ToME4 should be on Steam

[MrChiggins]

Because it deserves and has the potential to be played by many more people. It's one of the only traditional roguelikes that is intuitive enough to attract interested non-roguelike players and casual roguelike players as well as the hardcore crowd. It's fantastic fantastic fantastic. But we all already know that.
As for the price, free to $5 seems like the ideal range for maximum effectiveness. Even if you don't want to charge, darkgod, charging a few bucks might be the way to go so you can separate ToME4 from the many free-to-play microtransaction games on Steam. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

How does everybody feel about this?
Have you ever thought about submitting it to Steam, darkgod?

[edge2054]

Of course I believe ToME always will be and always should be free but I won't speak directly for Darkgod.

Here's a link with more information on putting a game on steam http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/FAQ.php

Assuming they'd work with Darkgod and keep the game free I think it would be a great idea.

[getter77]

An easier target to hit might well be the Indie-centric Desura, as they have other quality Free games listed on the service like Battle for Wesnoth as well as some Commercial Roguelikes----Pitman being the latest.

[Grey]

DarkGod has said on the Roguelike Radio podcast that ToME4 will always remain free. If that's the case I don't see why Steam would want it - they'll only host games they can make money from. And DarkGod can't rightly have it for $5 on Steam but free elsewhere, since no one would buy it then.

I would like to see it on Steam though, and it has many things that gel well with the Steam set-up, like achievements. Perhaps it could work with a charge of $5 and it comes with Exploration Mode unlocked? That might justify a cost attached.

It would need further polish to really meet Steam's standards though, I think. I'm not even sure a non-animated game would be accepted at all. It needs further sound effects, and preferably original music too. However it does have going for it a strong download and donation record, proving it can amass a large playerbase and real money, and an existing web-site infrastructure. Oh, and a promotional video would need to be made... I could probably help there :)

Perhaps an alternative is to look at getting in on indie bundles. But I think they involve a lot of "who you know".

Edit: And as getter says, Desura. Wesnoth is like the strategy game equivalent of ToME4, so it would be right at home there.

[darkgod]

Getting it on Steam/Desura is indeed on my todo list for a long time; exactly as grey said, a paying download with the donator features unlocked. It doesn't change the freeness of the game or the openness of the code but it makes it much much more visible (and people on steam are used to pay anyway )

[madmonk]

Desura T&Cs need close examination before you decide to do that!

I am not saying you should not, just be aware!

[Grey]

Also Desura doesn't have anywhere near as big a userbase... According to its site the max number of users online was 8,727. ToME4 isn't all that far off that level on its own! Steam in comparison gets almost 5 million online at once on a regular basis.

If there's anything you need from the community to help get the game on Steam, let us know DarkGod. Would be fantastic to see it successful there :)

[darkgod]

I won't

First we need 1.0 out

[Dekar]

First we need all players to be able to play the game.

[getter77]

Getting it on Steam/Desura is indeed on my todo list for a long time; exactly as grey said, a paying download with the donator features unlocked. It doesn't change the freeness of the game or the openness of the code but it makes it much much more visible (and people on steam are used to pay anyway )

I especially like this part, as I'm not really set up to do "donations" online for games(Plus I generally avoid Paypal whenever possible) but well situated to outright purchases as I have many times over for Roguelikes and all else.

For another very recent example, I offer up what Lost Labyrinth is doing:

http://www.lostlabyrinth.com/
http://www.desura.com/games/lost-labyrinth

They are maintaining both an Extended alongside the Free and don't seem to have any trouble aside from the fact that Desura doesn't (yet?) support the Win 7 64 specific version, as can be found on their homepage downloads. I anticipate their "5.0" release to be equivalent in scope to ToME 4's "1.0"---so the more the merrier.