From 6e431a42ba88bc4de2594c2d56e315bfb52a34b9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Adam Price Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2022 12:26:44 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] add first post; fixup blog list and change date format --- _layouts/blog.html | 6 +-- _layouts/post.html | 10 +++- _posts/2014-07-14-steam-early-access.md | 70 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ blog.md | 4 +- index.md | 2 + 5 files changed, 84 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) create mode 100644 _posts/2014-07-14-steam-early-access.md diff --git a/_layouts/blog.html b/_layouts/blog.html index c1123ca..4f39c6b 100644 --- a/_layouts/blog.html +++ b/_layouts/blog.html @@ -12,19 +12,15 @@ layout: compress diff --git a/_layouts/post.html b/_layouts/post.html index 0ba63e7..690a0b3 100644 --- a/_layouts/post.html +++ b/_layouts/post.html @@ -9,8 +9,14 @@ layout: compress {% include header.html %}

{{ page.title }}

- {{ page.date | date: "%b %d, %Y" }} -

{{ page.subtitle }}

+ + {% if page.subtitle %} +

{{ page.subtitle }}

+ {% endif %} + + + + {{ page.content }} diff --git a/_posts/2014-07-14-steam-early-access.md b/_posts/2014-07-14-steam-early-access.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe53fd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2014-07-14-steam-early-access.md @@ -0,0 +1,70 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: steam early access +--- + +Some time within the last two years, Steam has started offering what they call +early-access games. An early-access game is one that has not yet officially +released or finished yet, but is still made available to the public for play, +similar to a public beta. I think the idea behind this move was to allow +developers to make their games a bit more community developed. + +It would give the developers a larger number of playtesters. More playtesters +would theoretically lead to more exposed bugs and exploits allowing the +game-makers to develop a more solid game in the end. + +For the players, this meant you could play a new game sooner! How could this +not be a bad deal? + +I'm no stranger to betas, closed or open, having participated in one or two +video game betas in the past. They were enjoyable experiences. I remember +playing in the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta and the exhilarating experience along +with it. Something new that's not been released yet! + +Now we come to Steam's early-access games which are essentially open-betas of +in-development games. I've participated in two early-access games to date: +Kerbal Space Program and Starbound. I must confess that I caved in to +purchasing Planetary Annihilation during this year's Summer Sale, though I have +not played it yet. My experiences with early-access games hasn't been quite as +exciting as those from previous betas that I've been a part of. + +Betas before Steam's early-access, usually had very limited lifespans. Most of +the time, they lasted maybe a weekend or one to two weeks. This short period of +time allowed only for a small taste of the action. This allowed for the +developers to observe playtesting, but the short time span also prevented +players from exploring too much of the game. The beta was very much a sample of +what was to come, and succeeded in adding to the hype of a game, without +exposing too much. + +I believe the reason for having betas has largely shifted. Originally, betas +where done by developers to gain knowledge about how players would play their +games. Now, in my opinion largely due to a handful of successful +Kickstarter-funded video games, developers are using betas to acquire money for +their games more early on in the process. They are front-loading their profit. +I believe this is hurting the game-industry more than it's helping. I wager +there will be lots of early-access games that will never see the light of an +official release. The incoming money will slow to an almost non-existant +trickle, and the projects will be abandoned or developers will lose motivation +because they've earned the majority of the profit from that game already! + +My distaste for Steam's early-access games is due mostly to the fact that I've +grown tired of the early-access games as a whole long before they've released. +Take Kerbal Space Program for example. I purchased KSP on Aug 4, 2013. Within +two months, I had played all that I wanted of Kerbal and had since moved on to +other games. I've exhausted my excitement towards the game long before it's +ever released (as of today, July 14, 2014, KSP still has not released yet)! +The exact same thing happened to me with Starbound. I purchased Starbound on +February 6, 2014 and the state of the game at that time deterred me from +wanting to play it again. The gameplay was fairly bland and there wasn't much +to do other than kill monsters and loot them. + +Having played both of these early-access games and exhausting my interest in +them, I feel that I've cast an unfair opinion on an unfinished product, but +it's too late! I have very little interest in playing them again. + +Now, I avoid early-access games, which is unfortunate because it seems that +more and more games are moving to the early-access model. Nowadays while +browsing the Steam Store, a game which catch my eye, but after viewing it, I +must move on. + +I'd rather not ruin my opinion of a game before it's ever released. diff --git a/blog.md b/blog.md index 6d0217a..caff239 100644 --- a/blog.md +++ b/blog.md @@ -4,4 +4,6 @@ layout: blog permalink: /blog --- -thoughts about all kinds of stuff +## blog + +writings about anything and everything diff --git a/index.md b/index.md index 856fe79..a939eda 100644 --- a/index.md +++ b/index.md @@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ layout: default permalink: / --- +## home + Hi, my name is Adam. I like to play video games and hack on electronics. I write code for my day job, but occasionally for fun also. -- 2.45.2