Cryptic Comet

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tgb
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Cryptic Comet

Post by tgb »

Has anyone heard anything about Vic Davis lately? I just peeked in on the site to see if there was any word as to what he might be working on, and it looks like he hasn't posted to the blog since October. The forums aren't very active, either.

I'd hate to see him give up on the industry and walk away. His games may not have been perfect, but they were always original and a breath of fresh air.

I think I have his email address around from back when I did some beta testing for him. I should dig it up and see if I can get in touch.
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NickAragua
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by NickAragua »

That reminds me, I should hook up a game of Solium Infernum one of these days.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Butterknife »

I didn't like his last game, but all of his other games have been great! I think he is a very talented game developer. If I had my wish, he would announce that he has spent all this time working on Armageddon Empires 2.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Zarathud »

Solium Infernum is classic. Would play again.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by MindToyGames »

tgb wrote:Has anyone heard anything about Vic Davis lately? I just peeked in on the site to see if there was any word as to what he might be working on, and it looks like he hasn't posted to the blog since October. The forums aren't very active, either.
I'd hate to see him give up on the industry and walk away. His games may not have been perfect, but they were always original and a breath of fresh air.
I think I have his email address around from back when I did some beta testing for him. I should dig it up and see if I can get in touch.
I was just thinking about Vic the other day, coincidentally! I did notice his quietness on his blog recently, it would be a shame if he hung up his compiler. I mean, I could understand if he did, being an indie and what comes with it can wear on your body and mind after awhile... trust me.

Maybe i'll shoot him an email too, I have his address. Hopefully he's just stirring the creative pot for his next game.
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tgb
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by tgb »

Vic popped up over at Qt3 today. I don't think he would mind me cross-posting what he wrote:
Hey there everyone. Sorry to have missed this thread so often and been the cause of any concern. Everything is fine for the most part. A new job and family issues have necessitated that I go on a hiatus from making games for a while. I've shamefully neglected a lot of things that I used to do like forum response and community outreach. I have hired a family member and still personally continue doing customer support so you can always get a download resent if you lost it or need some rule clarified. Apologies to anybody I have missed responding to as there have been some gaps due to a lot of travel over the summer to attend some job related events.

Anyway, it was a good run but I think that technology has passed me by and I honestly will need to find some fire in the belly to make another game. Don't lose complete hope though if you enjoyed some of my earlier games. I have an idea that I am working on part time so there might be one more death ride to make. It's a turn based strategy game where you play an asymmetrical rules game against multiple AI's. You are besieged on all sides and have to survive until you complete your win condition which is to assemble the mcguffin of doom/ascension by exploring/attacking the map all the while husbanding limited resources. So sort of tower defense meets tbs. Although, I'd like to think it's more sophisticated than that.

I also will have some spin off announcements to make in the near future where several talented devs have decided to try and re-imagine some of my games both in digital and card board format.

And finally I'm working on getting my games picked up by some other distributors and might have an announcement about that pretty soon.

A big thanks to everybody who has supported my efforts over the years. QT3 has always been a particularly encouraging refuge to enjoy with a cup of coffee so a big thanks to Tom and crew and all the posters and lurkers here.

Best,

Vic
Glad he's OK, but I hate to see him get out of the game. No one else made games like he did, but I guess there's a good reason for that.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by MindToyGames »

tgb wrote:Glad he's OK, but I hate to see him get out of the game. No one else made games like he did, but I guess there's a good reason for that.
I'm sad too, but at the same time, I understand some of his struggle as well. I think he really needed to move on in terms of development tools and style a bit, as he said himself. IMHO, technology only passes you by if you let it.

Myself with my latest project, I (finally!) moved on from Visual Basic 6 and embraced more modern language constructs and a new language to enable me to develop better and somewhat different games. It was a struggle for awhile to learn it, but I think my latest game really reflects my growth in terms of dev tools. I was determined not to get left behind by a now 16 year old language.

Here's hoping Vic finds that fire again.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by GreenGoo »

His new idea sounds a lot like AI Wars.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by AWS260 »

Thanks for sharing this, tgb. I'll always be grateful to Vic for Solium Infernum -- just an amazing, amazing experience.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Archinerd »

Oooh. Possible boardgame versions of his games?
I've long been kicking around ideas in my head on how to port one of his games into a tabletop version that I could bring along to Octocon, but I could never quite find the time to devote to the project. I hope these developers he's talked with have more success than I did.
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Hipolito
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Hipolito »

The Occult Chronicles is now up on Steam Greenlight for your voting pleasure. I don't think Cryptic's other games are on the Steam Store or Greenlight, but I assume they will be someday.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Daehawk »

Has it really been since 2007 that we talked about Armageddon Empires? Well first found out about it. Time.
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tgb
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by tgb »

Hipolito wrote:The Occult Chronicles is now up on Steam Greenlight for your voting pleasure. I don't think Cryptic's other games are on the Steam Store or Greenlight, but I assume they will be someday.
Thanks. I'll definitely vote for it, even though I have it, just to help Vic.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by baelthazar »

Just an FYI, per RPS: Vic Davis is quitting PC development to switch to boardgame and card game development.

From Vic's Blog: http://www.crypticcomet.com/blog/?p=1117

I am both disappointed for the loss of a great developer and heartened and excited as a boardgame enthusiast.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Zarathud »

Makes sense. Vic's designs were boardgames implemented onto the PC. Maybe he'll be able to outsource the programming and interface in the future.
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tgb
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by tgb »

I wish Vic all the luck in the world. In my dealings with him he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I'm just sorry he never got his game on Steam, since that might have made all the difference.

I feel bad for myself since none of my real life friends are boardgamers, and the PC is the only way I have to scratch that particular itch.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Archinerd »

Vic, if you read this and you want to test any of your games out on strangers feel free to come to Octocon.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Smoove_B »

Interview with Gamasutra, with some interesting observations about STEAM:
The second big mistake was not trying to jump on Steam right away. I had come from a background where I sold physical products through retailers and I was really certain that this new internet thing was going to mean that I could cut out the middle man. So fueled by my arrogance that the middle men were goners I said some disparaging things about middle men and pushed on to the bitter end with the idea that I could sell just from my website and make a living at this. This turned out to be incorrect. I'd like a Nobel in economics someday for Vic's Law:

The Middle Man will always own the customer and have the last laugh. It's what they do best so don't try and fight it.
On board gaming:
You're moving into board games, itself an industry that's been growing over the past few years. Did that chance of environment make the decision to switch easier? Do you think it's a viable option for other developers?

It's growing but I don't think in any way that is going to help me. My board game is going to be just a few notches up on the scale above a vanity project. Now if you are Fantasy Flight or Days of Wonder, you are loving the renaissance that has sprung up in the last couple of years. I chose to try a board game because a one man computer game project needs a coder first and foremost. A board game needs a designer and a project manager at its core. I can't code any more. I think I can do the design and I can bite my lip and muddle through on the project management.

It's definitely much more viable than it used to be. There is a huge array of options now to print and distribute physical products like board games now more so than even 5 years ago. I can even try and disprove Vic's Law again and sell just from a kickstarter or my own website. Probably not the best idea but it's an option.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Buatha »

So, did he burn some sort of bridge with Steam to where he can't move his games over to the platform?

At this point, it seems like he would have nothing to lose now unless there are support issues.
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tgb
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Re: Cryptic Comet

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Buatha wrote:So, did he burn some sort of bridge with Steam to where he can't move his games over to the platform?

At this point, it seems like he would have nothing to lose now unless there are support issues.
From what I can recall, Steam rejected Armageddon Empires (and maybe Solium Infernum) for being too "crude". This was back when Steam still had standards.

Occult Chronicles has been in Greenlight Hell since dbt was in kneepants, but still hasn't been approved.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by MindToyGames »

tgb wrote:
Buatha wrote:So, did he burn some sort of bridge with Steam to where he can't move his games over to the platform?

At this point, it seems like he would have nothing to lose now unless there are support issues.
From what I can recall, Steam rejected Armageddon Empires (and maybe Solium Infernum) for being too "crude". This was back when Steam still had standards.

Occult Chronicles has been in Greenlight Hell since dbt was in kneepants, but still hasn't been approved.
Well, it has no video (strike 1, voters seem to insist on videos) and it hasn't been updated much since it was posted (strike 2) and plus, the description isn't very detailed and the screenshots don't make it very approachable. I thought less of Occult than his first two games, but its better than this Greenlight listing shows.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Kelric »

On the board game front, why not try a Kickstarter campaign?
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by AWS260 »

A Solium Infernum review by the best writer in the board game business, Dan Thurot: https://spacebiff.com/2020/04/20/solium-infernum/
But while this is terribly formal (and a bear to learn the first time you play), it’s also a perfect fit for the play-by-email format. Had it been incarnated in cardboard, Solium Infernum might have been a negotiation game. Instead, its unique position makes it something even more intriguing — a game about wrestling with hellish bureaucracy as much as it is a game about wrestling with your demonic peers. It’s about the petty imps who must stamp their seal of approval on the merest gesture in another lordling’s direction, even when that gesture is a knife to the throat.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by baelthazar »

Solium Infernum was/is one of the most brilliant games I have ever played. I really wish that Cryptic Comet had not basically faded into obscurity. What I would love to see is a "prettied up" (able to be run in full HD would be nice) version of Solium Infernum with some of the rougher spots smoothed and more options added.

I agree with this article, it was a blast to PBEM.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Butterknife »

I would like to point out that when we played Solium Infernum together on this forum years ago, I kicked all of your butts.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by El Guapo »

I'm pretty sure that I won every game.
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Re: Cryptic Comet

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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by AWS260 »

And another new Solium Infernum review, from Tom Chick. I am not sure why two of my favorite reviewers are talking about SI now, but it's clearly their fault that I've reinstalled. Now I'm playing a game against the AI to remember the rules, and might be up for a PBEM soon!
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Lassr »

He's writing books now:
Send us Your Armies
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Re: Cryptic Comet

Post by Pyperkub »

Butterknife wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:24 pm Now you made me go and look it up!
I wasn't even in that game! I think dropbox killed my public image sharing, so my screenshots from the other games may not load.
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