Alpha 19 - Release to GoG or wherever?

[7Dbubba]

Been playing 7DTD pretty much since the initial release and a few thousand hours spent can attest to it's charms!

That said, the releases past Alpha 19 have left me, and others in our local PvE playgroup, kind of disappointed and uninterested. The latest iteration with the hazardous biomes (special armour required) was the straw that broke the camel's back and the game is now more or less: "dead to us".

I know that Steam allows people to play older "Betas" (but for how long?), but I'd like to see a stand-alone version of Alpha 19.6 saved for posterity, so that people that played it in the "early days" can have a version to fire-up, stand-alone, on a relic PC in 10-20 years!

Versions past A19 are not of interest since the: "read magazines" mechanic for progression is just tedious, it doesn't enhance gameplay in any way, it's just a chore.

Dunno what the Steam contractual agreement binds FP to, but releasing a "classic" version either to the public domain, or on GoG, would mirror what many titles have done.

Here's hopin'!


Thanks!

 

[Gamida]

I've got pretty much all versions from A5 to latest version saved on my computer so I can play which ever version I want, whenever.
That being said I don't know if something will change in the future that will stop me from being able to use them.

 

[7Dbubba]

I've got pretty much all versions from A5 to latest version saved on my computer so I can play which ever version I want, whenever.
That being said I don't know if something will change in the future that will stop me from being able to use them.

It's the "future" that's the problem...

Steam could very easily remove the option to download/play older versions, and after a while, the game will die and move into abandonware status. GoG's entire "mission" is to stop classic games from becoming unplayable due to non-current/broken DRM systems disallowing local play.

That said, this is a rather unique request to focus on the "final" version of the classic architecture, playstyle, etc. that defined the game for it's entire 8-year early development. Even though the core mechanics didn't change in Alpha 20, we lost a lot of the original "feel" with the introduction of new buildings, etc.

Alpha 19.6 could be called: "7 Days to Die: Classic"

 

[Riamus]

Been playing 7DTD pretty much since the initial release and a few thousand hours spent can attest to it's charms!

That said, the releases past Alpha 19 have left me, and others in our local PvE playgroup, kind of disappointed and uninterested. The latest iteration with the hazardous biomes (special armour required) was the straw that broke the camel's back and the game is now more or less: "dead to us".

I know that Steam allows people to play older "Betas" (but for how long?), but I'd like to see a stand-alone version of Alpha 19.6 saved for posterity, so that people that played it in the "early days" can have a version to fire-up, stand-alone, on a relic PC in 10-20 years!

Versions past A19 are not of interest since the: "read magazines" mechanic for progression is just tedious, it doesn't enhance gameplay in any way, it's just a chore.

Dunno what the Steam contractual agreement binds FP to, but releasing a "classic" version either to the public domain, or on GoG, would mirror what many titles have done.

Here's hopin'!


Thanks!

GOG rarely (never?) saves versions from the middle of a game's development. They save full release versions. So it's unlikely GOG would even consider making an older version available. Besides, just because you prefer a specific version, others prefer other specific versions. I'm not sure that I've seen more than a couple people who have ever said they wanted A19.6 for their preferred version, so it's not even a version that would be up for consideration if that was even considered.

Anyhow, they aren't likely to remove the older versions from availability anytime in the foreseeable future. And you can always make copies of the older versions now and store them somewhere so you can use them even if they are one day removed.

 

[Gamida]

It's the "future" that's the problem...

Steam could very easily remove the option to download/play older versions, and after a while, the game will die and move into abandonware status. GoG's entire "mission" is to stop classic games from becoming unplayable due to non-current/broken DRM systems disallowing local play.

That said, this is a rather unique request to focus on the "final" version of the classic architecture, playstyle, etc. that defined the game for it's entire 8-year early development. Even though the core mechanics didn't change in Alpha 20, we lost a lot of the original "feel" with the introduction of new buildings, etc.

Alpha 19.6 could be called: "7 Days to Die: Classic"

When I said I don't know if something will change in the future. I was referring to steam but even now you can play the game with steam offline so maybe it would be fine.
As for them removing the option to to download, that is why I mentioned I have them all downloaded and saved now to my computer.
I mean, try it. You only mentioned A19 so just squirrel away a copy of that version somewhere and see what happens. It may work out that it will still work far in future and it is possible it will always be available for download. Time will tell.

 

[7Dbubba]

GOG rarely (never?) saves versions from the middle of a game's development. They save full release versions. So it's unlikely GOG would even consider making an older version available. Besides, just because you prefer a specific version, others prefer other specific versions. I'm not sure that I've seen more than a couple people who have ever said they wanted A19.6 for their preferred version, so it's not even a version that would be up for consideration if that was even considered.

Anyhow, they aren't likely to remove the older versions from availability anytime in the foreseeable future. And you can always make copies of the older versions now and store them somewhere so you can use them even if they are one day removed.

The entire point of A19 that you're missing is that it's the culmination of the first eight years of work, with all the kitschy-retro/MCM architecture (Shotgun Messiah/Shamway "factories", etc.) that was abandoned in subsequent versions.

A20 and forward changed the environment substantially, making it more modern. "Better"? Maybe, but the gameplay suffered terribly in A21 and later as they chased endless "balancing" and difficulty tweaks that serve a minority of a dwindling audience.

Also, GoG has nothing to do with what "version" of a game is offered. They would gladly offer whatever a developer supplied, as long as it was stable and had merit.

 

[Riamus]

The entire point of A19 that you're missing is that it's the culmination of the first eight years of work, with all the kitschy-retro/MCM architecture (Shotgun Messiah/Shamway "factories", etc.) that was abandoned in subsequent versions.

A20 and forward changed the environment substantially, making it more modern. "Better"? Maybe, but the gameplay suffered terribly in A21 and later as they chased endless "balancing" and difficulty tweaks that serve a minority of a dwindling audience.

Also, GoG has nothing to do with what "version" of a game is offered. They would gladly offer whatever a developer supplied, as long as it was stable and had merit.

You say it suffers, but others prefer it. And I can tell you that most people who post about preferring older versions do NOT say that A19 is a good version. They mostly say A16.5 is where the game was best and that it's gone downhill since then. So even if they did offer some unfinished product for sale, it wouldn't be the version you think is best.

I'd be interested in seeing an example of GOG releasing an unfinished version of a game for sale that could not be updated to the current version without buying the game again and where there is a newer version of the game that is not something like an expansion or an update that came out after the gold release as either a fix or something additional update that GOG just didn't include since it wasn't part of the gold (final) release of the game. An example where they chose to release a version of a game that is still under development at the time and made that version so it could not be updated to a new version. Do you have such an example? Or are you just claiming they'll do something without actually knowing that they would?

In any case, if you want that version of the game, just install it and then back up that folder so you can have it for as long as you want. It's easy enough to do. Don't wait until somewhere in the future when maybe that version is removed and then complain that you can't play it anymore.

 

[stallionsden]

The entire point of A19 that you're missing is that it's the culmination of the first eight years of work, with all the kitschy-retro/MCM architecture (Shotgun Messiah/Shamway "factories", etc.) that was abandoned in subsequent versions.

A20 and forward changed the environment substantially, making it more modern. "Better"? Maybe, but the gameplay suffered terribly in A21 and later as they chased endless "balancing" and difficulty tweaks that serve a minority of a dwindling audience.

Also, GoG has nothing to do with what "version" of a game is offered. They would gladly offer whatever a developer supplied, as long as it was stable and had merit.

A dwindling audience lol ... proof please i can guarantee you cant provide facts.
7 days to die has been in the top 5, top 10 and top 50 for a very long time.. please show these facts...

A few whiners whom didnt get their way sure.
a few disgruntled players who think the game should be made how they play and not how millions of others play.. sure.

The game is also Moddable so one could mod it how they like if they dont like something. If the game were not moddable sure i can see some things not going down well with "certain" players.

 

[7Dbubba]

You say it suffers, but others prefer it. And I can tell you that most people who post about preferring older versions do NOT say that A19 is a good version. They mostly say A16.5 is where the game was best and that it's gone downhill since then. So even if they did offer some unfinished product for sale, it wouldn't be the version you think is best.

I'd be interested in seeing an example of GOG releasing an unfinished version of a game for sale that could not be updated to the current version without buying the game again and where there is a newer version of the game that is not something like an expansion or an update that came out after the gold release as either a fix or something additional update that GOG just didn't include since it wasn't part of the gold (final) release of the game. An example where they chose to release a version of a game that is still under development at the time and made that version so it could not be updated to a new version. Do you have such an example? Or are you just claiming they'll do something without actually knowing that they would?

In any case, if you want that version of the game, just install it and then back up that folder so you can have it for as long as you want. It's easy enough to do. Don't wait until somewhere in the future when maybe that version is removed and then complain that you can't play it anymore.

Any version prior to A20 basically encompass all the same core artwork and mechanics, so A16 is a meaningless "preference". Later versions of the "first" effort added procedural maps, which is a nice-to-have.

You are also completely missing the point that the developers dictate what the Steam download and DRM allows/disallows. If they remove the beta releases there is absolutely no guarantee that they will function. That's kind of the entire point of this discussion.

 

[pApA^LeGBa]

I am pretty sure that TFP said that the older versions will stay available. Why would steam remove them?