[color=#0099ff]Hello everyone! It’s now less than a week until Sunless Sea is available to buy on Steam, and we really need your help to make it as successful as possible.[/color]
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[color=#0099ff]Launch day is next Tuesday, 1st July. The game will go live sometime around 6-7pm, if all goes well. [/color][color=#0099ff]This is the store page.[/color]
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[/color][color=#0099ff]If you’re a backer or you’ve bought a copy of Sunless Sea already, you’ll be able to get a free Steam key for your game a couple of days after the release. It’ll be a pretty straightforward process - once the game is live on Steam, go to your Humble page and click "Get Steam Key", then in Steam go to Games>Activate a Product on Steam, and enter the key. We’ll upload the keys once we’re live![/color]
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[/color] [color=#0099ff]What can I do?[/color]
[color=#0099ff]-Tell your friends! Obvious, really, but word of mouth is vital. If you’re a member of other forums or internet communities, please let them know that Sunless Sea is available, and tell them what you think of it. [/color]
[color=#0099ff]-Write a review. If you play Sunless Sea on Steam, you can write a review on our store page - and please, be honest! We’re not interested in astroturfing. [/color][color=#0099ff] It’s worth noting that Steam reviews include a time-played stat, so if you’re reviewing based on a Humble build, do say so.[/color]
[color=#0099ff]-Get involved with the Community Hub: Steam is great for showing off screenshots, fan art, in depth discussions of the best way to defeat a Lifeberg, and so on. And new arrivals to the Neath will need your guidance, delicious friends.[/color]
[color=#0099ff]-Spread the word. If you see any media coverage (and we’re expecting some) share it around on social media. [/color]
[color=#0099ff]-Get a tattoo! No, wait, we did this gag already. Never mind.[/color]
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[color=#0099ff]This is the big one, folks. The next couple of weeks could have a massive impact on the future of the Fallen London universe and Failbetter. We couldn’t have made it this far without your support, and we know you’ll be every bit as awesome this time.[/color] edited by MisterArendt on 6/25/2014
Erm… I activated my Steam Beta Key. Am I going to need a second, non-beta key as well? I am imagining the answer is “yes” but having a wonky sort of day so thought I’d ask for confirmation.
To be honest I don’t know much about Steam and what it does. So do I have to use Steam or will everything still be available from Humble Bundle and the connection to Fallen London.
Steam is essentially like the Humble Bundle where you (probably?) downloaded the game from. It’s a store/content library, where you buy games through the store and they’re added to your account, and can be redownloaded at any time. It also happens to be the largest and most successful of them all.
I’d be a little shocked if support for SS went to entirely through Steam. Many people consider Kickstarters that go that route to be a bait and switch, because they reject any kind of digital rights management. What with the functionality already built into SS for direct updates, it would seem to indicate supporting the game apart from Steam for the forseeable future.
That said, Steam greatly simplifies game updates for developers (and can make them loads of money) because it handles deploying and hosting the update for thousands or more players. So if buy a decent amount of games per year, it might be worth your time to check out Steam. Once you start using it, it quickly becomes your one-stop shop for both new games and game updates. Any game that offers a Steam key I take, because it’s better than having to manage multiple game developer portal accounts and download pages, created to get their prototypes/alphas/betas out to the public. Some of which go away eventually. edited by Nenjin on 6/25/2014
Not trying to persuade that you should get and like Steam, but I’d say its only danger/downside (that I can see so far, I’m a novice with it, if you can call a software platform a thing with experience levels) is it’s too easy to find and get new games.
I didn’t use it till not that long ago, when I was forced to as I couldn’t get the game I wanted another way. Most of my games aren’t connected to it. Anyway, it proved ridiculously simple to use, and yeah - the only issue is it provides instant access to games I want, whereas normally I forget what I wanted by the time I get around to buying, so I don’t end up getting. Which is a good thing for money/life purposes.
super looking forward to the steam release, I’ve been holding off on getting it via humble bundle preorder just to make sure the release got better support. Gonna be good.
thanks for the feedback on what Steam is all about - it sounds dangerous to me … I’m not really a Gamer. I came to Fallen London through the Night Circus and loved it enough to want to support Failbetter with the Kickstarter.
So I don’t really need any more games in my life. Especially as I am finding Sunless Sea very addictive.
I hope that in a couple of days Alexis will give us some news on how the Failbetter opening on Steam went, considering he wrote some time ago that it could be very important for Fallen London’s future! :)
Sometimes when I look around the Steam community and see some of the common vile and hatred I feel sad. Then Sunless Sea releases on Steam after months of longing and it appears the Steam community is much more than the superficial bile it appears to be (in general). Next is this awesome game taking a (well deserved) solid spot in the top 10 of best selling games and I suddenly realize there are a lot of good people appreciating good games. Even on Steam. This makes me happy.
Well written, well developed and well played.
P.S. Hi all! (longtime lurker) edited by chancesarenil on 7/2/2014
Quick question. I know that Sunless Sea was initially started on Kick Starter and there were rewards for donating certain amounts to fund the games creation. My question is besides getting the game cheaper and earlier, do those who only bought on steam get any of the DLC at a discount?
What do you mean by DLC? If you mean the Zubmarines, all the Kickstarter says on the matter is: Anyone backing Sunless Sea at the Zailor (£10) level or above will get the expansion free of charge. edited by babelfishwars on 7/22/2014