Avadon - Joins Humble Bundle, Android Compatible

I would say it doesn't matter. its not like the android sales are cannibalizing the iPad sales, and he outsourced the android development so its not taking away from his development of other games. so the only real question is will he make more money on the android port than it cost to have it produced.

Picked this up. Finally will give Avadon a spin.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
4,353
Location
Austin, TX
I would say it doesn't matter. its not like the android sales are cannibalizing the iPad sales, and he outsourced the android development so its not taking away from his development of other games. so the only real question is will he make more money on the android port than it cost to have it produced.

Outsourcing is only one cost - support is another and potentially larger one. If you look at support issues for Android in 1 day compared to everything for the iPad ... well, you will realize that BECAUSE of the massive problem of Android fragmentation, support is a nightmare for all but the most trivial of apps.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,936
Outsourcing is only one cost - support is another and potentially larger one. If you look at support issues for Android in 1 day compared to everything for the iPad … well, you will realize that BECAUSE of the massive problem of Android fragmentation, support is a nightmare for all but the most trivial of apps.

Yeah, thought about that later. It's one reason I still have not bought an Android Tablet. You'd think they'd set some industry standards or something.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
4,353
Location
Austin, TX
Yeah, thought about that later. It's one reason I still have not bought an Android Tablet. You'd think they'd set some industry standards or something.

For every plus there is a minus and so on. Apple makes exactly one type of tablet right now, with minimal changes to shape. That allows for accessories and entire industries to fit products to the iPad - and why it is such a force now in music production, etc.

But what if you want something more like a Chromebook that is also a tablet? Or a 7" tablet, or a 5.3" 'worst of both worlds' thingy, or return to the 90s with a stylus? Or want to easily install all of those pirated $0.99 apps? Or the ability to update your OS at will. Those are all places where Android shines.

Like on phones, where I love my Droid 4 because regardless of anything, in the phone space I really need a physical keyboard.

It starts slow but does get much better in my opinion. Nowhere near his best but still worth a play.

I agree with the 'start slow gets better', and I think it is quite good overall .. certainly better than other games from last year like Dragon Age II ... but I guess that is a pretty low bar ...
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,936
When I migrated to my new laptop, I somehow managed to lose my savegames - was sure I backed them up, but if I did, I never found the backup... :blush:

Problem is, now I don't really feel like going through the first part of the game again...
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,508
One year ago I thought that Jeff would rather die than sell his games for less than 10 euros:)
 
Joined
Dec 19, 2010
Messages
44
Yeah, I remember that blog a few years ago where he said something along the lines of it being a matter of pride that he wouldn't sell his games, even the old ones, below a certain threshold. IIRC, didn't he hire a new marketing person/firm that got him on the steam platform and such? Glad to see he's adapting to the new paradigm of the industry.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
4,353
Location
Austin, TX
Yeah, that was a few years back ... last years he was being consumed in a conflagration about the fact that he DID do $9.99 pricing! Can't win!
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,936
Yeah, that was a few years back … last years he was being consumed in a conflagration about the fact that he DID do $9.99 pricing! Can't win!

Yeah, there was definite blow back. I remember a few people here being particularly upset when Avadon showed up on iTunes for $9.99
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
4,353
Location
Austin, TX
Yeah, there was definite blow back. I remember a few people here being particularly upset when Avadon showed up on iTunes for $9.99

Holding that line as one of the more expensive apps cannot be easy - and I assume he will price the iPad version of Avernum the same - but it sends a message that quality costs money.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,936
Was thinking on this a bit more. I think this is a very good marketing scheme. I'm an old-school rpger and I particularly prefer party based games. There obviously is not that much new that meets that criteria, and older graphics quality doesn't bother me. To that end, I've been buying a lot of games I missed off GOG. That said, there is a finite quantity there.

I've held off on buying any of Spiderwebs games though because 1) I had stuff I still wanted on GOG and 2) I just thought his prices were way too high (I know he's had some sales recently, but this was before that). To be honest, I'm not sure right at this point I would have bought Avadon at $9.99 (I'm talking PC). Not because I don't think it is probably worth it, but just haven't had much time to play games.

But being in the Android Humble Bundle changed that. For one thing, I've been looking for some games to add to my Android phone (Chess and Blackjack have run their course for me), as has my wife. Well of the 4 games you got in that for phones, 2 appeal to me, 2 to my wife. Throw in Avadon and it was a no brainer to buy (I paid $15 for the whole thing).

Now I have Avadon, so I'm probably going to play it, rather than indefinitely delaying trying it out. If I really like it, I almost definitely will end up picking up a lot more of his older titles.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
4,353
Location
Austin, TX
Just remember it is NOT for your phone ... And while you could likely force it to install and run, anything below 7" is going to be a miserable experience, IMO and nothing like the intended experience.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,936
Yeah, I downloaded the PC version for it. The others go on the phones!

Now if I can just get a few hours to myself one of these days.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
4,353
Location
Austin, TX
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
1
Definitely … non-removable covers will be the DEATH of Apple!

I don't think he was talking about the hardware, but I could be wrong.

Android is open source, which is normally great. Unfortunately, that is what leads to fragmentation and compatibility issues. As a developer, I can test via virtual machine on any stock version of Android, plus any devices I have lying around. What I don't have access to is the various flavours of Android that HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola, etc. might have cooked up for specific devices.
 
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
69
Location
Illinois, USA
Back
Top Bottom