wandfully
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[SPECIAL POLL] Desktop vs. Browser
🕑 Added 2017-04-29 15:28:52 +0000 UTC Should we port our games to the Desktop instead of keeping them in the browser? The browser is a rapid changing environment that adds a lot of unpredictability to things, but the Desktop is a lot less practical both for us and for the players.By Desktop, we mean Unity, so that no Mac user is left behind. It also makes porting it to Mobile a lot easier.
Comments
Oh, surely. Don't worry about it.
Magnus
Blair's game on steam would be great!! Just make sure its universal platform wise.
There are quite a few browser games there. Ours is one of them! Building a community is worth worrying a lot in fact, but you're right. We are much more focused on the game than on the aspects surrounding it, and that should be the way anyway. And who knows, maybe we can get on Steam with Blair's game!
onen
There are browser games on itch.io? I've actually only seen with downloadable games, usually with a pay what you want option. I wouldn't worry too much about building a community. They have the tendency to spring up around quality products all on their own, and that's what you're focusing on. The path of least resistance would probably be for that community to form itself here on Patreon, discussing your projects and updates while you're able to maintain a dialog. There are a number of developers here who do just that.
We kinda agree with everything you said. We see one strong reason to keep it in the browser though. It's much easier to make it accessible to others. If we don't make it into a big store like Steam, there's near zero chance that we can have a meaningful player base with a standalone game. A browser game just needs to be uploaded to Newgrounds and itch.io and there's already an audience willing to play it. Also, developing a standalone game is slightly more complicated, even in Unity.
onen
I see zero reason to keep it in a browser. Right now it's a hassle to maintain, no doubt, and in the future, once it's done and you're on to bigger and better things, if we ever want to go back to it, we'll run into a situation that'll be the equivalent of requiring Internet Explorer 8.0 right now for something just to get it running. It's not worth the headache. Plus, it's the difference between a game and a web game. Web games just don't get the same respect as actual games, and you're putting in enough work to be seen as making an actual game, so you should definitely make it standalone.
