How much would you pay if OTTD was on sale?

[Drury]

Title says it all. I'd pay 30€ for it

Please, don't discuss GPL or stuff like that. This thread is here only for fun.

[planetmaker]

You can donate, if you like this game: http://www.openttd.org/en/donate - all contributions welcome. The web infrastructure and compile servers are not free of charge

[Wolf01]

I payed 6€ for the DOS version of TTD, then I donate some money to the community and contributed with some patches.
This is what I would like to pay for *every* game.

[belugas]

Knowing that I can compile it, I don't think I'd pay anything
Apart very rare occasions, I only get open source software.

[Dante123]

i pay by creating new content now (still learning but hope to create some kick-ass stuff)

[StopRightThere]

Knowing that I can compile it, I don't think I'd pay anything
Apart very rare occasions, I only get open source software.

But you contribute to the code, you cannot put a price on that!

[kamnet]

Knowing that I can compile it, I don't think I'd pay anything
Apart very rare occasions, I only get open source software.

But you contribute to the code, you cannot put a price on that!

Sure I can. I charge $25/hr for code *grin* I'd honestly probably pay $10-$15 for it. That's how much I paid for SimCity 1 & 2 and for Roller Coaster Tycoon 2. I think those are the last games I ever bought.

[Dwight_K._Schrute]

If someone would say "Pay 50 € or you can never play it again" I definitely would pay it.

And due to the fact that I can not contribute as a drawer or a coder... I will pay if I have a job after my studies (hope so )

[Bad_Brett]

If someone would say "Pay 50 € or you can never play it again" I definitely would pay it.

And due to the fact that I can not contribute as a drawer or a coder... I will pay if I have a job after my studies (hope so )

I wouldn't, because then it wouldn't be the same thing. The great thing about OpenTTD is that there are so many people adding small pieces to the puzzle, not because they want to make money, but because they want to make a great product for themselves and everybody else. Money is basically what ruined the computer gaming industry, so if someone tried to start making money on OpenTTD, I would be very sad.

But, if they needed my 50 bucks to keep the server up, I would definately donate it.

[kamnet]

I don't think money ruined the industry. Money is what makes the industry go-round. In all honesty, though, I think for THIS project if people started to demand money, you wouldn't get nearly as great a product because of the pressure to produce product in exchange for the money. People with plenty of free time and freedom to think and imagine is what has not only extended the life of this game, but IMO has made it superior to nearly all the other "tycoon" games.

[Dada]

I think a valid pay model for indie games is something under €10. (Let's not debate on the definition of "indie"; substitute with whatever adjective you wish, as long as you keep in mind we're talking about games developed independently of large studios/publishers.) €6 sounds very reasonable.

This is a working model for indie games in general. iirc VVVVVV was on sale for $5.

The question is: what are you buying for €6? A physical copy? A support ID number? Or would that be the only way to legally be able to obtain OpenTTD (barring forks, of course)?

I'd love to have an OpenTTD CD with a nice cover and everything. If there's some service that allows you to sell CDs to people on-demand I'm sure this would be a fun way to ask for donations.

[Bad_Brett]

I don't think money ruined the industry. Money is what makes the industry go-round.

Yes, of course money makes the industry go-round, but when the economical aspect gets too important, it often hurts the quality of the end product, pretty much as the big record companis can hurt the quality of the music. They will try to deliver the product as fast as possible and address bugs and such in patches (good luck if you're not on a constant Internet connection). They will add intrusive DRM that only hurts legitimate users. They will waste time on pointless features such as intro videos that looks good on previews, but at the same time totally neglect things such as gameplay balance and replayability.

I remember when Outpost came out. It was so criticized for all its bugs, but honestly it was nothing compared to new games. And at least they had a somewhat innovative idea.

I'd love to have an OpenTTD CD with a nice cover and everything. If there's some service that allows you to sell CDs to people on-demand I'm sure this would be a fun way to ask for donations.

If the money went directly to server costs, yes. Giving the developers any kind of income would create problems, since it would be impossible to decide how it should be distributed.

But it's funny how a lot of people seem to think I'm stupid for creating graphics without trying to make any money. It's like they can't understand that you can create something just because it's fun.

[Dante123]

too bad most modern games are closed off at all sides. if the games of today would be more open for creators to create content, most of them would be way more popular

[Eddi]

many modern games are very open for user content. Warcraft 3, Civilization 4 and 5, Sim City 4

[Arie-]

Football Manager.

[orudge]

For what it's worth, we've had donations ranging from $0.50 to €100, and everything in between, in a variety of currencies. All of you who have donated have been very generous, and your support is very much appreciated, as it allows us to keep our servers running.

[HUgo8745]

If it would be buyable in the store i would easily pay more than 30€ for it.

[kamnet]

Interesting. How much would it cost to develop OpenTTD if we were paying developers?

How about nearly $3 million? Based on that it looks like $15 a copy would make the project break even.

[Michi_cc]

How about nearly $3 million? Based on that it looks like $15 a copy would make the project break even.

That figure is only estimated from the size of the code base. The quality of the OpenTTD code is a lot better than what I have seen in many commercial projects, which means that the estimate is probably on the low end for comparable quality. And if course it misses the cost of creating the equivalent to OpenGFX, OpenSFX and OpenMSX.

-- Michael Lutz

[Kogut]

And many, many, many newgrfs (and ais)