- [EN] This news post is also available on the official Link-Dead website.
- [PL] Ta wiadomosc znajduje sie w jezyku polskim na oficjalnej stronie Link-Dead.
Link-Dead public alpha testing version is out! Finally after what is now years the anticipation is over. You can get a glimpse of what Michal Marcinkowski’s new game is becoming. Some have already been playing LD in our private testing sessions for a few weeks now and they haven’t still left, which is a sign they might like the game. This is the first reason I am releasing an early public testing version. The game is at a point were it is so enjoyable that I have to share it with a larger audience.
The game also comes in with a built-in map editor which builds upon the custom graphics engine I made. The editor is I can say without shame the most advanced 2D tile map editor in existence. Instead of using pre-drawn tiles the map is drawn with a technique similar to a paint program. If you’re a hardcore mapmaker and can live for now without a detailed help manual you can make maps with it. I hope somebody will learn it and help build official maps with me. This is a second reason for releasing early.
The third reason is because I need funding. Game making is the only thing I do and if you don’t help me out I won’t have time to fully commit to this great passion of mine. I want to create the most awesome and original 2D game ever and I won’t stop unless Odin himself stands in my way. I need money for myself to live and to purchase new game assets for Link-Dead. I want everything in this game to be top quality and I hope you notice this while playing. This forces me to pay for a lot of stuff you will see and hear in this game.
The bottomline is:
I want you to pay me whatever you feel you can or should pay me in exchange for hours of multiplayer fun.
Yup, that’s true. I’m not asking for any fixed amount of $ just pay me whatever you can and you can go on and start fragging.
The joy of drilling a dude against the floor after he tripped over a bomb. Shooting a mutant in the head while he tries to pathetically escape screaming in agony on his broken legs, is all gonna be your moments just in a few minutes.
Don’t wait cause this won’t be forever. The full version of Link-Dead once its out will be probably subscription based or costing a fixed amount.
Click PayPal button -> Set amount of $ -> Play
When you have purchased you will be immediately e-mailed with the Link-Dead alpha installer download link.
If you have further questions concerning payments please visit the FAQ page on Payments.
There might be a situation that the game does not work for you or doesn’t work as expected. I know there might be problems with really old video cards and cards with Intel Chipsets and ATi HD Radeon. I offer you in this case a full money back guarantee. So you have nothing to lose! However if you get your money back I won’t be able to fix the issue for you, so it’s your choice.
I set the minimum requirements as follows:
Windows 2000/XP (Vista/7 needs admin privileges to install)
P4 1.5 GHz single core.
1GB RAM
Pixel Shader 1.0 compliant video card with 128MB RAM
Hard Drive: 500 MB
Linux version only works currently in dedicated server mode. If you want to host a server you will find a link to the Linux binaries in the e-mail you get.
Useful links:
Link-Dead Homepage (official release news will be here)
Link-Dead Official Forums Thread (you can login with your soldatforums.com or MM’s blog account)
IRC chat: QuakeNet; channel #linkdead
You should Like these and add yourself as a friend:
Facebook fan page
Youtube channel
ModDB page
Steam group
LD Twitter
Guys, What i have to say as an alpha tester is that the game is AWESOME!
Hope to see you online soon!
Is this a single-time pay-what-you want chance to test the alpha, or that popular indie scheme of “pay now – receive later versions too”?
No this is not per-order. This is an offer to play the alpha and an undefined number of versions of the alpha (I can assure many) until the beta version.
Yes, I paid you $2.
Fear not! My 5 minutes of playtime with underline has convinced me to pay more money everytime I have it spare (And it doesn’t crash xD)
This game is great, and can only get better though.
Will generous alpha payments possibly lead to a discount full version?
Im talking $50 here.
If we want to pay you twice(like Ubern00b is saying) do we use this “Buy Now” button the second time or the “Donate” button?
MM, dou you want to say, if I have not Visa or MasterCard, I can’t play even alpha? It’s funny. I can pay and I wanna pay some $, but in PayPal I have no appropriate option.
Sadly.
Will generous alpha payments possibly lead to a discount full version?
Of course for that sum there will be discounts. Everybody that pays is registered and I can easily see how much you paid. So fear not, I will remember you.
Im talking $50 here.
Wow!
If we want to pay you twice(like Ubern00b is saying) do we use this “Buy Now” button the second time or the “Donate” button?
It goes to the same account so it doesn’t matter, but please use the Buy Now button because then I know it was for Link-Dead.
MM, dou you want to say, if I have not Visa or MasterCard, I can’t play even alpha?
Paypal has other options of funding your account (bank transfer, checks and cash), but first create a PayPal account. More information can be found here: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/different-ways-to-pay-through-paypal.html
No matter how much I’d pay, I’d either feel like smooching off for too cheap, or paying too much for “just” alpha.
Good luck. May a second Minecraft happen to you.
Well done, I paid)
Wow, that’s pretty good for alpha!
MM I have followed you for over half a decade but I am still underage. I do not have any way to pay you but if I did I would. I know my parents wouldn’t under any circumstances pay for this kind of stuff no matter what I say. Is ther ANY way of getting to play this somehow?? (I’m 14 and nearing 15)
PROBLEM: I appreciate that! You do not have to be 18 to create a Paypal account. You also don’t have to be 18 to make a transfer in your local bank to that Paypal account. So what’s the problem? You don’t have money to do that? Steal it, you know it’s worth it.
Pay for testing an alpha version of game? Are out of your mind?
Donations – OK
Payment for the full version – OK
Payment (even $1) for testing – No, thx
Hey Michał. Nie istnieje inna możliwość zapłacenia SMSem? Tak jak za Soldata? Jest opcja mPay ale ona wymaga przelania kasy na konto. A ze mam spoko kasy na komorce to lepiej tak bym ja spozytkował
SMS’em byłoby bardzo fajnie 😉
Can I pay in Chuck Norris jokes or some kind of manual labour??
@Unsigned You don’t pay for testing, you pay to have lots of fun with a well working early version of the game. And at the same time, you directly support the future development. Don’t be such a wimp.
@PROBLEM haha, he said manual labour.
I’m still waiting for mail with link to download.
~robinho
@Unsigned: It’s not a matter of just paying for helping test the alpha, it’s a matter of helping this game get some footing so we can see it turn into a fuckin sweet fully supported online game.
I hope to see videos soon posted on youtube of some awesome gameplay 😀 congratz on the alpha release
@programmer.laik: check your junk mail, I got it fast.
——
I’m really happy with the alpha release !!! The game has gone a long long long way since the last gameplay test demo.
I simply love it.
Only thing that prevent me and my friends from fully enjoying the product is my our routers wich force us to rely on other ppl server. If someone could leave one open it would be NICE !
PS: You can really see MM game design spirit flying over the computer when you play it. Even though the experience is quite the opposite of soldat it feels like the same kind of goodness.
Hey Michal. Good work and thank you for the release. Now I have to figure out how to give you beer. If you ever happen to go to Friesland, I have lots of family there that could give you good Frisian beer on my behalf.
I think I only have $5 on my paypal account. Is it possible to give you more later? It usually takes days for me to be able to update my Paypal account. Bleh. There needs to be an easier credit cardless way.
“It’s not a matter of just paying for helping test the alpha, it’s a matter of helping this game get some footing so we can see it turn into a fuckin sweet fully supported online game.” – josheat
There’s no guarantee that MM won’t abandon it and leave it rot just like Soldat. I’d love to give MM and Link-Dead my support, but MM hasn’t proven to be trustworthy enough for me to pay for his game.
For an alpha version of his game.
And then pay again for the full version.
I really don’t like greedy people…
L[one]R You get what you pay for. He’s asking for a small donation, like a few dollars. If you can’t pay for a hamburger and fries worth of cash, then stop complaining. Send 5 bucks or so. If you enjoy it, send more. How is it greedy? I’m sure donators will get a discount on full version releases.
@L[one]R: He only wants to get paid after 2+ years of hard work. You are the greedy one, you want his game for nothing.
LD is an awesome game that gets better with every one of the frequent updates. Im thinking that some if not all of the money generated by this alpha goes toward advertising the official full release.
@L[one]R: Soldat had a great run. I have played it for a number of years. MM leaving Soldat to focus on this game gets my thumbs up. The fact he left it with enesce, then enesce getting bored and ditching it doesn’t have much to do with this. If you really think paying (even at least) a couple of dollars to help contribute and test is a burden on your shoulder, then you should start thinking about other things than games.
Sounds fair. You deserve more than $1 limit per donation.
I want to shout this game out to the world!
programmer.laik: check now
L[one]R: I stopped coding Soldat after 6 years and then I got a replacement. I think it was fair for a free game.
Snow: yes I will come get that beer:) We had a deal:) Maybe we will meet somewhere in the world.
Thanks everyone for the good words!
Can anyone host dedicated servers?
yay for debit plus cards? im not paying yet…. but maybe soon….. seeing as i played the crap out of soldat like it was porn and i was young…. tho i was young…. fuck it… once i finnish my exams ill send you some of my amazingly worthless new zealand money <3 oh i have a question….. we can put facial hair on a guys right? i cant remember anymore (you know it will make things manly)
i think it would be cool for no reason if you get all sweaty if you are alive a long time. ok thats my 10 cents
It’d be nice if there was some organized testing day/hour as for now all the servers seem to be empty and nobody seems join servers with one player. It’s also pretty buggy. Otherwise looks promising.
There has to pass a few days until there’s enough people who have the game so the momentum builds up and there are constant games playing. Although I played a couple matches today, you have to be attentive when people are joining.
In the meantime:
join IRC #linkdead or the forums (http://forums.link-dead.net/) and organize some games.
This game is just amazing!
I´m following this blog for around 1 year and now when the public alpha is out i can not test it as my pc burned and im only on an old laptop currently…
I will pay soon enough GL with the next steps!
It’s a deal Michal. It is possible that we might one day be able to meet as I plan on a trip to Europe soon. I’d love to see Poland.
@darDar, I feel your pain. I got nailed by the “Security Tool” trojan 2 months ago and lost a lot of data. Once I have an operating system on my rig again and a bit of free time, I can play LD. At the moment, I can’t. arg
FPS: 3
And when I try to Browse->EU Dedicated I see “Disconnect”
My computer sucks;s 512 RAM here…^^
programmer.laik: try opening menu: Video -> Presets -> Minimalist
Fucking Awesome!!!
I started the game, and I suddenly heard awesome music!
Thanks MM for this game.
Just wanted to say thanks for the dedicated server. Your quick reaction time will let met enjoy this game a lot more. To who ever did this, on behalf of the whole comunity: THANK YOU !
1GB ram, oh dear…
Found a little bug in the map.
This screenshot shows where the appears:
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3232/beginv.jpg
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6861/67453625.jpg
http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/9664/42615008.jpg
It’s like climbing up a ladder, without any ladder.
But anyway, the game is AWESOME!!
The only thing I don’t know, how to use a medikit?
RungAaz: thanks, you can automatically send me screenshots by pressing F5 in the game.
But anyway, the game is AWESOME!!
The only thing I don’t know, how to use a medikit?
Great!
There’s a video below on this blog that shows how to do it.
Nice job MM, definitely looking forward to future releases. I’m having trouble connecting to the master server, is there anyway to add a bot?
Already reported. Anybody has same problem?
http://npshare.de/files/75c2fde2/troubles.PNG
I can’t connect to servers too. Only by pressing “Run Game”.
http://img602.imageshack.us/f/10808145.png
Is it normal? x guns?
“I stopped coding Soldat after 6 years and then I got a replacement. I think it was fair for a free game.” – MM
It’s true that it’s your game, you have the right to do anything (or nothing) with it and decide what’s fair and what isn’t.
But there are people who love Soldat, bought it and have been supporting you (I didn’t even regret paying for a 2nd key). Some people still do.
In return you could make sure the game is left in good hands and has a good future. It’s not an order or an obligation – it’s just one last (but very important) favor Soldat community hopes you’d do for them after all the support they gave to you. It shouldn’t take that much time and effort from your current project.
If you simply ignore people when they need you – be it in real life or online – don’t expect that they’ll still respect and support you.
———–
Like I said, I don’t mind paying 1$ for an LD alpha, I don’t mind paying even more. But I’m afraid that all I’ll be paying for is more and more broken promises.
Example: http://soldat.thd.vg/en/post/soldat_promotion
It seems that many of you aren’t familiar with what’s been going on with Soldat for the past few years. This pretty much covers it: http://forums.soldat.pl/index.php?topic=38999.0
And the same can happen to LD, which is why I hesitate paying for it.
Michael, sorry to say this but you chose a really bad date to do this. Call of Duty Black Ops just hit the airwaves. I’m just saying this in terms of business timing.
I played Soldat for hours and hours and know I got more worth out of it than the price you put on it so I went ahead and “bought” the alpha for US20/21.
I didn’t realize this was ALL you did for a living. I asked a few posts ago about what you did for a job. I am also a software developer but I went with the better paying corporate world.
I hope what I sent helps.
My registration for Soldat cost me only $9. Michal’s been bugfixing and improving Soldat for 6 years. I’ve enjoyed and still do enjoy Soldat very much. I think I got more than my $9 worth since 2002 to now. Michal decides to work on a more modern 2d game and has been already dedicated to LD for years making sure that we’ve got the most awesome experience for a 2d game. I don’t know why so many people are bitching about him leaving Soldat for another project. I see many many games that get purchased for $25 to $70 which only gets attention from its developer for about a month to a year and dedicated fans are left with a buggy piece of crap that they wasted their money on.
If the guy’s been dedicated to my favorite game for 6 years if not longer, my money was spent wisely and I got one hell of a deal.
Please post an video! Those of us who have standard chipsets want to see some action
L[one]R: But there are people who love Soldat, bought it and have been supporting you (I didn’t even regret paying for a 2nd key). Some people still do.
In return you could make sure the game is left in good hands and has a good future.
Trust me, this is taken care of. I’m not just ditching Soldat. It’s gonna be further developed. I just don’t have an official announcement yet.
treeSkwerral: Michael, sorry to say this but you chose a really bad date to do this. Call of Duty Black Ops just hit the airwaves. I’m just saying this in terms of business timing.
LOL but that game is total crap. I am not in any way competing with AAA titles, I hope that the people that are sick of them play my games.
I didn’t realize this was ALL you did for a living. I asked a few posts ago about what you did for a job. I am also a software developer but I went with the better paying corporate world.
It’s tempting, but this is my job right here.
woops: Please post an video! Those of us who have standard chipsets want to see some action
My computer is too slow to record action so this goes to anyone that can do it, please make a video of a deathmatch!
treeSkwerral, I agree with you. I thought the same in release day.
How is it *public* alpha when you have to pay for it? Isn’t that more like shareware alpha?
Not saying you shouldn’t have done this, just nitpicking!
And unable to pay.
@MM I already sent a bug report, but then only one screenshot is sent, so you porbably can’t see what I was talking about.
Thanks for the hint with the video.
@MM: Sorry, I somewhat missed your point back there and went a little off-topic (also was a little jealous of your little party here).
I was just disappointed that we have to pay for yet another unfinished product (even if it’s a small amount), and still have to pay for the full version. It just doesn’t seem very fair since you take more than you give. I wouldn’t be complaining if something like that never happened before.
But oh well. I just hope you know what you’re doing, and that in the end everyone will be rainbow-happy. And that it won’t take too long for that to happen.
———–
@treeSkwerral: Nah, 3D shooter is nothing compared to a 2D one. Those are two completely different categories, so they can’t really compete. I think Link-Dead and Soldat are the only 2D shooters that can become leaders in that genre.
Will it be considered that any amount paid for the alpha will be taken out of the purchase price in the full version when paying for that (when the day comes)?
IMO the best part about the game is the intro (who doesn’t love climatic music??). Other than that its pretty disappointing that with a 512mb video card I cant run the game on anything higher than the minimal graphic option. Good thing I didn’t pay anymore than 10c for it.
Also I cant even discuss the bad graphics online with other players. I tried telling a guy that ‘90% of the scenery is black’ and it printed out : ‘90564046703f the scenery is black’
m00: you can change the settings. The background is black only when you use the minimalist options.
@m00: Is it an ATI card? I’ve been having the same problems with the majority of terrain.
@Underline: It’s the entire map that is black. Not just the background. It makes the game nearly unplayable as most players are invisible unless outside of a building.
Yes its an ATI card
gnat, absolutely like yours, all map is black, except some of parts.
Like this guys? http://npshare.de/files/75c2fde2/troubles.PNG
I’ve got ATi Radeon X1650
I have trouble sending money. When I click paypal link, my browser warns about cross-site scrip. Where I send the money? To the same email, where I registered soldat?
Made a little modification to the Gunflash:
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/482/modification.jpg
If I buy this, will I have to pay for the final version when it comes out? The amount of cash I put in depends on your answer, MM.
Sorry for the last question, read the faq, understood.
Please post your issues and ideas on the forums so I can respond to them in a more ordered manner: http://forums.link-dead.net/
I clicked the paypal link from link-dead’s page, that worked!
Just some minor things:
I think it’s ‘adapted to’ not ‘adapted for’.
There should be a game preview not just a map preview. You are saying that the game is enjoyable why not show that?
And a question:
For people who donate with currently unsupported hardware and/or OS does it mean that you are going to remedy their problem?
i want my 2 euros pack. this game is crap. too many rough edges. sorry.
@ander
LOL, if this is your opinion than you are not even worth 2 euros.
Ah, i know you played it for 2 minutes died all the time and decided that this game is crap?
You payed for this game so its yours, thats the best chance to find out how awesome it is. 😉
I have been following this blog since beginning and… MM really know how to hype his creation and then there’s big pool of fanboys who circle jerk to every MM’s post. Really, this alpha is crap. I tried for an hour. Then I started Minecraft…
ander:
You must be stupid for not know how to play even after 1 hr of gameplay.
OR
You are too bad at playing that you got killed all the time
OR
You are here to say stupid things.
OR
You are a liar
OR
you really do not like the game, but i doubt that.
There should be a game preview not just a map preview. You are saying that the game is enjoyable why not show that?
I don’t have time to make a video, sorry maybe later. I’m not asking you for 200$ you can see the game yourself.
And a question:
For people who donate with currently unsupported hardware and/or OS does it mean that you are going to remedy their problem?
I can’t promise that. There are certain video cards especially older ones that are just too bad to even start anything with. For example if they don’t support render-to-textures you won’t see anything in the game. But I’m doing the best I can to support everyone. There is a minimalist rendering setting which looks crap but is playable.
Underline: no point in arguing, let him play Minecraft, I’m sure he’s having the time of his life.
Funny thing is, that LD alpha runs on my system poorly than Team Fortress 2 (and Minecraft). Both are running on my T-series ThinkPad much greater framerate with quite good stable performance. With LD one core thrusts to ceiling and then I can kinda lag it. Didn’t try on my work PC, but there wouldn’t be any problems, since that beast is real gaemen rig.
And.
The menu system is horrible and retarded. Both with touchpad, trackpoint and regular lasermouse. I understand that MM tries to be innovative, but that is just plain stupid.
Also, bug report. LD settings whatnot doesn’t save because I have UAC turned on and LD wants to write into its “main directory” to which he doesn’t have access to (I installed LD to ProgramFiles).
I remember post in MSDN about 10 years ago, when there were great flamewars about software running with limited accounts and I remember that since XP final release Microsoft tells developers to fix their software. Software requiring elevated privileges for no specific reason is badly written software.
And to underline: I have been playing computer games and into software development longer than I can remember. Quality assurance and beta-testing was once my main work. I think I know how to use my gear.
Good luck to MM with that game and hopefully he can smooth out all those rough edges. I must go to work now.
When will I receive my download link? I’ve paid 2$, transaction was successful, but there is still no mail with download link
Pay for a buggy alpha? Not a good marketing. It’s like paying to see a movie trailer. And I don’t pay for movie trailers, I watch em on youtube, and so does most of the ppl. As soon as money’s envolved into a project, a lot of people will turn their backs and start flaming. No wonder, they feel like they’ve been locked out of the magical cookie jar (e.g.: Your alpha release) and (believe it or not) it’s IMPOSSIBLE for a human being in 2010 to have patience to click on anything else besides the download button in case of a game in alpha stage. Give these ppl a video at least, so the urge to play the game may evolve inside them, and thus convice them to pay a dime for your product. This is how the devils workshop (economics) work these days IN MY HUMBLE OPINION.
If you write $$$ on a black box, it will be ignored(mostly). If you write SUPERFUNAWESOMENESS on a box filled with lots of bloody pictures and THEN the $$$ part ppl will buy that no matter what that box contains. “Desire creates a market”
And for this advice I take no charge.
P.S.: I wish u and the paying community good luck with the game!
You can buy the alpha for $0.1 . If that’s too much, then go **** yourself. It’s great fun, even though there are a few bugs.
Lol, no one is forced to pay anything so why everyone complains about it?
ander: if you worked in quality assurance then you know what an alpha version is. Chill out. Don’t install in ProgramFiles. Those games you mentioned are years old and they don’t have stuff like real-time simulated smoke, so bad comparison.
Philipp: email me so I can respond to that.
7 angels with 7 plagues: most movies are shit so they release fancy trailers to gather some attention. You know I will make an awesome game and you will buy it.
If I pay the game with someone else’s wallet, then I can indicate my email when paying?
I do not understand the system of fucking paypal.. Moreover, it not support of my country.
I also understand very little English, so please write the word easier, because I use Google Translator
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