Simon_ASA: I also don’t understand why GOG (= good **OLD** games) focuses on the screen resolution ? 1024x720 is quite small, true, but the game plays fullscreen or windowed and it does scale well (or if it doesn’t, you can fix it easily). The Myst series does have a much smaller resolution (640).

MoP: ASA just hit Desura. Comes with CD covers (game and OST), 5-track music album, game guide and wallpapers.

Simon_ASA: Hey ! Thanks for telling the others ;)

BTW, I just launched a contest to win ASA on Desura !
http://2011asa.blogspot.fr/2013/03/special-contest-win-asa-on-desura.html

And for those of you who already purchased the game on Desura, feel free to contact me (PM on desura) and I may have something to thank you for being the first supporters.

Simon_ASA: Hey you all seem very interested in the reasons ! Thanks for your support, really !

Here's the big lines of what they said (below), so you can know why they refused the game. I don't blame them at all, I respect their final decision and I understand it. My only fear is that some of you - or other people - will think the game is not worth it because of their decision.
So it's up to each of you to choose if they made a mistake or not :)

DId some of you already bought the game via paypal ? Maybe you could let the others know if GOG's decision is justified in your opinion ?

PS : I hope they (gog) don't mind if I share the mails here. I see nothing disturbing in what they said, they just give me their opinion.

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1st message from GOG
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[...] Here is some of the feedback from the tester, hopefully it can help you to improve the game:

· Our tester was 1st disappointed in the low resolution of the game and really felt like this should be improved, he really liked the artwork but thought it was too small (1024) and didn’t scale well.

· He also had some issues with hotspots in some of the puzzles and found they required too much precision

· He also had some interface problems, here’s what he said: Another thing is its faulty interface. There were places where right click for an inventory was not working [note from me : this is normal, right click is disabled in 360 views]. I could also swore that sometimes thing were appearing in wrong spots (arrow and point for navigation table seems to appears in random places on screen) [here I don't know what he's talking about]. Another thing is “hacking computer puzzle” where you need to push a special arrow to enter commands (Why do not use enter? Or some command input window like a login promp?). [He's right...] [...]

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My answer
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[...] I think I understand, but... I’ll be honnest and give you my feeling.

From what I read, your tester mustn’t be very fond of 1st-person adventure games, is he ? Most people who tried ASA, and a fortiori adventure fans, enjoyed the game, and I’m reading everyday messages from people who support my work.

I also don’t understand why GOG (= good **OLD** games) focuses on the screen resolution ? 1024x720 is quite small, true, but the game plays fullscreen or windowed and it does scale well (or if it doesn’t, you can fix it easily). The Myst series does have a much smaller resolution (640).

I know there are technical problems in ASA. There are problems in MANY other old games still sold, after all.

And I just don’t understand why the interface is a decisive point : there are so many other games that have gameplay problems. It’s up to the player to make his opinion [by trying the demo for example], it’s not a question of quality but of feeling : a lot of people won't really care if a game is not perfect.

Jeuxvideo.com, which is a very serious french magazine, reviewed the game 15/20 and told everyone about the gameplay problems here and there, yet they didn’t stop on this... [...]

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2nd message from GOG
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[...] Our tester was actually in fact a very big fan of 1st-person adventure games, especially the Myst series and even made a comment about how you both shared a love for Riven.

It’s great that other players have been enjoying the game but unfortunately our tester did not completely share their opinion. He enjoyed some parts of the game but generally he didn’t feel engaged by the puzzles and this in conjunction with some technical issues meant that we aren’t confident that the game will be strongly received on GOG.

It is not a fair comparison to be comparing ASA with older games. With older titles there is an understanding and an expectation that the level of graphics is lower and there may be more technical issues than that in games today but we have higher expectations for new releases. Also, while perhaps there are some issues with other games, this does not mean that other games get a free pass on said issues, we judge games individually on their own merits. [...]

Simon_ASA: Hello everyone, thanks for your support but bad news : GOG just refused ASA.
The game doesn't meet the technical expectations. The level of graphics is too low and there are some interface problems.
"I really am sorry that we won’t be releasing ASA, there are many good things about the game but overall we just weren’t convinced."

Crosmando: I have this game on Desura, and GOG rejecting it is pretty stupid. That being said, the game does have some problems that hold it back, I had to install some patch for it to even start, or it would just give me an error message and refuse to launch. Also the game has a very jittery and glitchy feel in game, like it's about to crash at any moment. Again I do hope it gets on GOG but perhaps "polishing" it more will convince them.