let's not kid ourselves. the patron membership in the patreon is literally advertising starmaker as a selling point. Not to mention, we are in a sttarmaker page. no one here is waiting for RS2. it is undeniable that most of the reason why people are donating to Kal is because of starmaker story not RS2. Starmaker story is the one making him money. so to say this game is free is a stretch. People dont donate for charity.
people here always guilt trip people here with that "free game" narrative. Kal set the expectation in the first place so ya'll cant blame people for being impatient. Using the "free game" narrative to silence frustrated players is incredibly dishonest. You can't be annoyed at people "pestering" a creator when they ask why a date they chose was missed.
Ok let me explain some things:
1. Yes, we are on the Starmaker page, imagine people talking about other game here, of course people is not going to talk about RS2 here.
2. Starmaker is free here on itch, RS is available only on steam and patreon, and RS2 is in development. So once again, of course those won't be mentioned.
3. While Starmaker always showed when going inside the Arvus patreon, it wasn't until recently that it started being featured on the patreon banner, it was always only RS and now is both. Outside of this i don't know how you see Starmaker as a selling point.
Saying this is a crowdfunded game is just incorrect, the game has grown into popularity since 1.5 but the updates were as good before and no, there were not a huge amount of people sub to patreon for it. In fact, RS2 development has been taking so long because both games are worked at the same time. And the point still stands, it is FREE, the fact users can donate to patreon doesn't make it not free.
Lies Elevator Zero is what brings people to Patreon,.. Roundscape & Starmaker are just a happy bonus 😅 ... I will shut up now..
im new here so i dont know much of the history but checking whats public and available. it is kind of hard to believe what you say when every posts and pages of each games of arvus games, starmaker has significantly more engagement than any other games of his. Starmaker has 2k ratings while every other games of his dont even amount to 1k even if you combine them all. his other 2 games dont even amount to 200 ratings.
from what i dug up. Roundscape 2 was announce on 2023. based on graphtreon. Arvus game's rank on patreon is tanking. Arvus games literally was on their lowest point on july 8 2024 ranked as 184 on patreon. Starmaker story was released on July 24 2024 and arvus games from then on he gained traction. Arvus game's rank rose from rank 184 to 105 now. Roundscape 2 was announced in september 12 2023 and from graphtreon you can literally see he gained no money after he announced it. in fact, his earnings kept tanking
So yes, this is crowdfunded. this game is literally what's making him money. This game is what's making people click his patreon page. Not RS2, not RS1 or any other game of his. You can literally go to https://graphtreon.com/creator/Roundscape and check it
None of that matters though, the game isn't gated behind anything. It's free. You downloaded it for free, anybody can download it for free, it will always be free.
Ok since you are new here, I'll explain it in a simple way. Not that anything of what you said means this is a crowdfunded game, exposure is not the same as crowdfunded.
1. The "tanking" you see on Arvus is because of how RS was handled, things happened and RS2 being initially a 3d game out of the scope of the size of the team didn't help the case.
2. Starmaker + The change of RS2 to an isometric "2.5D" with art and animated scenes are "TOGETHER" what rose Arvus again.
3. Of course, the FULLY FREE game with constant updates that DOES NOT become available for patreons first is going to have more engagement than a game that after some time was decided to be reworked, has no that many posts about it outside of patreon, and is has not been released. RS Adorevia still is the highest point of Arvus Games, but as said, things happened and it wasn't handled the best, and this is a game that was never free and only available in Patreon and Steam later on.
Then again, just wanted to clarify what the "tanking" you see is. But again, exposure with a FREE game is not the same as a crowdfunded game, this is not an "early access $10 game"
from downvote's you are getting it is clear how people feel about what you are saying...stop telling your fans "its free so stfu and wait" because its such a dickhead thing to say to anyone...these are fans and they give enough shit about the game that they donate money...money that they spent time to earn, time out of their lives that they can not replace...you can't just say "its free so no money is being made" cuz its BS...just apologize instead its not that hard...many of us do not care about the other projects, we are fans of this one! and we are giving you MONEY...thank the audience for their patience and apologize to them when you fuck up and miss your deadline
Hello there,
first of all, I'm explaining something, if people want to downvote or ignore, it is fine, its their opinion and 10 votes do not represent a community.
Second, since it seems you didn't follow along and just like with the other user, refrain from getting actual news and just spread misinformation. Show me when and where have we told users "shut tf up and wait", and by the way, an apology was made.
Also, while many fans of starmaker are also patreons, I don't like the way in which you are expressing about the "we are giving you money". A subscription is not forced for enjoying starmaker, the players that believe and like the project support it because of these reasons.
Uh oh melty. It's free, so if you subscribe it's not on the promise of getting it early, or even getting it at all, because it's free. It's just to show appreciation. So subscribing does not in fact render the "it's free" argument wrong. You're just REEEEEEEING on the internet about a free product, hope your life gets better lil bro.
I'm here wondering, are you even one of the people who donated something or subbed at their patreon? Either way you're not making any sense, this game is literally free, there's no paywall behind it or anything, not even a "cheatcode" only for patreon or people who donated, because yes, is DONATED, is an appreciation towards Kal and whoever is also in the team if there's more, there's nothing extra for people paying at least when it comes to Starmaker, I'm waiting for RS2 because from what I've seen is going to be a really amazing game when it comes out.
And yes, I understand the frustation for getting a date and then being delayed, but you have to understand that Kal is also a person, someone who has a life and can't always be in either Starmaker or RS2, and sometimes things happen that are out of your control that makes you delay stuff even if you don't want to. You speak of "people guilt trip with the "free game" narrative", but you're practically trying to do the same with the "Starmaker is the one making him money", and even if is the one making the money, you should understand, again, that they're DONATIONS, not obligatory but appreciated.
Just wait, if you're busy irl you literally don't even notice the days when the game isn't out yet, the game is amazing but you can't be just pressing F5 all day in case something changes.
thats because youre not understanding my point. by free, what i meant is that Kal is not developing and making all the effort for this game for FREE. Patreon is exclusively for crowdfunding not for charity. Yes Kal is a human, not an angel who would do this FOR FREE. He is literally paid to do this. I'm not trying to pressure Kal. I am all for waiting but it's kind of sickening to see stans of a developer guilt tripping people because of Kal's unprofessional approach here. He literally planted the expectations to people and when accountability was needed because he missed it, he instead threatened to drop this game entirely to silence the complaints . It is pathetic to excuse such a fragile ego /poor work ethic just because you're personally willing to white-knight for him. especially when he's getting paid for it.
what i just wanted is for you stans to not gaslight people and silence them. The outcry is justified. Delays are fine, silence is not. Kal could literally announce the release date to 2027 and people would be fine with it as long as they could get an update.
Ok there is something that needs to be clarified here, where is the threat. I need an explanation for this part "He literally planted the expectations to people and when accountability was needed because he missed it, he instead threatened to drop this game entirely to silence the complaints."
Accountability was taken; we apologized for the delay and removed the date. And I'm waiting for an actual post. not a joke on discord.
It was on discord, When I saw this thread, I joined discord to see what was happening. i search "The update is making good progress, but it's not around the corner." the next line he said was him defusing the complaints by using threats which was effective. A joke nonetheless but for people like me who's new here who expects a bit of professionalism. That was a bit disappointing to see. Removing the date isn't accountability, it's erasing evidence. thats just damage control. and Kal apologized? where?
We didn't just remove the date, we advised it would take longer and that the scope of the update was bigger than anticipated. Kal had posted on X this same thing and thanking everyone for their patience. If you would have taken the time to read a couple comments around that message you would have noticed we were joking about it, which you should have done instead of just saying Kal was threatening with dropping the game.
The comment in question was "You're right, maybe I should just abandon SMK and focus on RS2" and it was a joke about the topic we were doing at the time nothing like "I'm defusing the complaints by using threats which was effective" was ever said. So please, next time take the time to either get the information from an actual post or the very least read the context in which something is said in discord.
I won't continue this topic longer.
The whole point of Patreon is so the creator does not have to answer to a publisher with stupid deadlines, unrealistic working conditions and forced ideas. Everyone votes with their wallet, if they are not happy with his direction they stop funding him. At the end of the day he is the master if his own destiny and can do what ever he pleases. Comments like "fragile ego" are not going to encourage him to get the game out.
Roundscape Eclipse Act 1 might come out and the line goes up or down, until it does who knows. Pretty sure he will be content he is still creating the game we wants.
If Starmaker gets selected as the next project I will be over the moon, if Kal cancels it before 2.0 I would work with others to finish it. But these are my personal thoughts, it means f all to Kal and anyone else. You are free to complain, just do not expect a positive response.
At the end of the day 1.9 is ready when it is ready. should Kal post unrealistic dates (no), could he be a little more forth coming with status updates (yes), could Dr.Muramasa give him a slap every time he starts to feature creep (100%.) But this is Kal, ain't nobody changing him...
The man is out of line, sure. But he's not exactly wrong.
Also I never understood their whole roundscape development. Over half of the players came in for the Farmer Origin scenes in Slinsk. Then they proceeded to barely touch on those ever again during the next decade of development. I'm surprised it did as well as it did with the sheer amount of bugs and exploits that exist in the game but that's besides the point.
This game has eclipsed that one by far at this point. For a good reason. (and it's not the gameplay 😂)
Patreon is abused by too many people with the whole " 'Update coming soon' - proceeds to not give an update for the next year to cash in on subs." to seriously say the whole point of it is to not deal with stupid deadlines. The whole point of patreon is to get funding for the work they perform/create, period. No need to beat around the bush or make up excuses about that. Kal definitely isn't one of the people that milk their subs though but new people might not be aware and they only see 'update coming soon' and months go by without any status updates really. Some more transparency there would be nice.
The point I'm trying to make is: It's been well over a month, nearing two since the announced deadline. It's been half a year since 1.8. It's understandable that people might get a bit frustrated with the wait. I mean I'm here checking (yet again) if the new update has arrived as well. That's what happens when you make a good game. People come asking for more. 🤷 Can't really blame them...
Why are you ignoring the fact there's been lettered updates since 1.8 with new content? Just so you can say it's been half a year since 1.8?
Because I actually know how the updates work? Thankfully the dev does too in this case.
The lettered updates have been mainly bugfixes and a couple of minor scenes and additions (or reworks). Some of those scenes were intended for the non-lettered update and weren't yet added beforehand. Others were mainly just for side characters. Generally none of those were worth restarting your game for. Most of the time you didn't need to either.
The last major update was 1.8. That is the very reason why everything after it has been lettered updates. That is kind of the whole point of them.
Hope this was educational for you.
To come back to your point though, I did not 'ignore' the updates, I just did not mention them. Stark difference there.
They didn't really warrant the mention to me. Since you insist, though, yes, it has been 100 days since the last lettered b-c-d updates happened.
Thank you for agreeing with everything else I've said, though, since the only criticism you seemed to have was me not mentioning minor updates and fixes that obviously happened since then.
If we are picking buttholes, 1.8B was very nearly 1.9 if not for community backlash against the idea
But yeah letter versions are typically bugfix's with the odd small content drop in-between.
1.9 is taking longer than normal cause of the sheer amount of work it will take to make good and bad endings for every main character, then continuation of Alice's quest and the updated love route for Anna to make it on level with slut etc. Communication has been handled badly, there is no shying away from that, but hopefully lesson learned. Personally I would prefer to wait a little long so we do not end up in another broken/revamp save state again and a load of glitched quests.
As for Roundscape Eclipse, years have been burnt into it at this stage so I do not foresee a derailing in preference to Starmaker. But heck knows at this stage what comes after 2.0 and the break. There are sure to be thousands pushing for more Starmaker, but with these being Kal's personal projects he might choose to go down the path of a Arenus Remake or something completely different..
Roundscape Adorevia 6.9 Release, I think we have more chance of Half Life 3 at this point. If there is a definitive answer to this long held question, it might be a good idea for one of Arvus Games to post it on the Steam forums.
Not to mention, Kal normally likes to do a game jam around this time of year as well, so that might cause further delays if he is partaking.
Long story shot a little more community management would go a long way, and hopefully stop a lot of the Negative Nancies... though there is no pleasing some people so you can never win 😔
Hello there,
It is true that Adorevia wasn't handled the best way there is no doubt about it, but for Starmaker's case is a little different. We always put some of the new content that is going to be on the update on the planned features and the thing is, stuff gets added out the blue because of "hey, this would be neat to have" mentality, which is another reason that makes it hard for Starmaker to have a kind of "progress bar".
In regard to how updates work, the last big update, and the transparency of when it will release or what progress has been done. While true that there could be some kind of advice about the progress of what has been done, that is kind of difficult without spoiling the content that is coming, and while there was a timeframe before, we have always advised that to be an estimate (I'm not discussing this topic again so let's leave it at that) and is a main reason why there's no date now. Starmaker content creation is different to a regular development, out of the blue something that Kal thinks would be nice to add shows up and then is more work to be done.
The last "big update" was 1.8B, yes this is not the regular, but it is in fact a big update. It brought multiple scenes, minigames, locations, new character and the reworks of more scenes, and NO, this is not "content that was planned and couldn't make it to initial 1.8", is brand new content that Kal wanted to put in game due to the time it was taking to get 1.8B out. The reworked scenes even though were planned, did not include the ones done for 1.8B, all updates more and more reworked scenes are done to match the new style. So yes, is around 3 months since the last "big update".
get it. You really want to play this game, and you're extremely disappointed that it got delayed indefinitely. But that doesn't change the fact that the game was labeled as free and still unfinished. The developers can technically take their time developing it however they want.
Normally, I don't like supporting unfinished games. Honestly, this game probably shouldn't even have been released to the public yet. But I happened to stumble onto it, enjoyed it, and ended up waiting for it the same way people wait for games like Minecraft or Stardew Valley that keep getting updated endlessly.
Of course, breaking promises is wrong, but I don't think it's something worth getting that emotional over. Deep down, you already know they're still working on it, and eventually you'll get to buy and play it.
Personally, I'm okay with it taking longer if that means the game won't launch half-baked and need daily hotfix patches like version 1.8 did when it first came out. Compared to completely abandoning the game, this situation still feels far from the worst-case scenario.
The fact that so many people are complaining this intensely makes me wonder if the game is actually going to be really good. I wonder how much they're going to charge for it lol.