All rights reserved, the footer on the web page has this.
It’s not really viable to run a game studio with developers and artists who work full time to create free games. I wish it was
All rights reserved, the footer on the web page has this.
It’s not really viable to run a game studio with developers and artists who work full time to create free games. I wish it was
For immediate access that’s the way, or you can also apply for the closed beta for free
Yup, I have! From development standpoint, building integrations with each of the manufacturer is not really an option for us right now, a it’s both a lot of work and we can’t afford to buy the devices to test it out.
Thank you so much!
Depending on how the legislations now post-DMA go, it might be possible to also handle payments throughout our Portal instead of app stores. The app stores, especially Apple’s, has still a bunch of rules in their ToS about this where they might remove the game entirely if you’re not using their payment system. Android is slightly more lenient on this regard though.
The cuts Patreon already takes (a whopping 14% in total, after which we then play VAT) already affects us enough that I would definitely love to rather have my own systems, but also they offer a lot of convenience to the users that we couldn’t at this point.
But overall it would be great if we could provide a direct payment system straight from Portal, as we could price that one also significantly cheaper than using Google’s or Apple’s systems when we don’t need to pay their cuts. It’s something I really want to do to be able to make the pricing as affordable as possible, and everything depends on if it’s both feasible and allowed by the app stores. But can’t promise this, as there are a lot of factors in play whether it’s feasible to provide our own systems and if it’s allowed by the biggest stores.
When it comes to direct APK downloads, maybe if we can get a good pipeline for those. I think the most realistic option is that we’ll pick the one for an “extra release pipeline” that we can automate most easily to our current systems. Could be Aurora Store, F-Droid or some other depending on what kind of automation options they offer.
Recording API is local only and doesn’t require a Google account
Managing two release pipelines is already a lot, and we currently don’t really have the time for supporting yet another one when 99.9% of users are fine with AppStore and Google Play. It’s something I’ll probably figure out at some point when we have enough time for that though!
And yeah, only relies on Google’s Recording API which is part of the services. It’s really annoying that they made (just recently) the pedometer APIs part of Google Services, but I can’t really change that either.
As far as I know, it’s possible somehow. We currently don’t have enough resources to manage additional release pipelines, so it’s definitely tricky at the moment.
Doesn’t work as of now, but this feature is something we’re well aware a lot of people need, and high in our priority. We’re just waiting for Google to get their tech together so we can start supporting it.
Yes! A limited queue system and notifications are both planned to be added in the next update.
It’s available even now during Closed Beta for iOS as well!
There’s no progress without walking, all of the progress is tied to steps.
Not necessarily, but in order to use map data, you’ll pretty much need it. This is why all of the GPS games require a connection, as they’ll download map data and cache your current surrounding areas
There will be no MTX or P2W!
And there are quite a lot of things to do in the game already. I recommend to explore the starting area, and there’s nothing stopping you from planning things you want to do. If you’re feeling a little bit lost (which I totally get, the game is still lacking a proper tutorial and starting quests) I recommend to check the wiki. There are guides there also how to make money. The NPCs don’t pay pretty much anything for early game unprocessed materials, but there are several ways of gaining coins. You can also get past the Fort of Permafrost by going under water and skipping paying for the toll entirely, for which you’ll need to find Diving Gear.
Thanks for the feedback! ❤️
Thank you! Privacy is definitely the biggest concern, but also GPS requires apps to be opened to register anything, and it kills the battery quite quickly (and requires active internet connection).
Offline mode will launch when we go to open beta. During Closed Beta, there’s only the online mode (as that’s what needs the most testing).
Yes, indeed! Currently supporting only phone’s built-im pedometer, and wearable support is coming when Google fixes Health Connect.
Running is fine, and you indeed get better steps/hr due to the increased cadence.
We already have an anti-cheat in the game and it’s being developed further, although not exactly a priority at this point of Closed Beta. But it’s shown great promise of detecting cheating. In can’t disclose how it’s working, as that would make circumventing it easier.
There are already a bunch of activities in game that have been designed for people who hike and gain a lot of steps during it and don’t have service. Also, the offline game mode will not require service at all, so it’s possible to manage it even while hiking. In addition to the current activities, we also have special “Adventures” planned that can take tens of thousands of steps without needing to open the game.
Combat system also will pretty much work as “piling up the rewards” in addition to the core gameplay. You gain combat points for each step you take, and there will be a large cap to those. Then you can play the combat system and spend those points and gain a ton of combat progress fast if you’ve got a lot of points saved up.
Thank you for the feedback!
We don’t have an official community here (at least, not yet). And I’m quite hesitant to add one, as we already have our hands full with Discord, Reddit and WalkScape Portal communities.
When it comes to monetisation, the model we’ve planned is what seems both the fairest and most sustainable when compared to any other alternative, which is why I chose it as our plan. You can either buy it once to gain access to the offline “ironman” mode, or pay an affordable monthly subscription to play the online mode - both of which will be free to try out, so you’ll know if it’s worth your money before paying anything.
Going with single purchases only isn’t as sustainable for an online game. It’s much harder to keep it supported and expanding it long-term (and pay for servers) if we’re relying on single purchases, and it would tie us into needing to plan expansions that bring extra revenue to keep things running. By having an affordible subscription, we can keep content coming rapidly without needing to consider what kind of expansion pack and price tag do we need to put these new features behind, which I feel is much better from both game design and player perspective.
Microtransactions and ads are something I’ve clearly stated we’ll never be doing, as those also compromise game design and are predatory or come with privacy concerns.
Battery drain is almost nothing. The game doesn’t need to be opened when you walk, and you can kill it entirely. The pedometer is anyways running on most phones regardless if you have WalkScape installed or not, so this doesn’t add battery consumption in that sense either.
For me when I just checked, it’s used less than 0.3% today which is less than most other apps I have installed. I’ve tried my best to keep this as low as possible, and we’ll probably be optimizing this even further in the future if necessary.
So F-Droid can take a github repo as source? If that’s the case, I could consider it much sooner than I originally thought