RPG Maker MV - Steam Integration

[willoneill]

Hey everyone,

If this topic should be moved somewhere else, I apologize - I figured this was the best place for it as it is exclusively of interest to people commercializing RPG Maker games.

Basically, I have a game on Steam presently that was developed in RPG Maker VX ACE, and am now in the process of upgrading it to an MV version to release it through Steam on Mac (And mobile, but that's another issue...)

Unfortunately, the change from Ruby to JavaScript means that the script I had previously licensed for Steam Achievement integration is now no longer functional. I'm starting this topic to see who else may be in the same boat - I know that a number of people have released VX ACE games on Steam and may be interested in doing exactly what I'm doing for the exact same reasons.

Also, Steam Greenlight is not nearly as daunting a barrier as it once was, and Valve has said on several occasions that they ultimately want to move Steam towards being a completely open marketplace. So maybe this will have more of a bearing on more of all us in the near future than it does now!

Let's connect and talk about what we can do to deal with it - I'm definitely looking to hire somebody to create an awesome and easy to use MV Plugin, though they would have to be Steamworks devs under all the relevant NDAs and what not. Maybe we can pool our resources to do it, etc.

Thanks!

 

[Zalerinian]

I have not yet added this to my project, nor do I know to get it to work exactly, but if you're willing to figure it out yourself, here's a link to one such example that integrates Steam with node.js.

... and Valve has said on several occasions that they ultimately want to move Steam towards being a completely open marketplace. So maybe this will have more of a bearing on more of all us in the near future than it does now!

I'll be the bad guy here. I don't want that. There is already a big problem that RPG Maker games are hated because people make half-assed games and try to sell them on Steam Greenlight and other markets, using only RTP, broken dialog, and other hastily-made resources and badly-planned mechanics. With the way greenlight works now, we're slightly protected from having a tsunami of bad games saturating the market, and ruining many well-designed games chances from being well-received from the community. Greenlight is a wall that keeps the bad games out, and the better games in. Is it fool-proof? No, of course not. Nothing ever is. But it helps.

Even before greenlight, RPG Maker "spam" games were a problem, so if we removed greenlight's voting system, thereby allowing any game to be put on sale, RPG Maker games would get shunned off the face of the internet, and then we'd all be in a bad place for any kind of commercial games.

Am I generalizing a bit? Yeah, I bet I am. You could even argue I'm generalizing a lot. And I do honestly expect to get a lot of negative feedback for this post, because a lot of newer devs are going to think I'm full of crap. Many of the more seasoned users may agree with me, or hate me eternally, I don't know. But in my opinion, I'd rather have there be a barrier between creating and selling on the bigger markets. On the small markets and your own website? Fine, you do need to start somewhere. But opening up on a store like steam? I'd rather there be the community vote.

 

[Hudell]

I've a recently greenlit game and will be working on a plugin for Steam integration soon.

 

[willoneill]

I have not yet added this to my project, nor do I know to get it to work exactly, but if you're willing to figure it out yourself, here's a link to one such example that integrates Steam with node.js.

I'll be the bad guy here. I don't want that. There is already a big problem that RPG Maker games are hated because people make half-assed games and try to sell them on Steam Greenlight and other markets, using only RTP, broken dialog, and other hastily-made resources and badly-planned mechanics. With the way greenlight works now, we're slightly protected from having a tsunami of bad games saturating the market, and ruining many well-designed games chances from being well-received from the community. Greenlight is a wall that keeps the bad games out, and the better games in. Is it fool-proof? No, of course not. Nothing ever is. But it helps.

Even before greenlight, RPG Maker "spam" games were a problem, so if we removed greenlight's voting system, thereby allowing any game to be put on sale, RPG Maker games would get shunned off the face of the internet, and then we'd all be in a bad place for any kind of commercial games.

Am I generalizing a bit? Yeah, I bet I am. You could even argue I'm generalizing a lot. And I do honestly expect to get a lot of negative feedback for this post, because a lot of newer devs are going to think I'm full of crap. Many of the more seasoned users may agree with me, or hate me eternally, I don't know. But in my opinion, I'd rather have there be a barrier between creating and selling on the bigger markets. On the small markets and your own website? Fine, you do need to start somewhere. But opening up on a store like steam? I'd rather there be the community vote.

Sadly, I cannot program, and am in no position to figure anything out myself! It'll have to be someone else. I hope the example you provided can guide somebody, though!

As for the greater part of your post, I think that's an interesting discussion, but would probably be better in its own thread. My intention for this thread is for it to be a discussion and collaboration on how to achieve it technically, who is working on it, potentially creating something that can be licensed by others, etc.

Personally, I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but Valve is going to do what Valve is going to do...!

 

[willoneill]

I've a recently greenlit game and will be working on a plugin for Steam integration soon.

That's great to hear! If you could post in this thread when you've got more to share, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[Shaz]

NeonCowboy, please avoid double posting, as it is against the forum rules. You can review our forum rules here. Thank you.


Check out the MultiQuote button in the lower right corner of people's posts, if you want to reply to, and quote, several people at once.

 

[SomaelCK]

I've a recently greenlit game and will be working on a plugin for Steam integration soon.

*Heavy Breathing*

Way to go! Please do notify me when it's ready!

 

[Prescott]

I just hope that someone releases an achievement script for free but I wouldn't be opposed to paying for that, it's cool stuff.

Zalerinian, I totally agree with you. There are tons and tons of RPG Maker spam games (I developed some myself when I was a little guy first starting with XP, sorry xD) and it is really nice to have some moderation and control as far as QA goes, even if it is by the internet as a whole.

 

[Cinnamon]

I've got my RMMV game integrated with Steamworks (we're releasing next week). Hit me up for help.

 

[whitesphere]

I agree with Zalerinian here.  Even with the best of intentions, it is incredibly easy to make a BAD RPG maker game.  To make a good game requires a huge number of things to be integrated, balanced and polished just right.  The story needs to be workable, the combat challenging but fair, every character's dialog not too brief or too wordy, the puzzles interesting, challenging and fair, the maps attractive as well as effective (not too open or too cramped), all bugs fixed, music and sound effects must match the game's theme and be used well.

And, even with the best of intentions, it can take months or years of practice making games before a developer gets skilled at integrating all of these elements to make a really good game.  I'm 100% sure there there are the prodigies who can make a really good RPG Maker game off the bat, but most of us need the practice to build up the specialized skills to make effective JRPGs.

I read somewhere that we count every negative statement as much as 37 positive statements because we remember the negative ones more.  So, if there is no community vote to at least provide some type of filter, we'll probably end up seeing a lot more RPG Maker games on Steam that are either bad games due to lack of developer skill, or worse still blunt money grabs by people who just purchased RPG Maker as a "Make a quick buck" tool.

And even if that number only doubles from what it is today, RPG Maker games will become associated with scams and shovelware, no matter how much sincere effort a developer puts into such a game, due to the increased number of crappy games made with RPG Maker on Steam.

But, Valve will do what they will, regardless of whether we like it or not.

 

[SomaelCK]

I've got my RMMV game integrated with Steamworks (we're releasing next week). Hit me up for help.

Oh! I might need your help right there! Sending you a PM!!