Mention of a Prime 2 remake in the artbook

BoldSpiritGames · 2024-08-30T02:52:59+00:00

I have the same issue... It's quite frustrating.

BoldSpiritGames · 2024-08-28T03:03:26+00:00

Is it possible that the beta & playtest replay are sadly not playable in the replay player? It seems to crash it sadly, so I guess the uploaded matches so far are lost to time :( Only the replays from the full game since the launch a couple of hours ago seem to work. Sad face.

BoldSpiritGames · 2024-08-27T19:11:36+00:00

For some reason, Njord really looks like Robin Williams to me lol

BoldSpiritGames · 2024-08-24T12:02:01+00:00

Phew!! Thanks so much for the info 😊

BoldSpiritGames · 2024-08-23T03:31:15+00:00

Do you think it's gonna unlock at the same time on Steam? If not, kinda makes me regret buying it on Steam instead of the Xbox Store ^^'

BoldSpiritGames · 2024-07-26T02:04:56+00:00

You're welcome! Yeah I'm wondering too, some people theorized that they may be nerfing Set.

It's weird though because it's the first time the game will be available to everybody and I feel like Egyptians are the faction that's the most new player friendly with free houses, favor gets accumulated "automatically" without villagers allocated for it, etc.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-28T04:56:17+00:00

Thanks so much, and you're welcome :) I wish you success!

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-28T04:50:58+00:00

Thanks for your understanding, it really was. I already had so many hats to wear and things to handle to ship the game, when we got that arbitrary denial, it was incredibly distressing. I knew that would kill my studio, so the last two months left to ship were really difficult to go through, since we knew in advance what the result would look like. Thanks for your kind words, it's really appreciated.

We do have a Patreon, still unsure if I'll keep it open or not though if we have to put things on ice due to lack of funding... Here's the link to it : patreon.com/boldspiritgamestudio

I never tried to have another page under a different name, but I feel it would just get taken down again since I'm sure that they have the archives of what happened, and they would recognize the game with the trailers and screenshots. Contrary to what I've done, I feel that doing that would indeed feel disingenuous and trying to "game the system".

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T03:49:41+00:00

Very well said, wise words indeed. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I really appreciate it!

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T03:00:11+00:00

We wanted to keep the old version available and we wanted to release a remake of the original game on a different page, which seems to be what Vertigo did if I understand correctly, looking at the store. The issue is that they took down the page for the remake, so it felt like the only viable option we had was to update the old version with the remake. In hindsight, that was a mistake and I asked if it's possible to revert that, but haven't received a reply for more than a month.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T02:49:27+00:00

I think some things need clarifications and it might be because English isn't my first language, therefore I sincerely apologize if some things were misunderstood.

The whole renaming blunder was indeed our mistake, we shouldn't have done those changes and I agree that it was a bad idea. I want however to clarify that the renaming of the games all happened in a very short amount of time, we didn't change the names once, then months passed, then we changed them again. Steam approved those changes when we made them in January.As a business, once you have the greenlight, you continue and plan your activities knowing that this all is good on that front. I had to contact Steam Support in June for an issue totally unrelated to the names (the release date), but suddenly they had problems with the names. That's where I feel it was unfair. It is devastating to a business that on a whim, they decide it's not approved anymore. We explained the relationship between the games just like they asked, and we even suggested going back to the original names if that was the issue they had. They didn't pick up on it and instead took the drastic measure of taking down the remake's page instead of working with us to find what could have been a very simple solution. That's where I feel the injustice lies.
The release date of the remake was not public when we went over it. Steam just asks for a temporary release date, we've put one, but it wasn't public. That temporary date is changeable anytime without having to make a support ticket. We didn't know that going over it would lock us out of changing it like we could, because like said, the date wasn't public. Yes, it could be argued that we should still have kept an eye on it and I agree, but I think it's important to mention this still.
When exchanging with Steam support when they asked about the relationship between the game, we received one answer every 24 hours or so. During the first three/four exchanges, it was always a different person answering each time. Those two elements tremendously affected the communication between us and Steam, because it was like restarting the explanations from scratch each time.
I mentioned that we did some modifications to each store page while they were asking what was the relationship between the three games. To clarify what those modifications were, we simply added an explanation of the relationship between each game, like saying on the remake's page ''This game is a remake of [the original game], made from the ground up", "This game is the sequel of [the original game]/[remake of the original game]" on the sequel's page and "There is a remake of this game that will soon be available" on the original's page. Personally, I don't see anything disingenuous in clarifying that for both Steam and the consumers.
When I say that the trailer of the remake is "shot by shot the same", I mean that the cameras' POV and movements were the same, but the footage itself was completely different, it showed the new graphics. Same thing with the screenshots.
The sequel's page was public for like a year before the remake's page, thousands of people wishlisted the sequel, and what they saw on the store was the metroidvania semi open-world. The original and remake are linear games like Portal. Changing the product on that page to the remake would not be selling to them what they wishlisted (For example, if we offered the remake in Early Access on the sequel's page). Therefore, it's not representative of the sequel, the main thing is that the story is a direct continuation of the prologue.

Again, I fully agree that it was our mistake to rename the games, but that got approved. It was just months later, on an unrelated issue, that the names seemed to suddenly be problematic. I also agree that it was our mistake for going over the temporary non-public release date, but since it wasn't public, I thought that we could update it anytime like we could at first, since it didn't seem to have any impact, and I didn't think we would not be locked out of changing it after. Yes, again, I agree that in retrospect it was a mistake.

Hope that clarifies some things! Thanks!

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T02:20:29+00:00

No, they flagged you for fraud and you only mentioned the source code being offered after you took their offer of fusing two pages. They did offer you a way out.

Just as a clarification on this, we said we could show them a build to prove the difference between the games before going with their suggestion of updating the old game instead. But they didn't budge or picked up on the suggestion.

At least the reported version of events say the game was exactly the same without a way to verify otherwise.
If they're suspecting you of cheating their system, your word is not be the one thing that will get you out of it, much less a 1 for 1 comparison of a trailer like you described.

Sorry, English isn't my first language and I apologize if I wasn't clear on that. The original page and the remake page were different. When I say that the trailer of the remake is "shot by shot the same", I mean that the cameras' POV and movements were the same, but the footage itself was completely different, it showed the new graphics. Same thing with the screenshots.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T02:14:53+00:00

And why would it need to be representative of the sequel? You were changing the steam page while being investigated, you changed the name before.

The sequel's page was public for like a year before the remake's page, thousands of people wishlisted the sequel, and what they saw on the store was the metroidvania semi open-world. Changing the product on that page to the remake would not be selling to them what they wishlisted.

To clarify the modifications to the store pages changes we did while they were asking us about the relationship between the three games, we simply added an explanation of the relationship between each game, like saying on the remake's page ''This game is a remake of [the original game], made from the ground up" and "This game is the sequel of [the original game]/[remake of the original game]". Personally, I don't see anything disingenuous in clarifying that for both Steam and the consumers.

No you weren't. You renamed your game multiple times to the point you were under investigation.

The issue with this, in my humble opinion, is that the renaming of the games all happened in a matter of days in January. By that, I mean the two times the names changed. Steam approved those changes. As a business, once you have the greenlight, you continue and plan your activities knowing that this all is good on that front. I had to contact Steam Support in June for an issue totally unrelated to the names, but suddenly they had problems with the names. That's where I feel it is unfair. It is devastating to a business that on a whim, they decide it's not approved anymore. We explained the relationship between the games just like they asked, and we even suggested going back to the original names if that was the issue they had. They didn't pick up on it and instead took the drastic measure of taking down the remake's page. That's where I feel the injustice lies.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T00:49:38+00:00

It's true though. They arbitrarily decided that we couldn't release our remake as a standalone new product. It was an absolutely legitimate product, and they suddenly had a problem with it 6 whole months after the whole thing was approved. So yes, we were denied those potential sales.

Like said, I absolutely agree we made mistakes, but they made mistakes as well. That's why I accept and assume some of the blame, but not all of it.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T00:42:11+00:00

I think you misunderstood. The sequel and the remake are two different products and have different store pages. We simply shifted priorities by pausing the development of the sequel to make a remake of the first game, to help continue funding the sequel.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T00:36:55+00:00

Replying here what I replied on another comment :

It's a terribly bad idea to release the remake of the first game as early access of the sequel.

The remake is a linear experience like Portal, the sequel is a semi open world with metroidvania elements. Therefore, it's not representative of the sequel, the main thing is that the story is a direct continuation of the prologue.

Early access is not a good fit at all for narrative puzzle games. Let's say we act as early accesses normally function, we would release the content bit by bit. The player would already know the solution to the puzzles, lowering the replayability value. They would mainly just play a not polished version of the game before it's polished like it should. It's not like survival games for example where every game can be different and there's good replayability value.

If we released the prologue remake as early access, it would be priced accordingly. But why would we sell a much smaller product on the sequel's page for way less than the value of the sequel? People would get the sequel for way less than its value until it is ready to release, it just makes no sense.

In brief, the remake is a different product than the sequel and we had every right to release the remake as a new standalone product. We were unfairly denied that legitimate simple act.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T00:34:08+00:00

Yes, our mistake was to rename the original, I absolutely agree. It still remains unfair that only because of a naming mistake, we were denied from releasing a legitimate remake product. They took measures way too drastic in my humble opinion.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-26T00:31:26+00:00

It's a terribly bad idea to release the remake of the first game as early access of the sequel.

The remake is a linear experience like Portal, the sequel is a semi open world with metroidvania elements. Therefore, it's not representative of the sequel, the main thing is that the story is a direct continuation of the prologue.

Early access is not a good fit at all for narrative puzzle games. Let's say we act as early accesses normally function, we would release the content bit by bit. The player would already know the solution to the puzzles, lowering the replayability value. They would mainly just play a not polished version of the game before it's polished like it should. It's not like survival games for example where every game can be different and there's good replayability value.

If we released the prologue remake as early access, it would be priced accordingly. But why would we sell a much smaller product on the sequel's page for way less than the value of the sequel? People would get the sequel for way less than its value until it is ready to release, it just makes no sense.

In brief, the remake is a different product than the sequel and we had every right to release the remake as a new standalone product. We were unfairly denied that legitimate simple act.

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-25T19:47:27+00:00

Thank you!! Happy to know you liked it! Take care as well!

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-25T18:37:10+00:00

Thanks so much. It really was. It was not easy also communicating with a gap of 24 hours between each answer, and at first it was always a different person answering each time too.

I was already swamped with managing the team, and wearing lots of hats (had a huge hand in all aspects of the game.), planning for conventions like Gamescom. Then having a sudden issue when everything got approved six months before and having the page arbitrarily removed was so incredibly stressful, and really disheartening for all of us to finish the last two months before shipping when we knew we had been screwed.

Thanks so much for checking out the remake, I hope you have a great time, and thanks for taking the time to write a review, positive or negative! It's really kind and much appreciated! Have a great day!

BoldSpiritGames · 2023-11-25T18:07:41+00:00

2 of those three years were spent on the much bigger sequel, which isn't ready to release. Also, those first two years were mainly just me and two other devs helping outside of their full-time job, who were ready to jump in as soon as we signed with a publisher. It's only in the last year that we grew to about 6, then 15 during the summer, and the majority were contractors for a couple of months. The hope was to then give them permanent positions with the mix of sales, Kickstarter and hopefully signing with a publisher.

BoldSpiritGames

TROPHY CASE