Please support Steam Cloud

[Fizzgigg]

Dear Colossal Order.
I've been enjoying Cities in Motion since it's first release, and I've actually bought every DLC that has turned up at Steam. I've never had any problems with the game, but the thing that really bothers me is that the game doesn't support Steam Cloud. Since each save is smaller than three megabyte (at least for me) I can't see the problem with at least giving the Steam users the option to use Steam Cloud. Three megabyte isn't that much especially compared to for example Skyrim saves that "weights in" at up to seven megabyte and still uses the feature. I'm no programmer, but since even some small indie titles uses the feature, it canät be that hard to implement.
I know support for Steam Cloud is a bit of the beaten track for you since you use severad different servises for digital distribution, but it would be really appreciated. So, dear Colossal Order, why hasn't this been done? Is it because of Steam themselves, that you don't know how to do it or just not interested, or has Cities in Motion become an old title that you no longer spend that much energy on?

 

[giladteller]

I'm sure CO are spending as much time as possible on this game...
This suggestion was brought up a long time ago. I think it has something to do with the game's engine that will require a lot of re-writing, and that the result doesn't worth the amount of time needed to implement it.

You can always copy your save games to a flash drive and take it with you, or upload it to a service like Dropbox.

 

[douglasrac]

You can have your own Steam cloud if you make a hard link (search MKLINK) from My Documents/Cities in Motion to Dropbox. Or just use Sugarsync that will allow you to select any folder.

Anyway, I have no idea how Steam cloud works, but I do know they are a company that aims profit. So most probably the company needs to pay to use Steam Cloud. Doesn't seem very probable that Steam will provide developers/publishers with cloudy servers that costs money just for the joy of it.

 

[slornie]

Anyway, I have no idea how Steam cloud works, but I do know they are a company that aims profit. So most probably the company needs to pay to use Steam Cloud. Doesn't seem very probable that Steam will provide developers/publishers with cloudy servers that costs money just for the joy of it.

I don't think it works like that. From what i understand Steam Cloud is entirely user-centric, so in the same way that Steam provides gamers with 1GB of screenshot storage space they also get a certain amount of game-save storage. In 2010 this storage increased to 100MB per user, per game.

 

[Fizzgigg]

I don't know how hard it is to implement, but what I do know is that I, as a gamer and as a customer, want an easy way to have backups and manage the game on more than one computer. I don't want to invent som home made solutions with Dropbox or things like that, I want it to work. I never buy games any more that doesn't have some kind of cloud support (like Steam Cloud or other server based solution), even if I actually are interested in the game. And I'm seriously thinking of stop playing CiM because of the lack of cloud support. But there is part of the problem, since I've already bought the game, Colossal Order has my money so why should they care. Do I recommend the game to my friends? No. I don't think it's worth it.
Of course Colossal Order need to make more DLC they can sell and hopefully even make a CiM 2, but if they don't continue to improve the core game with new features and thing like that, the amount of new players will drop and a the customer base for the new DLC:s will grow smaller and smaller.

 

[TH1]

Although your request is reasonable, I do hope that most customers are not that sensitive/picky. I mean i thiink CO is among the better companies that listen to customer demands, but i think you might be the first one who is missing this function. So in short: if majority of customers don't miss a functionality, then it's not reasonable to do it, right? If there is a big and loud demand for some features, then it might get implemented in the future, or in a next version of the game or whatever. But if i was working at CO, then this attitude from your comment would definitely not motivate me to fix it. What do you think is a better approach? To be offensive and tell them that you will stop playing and won't recommend the game to your friends, or asking if other people are also missing this feature and if yes, ask CO if they are thinking about implementing it? Which solution is likely to have the feature implemented earlier?

 

[Fizzgigg]

Maybe I'm being picky, maybe not, and I think you are right that manning the walls with people yelling for a feature is a better approach than being a grudge like me. But I do know that I've got more games I want to play than time to play them (and I leave it up to others to come to a conclution wether I've got a lot of games of a shortage of tiem), and because of that I have to be picky. If the result is that CO lose me as a customer, that's not very important. They've got my money, and I do think they have earned them because CiM are in many parts an excellent game, and there are more games in this genre both in development and recently published I can get review copies of. So in a way, it's a win-win situation.

 

[TH1]

Well, i agree with you that the saving to cloud feature would be really great, so i'd like to motivate CO to implement it. it would be an even better win-win situation.

 

[co_martsu]

When Cities in Motion was developed the storage space on Steam Cloud was very limited. They have added more space later on so it has become a relevant feature. Unfortunately we don't have the opportunity to implement the feature at the moment, but it is definitely on our minds

 

[ppbrover]

NO don't want it or need it.

 

[TH1]

NO don't want it or need it.

so it would disturb you if those who would want it, could use it? nobody would be forcing you to use it also...

 

[TH1]

When Cities in Motion was developed the storage space on Steam Cloud was very limited. They have added more space later on so it has become a relevant feature. Unfortunately we don't have the opportunity to implement the feature at the moment, but it is definitely on our minds

It would be a nice and useful feature.

 

[ppbrover]

so it would disturb you if those who would want it, could use it? nobody would be forcing you to use it also...

In that case ok,it is just not a priority for me.

 

[unmerged(501272)]

I played countless hours of Fallout 3 on 2 computers using a USB flash drive to transfer files. It took seconds, and it was no hassle at all. For me, security against having my save games corrupted by viruses etc was important. I would still not use a "steam cloud" or similar feature if it was available, as such places carry no guarantees for security of your data. It also requires an internet connection, which I didn't have at one of the two locations I played Fallout 3 at.

So I also have no need for such a feature. But I also have no objection to the feature being provided for those that really want it.

Lastly, if implementing Steam Cloud made having Steam mandatory, I would not buy the game. I have no objection to the addition of such features for those that really want them, and have no objection to users being able to use Steam if they want to. But I will not buy a game that forces me to use Steam, just as much as Fizzgigg won't buy a game that doesn't support Steam cloud. CiM is the first title I've seen that covers both worlds (Steam and non-Steam), and I wish more would do it this way.

 

[eis_os]

I think the resources would be better used to fix game relevant problems, then to doing any steam relevant integration.

 

[Centurion1973]

I think the resources would be better used to fix game relevant problems, then to doing any steam relevant integration.

Last year,I spoke with some devs who use Steamworks and I was told that implementation of those features was pretty easy.