So. What does it mean: “shooter-as-a-service”. Links? If i search it on google i get real army results lol It seems noone else but me is interested in the background info.
EDIT Of course i can find some articles here and there, but there are a variety of too many ways to do it. That is why i want to know it in detail, so i can understand the implications better.
A Production Person can probably speak more about this, but here’s a taste:
In the past, our games have always been boxed products. We’d finish a game, stick it on a disc, and ship that to stores. Publishers would then finance a couple of updates (or not) and that’d be that. With Dirty Bomb, we’re looking at it as an on-going thing, hence the service part. Take the alpha for example. We’ve been adding and tweaking things constantly - this won’t just suddenly stop when the game goes live. Instead, we’re looking to have a pretty steady stream of updates and new content, big and small, coming out for the game, and much of that is going to be based directly on player feedback.
In other, slightly loftier words, Dirty Bomb is not a static entity to us, but an ever-evolving thing that is shaped by its players.
[QUOTE=badman;461081]A Production Person can probably speak more about this, but here’s a taste:
In the past, our games have always been boxed products. We’d finish a game, stick it on a disc, and ship that to stores. Publishers would then finance a couple of updates (or not) and that’d be that. With Dirty Bomb, we’re looking at it as an on-going thing, hence the service part. Take the alpha for example. We’ve been adding and tweaking things constantly - this won’t just suddenly stop when the game goes live. Instead, we’re looking to have a pretty steady stream of updates and new content, big and small, coming out for the game, and much of that is going to be based directly on player feedback.
In other, slightly loftier words, Dirty Bomb is not a static entity to us, but an ever-evolving thing that is shaped by its players.[/QUOTE]
That sounds good. And I have high respect for you guys with this approach!
While I can appreciate the benefits that region specific publishers can bring to all aspects of the localisation process, there’s still a part of me that would have loved to see how SD would have run the entirety of a SaaS title. Still, DB is going to be an awesome title anyway. I look forward to seeing how things develop over the coming weeks and months :).
I can really see the logic, especially financially, with physical product the country that item is sold in gains several ways, fuel tax for trucking to store, property tax of store, sales tax or VAT from sale, while digital product, no tax to end user, unless you have local providers, most governments would like this approach, some demand
[QUOTE=Reacto;461175]id also like to know what is in store for dirty bomb e-sports :)[/QUOTE]As long as devs support it and run money comps etc. It’ll be great spend money to make money.
[QUOTE=badman;461081]A Production Person can probably speak more about this, but here’s a taste:
In the past, our games have always been boxed products. We’d finish a game, stick it on a disc, and ship that to stores. Publishers would then finance a couple of updates (or not) and that’d be that. With Dirty Bomb, we’re looking at it as an on-going thing, hence the service part. Take the alpha for example. We’ve been adding and tweaking things constantly - this won’t just suddenly stop when the game goes live. Instead, we’re looking to have a pretty steady stream of updates and new content, big and small, coming out for the game, and much of that is going to be based directly on player feedback.
In other, slightly loftier words, Dirty Bomb is not a static entity to us, but an ever-evolving thing that is shaped by its players.[/QUOTE]
In the old days of UT, CliffyB would pimp custom maps that he thought were awesome. I think that even if the game only allows sanctioned maps, there should be some mechanism for user-created content. We haven’t had an SD game with a lot of user created content (for good and for ill) since W:ET tbh. Yes, there were custom maps for ETQW but they weren’t valid for stats. Officially endorsed “ownage” maps would be awesome, maybe even a talent recruiting tool for Splashdamage…perhaps?
As far as I know SD already recruits talent from schools like the college/university in Kortrijk (Digtal Arts & Entertainment) which I followed for a year. So they already have a pool for talent recruitment. That being said, if you make an awesome map, lookwise and gameplay wise that’s definitly something you should put in your Portfolio if you have any dreams of working in a company like SD.
Then Chris should present his portfolio to SD, wiht all the maps etc he has made and in which engine he’s capable working with. And even then Chris already could have a really stable job he wouldn’t want to leave. Although creating games is fun it’s also super time consuming, isn’t the best paying job in the world for all the work you do (days longer then 12 hours per day aren’t uncommon in the industry). It’s one thing to be creating a map in your free time because you love doing it and working on 3D models, texturing, UV’s (I HAAAATE UV’ing but it’s sooo neccecary. I wish there was a less tedius way to do complex models) 12 hours a day.
No, I wasn’t thinking of me personally, just the role of community mappers in awesome gameplay. I dabble in unrealed these days, but I’d have to put my nose to the grindstone in order to come modern. Don’t worry though, I will find somewhere to fit in the community! 
Couldn’t agree more. Would probably be a deal breaker for me and I’d eat the $120.
Nah, as said in another thread, I could never do it as a job. Plus I don’t know unreal engine nor have the energy or motivation to learn it, DB doesn’t interest me as a game to make maps for, something I doubt will change any time soon so for now I have no plans to try and pick up UDK again. I would love to make some Wolfenstein New Order SP maps though if tools were released for that game despite not even playing it yet.
Not knowing all the facts is spinning up the rumour mill - finely ground rumour for all. I’d like to know more in regards to the choice for regional partners, how or if player segmentation will occur, and if this will affect the e-sports community.
My biggest fear with any new game on the market is the ghost town effect. If players want to play with each other - the developer should not put elements in place to restrict this. Much like in other AAA games that purposefully block e-sports from being culture even if the player base would like it.
[QUOTE=Complications;463785]Not knowing all the facts is spinning up the rumour mill - finely ground rumour for all. I’d like to know more in regards to the choice for regional partners, how or if player segmentation will occur, and if this will affect the e-sports community.
My biggest fear with any new game on the market is the ghost town effect. If players want to play with each other - the developer should not put elements in place to restrict this. Much like in other AAA games that purposefully block e-sports from being culture even if the player base would like it.[/QUOTE]
Chances are they aren’t saying all the facts is because not all the facts are ironed out. I doubt this game has a triple A budget and not being published by a huge studio means they have to work with partners if they want the game to perform well in multiple regions. Its a much better approach then putting up official servers in one or two regions because they only have the manpower to manage one or two regions.
