Dovetail announces new sim platform

[jp4712]

http://www.dovetailgames.com/news/2016/ ... ation-fans

Am I alone in thinking this is the beginning of the rebellion against Steam?

Paul

[almark]

Would financially make sense if they don't have steam taking a portion of earnings?

[AndiS]

I guess the Steam Workshop was the platform that was there at the time. Setting up such a thing as UKTS for the masses costs a lot of money. Multi-million I read.

The granularity of asset sharing and the differentiation of user interest you see here on the one side and for mainstream games on the other side really differ. Doing something about that is a good move.

This does not mean that Steam is not going to be used in the future. Not that I know anything, but I guess that selling the base game and the bigger add-ons on Steam should still be attractive.

Note the repeated use of the term hobbyist. So the focus at Dovetail Live could be on freeware. That does not exclude payware for sure. But maybe the format will be individual assets rather than complete routes. At least in addition to the later. You read many a comment recently like "I already own X, so I am not going to spend Y only to get Z".

Of course, this is all speculation. The only thing that seems increasingly certain is that they hired the right project leader for TSW.

[smarty2]

Read the article with interest, means we can congregate in one place as hobbyists? Oh hang on!

[Timex]

It'll be a new front end sans Steam, probably more geared at FSX rather than TS.
A few software houses do it already.

[smiljacc]

This sounds like play online only--I hope i'm wrong

[mikesimpson]

Seems strange to me, they must have made a fortune from Steam users who noticed the cheap sales of TrainSim from time to time, and then became 'TrainSim' converts. Whereas if they are a 'Simulation Only' site, they will be preaching to the converted, and are not likely to pick up new users there.

[gptech]

To me, it seems as something for the more *committed* (and I honestly believe quite a few should be....) simmers. Something to run parallel to the Steam distribution but cater for those who wish to play at *real* train driving rather than a quick blast, fast.
Definitely a reasonable assumption to make that it'd be the home of a multiplayer experience, but there's nothing to suggest that leaving Steam as a method of making sales is imminent---I can see the new platform (read site) merely linking to Steam for all purchases, regardless of how the purchaser plays 'em.

[longbow]

I'm with those who see this a step by DTG away from Steam. The announcement specifically mentions that Dovetail Live will be a place to buy new content. And if it were not, it's hard to see where the revenue needed to interest a Venture Capitalist would come from.

[longbow]

I've now read the announcement from the VC firm, which makes it clear that they are investing not in Dovetail Live but in DTG itself, to "fund the development of a range of new products being launched next year"

[gptech]

The announcement specifically mentions that Dovetail Live will be a place to buy new content

Just as http://train-simulator.com/store/ is today--a place to see what's available and only when you're ready to part with your money are you transferred to Steam.