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[babac]

Weight and height checks are used in Arstotzkan id cards at the moment.

I realize that, however what I meant was I've yet to come across an immigrant whose height or weight doesn't match the ID, which led me to think that they're in the game but can't be wrong. I might just've gotten lucky though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brTJzrXQVLU#t=19m10s

[metasynthie]

Edit: One thing I noticed is that I got dinged a few times for "wrong gender" when in my opinion the name and face surely matched the gender in the passport. Not sure if that might be a bug or just my stupidity

Just wanted to say that upon playing a little more and thinking about it, I kind of like how totally vague and thus highly inaccurate the whole "Gender" situation is. The names are going to get even more scrambled with the inclusion of player-submitted names, so you're going to have to guess based on pictures, which just as in real life will lead to the player guessing differently than how gender is recorded the "official records" or whatever. The system is messed up: real! Players who really want a perfect score can use the omniscient discrepancy-finder more, at the cost of time. I'd even advocate for making this system even trickier by have some VERY androgynous portraits which could go either way; all of this reflects how real-world security systems snag on (and thus mess with) people who's gender isn't "super obvious."

A couple other things:

Difficulty and "Ethical Ruleset" runs
In latest playthrough I refined my execution of the "Revolutionary Conscience" ruleset and passed everyone through the border except people with "simple" expired-paperwork problems. On most full days I was able to process about 25 citizens so despite getting a ton of citations, I made a profit on every full day, lost about $10 on the short "terrorist act" days, and ended Day 8 with $125 in savings. Day 7 and 8 were the hardest, with refusing to search Kolechians and passing through all the forged/missing seals. So yeah, escalating penalties seems like a must, and I look forward to seeing what kind of hard ethical choices will result; may need to refine the "ethics" some more to balance survival with ethical goals.

In the "Racist Asshole" ruleset, I do think it might be good to allow the player to refuse all Kolechians, no matter what -- this would be a real response to terrorism from some political points of view, right, just don't let any of them in, in fact I think it is the case with the United States and certain nations in the real world? The thing that makes this playstyle enter an infinite loop is the Kolechian suicide bomber -- maybe it's possible to have that bomber exit the booth to the right no matter whether player rejects or accepts their passport? The player's speech bubble can say something like "Hey, wait a second, where are you going?" and then a citation can appear (because the suicide bomber always has accurate paperwork) to explain why there's no other official reaction. This way it's possible to avoid having to repeat the same Kolechian bomber with perfect paperwork over and over with different faces/names. The Racist Asshole playstyle is still much easier and may remain easier even with escalating penalties, it'll be interesting to see.

[Mirka]

Love the weather idea. For me, one of the game's strong points is that it really draws you in emotionally, so that your actions feel like they have true impact on somebody's life. I think that occasional rain/snow would add to the gritty feeling even more.

I echo this sentiment. I'd love to see weather.


And I also echo some other people around here and I would like to see a non-steam version of the game.

[ktom]

Hi dukope,

First of all, congratulations on the game, I love it. I would definitely want to buy it, but I have a question:

Will the game be only available through Steam? I'm asking because if it will be Steam exclusive I will have to pass. I hate Steam and I refuse to use it so it would be great if there was a way to acquire the game outside of Steam.

Thanks!

http://dukope.com/

Could you explain why you hate Steam?
[/quote]

Of course. First of all I play exclusively single player, so all the community features are a bunch useless stuff for me, and I don't like actually being forced into using services I don't care for.
Second, I had issues with multiple games in the őast when I gave Steam another chance, and for example the last time I bought a Steam game, I could not even get it to install, because I always got a message saysing "Steam servers are busy, try again later". So I contacted Steam support who were not able to help, but also refused to refund my money. And of course I couldn't sell the game, because once it connected to a Steam account it stays that way. So Steam effectively stole my money.

So in short:

- Steam installs software on my computer I don't want,
- Steam service is quite problematic with certain games, but you can't use the game, even the single-player without Steam,
- Steam refused to make it right when they effectively stole from me.

[Kjammer]

Possible bug:  If you approve the Kolechian smuggler on day 7 without searching him or confronting him about the contraband, he will give you a bribe "as promised" despite not promising anything. He should probably say something like "whew, I got lucky there" if you let him in without interrogating him.

[TacoDeBoss]

Hi dukope,

First of all, congratulations on the game, I love it. I would definitely want to buy it, but I have a question:

Will the game be only available through Steam? I'm asking because if it will be Steam exclusive I will have to pass. I hate Steam and I refuse to use it so it would be great if there was a way to acquire the game outside of Steam.

Thanks!

http://dukope.com/

Could you explain why you hate Steam?

Of course. First of all I play exclusively single player, so all the community features are a bunch useless stuff for me, and I don't like actually being forced into using services I don't care for.
Second, I had issues with multiple games in the őast when I gave Steam another chance, and for example the last time I bought a Steam game, I could not even get it to install, because I always got a message saysing "Steam servers are busy, try again later". So I contacted Steam support who were not able to help, but also refused to refund my money. And of course I couldn't sell the game, because once it connected to a Steam account it stays that way. So Steam effectively stole my money.

So in short:

- Steam installs software on my computer I don't want,
- Steam service is quite problematic with certain games, but you can't use the game, even the single-player without Steam,
- Steam refused to make it right when they effectively stole from me.

1: Steam doesn't install anything except the client, the games you choose, and whatever the games require. (as far as I know)
2: That's a problem with the server you are connected to, and they fixed the offline mode bug.
3: Not sure why you expected a refund considering no DRM programs such as steam have ever done that. Plus, you wouldn't need a refund if you follow the advice above (switch servers)

Seems pretty biased to me, honestly..

[dukope]

There's no need to argue over Steam in here. It's a personal preference and I'm working to make the game available on other services.

[Konidias]

Love the game.

Questions:

1. I see the game is at 80% completion... how much more are you adding to the overall content/gameplay?

2. How much will the game cost?

3. Estimated release date?

[ktom]

Hi dukope,

First of all, congratulations on the game, I love it. I would definitely want to buy it, but I have a question:

Will the game be only available through Steam? I'm asking because if it will be Steam exclusive I will have to pass. I hate Steam and I refuse to use it so it would be great if there was a way to acquire the game outside of Steam.

Thanks!

http://dukope.com/

Could you explain why you hate Steam?

Of course. First of all I play exclusively single player, so all the community features are a bunch useless stuff for me, and I don't like actually being forced into using services I don't care for.
Second, I had issues with multiple games in the őast when I gave Steam another chance, and for example the last time I bought a Steam game, I could not even get it to install, because I always got a message saysing "Steam servers are busy, try again later". So I contacted Steam support who were not able to help, but also refused to refund my money. And of course I couldn't sell the game, because once it connected to a Steam account it stays that way. So Steam effectively stole my money.

So in short:

- Steam installs software on my computer I don't want,
- Steam service is quite problematic with certain games, but you can't use the game, even the single-player without Steam,
- Steam refused to make it right when they effectively stole from me.

1: Steam doesn't install anything except the client, the games you choose, and whatever the games require. (as far as I know)
2: That's a problem with the server you are connected to, and they fixed the offline mode bug.
3: Not sure why you expected a refund considering no DRM programs such as steam have ever done that. Plus, you wouldn't need a refund if you follow the advice above (switch servers)

Seems pretty biased to me, honestly..

To be honest, I don't think I should have to do ANY troubleshooting after I pay for something. Especially because it wasn't an issue with the game, it was an issue with the Steam service, which I don't want/need. So I don't think it's fair to make someone use a service they don't want. It's an issue of personal freedom.

Regarding the client, I'm sorry, but by what twisted logic should anyone be compelled to install some "client" to play the single-player part of a game?

On the refund: Precedent doesn't count here. As I mentioned, I contacted Steam support who could not resolve the issue. And now I'm stuck with a nice disc in a box on the shelf that I paid money for, without being able to use it. I can't get sell it, or get a refund. Doesn't seem fair to me...

[ktom]

There's no need to argue over Steam in here. It's a personal preference and I'm working to make the game available on other services.

Thx, that was all I wanted to know. Sorry about the Steam argument.

[RobRendell]

Hi - I'm another one who just registered in order to post to this thread.  Amazing game - I'm in awe of your talents.  The artwork, the audio, the theme music, the game design, the game concept - all brilliantly done.  I feel totally inadequate with my own game development efforts now

I have a suggestion for the issue of the infinite Kolchean suicide bombers on day six (if the player rejects their passports).  Instead of repeatedly sending in Kolchean terrorists until the player lets one through, you could make it that if his application is rejected, the (first) Kolchean walks up to the guards on the west side of the border and detonates.  The explosion might take out some of the queuing civilians too, given that the bomber doesn't have very far to go after he leaves the path and the alarm starts sounding.

That way, you don't have to pre-suppose the player's decision with that particular application to enter, and the day still ends with a terrorist attack.

If you eventually have the Detain button always active and the player detains the Kolchean with perfectly in-order paperwork, he can always detonate himself while being led up towards the prison.  That option would probably have the highest civilian body-count, because there wouldn't be any alarm before he exploded right near the queue.

[Dr. Cooldude]

This is such a great game. I really enjoyed the beta and I'm thinking of buying it when it comes out! Congratulations on getting greenlit!

Also, I registered my name on the game, glory to Arstotzka!

EDIT: Also, Jorji (the guy with the crayoned passport) is the greatest character in the game.

[MegaScience]

I will say Steam provides a toggle for the community services, and having all my games centralized through it is useful. Just as well, they provide methods of communicating through the games, warning other players when you are preoccupied with a game, etc.

As for refunds on PC games, I haven't found a service which does this for quite some time. I remember many years ago I had to convince a GameStop employee to take a PC game, and then only one out of the bunch I brought back. It's too easy to steal games on the PC, keeping the data locally and tricking systems. You have to think of it from their standpoint: They provide games through a centralized service. They can't give loopholes.

Point being: You can disable the community portion and run the game directly from a shortcut which only uses Steam's client in the launching phase. Steam has downtimes as with any service, but patience is the solution. Once the game is in your list, they can't simply remove it and give your money back. Hackers are tricky, and a loophole where not only do they get a game but they hand the money for the game back would be a massive embarrassment and damage their trust more than following the same rules as most other retailers for PC games.

You don't have to get it, I'm just trying to elaborate on the points given. That's all.

[ktom]

I will say Steam provides a toggle for the community services, and having all my games centralized through it is useful. Just as well, they provide methods of communicating through the games, warning other players when you are preoccupied with a game, etc.

As for refunds on PC games, I haven't found a service which does this for quite some time. I remember many years ago I had to convince a GameStop employee to take a PC game, and then only one out of the bunch I brought back. It's too easy to steal games on the PC, keeping the data locally and tricking systems. You have to think of it from their standpoint: They provide games through a centralized service. They can't give loopholes.

Point being: You can disable the community portion and run the game directly from a shortcut which only uses Steam's client in the launching phase. Steam has downtimes as with any service, but patience is the solution. Once the game is in your list, they can't simply remove it and give your money back. Hackers are tricky, and a loophole where not only do they get a game but they hand the money for the game back would be a massive embarrassment and damage their trust more than following the same rules as most other retailers for PC games.

You don't have to get it, I'm just trying to elaborate on the points given. That's all.

I understand where you're coming from, and I even agree that some people find Steam useful, and actually like it. I'm just old fashioned that way, I miss the times when you took the disc, popped it in the drive, installed the game and that was it. No client, no internet connection needed, you could just play.

Regarding the fight against pirating, the issue here as I see it, is that services like Steam are actually creating a hassle for the legal, paying customer, but they don't really manage to fight illegal copies. Again, I understand that many people like digital content management, but for me, it's a real turn-off from PC gaming.

[qqqbbb]

Looks like your family doesnt need food to servive. I got thru the beta without spending money on food and noone died.
Date on the stamp is the same every day.

[Dr. Cooldude]

My entire family died :v

[Akaoz]

Did a Let's Play with the wife. It was good fun to do. :-) I'll be picking up the game when it comes on Steam!

See the Let's Play here:

Let's Play Papers Please

[dukope]

I'm not gonna post any more spoiler-ish stuff here, but there's still some dev things I can share.

Testing

As a one-person (and before that, two-person) developer, one issue that's always hard to deal with is testing. Having worked at big and small studios, I know how useful a skilled testing department can be. I also know how expensive they are and how hard it is to find good people.

Instead of all that people-related stuff, I usually try to figure out a way to test the game myself. Without actually sitting down and playing it forever. One common technique is to create an autoplay or 'soak' mode where the game can basically play itself. This lends itself well to procedural puzzle games and is what we did for Helsing's Fire. I wrote a simple bot that could play the game flawlessly and we set it running overnight during the last few weeks of the project. This was really useful in tracking down holes in the puzzle generation (finding unsolvable puzzles due to a logic bug somewhere), and plugging memory leaks (a common point of failure for iOS games).

Papers Please has hooks to do something similar. I could write a bot to move the mouse/click buttons, group these actions, combine groups, build scripts, etc. Some of this work was already done to automate the trailer capturing. But to take it all the way to autplaying would actually be a lot of work. And at this point I don't even want to test these things. What I really want to test is the high-level progression, story elements, and money balancing.

So instead, I split out the game's logic from the UI and built a separate fast-play UI that uses the same logic engine:



This screen lets me quickly play through each encounter. Either in order for a given day, or skipping around between entrants. It's useless for the tactile UI mechanics, checking animations, gameplay pressures from the small desk, etc. What it's great for though is testing the story and progression. And since I'm implementing the full game's story now, this fast-play mode is critical for experimentation.

When the story implementation is done I'll extend this mode to full autoplay for balance testing. I was never quite sure how useful this would be, but seeing metasynthie's posts about play style gave me the needed kick. Using some basic rules about what to do for different encounters, I'll script "play style" bots and send them through the game. One bot may deny all Kolechians. One may make a mistake on the first new rule encounter and never after. One may deny everybody. If I build enough of these simple styles, I should be able to set them loose to get a feel how the game will balance out for different players. This should also be a good way to incorporate an "easy" difficulty for the less-skilled styles.

Story

Most of the story threads are done so now the task is to arrange them (in spoiler-avoiding low res):



Right after taking this picture I copied everything into a spreadsheet to make editing easier.

My typical process for designing high-level game progression goes something like this:

1. Create a bunch of little pieces.
2. Make a grid.
3. Fill the grid with pieces.

From the very beginning I've been creating little pieces. For Papers Please a "piece" is an encounter, a character, a story thread, a document idea, a puzzle idea, an attack method, etc. I've got a lot of these and now is the time to arrange them. I want to front-load some cool stuff to hook the player, expand on longer stories in the middle, add new elements to maintain interest, and ramp things up to a climax at the end.

Once the initial pieces are laid out, I can easily rearrange them or add new ones to fill the gaps. I really like this part of development because it's when the whole game comes together. It's also hopelessly formulaic. I've tried designing by feel before and unfortunately it just doesn't work for me. I find it much more natural to impose a hard structure and systematically break problems up into small pieces, then combine them afterwards.

[RobRendell]

That's a pretty sweet setup. Automated testing is one of those things that, after you start using it, you wonder how you ever used to be able to make large changes with any confidence without it.

Have you been writing unit tests as you've developed too, or has all your testing to date been manual?

I guess that accommodating a run-through rule of "deny all Kolcheans" implies that you have a solution to the infinite suicide bombers on day 6, whether it's akin to my suggestion or not :-)

[dukope]

Please stop posting about the pros and cons of Steam here.

TacoDeBoss, MegaScience, and ktom: This is a devlog for Papers, Please. It's not even remotely close to a discussion thread about Steam, of which there are surely thousands peppered across the internet. I'd appreciate if you could edit out your recent Steam-related posts since they have nothing to do with the development of this game.