Introducing the Archive Games Distribution Platform

[Sim9]

Greetings! I've recently wrapped up the 1.0 release of our new distribution tool for Windows and Linux, Archive Games (http://ArchiveGames.net).

Archive Games is a system we developed to allow our users to download all of our games in one place. We're seeking to add new users and new games to the platform, and make it a one-stop location for great games.

A summary of features of Archive Games:
Simple & intuitive user interface
Cross Platform - Windows & Linux clients
Direct administration backend - keeps you in the driver's seat by letting you update your game information directly [or let us handle the details for you!]
One button updates - set up a game update/patch in the backend, and users need only click a single button to download and apply it
NEW: E-Commerce support for selling your game online
NEW: Private beta support for running a private beta of your game
If you're interested in our tool, please visit our site (http://ArchiveGames.net), and feel free to drop me an e-mail (Sim9@EditingArchive.com) if you have further questions or would like to sign-up. Thank you for your time. :)

[Reactor]

Just a quick thing- I visited your website and the first thing that came to mind was, "Wow, both the tool and website are incredibly ugly and boring looking."

My question for you is- why would a developer want their game to be a part of a system no users would want to touch? Take a look at the Totalgaming.net and Steam distribution websites. They have both functionality and visual appeal, and that's because the majority of popular games appeal to people visually, almost above any other aspect.

If I were developing your tool, I'd make that a higher priority.

[Sim9]

Sorry for the thread res, but it's relevant. Really! ;)

Hi Reactor, very valid feedback. We were really focused on making the first release a good tool, and (just like you said) prioritized getting in core functionality over the visual polish. Its easy to forget about a newcomer's visual impression when you've been working on the same thing for a while. After V1 was finished, we were able to step back and take another look at the UI. It took a while, but we revamped the site and application interface. Hopefully you find them both a bit better than you did before. Now, I'm certainly not claiming the interface is the best out there, but I think the tool is now both functional and visually usable. :)

In addition to the visuals, we also took the time to improve things on the functional side -- we added two authentication features that a few developers were asking about: e-commerce for game sales & the ability to do private betas.

Anyway, I don't expect to have won you over, but hopefully you and anyone else on the fence will keep an open mind and give us another shot. Thanks for the honest feedback!

[Reactor]

Nice work... the website improvement is leaps and bounds better than it was :)

[Sim9]

Great! Thanks, Reactor! :)

[justin_c._rounds]

Looking good. I'm definitely interested.