Respectfully, I disagree that the community should be held responsible for demotivating the developers with negative reviews. There will always be a contingent who are dissatisfied, and who either don't care to, or are unable to, form a constructive comment, if indeed, one is appropriate. This type of posting is always to be expected, and if a product is of a decent enough quality, those sorts of reviews will always be there, but there will less of them.

Personally, I've contributed quite a bit of constructive feedback on the forum for this game, and gave it a thumbs up in my review, but only just. The reason, of course, is the bugs, which are undeniably pandemic, mainly in the logic of the story progression, and character interactions. It was like this before release, and much of it hasn't been addressed.

I don't enjoy leaving negative comments, and I doubt that everyone who does so is a troll. When a game leaves EA, if it's as bugged as this one is, people have a right to be indignant, as the extent of the bugs may well not be apparent until the Steam refund period has passed.

I can't blame buyers of the game for being disappointed, as the thing isn't Early Access anymore - it's supposed to be a solid, working piece of software. At this point, any bugs should be minor, but that is not the case. I understand that people don't stop and think about the damage they're doing before they leave a negative or damaging comment, but there we are; perhaps on the next release, the devs will allow more time for testing, or put back the release date if the game isn't ready. I'm sure budgeting and cash flow were a concern, but as constructively as possible, I hope it's been a learning experience for them.

I agree that fundamentally there is a great game in there, but given the seriousness of the current bug issues (or at least the ones at release) in my opinion, the game is doing well to be in 'mixed'.

Well I played it in early access, stopped because of the bugs. Didn't left a review because the devs showed their motivation to fix the bugs.

I was happy to play it again once released, I noticed that some bugs where corrected, discovered also some new features like the hacking, autosave after jumping, etc ... continued playing even when encountering some minor bugs, didn't hesitated to reload old saves to get around some mission bugs (even if it meant loosing 2 hours of game play) ... but finally got disappointed when even reloading didn't get you around the bugs.

But still ... I didn't made any Review.

I want to give a good review but also a game in which you can't finish the story, is just a broken game and don't deserve a "good" review. So I just don't give any review because I still hope the devs get it fixed !

So I fully understand why the game review is "mixed" ; which is actually not a bad score for the actual state of the game.

P.S. : I mean I played Convoy and wasn’t upset because of some mission which doesn’t trigger … so same team, they know how to make game but for Landinar they don’t get the missions right ?! WTF ?

Being a PC game player since the TSR-80 model 1, has allowed me to learn the following lessons - Never pay money for early access, Never pre-purchase game, Never purchase game on day one of release.

There is a reason why there is still games on my wish list that have been released... And it is not because I do not have the funds to purchase them.

Proper testing before a DEV(s) decide to release a game can be done - to minimize release issues. Problem is - many DEV(s) choose not to. This is mostly do to $$$ or pressure from others for release.

Never release a wine before its time...

As someone who just recently finished this game and loved it, the steam rating of 'Mixed' is 100% accurate.

The game has an enjoyable plot, marred with so much jank and bugs that I was regularly not sure whether things were working as intended... or it was just a bug.

The latest patch felt rushed; it fixed quite a few literal game breaking bugs, but added a bunch of wonkyness (like with the hacking) in it's place. So basically three steps forward two steps back.

If you're a fan of fun-but-buggy games like Skyrim/Fallout/basically-anything-bethesda-makes then you'll probably enjoy this through the bugs. Or if you like the euro-jank rpgs like Elex/Gothic/etc then this is basically the sci-fi ship version of that.

I would really like the bugs fixed though. :)

Sorry mate. They rushed to launch the game and forgot to finalize it. There are good things about landinar and it had the potential to be memorable. But unfortunately the game deserves the negative reviews. It's unfinished. I would not recommend to any of my friends to buy it the way the game was released. And my review is still positive, but if there are no good updates coming soon, I'll be shifting to negative.

Originally posted by almostpilot:

Sorry mate. They rushed to launch the game and forgot to finalize it.

It's unfinished.

I read their "state of the empire address" https://convoy-games.com/blog/2019/06/11/state-of-the-empire-address/

I sympathize with what they were facing, but it sounds like they knew they were operating beyond their means. I was waiting for the 1.0 release because I've been burned one-to-many times by unfinished early access games. after reading their "state of the empire address" it seems clear they knew 1.0 was not finished and they were hoping it would save them. When it didn't, they had to face reality. I wish they would have down-sized much sooner and kept the game going in early access where it belongs. I loved their first game Convoy, and was so excited to purchase the 1.0 release of Landinar. That excitement turned to frustration as bugs prevented the game from working and video was choppy and laggy. I know they worked hard on it, but they shouldn't have tried to sell this as a 1.0 release.

Originally posted by Jan:

You surely know how to motivate developers. Honestly, they were obviously working on fixing bugs, constantly, they "were" passionate about their game.. but hey, lets continue barrage of negative reviews, that will motivate them. It might be good idea to listen to Space Junkie interview, they admitted that game has flaws and they want to resolve them, but I can't imagine that hit and run reviews (buy, negative, refund) are motivating in anyway. I don't believe that this game turned in profit yet and considering how Steam works these hit and runs will make that difficult still.

Developers worked hard on this, they are working on fixing bugs but reviews that were made will most likely end up lingering there forever with negative impact. So before you do that, think a bit about if that's what you want, I don't believe that this game deserves to be in "mixed".

And?

Steam reviews essentially boil down to "Would you recommend somebody else buy this?" and I understand people not doing so, I wouldn't. I like the game, I want it to succeed, but due to a number of game breaking bugs that have stopped my playthrough I couldn't recommend it to the general public. A friend with the help of "Do things in exactly this order and you'll be alright" maybe.

Seems like a lot of those reviews are pretty legit, too.

But sure, it's the community's fault (the people still here) that the game is broken and random people refund or leave negative reviews. That's a perfectly logical and in no way flawed statement to be making.

Well what a pity !

Ok. it is clear that the issue with this game are because of money $$$.

https://convoy-games.com/blog/2019/06/11/state-of-the-empire-address/

This game is now being removed from my wish list ... because it is clear that they knew the game was not finished and had issues - released it anyways to gain cash.

Regardless of the company situation, you do not release know bad software ... to float your company.

Consumers are weary (At least this one is!) of getting the shaft, just so some else can generate cash.

Same on you!

Originally posted by Valen:

Ok. it is clear that the issue with this game are because of money $$$.

https://convoy-games.com/blog/2019/06/11/state-of-the-empire-address/

This game is now being removed from my wish list ... because it is clear that they knew the game was not finished and had issues - released it anyways to gain cash.

Regardless of the company situation, you do not release know bad software ... to float your company.

Consumers are weary (At least this one is!) of getting the shaft, just so some else can generate cash.

Same on you!

I think the point of that blog was more an admission that they had misjudged several factors, namely market appetite, and time required to complete the job. These two factors together meant that they had to release the game early. Despite mistakes, software development is a business like any other, and the people who engage in it are human - mistakes happen. If you were them, and your cash flow and livelihood depended on it, would you release early? I think so. I know I would, because I would have no other option. It's not a matter of honour, it's business. They made mistakes, and as I've said before, I hope they learn from them. To us, it's a few dollars/pounds/whatever, but to them it's their living. They f*cked up, but give 'em a break - it's over for now.

Originally posted by Valen:

Ok. it is clear that the issue with this game are because of money $$$.

https://convoy-games.com/blog/2019/06/11/state-of-the-empire-address/

This game is now being removed from my wish list ... because it is clear that they knew the game was not finished and had issues - released it anyways to gain cash.

Regardless of the company situation, you do not release know bad software ... to float your company.

Consumers are weary (At least this one is!) of getting the shaft, just so some else can generate cash.

Same on you!

I agree. Shame.

Anyone know the devs names?

Totally agree with you RedBull !


Just a small calculation ... if the game was sold 1 million time. 15 USD the game makes it 15 Millions Sales , now you have to deduct the 30% commission of steam. Leaves us with 10.5 Millions USD for the devs.

Convoy Games is a team of 6 developers in the Netherlands if I'm not mistaken. So Salary of an informatician in Netherland earn around 50k, as you have an indie structure and you will have to pay also social security etc. each salary is more or less doubled. So a team of 6 developer costs around 600K the year. Put another 100K for all the others "Frame" fees (taxes, rent, etc.) and we get least 700K the year. (And here I think I’m under the price but I don’t live in Netherlands so difficult to estimate for me without having the exact values)

The game developing took 4 years + 9 months early access. So you have 4 years for which you have to advance a minimum of 2.8 Million. Who has 2.8 Million in advance? Landinar wasn't any Kickstarter so they had to finance their game from earnings they had before.

And if you read their statement "there is a time period of 2 months" before getting paid by Steam so even after launch they still didn't see the colour of the money the legitim earned.

So, it's not a money grab or what else it's just a matter of CASH FLOW, it's the main reason in each business why small companies with good ideas go bankrupt, they just don't have any money left to pay salaries even if they are selling their product with a Profit. No Cash no business.

It’s just sad. So much work and tears for a real good game which didn’t had enough time and money to grow to his full potential.

By the way the devs said it "It’s not over yet." So let's give them a break and hope for the best, maybe we get antother update which will resolve the main issues.

P.S. : To the Devs you should get in contact with this guy https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/id/skenners ; he "repaired" some bugs for the game Spacebase DF-9 after it was abonndoned by the devs, he did a great job, and released some unoffical patchs for a game he don't own.

Originally posted by Valen:

This game is now being removed from my wish list ... because it is clear that they knew the game was not finished and had issues - released it anyways to gain cash.

"Released it anyway to gain cash"... to keep company afloat and further polish the game, it's kinda hard to work on the game without employees and it is impossible to predict how will market behave for something that isn't to some degree copy of proven product. For instance The Mandate, which had kickstarter that was OBVIOUSLY only CG without any existing product made 700k USD, now let's take a look at this product that actually made it really far with some rough edges to polish.


This game definitely doesn't have above 14 000 sold copies, good portion of it during sales or with loyalty coupon, so let's say 15 USD per unity on average, getting us to 210 000 USD, take away 30% for valve.. let's round it up to optimistic 150 000, now let's split that between 6 employees over course of 3 years. Development of this game was definitely financial lose for developers. Fun fact: the only entity that made money on this title is Valve.

As they said on the blog, it was obviously why they did what they did, development of game like this is extremely complicated. Basically what community did was: "well, we don't want it and we don't trust you" and ensured that game won't get anymore money and used Steam algorithm to bury it. I am not saying you should have "Recommend game" I am saying you should just left it be and wait. Developers here risked and lost much more than 15 USD.

No, "good job" to you for victim blaming. The Early Access adopters are the ones who lost here, not the developers who 1.0'd the product and stopped effective development.

Developers really need to stop trying to us Early Access as a source to fund development. That is not what it is intended for. It is not a valid replacement for obtaining the needed funds via the publisher or crowdfunding model. Far too many EA titles suffer from this same mishap and end up in an unfinished pile in the steam store.

Developers.. Early Access is not going to fund your ongoing development - use it for what it was meant to do - generate hype prior to a launched product once you are near completion and have already secured funding.

This is exactly what it is meant to do and almost no indie game would make it to finish without it. You can't get funds prior to development as indie, that's not how world works, it would be exact opposite of indie.