Intro to the Incubator

[getter77]

Well, remember that the bundle is just the first intended outing under the umbrella of it all----the actual Incubator part should be wide enough to encompass all sorts of projects just like how if one aiming for this initial bundle doesn't quite come together in time it'll crack on out later as opposed to somehow all that progress going up in smoke.

[Z]

Actually, after seeing how successful the Humble Bundle is, I think that a paid roguelike bundle would be a very good idea, and it could satisfy players like kraflab (who take price as a guarantee of quality and don't believe that free stuff can be good), devs like JoshuaSmyth, and possibly even developers who would like to earn some money but believe that it is wrong to restrict access to their creations (some of the games in the mix could be available directly for free (although of high quality), and share the bundle's income and marketing).

But the first bundle is free, in the good roguelike tradition...

[Psiweapon]

Maybe we could use whatever knowledge we garner out of this initiative (if it succeeds) for developing some new roguelikes to release as a commercial  bundle.

[JoshuaSmyth]

If there will be a commercial / Pay what you want bundle, I'm in - If it's the second bundle, then that's all good and I will wait for the second bundle

[Alex E]

I personally don't like the idea of having the bundle cost money. It could end up being successful, and get the developers a bit of money (and possibly Charity). But considering that most people don't know what a roguelike actually is, they probably wouldn't even bother with it. If it was a free thing, then more people would try it out and possibly even get into roguelikes themselves. I would rather the bundle be a way to get more people into roguelikes, than have it be a source of a bit of cash. If I saw a bundle of games I've never heard of, I probably wouldn't get it. Though if it was free, I would definitely try it out .

The Humble Bundles build up quite a bit of money, but the games in them are usually advertised in some way and are generally already popular at the release of the bundle, so people are more willing to pay for them (Even more so because it's for Charity as well, and it's a way to get already available games for a cheaper price). I don't think that the Humble Bundles are a good comparable measurement for the success of this roguelike bundle if it were to cost money.

Just my 2 cents 

[XLambda]

I'm considering dropping out.

I'm finally fed up with the utter inability of Swing/AWT to do a proper pseudo-terminal. Screw it. I've been working on libjcsi fixes for a while now, and it'll never work out exactly the way I want it. All due to the botched job the java devs did wrt. fontMetrics. Ironically, I'm having portability issues now, since Win7 and OSX both provide a number of fonts that more or less work, while the vast majority of fonts available for Linux don't.
My options now are either writing something from scratch using another API and hope I get that done somehow... or switch to a different language, both of which will throw me back months. Needless to say, both options are bad for whatever ARRP plans I might have.

[rsaarelm]

I'm trying to get the C++11 reboot of Magog into a playable shape by ARRP 2012, and the project's aims are pretty much aligned with the current incubator plan. The game is GPL, and an usable and approachable UI definitely fits with the design ideal. The idea has been basically to do a pilot project to figure out what works with a continuous world map engine.

Unfortunately, progress has been very slow so far, and though the core map engine is reasonably solid, there's still very little actual game to speak of. I'll need to get somewhere with that before I can start soliciting useful feedback. Still, even if I'm stuck with my own stuff I can still give feedback on other projects.

[Z]

Mosenzov: that's what I thought several years ago, seeing the failure of Valhalla and JauntTrooper (both great commercial roguelikes). But apparently the situation is different now. Cardinal Quest and Dungeons of Dredmor have significant successes. Apparently more copies of Zaga-33 have been sold for iPhone, than downloaded for free (for PC/Mac). The masses do not behave in a logical way.

Anyway, the first bundle will be free, but there are some reasons to have a paid one too, later.

XLambda: it would be very sad to lose you due to such technical problems. Don't worry, hopefully after overcoming them you will be working on the nice things again

[getter77]

I'm trying to get the C++11 reboot of Magog into a playable shape by ARRP 2012, and the project's aims are pretty much aligned with the current incubator plan.

Awesome to see this return----Factor hit a brick wall of some sort?

[Darren Grey]

I think a commercial bundle could be a success, especially if the games are also available for purchase separately at a higher price (so the bundle could advertise itself as discounting).  However the administration of payments and such would be a giant headache that I'm not sure I want any part of.  A free bundle is far easier to organise 

Still, a commercial bundle is bound to happen at some point.  Right now my focus is on the ARRP 2012 set, but there's nothing to stop others gathering into separate groups in the Incubator.

[getter77]

A commercial route later might well be best served by talking with some of the Indie Busker folks or perhaps Poysky in terms of Gamersgate's IndieFort offerings as there is probably insights to be gained on the subject thereof.

[rsaarelm]

I'm trying to get the C++11 reboot of Magog into a playable shape by ARRP 2012, and the project's aims are pretty much aligned with the current incubator plan.

Awesome to see this return----Factor hit a brick wall of some sort?

Factor is nice, but I wanted to look into C++11, get closer to the metal with my base tech, and get a game library that can port to lots of places and uses a tool ecosystem with lots of support for more general viability. Also, my biggest difficulties these days seem to be with design, and language choice doesn't really help there.

[XLambda]

Just to let you know: my project is back on track!

[getter77]

Congrats on getting it back on track, more the merrier!   

[rsaarelm]

Turns out I hit a brick wall with C++11 stuff too. With a new day job of working with C++, I just stared at the code at home and had no energy to work with it. So I decided to see what's up with the Go language these days, and ended up starting a total rewrite of Teratogen in Go version 1, after deciding that the old code base was too mired in a combination of abandoned experimental Go libraries, an unidiomatic style and a messy general architecture to be salvageable. It's still very much a work in progress and obviously not making it for ARRP, but at least I'm getting code done again.