So, this might have been put on the table, but when is the Stonehearth steam page going to look less like this:
And more like this:
Maybe link the website to the news here, so we can follow what’s going on a bit easier! Workshop stuff etc. can be relegated for another day, so I wouldn’t worry about that! But everything else, especially some graphic there, would be pretty sweet!
I might be just full of hot air, but I was thinking about this today after I woke up. Thoughts? Insights?
to be honest, i never really look at my games in the steam client… but i see your point, for those who do! perhaps once the content machine really starts cranking, and there are more things to “do”, we’ll see a more content rich steam screen…
Yeah as @Avairian says, they don’t actually have a Steam page; if you search the Store for Stonehearth, it will come up blank. Tom mentioned this at some point and I think said they plan on adding a Steam page for it where you can then purchase it through Steam when they feel that it is a more fleshed out game. Right now they’re quite happy that only really those who know about it are getting it and therefore know what to expect and that it’s Alpha etc. whereas if it is available on Steam for the general public, they’re much more likely to get people raging at the fact they can’t do much yet.
If I’m not mistaken, most of that information is pulled from the Steam store page of the game - the background is a random screenshot (if you have made screenshots, those are used instead), the news feed is taken from the generated community hub and more.
Because the game has no such thing yet (as a hidden beta), it doesn’t exist. As soon as it is available as early access (if ever) or released, that should change.
I don’t think this is should be a priority right now. Getting a proper Steam page is quite a task because you need to present your game in a fashionable way - and if they did it right now, they likely would need to adapt the screenshots and everything else a few times.
This. We are 100% focused on making something worth selling, then we will sell it on Steam and elsewhere. Order of operations is important.
I believe the Steam game background image is also driven by screenshots you take in game, so if you want a background, hit the print screen button while playing or something.
It was mentioned already, just wanted to add my voice to the chorus:
These ‘complete’ pages with news and stuff comes only when the game is actually available on the store. As an example: I have Project Zomboid long before it hit steam and when it did, it was a closed, private access only to some people (the ones that had the game) - which is something like Stonehearth right now: people can’t buy it on steam. They can only have it on steam if they bought it outside.
When Project Zomboid officialy hit the steam store as ‘early access’, only then these information appeared: background (from screenshots on store page, not yours), news, related stuff, etc.
Oh god do I feel petty right now! Although my misguided excitement has brought along some positives too. Met up with some faculty members today and ended up talking about gaming in general. Seems like I might have converted some profs, and a few PhD cands to take a better look at Stonehearth. So as much as my petty, useless commentary on a blank Steam page was irrelevant to any larger goals in the game’s production cycle, guess it’s not all bad. I always dreamed of a LAN event with faculty, instead of a god-awful marking circle for essays or exams…
