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Comment by kayoone | Hacker News Reader

As a sidenote, Wolfire is currently working on http://www.wolfire.com/overgrowth which is quite impressive in terms of game mechanics. They also post development videos on Youtube regularly which i find highly interesting: http://www.youtube.com/WolfireGames

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Yes, but thanks to their HumbleBundle.com success, over the years Overgrowth looks more like a engine tech demo and vaporware.

It's wrong to call it vaporware when after you preorder you can download alpha builds as they come and experience everything shown off in the videos... There's also a small modding community.

They seem to be happy to let you pay $30 for the Alpha version though, despite it being in Alpha since at least 2009 (based on the date on the FAQ). I'm surprised PayPal will let you pre-order something that has been more than 4 years in development and has no release date.

It's playable, and you can use the in game editor to make your own maps/scenes. Not too different from what minecraft was when it was early alpha.

On the one hand you keep reading "developers need to eat" and on the other hand you keep reading comments like yours.

Buying the alpha means paying for continuous development...

Also, you get a new download of the current state every time they have some significant changes.

I've backed around 40 KS projects. I'm happy to microfund projects that have a realistic timeplan. I think if you're selling alpha access to something that has been in development for 4+ years and doesn't seem to have a clear time plan for completion, maybe you need a disclaimer -- especially when dealing with PayPal, which is infamous for being strict about what you can sell through it.

Humble Bundle spun off from Wolfire years ago. David is still working on the game full time, he was only involved in the very first Humble Bundle.

I really enjoyed http://www.wolfire.com/receiver . It was done as a part of a 7 day FPS game jam and was a minor hit when it was released.

If you ask me, these guys should have realized the opportunity and work more on Receiver at the time since it had the traction and enough sales to show up on Steam store charts. But there will always be guys who will insist on working their Magnum Opus, and consequentially, there will be vaporware.

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