Steam Release?

[Sines314]

I'm sure this is explained somewhere, but I've tried looking and can't find it.

I know this game is supposed to come out on Steam at some point, but I can't find a date. Nor can I find any confirmation whether my iPhone account will transfer over to Steam.

[Ethics Gradient]

No dates.  No confirmation about cross-platform details.

 

Yes, they say that the PC release is coming soonish.  But as far as wild speculation goes, I'm willing to bet you'll see some movement on Quest Mode before any Steam release.  There are also handful of uh... "rough bits" to polish out first.

 

Cross-platform functionality is currently unknown, but if they can get iOS and Android on the same page like they've planned, adding Steam into the mix is almost trivial.  Your stuff isn't "transferring" between the different platforms, cross-platform is just a way to log into the same "cloud" account from different services/devices.

[cheungie]

Obsidian should quash most of the bugs before bringing this game to more platforms.

[Sines314]

Hrm... it'd be nice to see cross-platform confirmation, as I'm getting rid of my iPhone next time I change phones, but I also don't foresee that happening anytime soon. Ah well, worst case scenario, I'll just drop $25 for the bundle on a new device to unlock everything. If I'm still playing it once I get a new phone, it'll probably be worth it.

[Ripe]

Hrm... it'd be nice to see cross-platform confirmation, as I'm getting rid of my iPhone next time I change phones, but I also don't foresee that happening anytime soon. Ah well, worst case scenario, I'll just drop $25 for the bundle on a new device to unlock everything. If I'm still playing it once I get a new phone, it'll probably be worth it.

Paying $25 for the bundle is not that big of a deal... but there are ton of Treasure chest cards I unlocked so far and I'm not really looking forward to unlocking them again.

[Dunesparrow]

Hey there

 

From the comments of the following Blog entry: http://forums.obsidian.net/blog/8/entry-199-pathfinder-adventures-whats-next/

 

Is the PC release of Pathfinder Adventures the next big ticket piece of functionality after AD6?

-F:  Yes.

[wakasm]

Hey there

 

From the comments of the following Blog entry: http://forums.obsidian.net/blog/8/entry-199-pathfinder-adventures-whats-next/

 

Is the PC release of Pathfinder Adventures the next big ticket piece of functionality after AD6?

-F:  Yes.

 

Is PC going to be before cross platform?  

 

I started my digital Pathfinder life on iOS and regret it.  I've paid for all of the content, but really would prefer playing on Android or PC.  Please tell me that at the very least, if PC is the next big ticket... that we'll be able to transfer our content soon too. 

[Sines314]

No confirmation on that, I believe. I've also heard tentative concerns about cross-platforming, like they think there is at least some possibility it won't happen. I know it's a problem with PS4 games, though I haven't heard of any such problems with iOS / Android.

 

Given that it's a small division of the company, I don't think they'll do Steam and Cross-Platforming at the same time. Unless other parts of Obsidian loans them the man-power for cross-platform setup, it's probably just too much work to put off the Steam release, and the influx of cash that'll offer. If they do anything else before / alongside of the Steam release, it'll be multiplayer.

 

Unfortunately, people like us have already paid into the system, and may still do so through the platform we presently have. Without borrowing some employees from another department, cross-platform is probably just too much work for the potential income right now, especially since that means that some impatient players might buy content twice. Not happy about that, but I'd likely make the same choices in their position, so I can't be too upset. If I had to bet, I'd say priorities are as such...

 

1. Steam

2. Multiplayer

3. Tie between Quest Mode and Cross-Platform

 

Quest Mode offers some slight disincentive to play Story Mode and thus buy the adventures, but it might also attract players who didn't want to have to choose between playing new adventures and getting new characters. Cross-Platform falls under 'things you have to do', but I don't think it offers much in return.

Now of course, I hope I'm wrong and Steam launches with cross-platform, so I'm not stuck playing on a cell-phone screen. And while I discussed things in cold-hearted monetary terms, I don't believe the Pathfinder staff are heartless bureaucrats. I'll never forget Obsidians work on New Vegas, wherein several characters, with lengthy backstories, existed solely to provide context and flavor to a minor side-quest of another minor side-quest (Look up the NCR 1st Recon). That's not the kind of thing people just trying to cash a paycheck do. Still, that kind of thinking does enter the mind at some-point, and things like Quest Mode, Steam release and Multiplayer are going to make a lot more people happy than cross-platform will.

 

And this whole post is predicated on the devs not being able to say anything they can commit to just yet, so watch all my speculation being rendered pointless by a schedule from a dev in the very next post :D

[Ethics Gradient]

Given that it's a small division of the company, I don't think they'll do Steam and Cross-Platforming at the same time. Unless other parts of Obsidian loans them the man-power for cross-platform setup, it's probably just too much work to put off the Steam release, and the influx of cash that'll offer. If they do anything else before / alongside of the Steam release, it'll be multiplayer.

Just from a tech perspective, Steam and Cross-platform are not as hard as they may sound.

 

Steam:  Pathfinder is built in Unity. Getting a Unity app running on PC requires some effort, but it isn't like it needs a total rewrite.

Cross-Platform: The "cloud" (aka PlayFab) already supports cross-platform logins from iOS, Google Play, and Steam.  It is more of a management decision on how they want to "tie" accounts together (i.e. Facebook, email, custom login), or what combinations will be allowed.

 

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This is just wild-ass-speculation on my part, but the game likely already has a working PC build.  However, it has all the same bugs and flaws as the tablet version, as well as a mouse driven UI that hasn't been as thoroughly tested as the tablet UI.  The Steam marketplace is notoriously fickle and unforgiving.  Stuff can go from Hype to Hate real fast.  All the RoTR content is done, but until Obsidian is relatively happy that PC port will ship without anything gamebreakinig, things will stay on hold.  It is one thing to release like they did on the tablet and incrementally add content, but if you drop a "finished" game all at once and it has significant issues, the Steam community will murder you.

[Jaesun]

They need to focus on a 100% rock solid and bug-free game before they even attempt to release this on STEAM. I'm sure there are also a myriad of other issues as well, but they need to have a very solid and bug-free game before they release that there. And I'd be sure that is what they are thinking of.

 

I will *definitely* be getting a copy of this once it is on STEAM.

[Sines314]

Ah, didn't know about what the infrastructure was already capable of. I should have remembered this was a Unity game. However, it does seem likely that there will be some bug fixing to be done before the Steam release. She is a fickle mistress, and while the bugs aren't too bothersome (at least, not that I've encoutered), you only get one fresh Steam release to impress with, so it's worth the extra effort.