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[Saxon1974]

Sounds interesting. I do kind of like the idea of exploring the world and learning things as you go along. What I meant was more background info about the world, history of races, lands etc.....

But if you want that to be learned along with the character that might be a good idea.

I do think that todays game hold you by the hand and lead you around. No sense of discovery or adventure anymore, which is one of the best parts of the classic RPG.

Probably why my favorite games were always RPG's and adventure games which unfortunately both have kind of died in the short attention span instant gratification society we live in today.

[Dragonlady]

I thought of a question this morning about the release of the game.

Will you release both PC and Mac versions at the same time? I hate waiting when one version is released first and see all the solutions before my version can even be bought.

[BasiliskWrangler]

No simutanious release.

PC version first.

Macintosh second (probably 4-6 weeks after...the conversion should be painless, but there is testing and repacking to do which is going to take a few weeks.)

Linux is a possibility, but if we make a Linux package it will be done much later.

[Dragonlady]

No simutanious release.

PC version first.

Macintosh second (probably 3 months after...the conversion should be painless, but there is testing and repacking to do which is going to take a few weeks.)

Linux is a possibility, but if we make a Linux package it will be done much later.

Poop! I have a Mac. Sigh, grumble. Sigh.

[BasiliskWrangler]

Very sorry! Due to our limited resources and small team, we can only work on one version at a time.

If Book I is financially successful, we expect to have the resources needed to develop Book II simultaneously on both platforms and release them together.

[Dragonlady]

Yes Mac's can run PC stuff. I just dislike trying to remember how to change over and stuff. I may have been using computers since the Commodore 64 came out but it doesn't mean I really know the ins and outs. And I get stuck in a rut used to doing things one way. I'm lucky I can remember how to program the VCR..no wait a second, thems out of date..okay, lucky I can figure out how to program the TIVO.

[Leej]

Aren't Mac's capable of running Windows and thus all Windows-based software now? Doesn't this make producing two versions for two OS's a bit pointless? Or do the majority of Mac users not use, or have systems with or capable of running, the Windows for Mac OS?

Only the newer Mactels will dual boot Windows with a free app called Bootcamp. I would guess that the majority of the Mac market for this game does not have an Intel Mac. The PPC Macs have to use emulation software for windows stuff.
As a Mac user I would always rather have a native Mac version of a game instead of shutting down and rebooting into windows to play a game. I couldn't say how many Mac sales Eschalon will get (should be a fair number if the game is good, RPGs are thin on Macs right now), but the number of sales will be substantially less if Mac users are expected to dual boot or emulate in order to run. This just makes sense, as the market for the game would then be limited to only those folks who have an Intel Mac and want to dual boot just to play an Indie game. It would be pretty slim
An indie game I did content creation for had about 30% of their sales come from Mac users which (at least for that game) made it a very important part of their business.

Btw: Is Eschalon going to be a PPC/Rosetta solution or a Universal Binary?

Hah. Long-winded post #1.

[BasiliskWrangler]

Yes, it'll be a Universal Binary.

[edit] On another note, we're acquiring some additional Mac hardware and hope that this extra resource allows us to co-develop the Mac port. I've revised my previous prediction of 3 months between the PC and Mac versions down to 4-6 weeks...as long as no major problems arise in port process.

[Leej]

Yes, it'll be a Universal Binary.

[edit] On another note, we're acquiring some additional Mac hardware and hope that this extra resource allows us to co-develop the Mac port. I've revised my previous prediction of 3 months between the PC and Mac versions down to 4-6 weeks...as long as no major problems arise in port process.

Hooray for the UB! My first Mactel (MBP) is showing up this week. I am looking forward to Eschalon!

[Dragonlady]

Yes, it'll be a Universal Binary.

[edit] On another note, we're acquiring some additional Mac hardware and hope that this extra resource allows us to co-develop the Mac port. I've revised my previous prediction of 3 months between the PC and Mac versions down to 4-6 weeks...as long as no major problems arise in port process.

Hooray! Shorter wait time! I've a Mac. I was told by my son (age 36) that I couldn't do a port to the PC side for lack of the right software..or something.

Trying to be patient and wait quietly....but I can't!! Bounce, bounce, hurry up!

[Lord Battlefield]

Do monsters respawn in "save adn exit"?

[BasiliskWrangler]

Right now monsters do not respawn at all. Once an area is cleaned, it's clean. But there are two exceptions to this:

1) certain triggers in the game may cause more monsters to appear in an area you thought was previously cleaned out...for example, while exploring a dungeon, you flip a switch which opens a wall behind you releasing monsters into a previously cleaned area.

2) new monsters may get dropped into the game world based on the "random encounter" function when you are camping or haven't visited an area for a while. These random encounters are not the same as the game respawning all entities in a given area...it is simply saying that once in a while a random creature passes through an area that you may have previously cleaned out.

[Dragonlady]

I was just relooking at the latest screen previews and noticed the buy/sell one. The store had an amount of gold listed in the lower righthand side. I assume this is all they have to pay for items you want to sell to the store. If this is all used up, will there be refills sooner or later, the next day, never, random, ????

[BasiliskWrangler]

Merchants have their inventory reset every week (game time) as well as their available gold. Merchants have some "standard" items that get restocked every week as well as a few random items. Items that you sell to merchants stay until the restock, at which point they're gone forever.

Quest items cannot be sold to a merchant, so you don't have to worry about losing them.

[dteowner]

Hopefully the merchants will have a decent amount of gold. The ridiculous attempt to control the economy used in Morrowind was nothing more than a major annoyance. It would be a shame for this game to make the same mistake.