Minimum Screen estate

[Pepitodelfuego]

Hi there !

I wanted to buy that game to my children (and myself), but prior to that, I wanted to be sure of a few points:

•My sons have a small laptop (eeePC), with a native resolution of 1024×600 (Yes, you read 1024×600 !). Is that too little ? I guess it is, because the images I saw so far are much bigger than that.

•If the game is accessible under Steam only, can I play it on multiple computers ?
I mean, can it be installed on my children's PC and on mine at the same time ?

•Does the computer have to be online in order to play ?

Thanks for your help !

gwen

[Lamkin]

Hmm... I'm not sure about the resolution question.

Samorost 3 does not require Steam—it is available DRM-free and can be played offline if purchased through samorost3.net, Humble Store, or GOG.com. (Actually, purchasing the game from samorost3.net or the Humble Store will get you both a Steam key and a DRM-free copy.)

But even if you purchase the game through Steam, it's still DRM-free, meaning it can be launched without the use of the Steam client; you can locate the game in your Steam folder on your computer and launch it and play it offline without using Steam. And yes, you can then copy it and move it to any other computer you own.

Now, if you want to use the Steam client, there is a feature called Family Library Sharing, which allows family members and their guests to play one another's games while earning their own Steam achievements and saving their own game progress to the Steam Cloud. It's all enabled by authorizing family members' accounts and shared computers. More info here:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3784-QLBM-5731

[Pepitodelfuego]

Thanks so much Lamkin, that clarifies it very well !

As for the resolution question, do you know whom i could turn to for that info ?
Some people of the developpement section perhaps ?

[Lamkin]

Well, I see where Amanita Design said the game's native resolution is 1920 x 1080, but that the "game works great on any screen resolution".

I decided to test this out a bit, so I changed my display resolution to 1024 x 768 and then 800 x 600 to see how that worked with the game. One of the nice things about the game is that you can "grab" the screen and pan around by clicking the mouse, holding the button down, and then dragging, so you'll be able to see the entire screen that way.

Only tricky part for you might be when exiting one screen to get to another one, as it requires clicking the mouse after your cursor has morphed into a little white arrow, which it will only do when it's close enough to the edge of the screen, like this:
http://f.cl.ly/items/2i3V1J3b223u0L23191L/gnome.mov
So while playing for a few minutes, I could see enough of the arrow with the 1024 width to exit a screen either left or right, and enough of the arrow with the 600 height when exiting a screen up or down, but eventually I noticed that on a few screens I wasn't able to leave the screen either to the left or to the right (when at 1024 x 768) because I couldn't get over far enough for the white arrow to show up. However, you can use the mouse scroll wheel (or tap the spacebar, or use the up and down arrow keys) to zoom in, and zooming in when near the edge of a screen made it so that I was then able to see enough of the arrow to be able to click and exit the screen. If that's confusing, I've posted a couple of screenshots to show how zooming in gets you closer to the edge. Shots before and after zooming:




Also, If you would like a more definitive answer from the developers themselves, you can contact them by using the form at the bottom of this page:
http://amanita-design.net/contact.html

[Pepitodelfuego]

OK Lamkin, thank you very very much for that comprehensive reply.

I think that it is satisfying, and the fact that I can install it on my own PC as well for the kids to play there if it is definitely too impractical on a small screen means that I have a replacement solution anyway.

I thank you again and hope this game will be as great as Machinarium or Botanicula ! It seems equally as beautiful already !

Cheers

Gwen