Topic: World of Goo (PC) -- play the demo

[Cobra951]

Get it here.  This is a very cool physics-based game.  It reminds me of Loco Roco, although it plays nothing like it.  Try it.  You'll like it.

[Quemaqua]

So funny... idol and I were talking about that today and yesterday.  I've yet to try it, but I love the look of it.

[idolminds]

I agree, its awesome.

[idolminds]

The best way to describe this would be "Lemmings + Bridge Builder".

I'm having trouble keeping my tower going in the Tower of Goo mission. Grrr. Also, from the main menu they have a special version of Tower of Goo. Every goo you save over whats needed to complete a mission is added to that special mode, so you'll have more to work with. The cool part is that mode has clouds that float at certain heights. These are the size of the towers other people are making. Kind of cool, non-direct competition.

[beo]

been playing this a lot over the last couple of days. got a few friends into it too, and yeah, it's a hell of a lot of fun. very addictive gaming.

[idolminds]

Well, I finished the demo and now want more. Building the tower just takes a bit more time and try to build a decent, solid structure for most of it. Once you near the top you can sorta go all stringy. Once the pipe activates its a vacuum that will help support the structure, so get there and you're good.

I have to say, that last mission of chapter 1 was awesome.

(click to show/hide)

Having to climb up and out of the pit. Despite the sign saying you might have to leave some behind, I was able to get all of them out of there.

Then, silly me, I tried to build a tower into the sky...which lead nowhere. My first tower half-collapsed on me but luckily got jammed. So then I built it AGAIN, reaching the very top and being unable to go further. Only then did I realize what those eyes were for.

So awesome. I have to buy it.

[Cobra951]

The game is very worthwhile.  It changes character quite a bit in Chapter 4, and that may not be to everyone's liking.  (It's not always about building.)  But no one can say it isn't creative.  The puzzles get devious without getting out of reach.  Also, the humor is terrific.  It's a bit short, but I do recommend it.  Great indie effort, cutscenes notwithstanding.

[MysterD]

2D Boy (makers of World of Goo) talk about piracy -- since their game's DRM-free (depending on where you buy it from).

With all of their math and everything, they came up with the figure that their game has been pirated over 80% (or so).

And they also state that games with DRM get pirated at around the same rate, at the very least.

[Pugnate]

UPDATE (and nerd alert): a lot of smart people have been questioning the accuracy of our 90% estimate, and with good reason, it’s a very rough estimate and the measurements are flawed. so we did some more digging to see if we might have missed the mark by a significant amount.  here’s what we found:

   1. based on the number of unique IPs and unique player IDs, we found that on average, there are 1.3 unique IP addresses per player (there is 1 player id for each profile created on any installation that submits scores to our server)
      76% of players have contacted the server from 1 IP
      13% from 2 IPs
      5% from 3 IPs
      3% from 4 IPs
      1% from 5 IPs
      1% from 6 IPs
      1% from more than 6
      this tells us that the dynamic IP issue is a relatively small factor in this calculation
   2. we also looked at how many players IDs were created (rather than used) from each IP address.  given that the vast majority of player IDs are associated with only a single IP, this is a fairly accurate measure of how many profiles the average user created.  on average, a player has 1.15 profiles per installation.

when we take the total number of player IDs (which is smaller than the number of unique IPs from which leaderboard entries came) and divide it by 1.15 (the average number of profiles per installation) the number of estimated unique installations drops by about 35% as compared to the estimate based on unique IPs.  let us further say that the average user installs the game on 1.25 computers with different IPs (i.e. not behind the same router), which i think is a high estimate.  that lowers the estimated unique installations by another 20%.  after factoring both of these in, the piracy rate would still be 82%, and we should keep in mind that this number doesn’t include those who never opted to submit scores to the leaderboard (it’s an option that’s off by default).  so while it’s possible that the actual piracy rate is lower than 90%, it’s unlikely that it’s significantly lower.  2d boy hopes this satisfies the more rigorous number crunchers out there

oh, and yes, these numbers are exclusive of the demo… those scores are submitted to a different server entirely.

I bet they are going to announce World of GooCraft any second now.

[Cobra951]

They released it the right way, but in the wrong order.  It should have gone to services like Steam first, then later, after sales started to drop off, it should have been released as an unrestricted download.  I would add a key you download privately after paying--nothing hard to use or crack, but which would discourage casual piracy.

I can't believe it's me who just said that.  I look at it, and it's exactly what I've been fearing and didn't want--Steam taking over the world.

Good for 2D Boy that the Wii outlet is, as far as I know, completely legit.

[idolminds]

Well, one problem was they released the demo after the retail game. Even I downloaded the full game before the demo was released (oddly enough, it was released the very next day after I downloaded the game). Though I deleted the full thing and redownloaded the demo, I imagine not many people would do such a thing.

[scottws]

I finally downloaded, played, and finished the demo.  Wow this game is awesome.  I might have to buy it.

[iPPi]

I haven't tried the demo for this yet, but my interest is piqued.  Can't decide on whether to get the Wii or the PC version though.  There doesn't seem to be any comparison of the two versions.

[idolminds]

Amazon Gold Box today is supposed to have World of Goo PC on it for cheap at 2pm. No idea what time zone, or how cheap it will be, but hopefully I can get it.

[MysterD]

Amazon Gold Box today is supposed to have World of Goo PC on it for cheap at 2pm. No idea what time zone, or how cheap it will be, but hopefully I can get it.

Looks like Pacific Standard Time, from what that site says...
In other words, five minutes from this message I'm typing...

[MysterD]

$9.99 for the Gold Box price of World of Goo PC.

[Quemaqua]

I picked it up.  $15 with shipping, of course, but still... not a bad deal at all.

[MysterD]

I picked it up.  $15 with shipping, of course, but still... not a bad deal at all.

I made my "claim" for it and got it in the cart at the cheap price.
Now, back to trying to continue to try to find myself a second game (somewhat) cheap so I don't gotta pay for shipping.

[idolminds]

I just went through that myself. Though it was harder because I was buying Dr Horrible on DVD, so I had to find some item at $5 to get free shipping.

[MysterD]

I just went through that myself. Though it was harder because I was buying Dr Horrible on DVD, so I had to find some item at $5 to get free shipping.

I was thinking of Fate: Undiscovered Realms, since I liked the original hack-n-slash.

I was also thinking of Mass Effect PC, but goddamn them for not releasing a "Revoke" tool...yet. So, uncertain on that one.

Same goes for Crysis Warhead as Mass Effect PC.

So, I shall keep on looking...

[idolminds]

Ugh, the original Fate would have been perfect! Oh well, I'm sure I'll enjoy my 3 pack of Vincent Price movies.

Instead of waiting 2 weeks for the the stuff to arrive, I...acquired it. I figured I already paid, so what the hell. Get a head start. I'm enjoying it greatly. Some of these puzzles are quite tricky, in a good way.

[MysterD]

Ugh, the original Fate would have been perfect! Oh well, I'm sure I'll enjoy my 3 pack of Vincent Price movies.

Fate: Undiscovered Realms actually comes packaged ALSO with the original Fate.

I ordered Bully PC instead.

[MysterD]

My copy of this arrived today -- along w/ Bully PC.

Anyways, here you go:
Ron Carmel and Kyle 2D Boy's very own Gabler tell the story of how they met, that they worked at EA, and left to make a game called World of Goo that EA wouldn't go for.

[Quemaqua]

Man, I'm getting an error with it... it won't start and I can't seem to figure out why.  Video problem of some sort.  Damn.  It worked fine the first now, and now it just won't load.

[MysterD]

Bleh, Que -- that bites.

[idolminds]

Free soundtrack!

[scottws]

You know, this reminds me... the other day I looked on 2D Boy's website and I saw that if you buy the game from them directly, it gives you access to the Windows and Mac downloads, and the Linux download when it's released.  Not being 100% sure if I could download the Windows version now and the Linux one later, I send them an e-mail asking.  That was like a week ago and I haven't heard anything.

Also, I love some of the stuff in their FAQ:

"Is 2D Boy a real boy?"

"Does 2D Boy like 2D Boys or 2D Girls?"

[MysterD]

Free soundtrack!

Awesome, Idol!
TYVM.

[Cobra951]

Free soundtrack!

Wow.  That's huge.  Grabbing now.

[MysterD]

Brighter Minds, who published the retail box version of World of Goo, files for Chapter 11

[MysterD]

Steam weekend deal for this weekend is World of Goo PC = $4.99

[scottws]

Sold.

Edit:  I was torn between buying this and the one on 2D Boy's website ($20.00).  If you buy it from the website, you get access to the Windows, Mac, and Linux versions plus it's not locked to Steam and completely DRM-free.

Ultimately I decided to get the Steam version for the price, figuring if I really wanted it on Linux I'd buy the $20.00 version.  It turned out to be a good thing because there are demos for all the platforms, and I tried the Linux one on my laptop and it runs very poorly (ancient ATi 7xxx mobile series card in there) and it locked up my laptop after about 5 minutes.  I need a new laptop.

[gpw11]

Holy shit, this is like the most addictive thing ever.

[Cobra951]

Early version for free from 2D Boy.

[MysterD]

2D Boy calls DRM a "waste of time."

DRM 'A Waste of Time,' Says World of Goo Developer
by Chris Faylor Mar 23, 2009 5:00pm CST tags: World of Goo, DRM, PC Gaming, GDC 09
World of Goo

Utilizing digital rights management as a means to prevent piracy is "a waste of time," according to 2D Boy co-founder and World of Goo co-creator Ron Caramel.

"Don't bother with DRM," he said during a GDC 09 talk attended by GameSpot. "You just end up giving the DRM provider money. Anything that is of interest gets cracked, and the cracked version ends up having a better user experience than the legit version because you don't have to input in some 32-character serial number."

The topic of digital rights management has become increasingly controversial, as publishers feel they must make some effort to prevent piracy while protesters complain that DRM punishes legitimate buyers with install limits and online activations.

"We don't see the point in having DRM," he added. "Anybody who wants the game is likely to find it on BitTorrent sites. It's going to get cracked even with DRM, it's going to be available very quickly." [/quite]

[Xessive]

Valid point. I often resort to cracking my legit games simply because it's less of a headache than dealing with the protective measures, whether it be a disc check, online activation, or install limits.

[Cobra951]

It's so ironic.  It takes a new small developer to state the obvious.  The well-funded, established devs are gagged behind the politics.  It isn't possible that they wouldn't know the same truth by now.