Currently working on the Steamworks side now, setting things up for the Exalted Seracthon page on Steam. I’m not going to be implementing most of the special features from their SDK, as I do not feel they are appropriate. There is no need for online chat, or leaderboards. The demand for trophies seems to have spilled over from the console world, it’s never been a native aspect of PC single-player games. There also won’t be any achievement lists, as ES is simply not a competitive or even combat-focused game. By adding these things, I would only be setting players up for aggravation.
After a certain level of popularity, Steam does suggest that the trading cards feature be added. If ES does reach this level, I can certainly create a series of collectables. Periodic Steam sales are part of every game’s lifecycle there, and I’ll be participating in that too, starting with a release discount.
The media that governs gaming news has moved itself into specialized communities, so I will be reaching out to other groups of people who traditionally have little to do with Steam, but do have interests in sci-fi and esoteric subjects. This was a very early expectation for this project, as I did not foresee the perception of this game to ever be appealing to the vocal 15% of the PC gaming community’s established preferences. We’ll see how it goes, but I am not counting on traditional venues for exposure 🙂