Indie RPGs - Because We May Sale

I definitely prefer Steam versions of games. It's so much better!

Hmmm, and Origin has Mass Effect 3 on sale for half price. I may have to buy the big, corporate RPG/shooter and the independent, turn-based FK at the same time. Two faces for the price of one, can't beat that!

Darkling - I hear ya on that one. I try to get the direct-from-developer versions of games myself, but I do find myself chafing for the convenience factor. There is Desura as an option (which I use a LOT) for those who really like having that kind of service - and I believe you can register your game with Desura (I looked up how to do it at one time, but I'm not sure of the limitations with that).

Anyway, I'm really happy to have Frayed Knights part of this sale. I was planning something along those lines already, but was struggling with timing due to yet another business trip out of the country, when this thing kinda fell into my lap. It's been great so far - a really nice bump in sales. Since I've been using the sales from FK1 to fund development of FK2, it's been really handy, and came at a good time.

Glad to hear you are making some cash. I'll toss my sawbuck into the pot this weekend.

Originally Posted by darkling
The other day I decided to install Frayed Knights again. I know it has been patched once or twice since release and I figured I'd download it again just so I had the newest version. I had to dig through my email for about 20 minutes looking for the BT Micro link and my login/password for the download. It's understandable that I had to do that, but it certainly was more of a hassle than installing anything I have in my Steam library. I'd totally prefer it to be there.

What? All email clients have search function. You can find any email you want within few seconds. I have several hundred thousands emails in my gmail account with dozens of games from various sites, bundles and stores. For example I just type "Frayed Knights" and have instant access to relevant information.

Originally Posted by RampantCoyote
Darkling - I hear ya on that one. I try to get the direct-from-developer versions of games myself, but I do find myself chafing for the convenience factor. There is Desura as an option (which I use a LOT) for those who really like having that kind of service - and I believe you can register your game with Desura (I looked up how to do it at one time, but I'm not sure of the limitations with that).

Anyway, I'm really happy to have Frayed Knights part of this sale. I was planning something along those lines already, but was struggling with timing due to yet another business trip out of the country, when this thing kinda fell into my lap. It's been great so far - a really nice bump in sales. Since I've been using the sales from FK1 to fund development of FK2, it's been really handy, and came at a good time.

Glad the sale is working out for you. Do you have any estimate about when you will be ready to talk / show something about FK II?

As you may have heard, I'm switching engines. Many of the complaints people had with the first game were tied directly in with the use of an obsolete engine. And then we discovered that Mac technology had moved on beyond the , making what was once supposed to be an 'easy port' a real pain in the butt. That won't happen again. So the engine switch has cost us time.

We have (I say we - it's mainly been 'me' with my art guys chomping at the bit) been focusing on technology and tools. The latter half of Frayed Knights' development - when I was cranking out content - my biggest slowdown was the lack of tools. That was causing lots of extra work, especially when it came to debugging quests and triggers and stuff. This time around I'm trying to take advantage of hindsight and build a lot of that stuff up-front. So it's taking more time at the beginning, but I hope it will mean much speedier development (and testing) on the back-end.

So it may be a few months yet before I have anything really cool to show - especially as this next month is taken up once again by business travel for the day job, though I hope to get some development done on the road.

But for comparisons about how much this stuff will help: The hobgoblin barracks in Frayed Knights 1 was IMO one of the more boringly laid-out dungeons in the game (I think I made up for it with interesting encounters). It took me about two weeks - maybe a little longer - to get the thing built, lit, debugged, etc. That's just the physical layout of the barracks, not including all the encounters, doors, furniture, etc. Now, my lack of skill when I built that was probably a factor, but we're talking about 40-50 hours here of total time just doing geometry.

For something as simple as that, with the new tools I could build a very similar dungeon in about fifteen minutes.

I'm not kidding here. Now, what I'd probably do is take more time to do more heavily customized stuff to make it cooler, this will hopefully make things come together for the next two games much, much, must faster. Plus I have a lot better idea of what I'm doing this time around, which I hope will help a lot. And we're trying to port as much code as possible once I finish this technology foundation.

Anyway - while nobody can accuse Frayed Knights: The Skull of S'makh-Daon of having too little dungeon delving, FK2 will have more. And better. And release on the Mac either on the same day or very close to it.

Oh - Darkling - here's some info I fortunately wrote down so I wouldn't forget. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten where I'd put it.

To register your game on Desura…

Go to the frayed knights page. Click "Install"

It then pops up a dialog that says the game is not installed, and to please select the release you would like to play. From the drop-down menu, choose "Find Install on This Computer," and click "Find".

On the first line, there's a CDKey / Gift option. Enter your license key here and click "Activate."

There's probably something else to have it point to your correct directory, but I missed it.

Originally Posted by RampantCoyote
As you may have heard, I'm switching engines. Many of the complaints people had with the first game were tied directly in with the use of an obsolete engine. And then we discovered that Mac technology had moved on beyond the , making what was once supposed to be an 'easy port' a real pain in the butt. That won't happen again. So the engine switch has cost us time.

Glad to hear … you know I was a bit disappointed about the Mac port problems, but not enough to dissuade me from constantly recommending the game

Glad I read this thread, some interesting FK2 info! I still plan on buying it on release.

Daniel.

BTW, I've now uploaded the "standalone" installer for Frayed Knights on Desura, so you don't need to have the Desura client running to play FK if you bought it from them. Not exactly sure how to download it (it's sort of a power-user feature), but it's very cool that that they included that.

Originally Posted by Dark Savant
What? All email clients have search function. You can find any email you want within few seconds. I have several hundred thousands emails in my gmail account with dozens of games from various sites, bundles and stores. For example I just type "Frayed Knights" and have instant access to relevant information.

Okay, I'll admit most of that time was spent in the wrong account wondering why Frayed Knights searches weren't coming up with anything (It was not my brightest moment I'll admit). Also, I tend not to delete anything and get a lot of newsletters about knights and frayed things. It's surprising how often "frayed" is used to describe music these days. It was still on page 2 when I searched without quotes.

Anyhoo, thanks for the Desura info, RC.