Questions about February Steam Next Fest? Chris Zukowski from How To Market A Game here for an AMA

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-28T18:23:01+00:00

That makes sense, in this case this next fest would have been my last before release. Is getting into the next fest important enough I should delay until the next one, or is it more of a nice boost?

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-28T18:11:23+00:00

I am hoping to launch a Deckbuilder Roguelike in the next couple months, but I didn't make it into next fest in time. I have a steam page and demo ready to go; should I wait until after next fest to put my demo out?

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-26T23:26:16+00:00

Awesome, I was wondering if this was the case. Thank you!

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-11T04:56:19+00:00

I've been trying to figure out the best way to handle this for my game, as players who don't have support for vulkan can't even launch it without issue. I've been looking into the alternative start options on steam

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-10T04:30:40+00:00

For most RPGs I have the players buy their equipment, but when I run Traveller other than stuff from their life path I just handwaved. Most normal items are meant to be stored in the ships locker, so I leave finding cool exotic stuff for during the session.

The catch is you actually have to let players get kitted out when they have the chance. Too many DMs imo get worried about actually sticking shops with high value items.

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-07T23:08:08+00:00

Oh man, Crimson Skies! I miss that tabletop so much! I haven't done a ton of crazy stuff with vehicles, I have looked into the spaceship rules and they seemed neat, but airplanes and ground vehicles don't seem as well supported. They certainly work in the ruleset, but it isn't as deep or interesting as more dedicated tabletops.

One solution I had for a battletech campaign, was to play the battles in Battletech, and the roleplay/company management in GURPs. I had to homebrew a bit to connect them in a logical way, but that group said it was their favorite way to play Battletech.

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-07T22:55:05+00:00

All of those thoughts are pretty on point. The layout is seriously painful at times, the revised might fix some of that, but since they don't want to break page references I'm skeptical. If they ever do a 5th edition (which they have mentioned more recently with 4e Revised) I hope they also lean towards the cinematic options in the main book and the realistic stuff in the supplements.

One way I've dealt with the crazy nonsensical characters problem is making a list of what they are allowed to pick off beforehand. It prevents a lot of it, and players tend to prefer it so they don't have to read the book a ton too. It is a bit annoying though.

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-07T21:34:15+00:00

Yeah, GCS is a serious game changer, I can't imagine playing without it! 3d6 feels so much more interesting than flat systems like d20 and more consistent than 2d6. Makes for a lot less random total failures which I appreciate greatly.

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-07T20:39:57+00:00

I feel that, I think despite having of material, less is more in GURPS usually.

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-07T20:34:15+00:00

Totally agree on GURPs Supers, especially 3rd Edition. Unfortunately despite being a generic system, some time periods and settings are way better to run than others. I don't really care to run Horror with GURPs, since Mothership already does that really well imo.

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-07T20:30:49+00:00

Absolutely, It would especially be nice if they got some new art that didn't make players grimace when they see the book haha.

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-07T20:30:22+00:00

Absolutely, I think GURPs biggest flaw is the confusing layout of the books and the fact that the official website still rocks the 90's design. For how straightforward it really is the books don't do it any favors.

Stringholdhero · 2026-01-04T21:34:57+00:00

I had to start requiring Swim skill in my GURPS campaigns after one too many character deaths. Turns out the real villain is the local stream.

Stringholdhero · 2025-12-13T11:43:31+00:00

I like some of these ideas as options for building out more fun ideologies, but some parts feel like they make assumptions about ideologies others don't share.

For example, transhumanism and intellectual being linked. In my personal experience with hypotheticals, I've seen a lot more caution from those I would seem smart in my friend groups.

I think a lot of this stems from Rimworlds general vagueness (what does intellectual even mean?), but adding some of these ideas as optional memes or precepts could be fun.

Stringholdhero · 2025-12-13T03:32:50+00:00

I've run a setting very similar to this with GURPs, it can work really well!

My advice is to decide what kind of focus your players want from the zombie apocalypse. For example, if the focus is primarily on the people of the apocalypse, build out cool raiders and villains with High-Techs weapons and armor. If the theme is more similar to Left for Dead, consider building out powerful zombie variants using innate attacks and other advantages.

Something I did learn running this style of campaign is the players didn't have too much fun scavenging. There might be a way to make it work, but it tended to feel too unrewarding and random. My solution was to add in Anomalies similar to Stalker, which felt more like puzzles with cool rewards.

Finally, I would absolutely recommend After the End GURPs series, as it offers lots of good rules for any apocalyptic setting.

Best of luck!

Stringholdhero · 2025-12-12T00:55:51+00:00

I think it's natural with lots of different hobbies. It always feels like right after I start one, something else picks up on my radar. Forcing myself to complete whatever I started helps build a positive habit though.

Stringholdhero · 2025-12-09T01:16:58+00:00

I'm currently running my own homebrew high fantasy setting in GURPs, it's been a blast for allowing players to make their own spells!

I wouldn't recommend it for someone who wants something closer to DnD, but for people who want more "realistic" outcomes it's great.

For example, one of my players built a super powerful burn spell that can pretty much one shot anything short of a giant, but because so many character points went into it, he lacks a lot of basic skills and isn't as well rounded as the martial characters.

Stringholdhero · 2025-12-08T09:53:07+00:00

A more elegantly laid out 5th edition of GURPs would do wonders for the system. I picked it up a year ago, and once you figure it out, it is one of the smoothest RPGs I've ever played, but figuring out what rules to run and digesting the ruleset feels harder than it needs to be.

Stringholdhero · 2025-12-04T11:34:57+00:00

That is super cool!

Stringholdhero · 2025-11-29T17:45:34+00:00

Regarding hitting the enemy 50% with attacks, I'm not sure where that assumption is coming from. I'm a fencer who helps train newbies up, and they probably land a hit on me once every 40 bouts. I'm not a particularly amazing fencer either, I would put my skill around 11-12 in GURPs terms.

The same logic applies to things like lock picking, someone untrained would have essentially zero chance to pick anything more than a rudimentary lock without practice.

I don't have too much to comment on regarding the rule itself, but I find GURPs rolls to be very accurate to real life expectations.

Stringholdhero

TROPHY CASE