Help Asylum get on Steam!

Asylum, the new adventure game by Senscape, opened its page up on Steam Greenlight.



You can vote for Asylum or put it among your favourite in order for the game to be released to Steam

For further details about Asylum and to play the teaser, visit the Official Website.

Voted! I'm sure they'll make it. It's Agustin's.

Thanks, Carla!

Voted!

Thanks Carla! On my way to vote.

Just Voted

Fabulous!
Tried to vote twice but it wouldn't let me.
Really hope this makes it on steam soon!

I have not been able to get logged in for two days now. It's very frustrating. I keep trying and it won't let me get passed the captcha's.

I am behind Agustin all the way and will keep trying.

Ana

Voted.

Voted, I think. Is that just affirming I would buy this game on Steam?

Yes, you just state that you would likely buy this game when released on Steam: enough people wanting to buy it -> greenlight.

Thank you, dear Boomers! You're the best. I never thanked you for your comments after the Interactive Teaser (no idea where that post is right now). Just let me tell you that we took note of everything you mentioned and we will address all your concerns (especially when it comes to the interface).

We want to turn Asylum into THE horror experience that you won't ever forget. Oh, yes <grin>

Also, I've compiled a list of promising adventures on Steam Greenlight that could use some support. Please, take a look and consider voting those that catch your interest:

http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=96152495

Thanks!

Voted!

However for what I see many more votes are needed, at the bottom it says - This game has attained 1% of necessary positive ratings so far.

Thanks for the list!

It's not clear that the games need to reach that full 100% positive ratings as much as it's important to get out in front of the pack in terms of votes. If Steam is ready to greenlight another 10 games in (for instance) two weeks, they will probably take the leaders, even if none have actually achieved 100% yet.

Still, it's clear that votes from the adventure community for adventure games that are on the Greenlight list are extremey important.

The math involved here is very obscure. My assumption is that votes are slowly validated over time. Even if thousands and thousands of users vote on the first day, the game still wouldn't be approved.

Also, I think that positive rankings will grow exponentially. This is just a hunch. In other words, it will take us a lot of work to reach, say, 10%, but beyond that point it should be no-brainer to become approved.

Things I've noticed:

- Being in collections can be a HUGE boost. In case you don't know, you can create your own collection and pick any games you want (just like I did above). Many of these are followed by thousands of users, and the simple fact of being collected can increase the awareness of the title.

- Favorites are a boost as well. It's always best to vote up and include in favorites the games you like.

- Comment. Always comment, even if it's a "Yay!".

All these things can help to increase the popularity of game.

We seem to be doing OK so far, but other terrific adventures are stuck in 0% (ie: The Sea Will Claim Everything). I'm honestly very worried about this: even a well-established publisher like dtp couldn't include directly a high profile game like Gray Matter and is forced to resort to Greenlight. It makes sense as I was told by a Steam executive that "adventures don't sell".

We REALLY need to work together and help as many games as we can, otherwise I'm afraid the future of the genre on Steam looks very grim

Voted

Does the percentage indicate that a game must achieve 100% of a pre-set (by Steam) individual goal in terms of positive votes?

Or does the percentage indicate the "cut" of positive votes that a particular game has as a portion of all positive votes for all games on Greenlight?

Apparently, the positive ratings is a very loose indicative of the interest behind the game. It's not strictly necessary to reach 100%. Take a look at this comment of a (supposedly) Steam mod:

http://cl.ly/JUwV

So if there's enough interest, they get in touch with developers regardless of percentage. More the reason to support as many adventures as we can

This is indeed sad :-\ Either we're not enough, or there isn't enough awareness.
There are also many adventure gamers who oppose steam and the whole on-line thingy which might be holding it back (adventure gamers tend to fear progress )

There are many reasons to prefer disk versions, or DRM-free versions -- fearing progress doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it -- though I will admit that (in my admittedly limited experience) people in general do tend to resist change.

Yet another reason to hesitate with Steam (frankly) is that it can seem more difficult to use than some of the other online stores, and has something of a reputation as a place for action gamers.

I don't think we should be sad. It's early days yet with Greenlight, and everybody is experimenting/feeling their way.

I find the statement that Agustin posted a link to is actually quite encouraging about the possibilities. If we (the adventure game community) need to be a presence on Steam Greenlight in order to assist the release of more adventure games in the future, we can add that to our repertoire.

I find that just a teeny, weeny, infinitesimal bit elitist. What, exactly, is the progress that adventure gamers oppose fear, aside from the obvious aversion to Steam and its restrictions that I, for one, have?
The inclusion of action elements? Retro (otherwise known as old pixel) graphics? Cheap, slideshow cutscenes? Games that are not games but "emotional experiences"?

Gil.

"There are many reasons to prefer disk versions, or DRM-free versions -- fearing progress doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it .... "

It definitely doesn't in my case !!

I just really don't want to have to join yet another site that has "controls" of any kind

I believe what Tomer suggested is that adventure gamers tend to adopt new trends slower than the rest. For example: boxes. I still see many fans stating that they won't buy an adventure if its released in digital form only.

In a way, he made a point. Digital isn't a passive trend... it IS the future, like it or not. Retail is dying, especially in North America.

Of course, there are other choices for your online shopping (ie: GOG). However, Steam accounts for roughly 70% sales of ALL PC games. Just to put things into perspective...

Agustin,

Tomer made a sweeping statement that had the word "fear" in it.

As for digital, I have no problem with it if there's no DRM attached, no client to go through. My downloaded games don't get scratched. Of course, if they're terrible, I don't have the option of sailing them out the window.

If your game ever comes to GOG, believe me, I'll buy it.

Gil.

When a steam executive says adventure games don't sell, he/she is right of course. We all know that steam doesn't sell any games at all but only allows you to play them on their conditions.

And if it was meant that adventuregames don't do well under their conditions I can only see that as a good thing.
Just wondering if a GOG executive would say that adventures don't sell there.

Will Asylum be available from any drm free source? If there was a similar initiative to get it on gog I'll support it right away.

edit: what traveler said (as usual on this subject)

I'm not disagreeing with everything you say as I am fully aware that downloading appears to be taking over from the boxed, disk versions I so much prefer.

What I dislike intensely, as I have already said, is the "control" factor.
For instance .. I MUST join a site before I can even buy a game and having joined the site I MUST then allow the site "control" policies to to take effect before I can play the game I've just bought !!

In some cases, I'm also only allowed to install the game a fixed number of times after which I have to pay more if I wish to play it again - which I feel is absolutely ridiculous.

I would willingly pay a little more per game and always buy direct from the developer, to get a disk version, as that way I know the developer would get a better return for his product. But either not too many developers can afford to market their games "totally" in such a fashion or they simply choose not to.

Fortunately, here in the UK, I'm still able to obtain disk versions of most Adventure releases (as has been the case for all the many, many years I have played Adventures) and I'm hoping the facility will continue.

I've been searching for the 70% of PC sales stat, and the closest I could get was a 2009 report by Stardock, which said that Steam counted for 70% of digital distribution (not all PC games). Interestingly, I can't find the original .pdf doc that gave specifics (all the links I can find for the 2009 doc are inactive).

I remember reading the Stardock report when it came out, and as far as I recall, it did not include the casual game portals like Big Fish. Apparently they don't count?

If anyone can find a copy of the Stardock report, I'd love to read it again to see if memory is playing tricks on me.

In terms of the PC games sections shrinking in stores --sadly, yes, it's happening. I was in Best Buy today and the PC game section was about one fifth of the size it was a few years ago.

Becky, it states your statistics here.

Ana

http://www.stardock.com/press/CustomerReports/Stardock2009.pdf

On p. 7 of the pdf

The breakdown of which online sites they included must have been in something else I was reading. Thanks for your help!

To clarify something: when it comes to Asylum, the game will be available in as many channels as possible. I can tell you that we're talking to GOG and I will definitely upload to Desura. Personally, I really dislike DRM.

However, I'm afraid that we don't have a choice with Steam. It's true that perhaps adventure gamers tend to do their shopping elsewhere, but developers are missing a huge cut of sales if they don't make it to Steam. I can't confirm the 70% figure myself but I was told this is the case by many publishers. Not just digital sales, but ALL of PC gaming. It's that huge.

(keep in mind that Stardock report is ages old in "industry years")

So I think we have to work towards guaranteeing that adventures have a strong presence on Steam, even if you don't like the service. When the largest distribution channel for PC believes that "adventures don't sell", it just doesn't bode well for the future of the genre

Well I'm very happy to hear that you are talking to GOG
A DRM free version that I can burn to disk is the next best thing to a boxed disk - for me, anyway

Agustin's example is a very good one that I had in mind. You might not care for boxed games, but it seems very typical of adventure gamers to want to own boxed versions of their games.
Further examples are, yes, inclusion of new elements such as keyboard controls, timing, action, etc..., Another example is tending to not want to part with the PC (whereas most genres have expended to Xbox or other video games consoles)

The reason this isn't elitist at all is that I never claimed to not belong to this group of people - I myself for example dislike action scenes in my adventure games and also like to collect boxed versions. I do not own any game console other than my computer. However, at the same time I own quite a few games on Steam and try to keep an open mind for new "twists" in the adventure genre (just like Myst wasn't considered as an adventure by many at the time, but is today a prototype for a whole class of adventure games - criteria change, and the answer to "what is an adventure game?" changes with time)

I did not mean to insult anyone here, I was just stating what in my eyes is a rather obvious fact: the adventure genre is progressing(call it altering, if you want) both technically and conceptually much slower than other genres, and its fans (me included) tend to be more conservative in this respect. That's what I meant with progress, which I generally consider positive.

And Agustin, good luck with Asylum, I hope it makes it!

I consider the real progress to be the current move AWAY from DRM-infested on-line stores. Boxed or not boxed, physical or download copy, I couldn't care less. But I have an issue with DRM. And because of this I simply can't bring myself to even register to a service like Steam, even if it's only to vote for a game I would want to see released.

Really wish Agustin and his projects the best though. I will definitely buy Asylum if it finds its way to GOG or to other sites in DRM-free form.

Asylum is by far the most atmospheric adventure game I've seen/played in a long long time. So I think that to support this game on Steam is the least we can do. My vote was decided right when this game hit Greenlight.

Remember that by voting for the game you help a developer. It has nothing in common with you buying the game from steam or other sources. We are in times when publishers tell us that adventure games are too risky and don't generate enough revenues.

Let's help those who still have enough energy to keep this fight.

Best of luck Agustín!

Thank you so much, metamorphium! While we are at this, remember to support the non-adventure but funny as Hell Vampires! You won't regret it

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=97055339&searchtext=vampires

With your help, Asylum has been steadily climbing to the top and it's one of the Top 100 games. In fact, it's currently #75. To put things in perspective: yesterday it was #85! So we have skipped 10 positions in less than one day!!

Like I said before, keep in mind there are many other adventures that need help. My collection "Adventures In The Green" is currently among the five most popular this week (in part due to the success of Asylum but also thanks to dozens of shares) and lists 20 adventures that deserve your attention: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=96152495

Bottom line: this is a "snowball" effect. The popularity of one game can spread like wildfire to similar ones. The Greenlight system has its faults but I've come to understand what Steam is pretending with this and it's not that bad. Even if you don't have a Steam account, consider sharing links and collections.

Again, I can't stress the importance of guaranteeing a strong presence of adventures on Steam!

Agustín, vampires are already getting amazing support from Gameboomers, but I did compile a slowly growing list of "Games that have you use your brain!".

http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=97491051

Apart from known games, there was a huge discovery - an adventure game called "Cradle". Not knowing much, I'm already intrigued.

Both Cradle and Contrast are doing remarkably well. Contrast in particular could be among the next Greenlighted!

There are threads on Cradle here on GameBoomers.

I voted for Asylum, Vampires, Al Emmo, Gray Matter, and more today

Yes, I too would love to see Steam become a reliable place to find good adventures

I Voted. Oooh, that looks scary!
Terri