Steam

[AnrDaemon]

but can only give them

You can give them any orders, as long as they are in your chain of command, but you can't hold officer berth.

[martianant]

Here are some ideas.

• SoH becomes free to play, with limitations.
  
• Command badge is needed to hold a captain or officer berth aboard a spacecraft.
  
• Emperor badge is needed to hold any government office or to establish empires.
  
• Architect badge is needed to enter an on line designer instance.
  

I like this idea but to expand on it, just to make sure.

Emperor Badge lets you make NPC ships, but can only give them basic orders
-> Move resources from Town A -> Town B (Take best known route)
-> Have ship guard planet A (they will be dispersed to cover the entire planet.)
-> Have ship attack planet A (they will group together in a clump, and look around the plant.)
-> Can build any building (but can only do so on controlled planet)
-> Players must man the ships functions he is on, npc crew can be civilians/defensive (aka shoot at people boarding)

Command
-> Have ships trade resources through Town A -> Town B, but map the route
-> Have ships guard this area (instead of having your ships guard the entire planet just guard said area, or patrol a route,etc)
-> Have ships attack area w/ formations
-> Can only build military buildings (but can do so on enemy planets w/emperor's decision)

-> Get access to specific control
-> Can have NPC's do any ship role.

Architect
-> Can build on a planet that has a capital building, can't build anything military outside of guard towers (has to be allowed by the Emperor), there must be a tile connected to the capital (aka he can't build out of no where, but the second a capital building is place down for the city he can build one tile off any tile connected to it.

F2P
-> Can man ships, will be useful for said emperor to have to pilot his ship if he doesn't get the commander role.
-> Can purchase/sell goods.
-> Can be part of the military


Commander + Architect + Emperor = full access to everything (within their power of course)
Commander + Architect = Can build military buildings anywhere, can maintain area's with a capital
Commander + Emperor = Like above but doesn't have the capital requirement
Emperor + Architect = Can't build on enemy planets, but can access the editor
F2P = Work force, so they will do trading, scanning for resources, military roles basic.

I understand the value of the tiered system, the hope is that it might attract more players, but I really think this is a confusing way to do it. Especially how this has been laid out. It would just be confusing and frustrating to have some things gated behind a paywall but other almost identical things be allowed by your "badge."

[ChronoAtog]

Here are some ideas.

• SoH becomes free to play, with limitations.
  
• Command badge is needed to hold a captain or officer berth aboard a spacecraft.
  
• Emperor badge is needed to hold any government office or to establish empires.
  
• Architect badge is needed to enter an on line designer instance.
  

I like this idea but to expand on it, just to make sure.

Emperor Badge lets you make NPC ships, but can only give them basic orders
-> Move resources from Town A -> Town B (Take best known route)
-> Have ship guard planet A (they will be dispersed to cover the entire planet.)
-> Have ship attack planet A (they will group together in a clump, and look around the plant.)
-> Can build any building (but can only do so on controlled planet)
-> Players must man the ships functions he is on, npc crew can be civilians/defensive (aka shoot at people boarding)

Command
-> Have ships trade resources through Town A -> Town B, but map the route
-> Have ships guard this area (instead of having your ships guard the entire planet just guard said area, or patrol a route,etc)
-> Have ships attack area w/ formations
-> Can only build military buildings (but can do so on enemy planets w/emperor's decision)

-> Get access to specific control
-> Can have NPC's do any ship role.

Architect
-> Can build on a planet that has a capital building, can't build anything military outside of guard towers (has to be allowed by the Emperor), there must be a tile connected to the capital (aka he can't build out of no where, but the second a capital building is place down for the city he can build one tile off any tile connected to it.

F2P
-> Can man ships, will be useful for said emperor to have to pilot his ship if he doesn't get the commander role.
-> Can purchase/sell goods.
-> Can be part of the military


Commander + Architect + Emperor = full access to everything (within their power of course)
Commander + Architect = Can build military buildings anywhere, can maintain area's with a capital
Commander + Emperor = Like above but doesn't have the capital requirement
Emperor + Architect = Can't build on enemy planets, but can access the editor
F2P = Work force, so they will do trading, scanning for resources, military roles basic.

I understand the value of the tiered system, the hope is that it might attract more players, but I really think this is a confusing way to do it. Especially how this has been laid out. It would just be confusing and frustrating to have some things gated behind a paywall but other almost identical things be allowed by your "badge."

Well to be honest, I think for steam it should be that Architect should just be part of the badges

Instead of 1+3+5$ = 9$

You can have an Architect sub for 1$ a month.(A)
You can have an Commander sub for 4$ a month.(A+C)
You can have an Emperor sub for 7$ a month. (A+E)
You can have an All sub for 9$ a month. (A+C+E)

[jakbruce2012]

I have been integrating the Steamworks API into the Shores of Hazeron client that will be available on Steam. It varies only slightly at the start, because a user name and password are not required. The Steamworks API provides user credentials so SoH doesn't have to ask for any. This work has gone smoothly.

There is a large checklist of items that needs to be completed, to finalize a product for release on Steam. Not many of the checklist items involve writing any code. Most of them are now done. The biggest ones remaining are "finish the code", lol, and to establish pricing.

Steam doesn't directly support my system of buying months of play time. They suggested that I use their in game microtransaction system, to sell some sort of object that expires after a time. I like that idea because it allows people to download the software for free, which might help to reduce returns from people who don't like what they see.

Here are some ideas.

• SoH becomes free to play, with limitations.
  
• Command badge is needed to hold a captain or officer berth aboard a spacecraft.
  
• Emperor badge is needed to hold any government office or to establish empires.
  
• Architect badge is needed to enter an on line designer instance.
  

A player with no badges could hold a berth aboard a spacecraft, as crew, a troop or a passenger. They could also engage in adventures. They could use the designer in solo mode.

Badges are exclusive of each other. An emperor who wants to command a spacecraft would need both the Command and Emperor badges.

Badges would be associated with a login account, instead of a specific avatar. All avatars on the same account would hold the same badges.

When it comes to holding public office or officer berths, the lack of a badge would more likely prevent you from issuing orders in that capacity. It would be inconvenient to lose your berth or your office just because a badge expired. Without the badge, the authority normally granted by your office or berth would be ignored.

In the game, these badges would likely appear on a new page of the Bio window, showing which badges are active and when they expire. Buttons to purchase these badges would appear there as well.

Pricing. All badges are purchased in one month increments. 

• Architect Badge $1
  
• Command Badge $3
  
• Emperor Badge $6
  

Having a minimal cost for the architect badge might deter people from posting junk.

At present, the command badge alone might seem useless. It becomes useful when more story segments are completed and more PVE elements are added.

The current method of buying months of play time through PayPal will likely go away, since in game microtransactions aren't an option there. Alternatively, I could grant all badges to the accounts bought via PayPal.

Whatever your thoughts regarding the cost of playing this game, you must realize there is an expense every month just to run the servers. Free players do not help offset that expense, even if there's thousands of them.

No concrete decisions have been made. I guess I am fishing for some feedback; you often provide valuable insights.

Why not also add a "Vacation" badge?  For an additional fee, all cities and officers owned by the holder are immune to decay and mutiny.  Useful for those times when work or life prevent you from routinely checking on the herd.

[AnrDaemon]

And an "I win!" badge. For an additional fee…

[Haxus]

When I decided to make the push to get Shores of Hazeron ready for Steam, I reviewed the Silverwill task list and other sources to distill a list of things that must be done before it could happen. The final List held a mix of over a hundred bugs and unfinished loose ends.

The List became my primary focus, as seen in the steady stream of updates over the past six months. My personal progress was measured by the completion of the List, observed as an ever shrinking number, day by day, week by week. Some items were quick and easy. Others took unexpectedly long amounts of time, as with the recent fences and walls update. At times, real world intrusions or hardware issues demanded attention. Pain was felt with every new item added to the List and each interruption along the way.

As of the update today, the List has been reduced to four items. None of them requires any code be written. This is a significant milestone in the development of Shores of Hazeron.

Of course, the big Silverwill and forum lists of ideas, suggestions, and bug reports still exist, waiting for attention. I plan to make another pass through there, looking for things that must be done before a Steam release. I am open to suggestions.

A small amount of work remains to finish integrating with the Steam API. 

From a project development perspective, I expect to throttle back quite a bit on adding new features. Instead, my focus will turn primarily to fixing bugs, improving what is there, and expanding upon the story lines of the game.

The Shores of Hazeron universe was designed to create a functional realistic setting in which science fiction stories could play out, involving players who are not necessarily involved in ruling an empire or building the foundation of the universe. That is now my primary mission.

When will Shores of Hazeron be published on Steam? I don't know yet but the last six months got us a lot closer.

[Ikkir Isth]

Doing a big push on players as an individual will certainly help. May want to consider letting players craft/use workstation gear and set up temporary / personal workstations, and potentially use the same deal for letting them set up stations in personal housing / ships (could potentially have hirelings in house/ships running workstations too, who knows. Would just be a matter of setup and using allocated resources, with probably dedicated life support and slots in ships for artisans/workers)

[Cousarr]

I strongly recommend addressing the core game mechanics prior to a steam release. With infinite money, infinite resources, and extremely easy technology progression, it's as if someone turned on 'dev mode' in Hazeron. While this is fine for a great number of players who just like to build things and explore, it is a huge turn off for players such as myself. Sandbox games which contain some elements to give a real sense of progressions and challenge such as Factorio, Kenshi, or Kerbal Space Program (in career mode) are some of my absolute favorite games to play. Games like universe simulator where the only possible goal is to tinker and explore fail to capture my interest in the long term. I highly doubt that I am alone in these sorts of preferences.

If people like the 'dev mode' style gameplay, I think that's great. I think it's perfect for the Neutral Zone. It however, runs contrary to a PvP experience and I don't think it's appropriate for the conflict zone. Real scarcity needs to be returned in some fashion to the game; without this, the player is hard pressed to set any goals beyond tinkering and exploring and there is no reason for conflict beyond griefing. Give us something to fight over if PvP is going to be a true element of this game.

Additionally, and this applies to both universes, the current technology system fails to provide a real sense of progression. Why would I care about lower warp numbers when I can easily reach maximum warp? Why would I care about varying wormhole drives if I can easily invent the best ones and slap them in my ships? All this complexity adds at the moment is potential for confusion, when it could be adding a progression system which creates goals which are easy for the player to interpret.

I don't purport to know the fix for any or all of these issues. I don't claim to be an expert on successful video game development nor marketing. However, I do see what to me are some really big red flags which could stand to be addressed prior to attempting large scale commercialization.

[Slaxx]

Id like to state that above is correct in the research regard and id like to remind you that i had the idea to implement a research tree like endless space or something.

Also, id like to mention that you should engage this AFTER the steam release. Keeping your game afloat is the most critical thing atm and i dearly wish for a steam release because more players.

More players = more money for you and more fun for the players. More money for you = more game quality as you can possibly hire more devs. Better game quality = game runs by itself

[CaptObvious]

Id like to state that above is correct in the research regard and id like to remind you that i had the idea to implement a research tree like endless space or something.

Also, id like to mention that you should engage this AFTER the steam release. Keeping your game afloat is the most critical thing atm and i dearly wish for a steam release because more players.

More players = more money for you and more fun for the players. More money for you = more game quality as you can possibly hire more devs. Better game quality = game runs by itself

A steam release in the current state would not bring more players. It was bring an "overwhelmingly negative" review score and no long-term new players. The game survives in its current state because of hardcore fans that can look past the huge issues with the game to get to the gameplay underneath to scratch the itch that this game does in its niche market. This is not a mass market game in its current state. It needs a huge overhaul in three key areas.

Graphics:

Hazeron either needs a proper artist or it needs to stop shooting for realism. If Haxus isn't capable of creating decent-looking realistic graphics that's absolutely fine. In this case, the art should be stylized so that the low detail art looks intentional. The game cannot ship with its current programmer art.

UI:

The current UI is lacking in a lot of ways. From icons that have no clear meaning (like when launching the game, you click spaceships instead of having a button that says "play"), to the confusing communication channels that don't work reliability (out of system ships don't respond on the fleet channel, even when it is set to universe range), to the unintelligible-for-mere-mortals new ship designer.

New player experience:

The current NPE is not great. Getting killed over and over by creatures that are the things of nightmares while trying to figure out how to get started. To get a proper sense of this, Haxus should put the game in front of people who have never played it before and watch them to see where and how often they get stuck.

I'm willing to look past all of this because as I mentioned, the game scratches an itch of mine that no other current game does. This does not mean that the general gaming masses will be willing to do the same.

This is before even going into server capacity. The current capacity would likely not be enough to keep up with a mass influx on a Steam launch and I'm willing to bet that the server software is not architected in such a way to allow automatic scaling on a cloud provider.

I really don't want to see Hazeron launch on Steam as I believe that it will be a massive failure that only serves to demoralize Haxus and kill the game completely.