but I also hope that your game is fun to play (some games aren't cracked because no one wants to play them...).

well this game has made the network evening news before (NBC, Washington DC, last minute xmas gift ideas, Dec 2000), and has been cracked before.

as for fun, you're welcome to see for yourself. shoot me an email at rocklandsoftware at gmail dot com, and i'll send you the links to download the beta of the demo.

the full game is only a 52 meg DL. the demo is the same, with a demo exe file.

Btw, it also sound like a game where the performance is going to keep dropping the longer you play. In the beginning nothing is generated, so the system resources needed are scant. After a few thousand caverns have been formed though, will the game still be able to run as fast and smooth? Something for your beta testers to look into - maybe include a 'generate caverns' cheat, so they can test the game with more and more caverns and caves and shelters being stored.

not a problem. all caverns are single levels for the moment, and loaded when you enter, and saved when you leave, just like a level based shooter engine. load and save times are split second short. so caverns of unlimited size are easy, just add connections between levels, and generate deeper levels as needed. the only limitation is hard drive space. all systems in the game are designed that way. they aren't linked lists of objects that degrade the bigger they get. in fact, no linked lists or objects at all. just fast non-OO procedural C++, PODs (plain old data types), and ADT code organization with global access in the api's exclusively for get and set methods. speed and performance over style. heap is only used to allocate a 2 meg buffer to check a savegame's checksum (corrupt file check), and only for about 5 lines of code with no branching before its freed. pretty much all data structures are static and appear in the data segment. static is not an issue since the required sizes are know at compile time.

you seem to know a lot about torchlight, is there a cracked version ? (make that freely downloadable - it doesn't have drm). they might make a good case study of how to do it drm free. $15 price point, diablo clone, steam and direct web sales, correct? did they do a pre v1.0 release or large public beta to build a fan base first?

There's not a 'cracked' version because retail (physical copy available through their website as well as being out on store shelves - nice box, raised lettering, etc...) was DRM free from the start. There may be a 'no-steam' .exe floating around, if one hasn't been officially released.

Runic Games had the 'Blizzard' advantage when it came to fan base. You had star developers from the original Diablo/Diablo II team (Blizzard North) joining up with the creator of FATE, and the team from Mythos. For people into the action-adventure, dungeon crawling, let's go kill things then go shopping genre this was an absolute dream team. So there was a lot of 'hype' and publicity about the game just from that factor alone. By the time the game came out, most of it's target audience was ready for it. I'm not sure how they handled the beta for Torchlight - I do know they listened to the feedback and worked from it, in a few documented cases having fixes for bugs reported in the forums up within hours, so there was a 'connection' between the team and the community (as opposed to companies who run test servers, collect feedback, then cheerfully ignore all of it and ship 'as is').

It came out at $20 Steam and Retail, and held that price point for quite a while before dropping, then held at $15 for another long bit. I don't know whether it's because twenty dollars is the largest bill most Americans keep in their wallet, or some other reason, but that seems to be the magic 'dividing line' between the 'casual' games and the longer (and presumably better) ones. A casual might start at $20 through some small portals, and maybe an initial run in Walmart (HER Interactive does this with the Nancy Drew series), but the price drops to $6.99 pretty quickly (within a few months) or else the game becomes part of a 'bundle' pack. On the other extreme you have Skyrim, which stayed at $60 even with the complete Elder Scrolls Anthology, which included Skyrim and all its expansions/DLC along with Oblivion and Morrowind with all their expansions/DLC plus Arena and Daggerfall for only ten dollars more on the same shelf.

Torchlight was moddable, with the editor released soon after the game (my retail copy had it in already I think... maybe I downloaded it). This was also the time where there was a lot of backlash against Ubisoft and the 'always on' DRM schemes where you got booted from your single player game if your internet connection went down for a few minutes, so I'm sure some people bought it to make a statement.

Ultimately, I think it was successful DRM free because it targeted a game playing demographic where people buy games. Between Steam and being on store shelves, it was easier to buy it legitimately than it would have been to go searching for a torrent and downloading it that way (with all the risks that go along with that). Yes, the Steam version had Steam DRM - but there was always the retail option available, so it really was a choice for consumers.

The best case study for DRM free games is Good Old Games. When they started, they just had 'older' titles reworked to run on modern OS's. As time went on and the model proved profitable, more and more games started moving there. While the bulk of their catalog is still 'old school' games, they do have a growing number of fresh releases as well.

I'll shoot you an email. I can't commit to being a full on tester, but I'd love to see what you've got, and I'll give you what feedback I can.

Caveman sounds interesting if nothing else - a change from the same scripted formulas that get churned out over and over and over...

There's not a 'cracked' version because retail (physical copy available through their website as well as being out on store shelves - nice box, raised lettering, etc...) was DRM free from the start. There may be a 'no-steam' .exe floating around, if one hasn't been officially released.

if its popular and drm free (or even if its not drm free) odds are there's a free version somewhere. have you looked? want to bet a dollar on it? <g> (just kidding)

Runic Games had the 'Blizzard' advantage when it came to fan base.

well that explains the popularity.

you don't want to SELL games to users, you want them to SUBCRIBE to your game as life long fans. not subscription as a sales model technically, but in essence.

in this case, they simply made the next game in the series that all those fans subscribe to. so it was under a different studio name with a different lineup in the dev team. who cares? its still diablo! and with a BETTER team building it! any diablo fan would definitely be buying that sucker when it came out. and there are a LOT of diablo fans.

I don't know whether it's because twenty dollars is the largest bill most Americans keep in their wallet, or some other reason, but that seems to be the magic 'dividing line' between the 'casual' games and the longer (and presumably better) ones.

the following might be factors:

diablo games are 3rd person isometric graphics, not 1pv 3pv 6 DOF (flightsim or shooter with roll) correct?

diablo games are more action oriented than some other more hard core fantasy rpg titles, correct?

the magic $60 price point in america seems to be reserved for state of the art hard core releases. something like tomb raider or assasins creed being as close as one might get to lighter/casual action in such titles. and you have to admit both of those games have evolved over their various releases into rather hard core state of the art examples of their particular types of games.

at the other end of the scale, $15 is another magic price point - or you might say its a nice one that lies between two other magic price points: $10, and $20.

$10 is special, because it denotes lack of or limited value. any game that's $10 or less can't be that big, no matter how cool, or it would cost more. or it may just not provide more than $10 worth of gaming entertainment value to the user.

Note that at this low price point, one must start putting qualifications on what type of game we're talking about here. $10 is quite reasonable for an arcade, puzzle, or card game. but lets stick with "bigger" games only.

$20 is special, because at this point, its no longer an impulse purchase. $20 bucks will buy you a pizza and a six pack! <g>. (well, depending on the beer you drink...).

so at $20, the user starts thinking in terms of value, and also opportunity costs: "what else better could i do with my money that would make me even happier?". after all, as Desmond Morris said in The Human Animal, "After survival is ensured, it's all about enhanced play.". so they start thinking twice about how to use those 20 hard earned survival points (dollars).

this concept can be translated to any market worldwide. over the years, Rockland has sold internationally from hong kong to berlin, the LONG way around the planet. Thats why Rockland runs on Hawaii time. which is a real B---- for me, as i live on the east coast.

but in any market (people are the same everywhere) such price points will exist:

* too cheap - cant be that good a value, even if its a cool game. its either not that good, or not that big - or both (too many of those out there - makes me wonder why they even bothered writing it. perhaps as a learning exercise?)

* kind of pricey - got to think about that one.

* looks cool, not too expensive for what you seem to get.

* expensive state of the art stuff - NBA2K. but i gotta have it! i'm a SUBCRIBER! <g>

they may vary depending on the availability of titles for that market, local market conditions (local economies), and what other things compete for entertainment dollars in that market. and these three things can vary widely between markets.

if your not in the us market, think of your own local market in these terms and see if you can't guesstimate what the numbers would be for your market. just put yourself in the average target user's shoes.

and note that the us market is not the world market. historically, the us had been somewhat heavier on action titles, whereas europe for example is known to produce many high quality simulations, some of which Americans never even get to see. And Asia has yet a 3rd flavor of game style and culture it adds to the mix. in the end its a big wide world out there, and there's lots of potential target users from all markets for all gametypes.

so then it comes down to good old capitalistic competition, build a better mousetrap, survival of the fittest. and this contest for the users dollars is played out simultaneously for each game type. so if your making a diablo game, your competing for diablo user dollars. and if your making a caveman sim, your competing for caveman sim user dollars.

fortunately for me, after 14 years, Caveman is still the only caveman simulator on the market. in fact a game like it in any setting is difficult to think of. then again, i have yet to finish DLing sims3 from origin. this is a basic comptative strategy of Rockland, to try to dominate in niche markets where you're the best, or preferably, the ONLY player. needless to say, being the only player in a viable market is not easy. and not always maintainable.

Rockland built the worlds first Star Trek flight simulator. the gametype eventually became so popular, Paramount got into it. To be the only player, basically you have to be unique - and cool - or there'd be no market. this requires innovative game design. IE you cant just make Y.A.S. (yet another shooter), as there's already one (or a million) out there. the game has to be unique. if they want to play something like that, you're the only game in town (no pun intended <g>).

dungeon keeper might be an example of a unique game like this. the concept is cool , D&D and you play the monsters! and there was nothing like it out there at the time, despite that playing the other side had probably occurred to D&D players for 20 years by then.

Ultimately, I think it was successful DRM free because it targeted a game playing demographic where people buy games.

odds are it was the next game in an established series with a big fan base of subscribers waiting for the next game of that type worthy of the tile "the sucessor to <insert game here>".

in this particular case,

insert game here = diablo (must be nice!),

devleopment studio = dream diablo dev team.

so is no doubt that:

if game != real_mccoy() dontbuy();

if i were a diablo fan and the next one came out for just $15 or $20 bucks, i wouldn't even consider not buying the real version from the real McCoy.

Fun fact: McCoy was a rum-runner during prohibition. The "real McCoy" mean the real true unaltered product, not "bathtub gin".

typos drive me crazy! brain runs at light speed, but fingers are sub-lite only : (

The best case study for DRM free games is Good Old Games. When they started, they just had 'older' titles reworked to run on modern OS's. As time went on and the model proved profitable, more and more games started moving there. While the bulk of their catalog is still 'old school' games, they do have a growing number of fresh releases as well.

do they have a drm free only policy?

a think a lot of their recent growth is the lack of online gaming outlets other than steam. Back in the day, Rockland would be contacted by small startup studios from time to time looking for a publisher. the old chicken and egg: need a hit to get a pub, and most devs dont want to become a pub to get that first hit. i think there's an unfulfilled need there that steam does not adequately address, thus the recent popularity of good old games, and other such sites as places to sell through. one of the difficulties is vetting. any online "pub" has a natural interest in vetting applicants to produce a good product lineup, thereby enhancing site value. but this throws up barriers to entry for developers.

The best case study for DRM free games is Good Old Games. When they started, they just had 'older' titles reworked to run on modern OS's. As time went on and the model proved profitable, more and more games started moving there. While the bulk of their catalog is still 'old school' games, they do have a growing number of fresh releases as well.

do they have a drm free only policy?

a think a lot of their recent growth is the lack of online gaming outlets other than steam. Back in the day, Rockland would be contacted by small startup studios from time to time looking for a publisher. the old chicken and egg: need a hit to get a pub, and most devs dont want to become a pub to get that first hit. i think there's an unfulfilled need there that steam does not adequately address, thus the recent popularity of good old games, and other such sites as places to sell through. one of the difficulties is vetting. any online "pub" has a natural interest in vetting applicants to produce a good product lineup, thereby enhancing site value. but this throws up barriers to entry for developers.

Yes, all games bought from GoG are completely DRM free.

The business model can be summed up thus: Make a quality product, put it for sale at a reasonable price, and people will buy it.

That's the business model that worked in the music industry for iTunes: even though you can always download music from somewhere, people are willing to pay the iTunes price and get it 'legally'. Torchlight is just one of a growing number of games taking that approach. Consumers seem to dig it.

As for Steam and the chicken and the egg: that's what Greenlight is trying to address. Get enough users to like your game and the Valve team will take a look at it (no guarantees). Much better than the old system of the small team personally keeping their eye out for good games and testing them.

Yes, all games bought from GoG are completely DRM free.

i thought i remembered something like that when i took a look at them recently.

The business model can be summed up thus: Make a quality product, put it for sale at a reasonable price, and people will buy it.

a sound model. Rockland tries to follow that model.

That's the business model that worked in the music industry for iTunes: even though you can always download music from somewhere, people are willing to pay the iTunes price and get it 'legally'.

seems to me iTunes big thing is convenience. find what you're looking for, cheap and easy. in the consumer's eye, cheap is almost as good as free, and probably a better value, as we all know there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Torchlight is just one of a growing number of games taking that approach. Consumers seem to dig it.

Gee, i wonder why? got to remember i'm a hardcore gamer first, and a gamedev second.

As for Steam and the chicken and the egg: that's what Greenlight is trying to address. Get enough users to like your game and the Valve team will take a look at it (no guarantees). Much better than the old system of the small team personally keeping their eye out for good games and testing them.

funny, i was thinking of steam's greenlight program as a barrier, although less of one perhaps then a site with a reviewing team too small to handle the load:

http://indiegames.com/2014/04/310_days_in_steam_greenlight_p.html

ran across that while looking for indie game sites, since i'm an indie, and moving from the development to marketing phase of the Caveman project.