into the alpha though.

 

[Zomba13]

Well that's Double Fine's last chance of getting early access dollars off me. Now the studio has a black mark against their name, I'll also think twice before buying any of their future products. Supporting their games obviously isn't a priority for them.

Definitely not going to kickstart or early access another one of their games but will still buy their games when they come out if they appeal to me. Double Fine games, in the past, have always been a joy to play and I think they still will in future even if they mess up kickstarters or early access things.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

This was something i was interested in and had considered buying, but i won't get it now. I really like this sort of game but there doesn't seem to be many of them being made now.

 

[Maintenance]

That's a pretty stupid lesson really . You're basically saying that no matter how good a game they will make later on, where the quality would be proven by reviews, word of mouth, etc, you will not buy it because of this? Silly really.

Stupid would be giving any other cent to those scammers. They could make a 95 metacritic game and will still not receive any money from me.

 

[Ozium]

I don't know why anyone still supports Double Fine after Broken Age chicanery

 

[Coffee Dog]

Stupid would be to give any other cent to those scammers. They could make a 95 metacritic game and will still not receive any money from me.

Scammers? The hell you on about?

They ran into developmental problems and had to severely scale back the feature set. It fucking sucks, but its not a scam.

 

[deleted]

Captain Hindsight to the rescue.

But seriously, this will always be a risk with early access.

These are the kind of projects that a publisher would probably kill off, and where everyone would go "wtf Publisher, why did you kill that game, it looked awesome! You did wrong!"

With early access, they at least get a chance.

Sure, it's easy to say now, but they should have also seen this beforehand. Could they have finished at least the advertised base product with their own money? No? Then try to kickstart it or put it aside until you have the funds to finance it.

Because in the end it's not only the game that will be left unfinished - this will also happen pretty fast and seriously harm the future of your company, should it need a kickstarter every once in a while:

Doublefine should be careful they don't squander the goodwill they've built with gamers over the years.

 

[Ban Puncher]

 

[HariKari]

I don't normally do early access. I did with DF-9 because I loved the concept, and trusted Double Fine. Lesson learned. Assholes.

It sounds shitty but (I don't have the game) can't the state of the game right now be considered as finished? How much was the game? Is it missing a lot of content that was kinda promised or talked about?

It's not really a game, per se. You build your station, sure, but it's very basic. So is the interaction between rooms and objects. That's it. Occasionally a raider ship will show up and immediately be killed by your security. There's a 'research' system that looks like it took about five minutes worth of work to do. It's nowhere near worth the money they were asking.

 

[NIN90]

Yeeeeaaah, i don't know about these Double Fine guys anymore. First Broken Age, now this? Are they out to shatter all of their goodwill they have created in the past years?

 

[CecilRousso]

Stupid would be giving any other cent to those scammers. They could make a 95 metacritic game and will still not receive any money from me.

Well, that's your loss. You're really overreacting, but you are free to do that of course.

 

[Coffee Dog]

Yeeeeaaah, i don't know about these Double Fine anymore. First Broken Age, now this? Are they out to shatter all of their goodwill they have created in the past years?

I don't know why anyone still supports Double Fine after Broken Age chicanery

What about broken age are we still up in arms about? It going over budget?

 

[CecilRousso]

Sure, it's easy to say now, but they should have also seen this beforehand. Could they have finished at least the advertised base product with their own money? No? Then try to kickstart it or put it aside until you have the funds to finance it.

Because in the end it's not only the game that will be left unfinished - this will also happen pretty fast and seriously harm the future of your company, should it need a kickstarter every once in a while:

I totally agree that they should have seen the problems a bit before, since the concept really seemed messy, but software development is hard, and shit happens. I really don't see how kickstarter would have made any difference to this. People would just have turned against them for doing that again.

I don't know why anyone still supports Double Fine after Broken Age chicanery

I can explain why I am, if you're prepared to listen. Not really interested to talking to deaf ears.

 

[Maintenance]

Scammers? The hell you on about?

They ran into developmental problems and had to severely scale back the feature set. It fucking sucks, but its not a scam.

They shouldn't have promised all that then, they did now they should expect the backlash. I had the same opinion with other AAA games, I'm not going to change it just because it is a "indie/EA" developer

Well, that's your loss. You're really overreacting, but you are free to do that of course.

The only loss that I had right now is my money that is gone with them.

 

[Ban Puncher]

I gave Tim Schafer $110+ and all I got was this lousy Kickstarter shirt.

And half a game.

 

[CecilRousso]

I gave Tim Schafer $110+ and all I got was this lousy Kickstarter shirt.

And half a game.

The t-shirt was great.

 

[Coffee Dog]

I gave Tim Schafer $110+ and all I got was this lousy Kickstarter shirt.

And half a game.

You realize you're getting the other half when its done right

 

[Ozium]

What about broken age are we still up in arms about? It going over budget?

splitting the game into two parts, them asking for additional money after, what appears to be, wasteful use of resources

 

[Aretak]

I don't know why anyone still supports Double Fine after Broken Age chicanery

They're just one of those developers that a lot of people will defend no matter what because of what they've done in the past. They do seem intent on spreading themselves pretty thin these days though for whatever reason. They'll have put out 17 games since 2009 once Massive Chalice and Costume Quest 2 arrive. I can't imagine there are too many other studios pumping out three or more games a year every year.

 

[Coffee Dog]

splitting the game into two parts, them asking for additional money after, what appears to be, wasteful use of resources

They never asked for more money.

Them splitting the game in half was their way to obtain more money. They never asked for more, they just used profits from the first half to fund the second half.

 

[Hasney]

I'm not writing off Double Fine, but I don't fund anything from them that isn't yet released. Really hope Massive Chalice lives up to its promise.

 

[Nikodemos]

They do seem intent on spreading themselves pretty thin these days though for whatever reason. They'll have put out 17 games since 2009 once Massive Chalice and Costume Quest 2 arrive. I can't imagine there are too many other studios pumping out three or more games a year every year.

Yeah, for a small developer they've definitely got a lot on their plate. I do think they need a more structured approach to their projects.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

This is why early access is a scam.

You are right. Never has there been a game that promised to be better than it actually was. Never.

Sad to hear this, very, very sad behaviour of DF. They need to watch out, people don't forgett stuff like this (and neither should they)

 

[Seanspeed]

You realize you're getting the other half when its done right

*IF* its done. 'When' assumes it will definitely happen.

 

[thewhitehawk]

While I admit I'm not familiar with this DoubleFine project, it's not exactly as if they're swimming in money. People buy into early-access games knowing very well the risks that partakes, and when or if things happen to go south, and often they do, they blame the developer as if they had no part in the process.

If they provided a decent number of updates, and despite the failure, will open source the code for others to continue with it, if they wish, that's already a heck of a lot better than most early-access titles I see popping up on Steam.

There are a lot of bad things you can say about DoubleFine: they suck at managing their resources, their release cycles for software are erratic, etc. But screwing over players is not something that is part of their mantra or culture. It has never been. But they do need to keep food on their plates, and if Spacebase DF-9 isn't profitable then that's the unfortunate consequence.

Early Access games are only as much of a scam, as the players who buy into them believe that regardless of anything they will get a fully functioning product by the end. Early Access game, like games funded by Kickstarter, are a way to support and get "early access" to playing games that would not otherwise exist through traditional publishing avenues. It's not a means to getting a fully-functioning game earlier than everyone else for cheaper.

It's really silly to me some people being forgetful about what those types of games are, and pretend otherwise. There's a lot of hypocrisy and entitlement in this thread, then again, I shouldn't act surprised. I still remember when some people, if you can even call them that, sent Notch death threats for not releasing a game update every week.

 

[Sentenza]

Nope. Most Kickstarter/Early Access games cannot ever properly guarantee anything, as they are not in a position where they can receive an emergency cash injection should they need it later on. If they run out of money or whatever, there's often nothing they can do except stop development.

People just need to be very wary of what they put money into and what they expect out of it when it comes to this stuff.

Exactly.
Rule of the thumb to coexist with early access just fine: stop crying about how everything is a scam, be wary of what you fund and don't give money to any project unless you are already satisfied about what they are offering for the price of entry... Unless you are doing it in goodwill as a "donation" for a developer you want to support.

 

[Brerlappin]

I wouldnt trust DF to develop a Tetris clone at this stage.
Theyre a shady company that everyone gives a pass to because Tim "i made monkey island once" Schafer works for them. They havent produced anything that was genuinely great, well, ever, as far as im concerned. Most of their stuff is the epitome of "well it looks real nice and its an original concept, but the gameplay is ehhhhhh..."
The Broken Age kickstarter was an absolute joke of mismanagement and disappointing results, and this is just another foul up.

"Sorry you paid full price for a game were not going to bother finishing but hey...Monkey Island!!"

 

[plasmawave]

Don't you buy early access games knowing the risk?

 

[Fuz]

I'm starting to think that getting all that money for the BA kickstarter wasn't such a good thing for DF.

 

[Noisepurge]

I don't know why anyone still supports Double Fine after Broken Age chicanery

come on, they clearly stated in the kickstarter pitch that they will make "A" game, not necessarily a good one or a complete one.

and Kickstarter itself is basically charity, they have completed their end of the deal.

Early Access is similar, you pay for a test version. They are not obligated to complete anything.

 

[Maintenance]

Funny, I never had a problem with EA until now, and if you search topics like these I always defended them. Thanks Double Fine for proving me wrong.

 

[Redrum_82]

Cut that out. That delivery date was for a flash game before the budget exploded.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they expanded the scope of that game, but I don't think it's fair to use that excuse until they actually release it.

They asked money for a small and quick project, they decided to expand it significantly (without any formal consent from the backers) and more than two years later nobody actually knows when it's going to be completed.

 

[Honey Bunny]

This is why I don't buy Early Access. Gotta be patient, until the game is done, or until it folds. Which in this case is the same thing :')

 

[Sini]

RPS got their article out: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/09/18/double-fine-early-access-spacebase-df9/