Why so expensive?

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> Carriers At War >> Why so expensive?

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Why so expensive? - 6/10/2007 4:34:39 AM

Executioner Five

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Was wondering why this reissue is $50 for download--seems like an awful lot for a remodeling of an older game.

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RE: Why so expensive? - 6/10/2007 5:41:53 AM

Gregor_SSG

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Executioner Five

Was wondering why this reissue is $50 for download--seems like an awful lot for a remodeling of an older game.

Let me explain by way of an analogy with making a movie, which I'll divide into three parts, idea, screenplay and implementation.

The idea is easy and essentially worthless. Try going up to a published author saying that you've got a great idea, all they need to do is write it for you and you'll split the profits. If they don't hit you they'll laugh in your face.

The next is design, which in movie terms is a screenplay. It's hard to get right and all too easy to get wrong, and only a few people can do it. SSG is extremely luck to have Ian Trout, a man with a superb design record, design Carriers at War.

However, in movie terms, this is like having a finished screenplay. Hollywood landfills are full to bursting with unmade screenplays because, crucial as it is, the screenplay is only a starting point

The bulk of the work, and almost all the budget in both a movie and a game goes on the implementation. You know how much that involves for a movie, just look at the credits.

For a game, it's countless, endless hours of programming, testing, comparing, refining, redoing and tweaking. Plus more countless hours of graphical creation and animation. Then someone moves a button and you start all over again. As I've said before, SSG hardly ever has internal disagreements over major design questions, but the conflicts over a single button can be epic. If you look closely at the game options you might spot one that was put in simply because we couldn't agree, so had to implement both options!

So the new Carriers at War started with the equivalent of a finished screenplay. We got some data files from the old game, but nothing else. Everything else was done from scratch and the time that we did save we just spent on making the game better anyway, so I think we're entitled to ask for a new game price for what is essentially a new game.

Gregor

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(in reply to Executioner Five)

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RE: Why so expensive? - 6/10/2007 7:20:43 AM

Executioner Five

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Fair enough. I had been under the impression that this was just a reissue of the old version, brought up to Windows standards and with updated graphics. Guess that was mistaken?

(in reply to Gregor_SSG)

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RE: Why so expensive? - 6/10/2007 7:28:57 AM

Gregor_SSG

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Executioner Five

Fair enough. I had been under the impression that this was just a reissue of the old version, brought up to Windows standards and with updated graphics. Guess that was mistaken?

You don't bring DOS games up to Windows standards, you rewrite them from scratch, as we had to do. We also added multiplayer to the features list, which is a not inconsiderable amount of work in itself.

Gregor

_____________________________

Vice President, Strategic Studies Group
See http://www.ssg.com.au and http://www.ssg.com.au/forums/
for info and free scenarios.

(in reply to Executioner Five)

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RE: Why so expensive? - 6/10/2007 7:32:13 AM

Prince of Eckm�hl

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Joined: 6/25/2006
From: Texas
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Executioner Five

Fair enough. I had been under the impression that this was just a reissue of the old version, brought up to Windows standards and with updated graphics. Guess that was mistaken?

Nah, the interface is a MONSTER improvement. And I'm not talking about aesthetics here, but rather functionality. Were Grigsby to show this kind of craftsmanship in his games, the PTO/wargaming world would be a far, far better place, indeed.

It's also worth mentioning that the game can now be played TCP/IP. IMO, there's absolutely no underestimating the impact that this will have on the quality of play that folks experience. In multiplayer you will endure the total crap-shoot that these battles were.

The game's worth every cent that you might pay for it, and much, much more.

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

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(in reply to Executioner Five)

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