Messages

121

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: December 23, 2020, 08:55:43 AM »

 You seem determined to take offense rather than to reflect on well-intended constructive advice.

OK, I see that you are making that kind of interpretation. Again, from my own point of view I don't feel offended. I just wanted to ask for further clarification, and you explained your point of view and we are all good now.

122

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: December 23, 2020, 07:18:04 AM »

OK. Thanks for all the clarifications.

At this point I only have one more question to jonottawa:

Earlier you made a public statement that you are guessing Erkka is very likely a person who is wasting his money on e-girls.

Now I'd like to hear in which ways do you think that making such a public statement is a decent thing to do, setting a good example for others and for the next generation?

(Honestly, I had to google what "e-girl" means, for I was not even aware that such an phenomenon exists. The idea of spending money in such stuff has never crossed my mind. So, seen from my personal point of view I find your remark somewhat derogatory, and I'm having hard time trying to understand why it would be a respectful choice to publicly spread such wild guesses. I don't know but this might be partially just a difference in the way we speak. Maybe your intention was just to ask if your assumption really is true, and you asked that question by expressing your guesses, awaiting for me to correct you if you are wrong.)

123

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: December 22, 2020, 07:36:31 PM »

2) You would be making different choices if your values were similar to mine

And what are those different choices? You mean that for a purpose driven traditionalist life I shouldn't be pursuing my own business ideas, but instead I should apply for a full-time work at a company run by other people?

124

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: December 22, 2020, 10:22:41 AM »

Yes, I think it is understandable and acceptable that different people might have different reasons for not placing any money in a crowdfunding campaign. Over the years urw followers have been suggesting us "Hey guys, you should try indiegogo, it would be good for you!" or "Hey Enormous Elk, are you familiar with Patreon? Try that, it would be good for you!". And now I felt that with my project plans Indiegogo might indeed be worth trying. The good thing is that those who are sceptical don't need to donate - it is perfectly okay just to wait for the finished product and then see if a new game seems like worth buying. So, in that sense I'm all fine with different people having their own reasons of being sceptical.

And naturally, it might be that a  crowdfunding campaign won't be that successful. But for that there is always a plan B, no problem.

The other stuff is going more off-topic, but I think at this point we can allow the thread to de-rail a bit. For the actual project news will be posted in a separate thread sometime in the beginning of 2021.

that purpose for millennia has been to provide for one's wife and children and to defend one's tribe/nation, while trying to set a good example for the next generation and practicing the religious faith of one's people.

I'm guessing you can't relate to that, and that's fine.

I must admit that this, again, leaves me somewhat confused. It would be interesting to hear what makes you guess that I can't relate to the traditional virtues you listed?

125

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: December 21, 2020, 01:36:14 PM »

My take, for what it's worth, as someone who doesn't know you:

Thanks for the feedback!

I'd have taken that job in a heartbeat. Income, responsibility, self-respect, possibly meeting the future mother of your children ... That's what most men need.

Sure, I do understand that point of view. But my personal situation happens to be a little bit different;

I already do have an income, responsibility and self-respect. For years I've been self-employed. This year I've sustained myself doing massage, coding custom office solutions, and doing basic lumberjack and house renovation work for my neighbours. But this autumn I've seen decrease in those job opportunities, so my question is if I'd like to seek more odd jobs, or to apply for a full-time job, or if I should pursue my own creative ideas with indie game development. Personally, my self-respect isn't tied to the amount of money I earn, but there is a connection, still. I feel that pursuing my own project plans also makes me feel more fulfilled. Applying for a full-time job would've felt a bit like "Oh, I need to work for others for my own plans are probably just going to fail." So, from the self-respect point of view I'm all willing to keep on being a starving artist 

My son is already 27 years old. Sure, those were great times in my life when my son was smaller. But now I have a 'been-there-done-that' feeling, having absolutely no intention to having more kids. Instead, I enjoy this mid-life freedom.

Therapy doesn't cure depression. It makes it worse because you spend hours dwelling on your problems ad infinitum.

Where does that come from? Is it your personal experience? If so, feel free to send me a personal message if you wish to discuss in private.

I have more than 20 years of experience with different methods of therapy. Yes, there are those kinds which aren't always that helpful. But I've been lucky to find the professionals I like to work with, so that the therapeutic process has been focused on the solutions, instead of dwelling on the problems. I know it might be deeply frustrating if ones first experiences with therapy are not good. But I encourage people to keep on seeking. For finding a good therapist can be of great help.

This hypno-gal seems like she might be exploiting your loneliness and her going rate seems awfully high for someone who is having trouble paying the bills.

I do understand that kind of concern. But don't worry; that hypno-gal is my personal friend. She knows my situation and offered to work with me for free. I don't have therapy bills to pay. But I was struggling with winter tyres for the car, and with replacing the water pump in my dwell.

(Also, in the beginning you said you don't know me. And then you assume I might be suffering from loneliness. I have no idea where does that come from, did I write so? Or is it just an assumption you are making based on what?)

If you're not obsessed with a game concept that you MUST bring to fruition, you probably shouldn't. The process shouldn't be: My dream is to be an indie game developer, now what game should I develop? The process should be: This game that doesn't exist yet is the most amazing idea I've ever had and I cannot rest until I bring it into reality.

The story with not applying for a full-time job was supposed to illustrate that idea. That my desire with indie game development has reached such an level that I'm willing to starving artist to make my projects become true. And, in my case it is not about having the most amazing idea ever - the question has been that I have half a dozen of ideas I like, and then because of my depression-like symptoms I've had trouble picking just an one idea to persistently focus on. Now, with the great help of therapy, friends and other therapeutic processes I finally enjoy a sense of inner clarity and focus. I have chosen one idea to focus on. Sure, it remains to be seen if anyone else will like my idea  So, I'll keep on doing the starving artist thing until I have enough of a demo to probe the possible audience reception.

126

Off-topic / Re: Erkka needs to hone his AIM.

« on: December 19, 2020, 09:31:49 AM »

there’s some foreigners here, that don’t know, but might expect that to be the norm...

Those are probably the same foreigners who see us on the video, and expect it to be the norm that all men in Finland have long hair and a beard 

127

Modding / Re: modding trees - tree painters needed

« on: December 13, 2020, 10:06:28 AM »

I kinda got lost there for a little bit because I had no idea how lindens looked like in finland

Every wild linden I've seen in Finland have been bush-like. But that is probably because I've only seen them in places where they grow partially shadowed by taller spruces. Apparently, on open terrain they grow to be properly tree-likes. With a quick search I didn't find any pictures of bush-like wild lindens in Finland. Maybe that is because people only post pictures of the special, the outstanding ones =)

Well, but something like this.

128

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: December 04, 2020, 01:59:58 PM »

have you considered doing crowdfunding or something similar for supporting extra content for UrW?

This is not an alien idea for us  And I think something like that is the likely next step.

129

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: November 26, 2020, 09:41:21 PM »

Hello! Just a quick note for those who might have been waiting for further news;

After carefully considering all the feedback I decided to postpone the crowdfunding campaign launch until January / February 2021, depending on how the development goes.

So: Thanks for all the feedback and help. I'll be back with more news later on.

130

General Discussion / Re: GoG release?

« on: November 14, 2020, 07:05:55 AM »

An alternative to Steam is itch.io

If you release this game on GoG

A few years ago we tried, but it turned out that one doesn't simply release a game on GoG. At GoG they screen every game and decide what they accept into their store. Regarding UrW their reply was basically that they don't believe UrW would sell enough to be interesting for them. So we went onto itch.io as they are a lot more indie-friendly.

131

Suggestions / Re: Re: UnReal World Mobile Controller app for Android Devices

« on: November 03, 2020, 06:02:31 PM »

pc port?

Technically speaking it would be possible to make a version which runs on the same machine as UnReal World itself. So, instead of a touch-screen one would use a mouse to click on virtual buttons.

At the moment I have another plans for the next three or four months, so a PC port of the mobile controller has to wait...

132

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: November 01, 2020, 08:54:04 PM »

Good comments, PALU, thank you!

You are right about the point 1. Maybe I should've been more clear with my writing. I think that by "saying no" I actually mean "not now", instead of "no, never".

2. is something I didn't know! This one needs to be considered carefully, as indeed the intention is to make a peaceful game with no simulation of warfare.

133

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: November 01, 2020, 03:20:31 PM »

And here is a blog post which focuses mainly on my personal thoughts and feelings on preparing for the side-project. It also contains a little on the actual game idea.

I feel that once the campaign starts the focus of feedback and communications is most likely going to be in the actual game and coding-related stuff. So, before that phase I felt like writing a more personal post, going through the psychological stuff which anyway affects everything we human beings do or don't do. Hence this blog post.

And thank you for all the feedback and ideas for Indiegogo Perks. I think I have found a way to fit MrMotorhead's suggestion neatly into the planned project. But more of that kind of stuff once the Indiegogo campaign is ready to launch. In the meantime, feel free to post further suggestions, to send negative or positive feedback the way you find it.

134

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: October 29, 2020, 05:41:50 PM »

As a customer of UnReal World, I'd much much rather have more updates on that and/or even crowdfound specific features. I don't wanna grap another game to fullfill my UnReal World "needs" and is a little concerned about the state that game could/will be left in (I haven't been here for 28 years, just 2). It does seems counter productive, from a customer's point of view

I understand and appreciate that point of view. So, it remains to be seen if most of the UnReal World players feel that way - if the another game project won't get backers, then clearly that will mean that I won't be wasting my time coding a game no-one wants to play =) If that happens, then we need to change plans, no problem.

A full size A-title games sell for about €60. So that should be a “gold standard” to aim for.

Ah, sure! But here I've been crafting plans for a small indie game which could realistically see the first full version released after 3 months of coding or so. I feel that a game like this would sell for half the price of UnReal World, which would make the price tag of 6 €.

That means that either we need to sell a lot of "early access" perks for a cheap price, or then we need to come up with interesting perks in the €10 - €250 range, with emphasiz on stuff at €20 - €50 range.

This has been my line of thinking, wondering what extra people would like to have if they'd decide to support a 6 € game by donating 25 € or so. (Or, to rephrase myself: what perks would people like to have, if they donate to help Erkka become a full-time indie coder, ultimately boosting the UnReal World development, and also getting a nice small game as a side-effect.)

(Yeah I talk about ditching my main work, and I'm already living on minimal budget. Something like 2000 € would be a good sum to keep me coding almost full-time for two or three months. I'm self employed, so luckily it is not a total yes/no decision of quitting my current work. It is just that I'd love to have indie coding as my main work, leaving only a few hours a week of my current work on the side.)

I supported Prison Architect slightly higher to be able to submit a custom prisoner that was included in the game's release.

That's a good idea, I'll think if and how that would fit with the planned project. Just for clarification: in what form did you submit your custom prisoner? You mean pixel art, or a xml-structured text file describing character details, or something other?

135

General Discussion / Re: Crowdfunding : your thoughts?

« on: October 29, 2020, 11:03:35 AM »

This will surely slow down the development of the "flagship", no?

We aim to have it the other way around. Personally, I'd love to quit my main work to be a full-time indie game developer, so that in the future I would have more coding time to help Sami with UnReal World development. After considering various different ways of taking this leap the chosen tactics is a crowdfunding campaign for a small side-game project.

For so many years I have had trouble with finding proper coding time next to my main work. The time has come to ditch my other odd jobs. I do believe that taking this leap will eventually lead to boostin UnReal World development, instead of slowing it down.

EDIT: to clarify; the mentioned side-project is not intended to be a long-term development like UnReal World is. The plan is to spend a few months coding a release version (1.0), then slow down for a few more additional versions (like 1.1 or 1.2), eventually leaving the side-project as it is, so that there will be more time to concentrate on UnReal World development. So, this another game is just a temporary transition phase.

And, as mentioned: an another game could also double as a test environment to develop and to polish algorithms before implementing them in UnReal World. For example, back in the time when I was coding the weather simulation for UrW, I first coded a tiny text-based test environment. I ran hundreds of tests in the sandbox environment so that I got the details of the simulation polished, before the whole thing was implemented in the main game. Now I'm planning a full stand-alone small game, partially for the same reason - to have a sandbox where I can experiment with various algorithms. But this is purely to coder point of view - for the player that mentioned small game would naturally be a fully playable and fully enjoyable game in itself.