Towns

After 13 years of nothing and now the developer comes back to tell everyone the source code is released. No real explanation, no promise to work with whoever want to pick up the stick, just "here ya go, I'm out" For years the developer had the gull to ask 15 bucks for an unfinished product. The only reason so many people came back when the news popped is cause fans kept it alive. This is very much unfinished, and although fun it had so much potential. The fact the developer has the guts to still charge money for this is just appalling.

Many reviews here complain that Towns should have been early access, but this chronology of what really happened explains why it wasn't: [olist] [*]Towns was released on Steam. [*]Steam added the concept of "Early Access". [*]Development of Towns was abandoned. [/olist] And there you have it. Towns was never early access, because early access didn't exist when it was released on Steam. And you can't go from "not early access" to "early access" - that's backwards. But is it fun? Well I've certainly had a lot of fun playing it, both before and after the Steam release. Some modding was needed to get it into a playable state, but nothing that couldn't be done without the recent source code release. And with the source code release, it might even be time to move it out of the "Abandoned" category in my library ...

There are a lot of people in the reviews with very strong opinions. I definitely got my money's worth out of this game when it first came out. People need to view Early Access games the same as a lottery ticket. Most of them aren't going to be what you want. I also don't understand the vitriol over steam continuing to sell an unfinished game. Buyer beware. I'm sure there are people that bought it after development stopped that had fun playing it. Why would you deny them that? If the amount you are spending on a game is not trivial, do some research before you click buy. If the amount you spend IS trivial, why are you bellyaching so hard? I don't go to McDonald's and expect a filet mignon. I think the release of the source code is a good outcome, and I think the new price is extremely generous. I do not regret my purchase, or the price I originally paid.

I bought this game early on when it was released in early access. I loved it and enjoyed the updates. I couldn't wait to see where it was going and was so excited to see the finished product. Then it was abandoned. This was definitely a learning experience for me and left a terrible taste in my mouth for early access games. Now I make sure to wait and see what happens with them while they are developed before purchasing to not have more abandoned games in my library. Don't buy an abandoned game. Especially one that has been left for so long. To come back and essentially say, "here's the code, go do the work for me. I'll keep making money off your free labor though". That's extra gross. I'll be grateful to anyone that has the passion to finish this game though. It would be fun to play it again.

Haha, I forgot about this scam-game. Ye be warned, customer.

The game's source has been released for further community development. That's awesome and while progress may be slow, the game was and still IS worth playing.