Getting actual sales numbers for game titles is often difficult and unfortunately, we haven’t found a magic divining rod to get those numbers (yet), but with services such as SteamSpy it is at least possible to get a rough estimate for the leading game sales platform.
Our community member “bronzebeard” took it upon himself to compile a list of known Ogre-based Steam titles and their estimated sales numbers. He also promised to update the list approx. every month.
PS: If you are aware of any missing Ogre-based application and their sales numbers (either from Steam or some other source), let us know in this forum thread. Thanks!
As the old year starts to slowly fade away in our rear view mirror, we want to look back on what 2014 had in store for Ogre3D and at the same time look ahead what 2015 might bring. So strap in for this ride back to the beginning of last year…
Review of 2014
It all started off with one key event early in 2014 when one well-known (at least in Ogre3D circles) Argentinian fellow joined the team: Matias Goldberg. In the last few months he was (and still is) the driving force behind the efforts to develop the revamped Ogre 2.0 version. Without him that would not have been possible in its current form…or more accurately: It would not have been possible…full stop.
The work on Ogre 2.0 was one of the cornerstones in last year’s efforts, but of course the rest of the team was not sitting around idly, but instead focused on Ogre 1.10. The DirectX11 and GL3+ render systems in particular received a lot of attention and will be among the highlights of this upcoming release. More on that later once we arrive back in the present time on our journey through the last 365 days.
Two other notable technical points are the addition of WebGL support to Ogre3D as well as AZDO work:
AZDO: As part of his Ogre 2.0 efforts Matias has been working on optimizing Ogre3D from an AZDO (Almost Zero Driver Overhead) point of view. For now this only covers the GL3+ render system, but will be extended in the future. A dedicated post from Matias will follow, outlining the changes and improvements in more detail.
Of course all that work on the engine itself only makes sense if there is an active community and eco-system actually making use of it. Some projects to showcase are listed below:
So all in all it was another pretty good year for Ogre3D, but we got quite a few things to optimize and change for 2015…and that is where we are back in the present and “put the pedal to the metal” to jump-start into 2015 and all we have planned for it:
Outlook for 2015
One of the first things we want to finish is the go-live of the new Ogre3D website we have planned. This basically entails a face-lift and getting rid of the slightly annoying ad banners. So stay tuned for that.
Another major step will be the release of two new Ogre versions, namely Ogre 1.10 as well as the first Ogre 2.0 CTP (Community Technology Preview). Once we have set the final dates we will let you know via a blog post as well as where to find further details. This especially pertains to Ogre 2.0 for which we want to set up some dedicated sources of information to help with the upcoming transition once 2.x nears its first stable release.
At the same time, the regular development efforts will continue and as always we encourage everyone to chime in wherever possible, by providing feedback and input in the forums, reporting issues on our JIRA tracker and ideally also help solving those by submitting pull-requests for our official source code repository. Additionally, donations are always welcome as well to help managing the infrastructure costs.
This last point nicely leads to another thing we want to tackle this 2015. Go-live of our CI server (Continuous Integration) for automated testing of Ogre3D. Once this is ready to use, we will announce it here as well in a dedicated post.
We of course also hope to participate again in this year’s GSoC after we did not make the cut last year. The preparation for it will begin soon by opening up the discussion in our GSoC forum section regarding interesting potential projects ideas. If you have one, note it down and join in the upcoming idea discussion.
Lastly, we also plan to do another Ogre User Survey to get some insights into the user base along with its priorities and wishes and some information about the usage of our engine in general. As you already guessed: This will also be covered in a dedicated announcement once we survey is open. Prior to it, we will trigger a public discussion in the forums regarding the questions we want to ask. Feel free to join in if you have questions that might be of interested and that you would like to see included in the survey.
That’s about it in terms of what we have planned right now, but as usual we will have to see how things pan out. As usual let us know what you think in the forums…and then let’s get cracking.
Today we want to highlight another game based on Ogre3D that made its way successfully onto Steam: Kromaia. Check it out on Steam and watch the trailer at the end of this post.
The frantic old-school action of classic coin-op shoot-‘em-ups comes crashing headlong into the 21st century with Kromaia, exclusively for PC. Explosive high-octane blasting combines with hordes of enemies in a 360˚ environment, allowing you to fly, spin and shoot anywhere and everywhere!
Where most shooters see you racing along a fixed path to blast anything in your way, Kromaia does things differently. Set in three-dimensional space, you’re free not just to explore but also dodge and blast through hordes of enemies all intent on destroying you! With your objectives spread out in all directions, it’s a true test of high-speed flying and sharpshooting skill – only the greatest space pilots need apply!
Game Features
True 360˚ Action – Kromaia sends classic coin-op shooting action hurtling into a new dimension, allowing players to explore huge 3D worlds full of things to blow up!
Harder, Stronger, Faster – The better you do, the tougher things get; adaptive AI adjusts to your abilities, ensuring you’ll always face a true challenge!
The Bigger They Are… – Survive through all your objectives and you’ll have a bigger challenge ahead: gigantic bosses that need to be destroyed before they destroy you!
Take Your Pick – Four unique craft, each with their own style of weaponry, let you experience the action of Kromaia in your own way. Rapid-fire guns, homing shots, powerful blasts or melee strikes… it’s totally up to you!
Some time ago, we already posted about the Ogre3D-powered game “Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends”. Since then, the studio JetDogs has ported the game over to Linux and is now actively trying to get into Steam Greenlight. If you like the game, give them your vote please.
Here their complete press-release:
«Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends» – now also for Linux!
For a long time, Linux has been liked mainly by computerists and the computer enthusiasts but not by gamers. But the times are changing and from some time developers started to create wonderful games for Linux. «Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends» is one of them. Of course, the decision to adapt this game to Linux was to a certain extent influenced by its success and popularity under Windows.
«Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends» is one of the most popular hidden object adventure created by JetDogs Studios. An intriguing plot with many twists, many smart brainteasers and gorgeous game graphics in full 3D that makes scenes and actions completely realistic – all this is available in the story about a young and pretty orphan named Eva which set on her trip to the very heart of Bohemia – the glorious and mysterious town of Prague for coming into an inheritance from her relative who had died under mysterious circumstances. Having arrived in the destination town, she faces ghosts in the deserted house, discloses the band of black magicians aiming to destroy the entire world and, to crown it all, she finds out the truth of her descendance.
Accompanied by its great success, this game was submitted to Ubuntu App Store and soon «Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends» can be bought through Ubuntu Software Center.
The game can be also found at Steam Greenlight. At the Steam Greenlight website you can watch the intro video as well as see the screenshots of the game or leave your comments about the game. We’ll be very happy if you could give us your votes to get into Steam!
