BZ on Steam?

[Pesky_UK]

What are the issues preventing a release on Steam?

[blast]

I do want to look into it further, but I haven't taken the time yet.

Some tasks for a Steam release:

• Better game controller support: Our default configuration does not have any game controller mappings, so using a controller requires mapping every button. I'd want to switch to SDL's GameController API which standardizes button positions (since button numbering on controllers can vary a LOT). I believe that also integrates better with Steam Input. Another useful thing would be adding controller button icons.
• Translations: We'd probably want to clean up and update our language translations. This is something we should do anyways, but it would be nice to do before a Steam release.
• Decide on platforms: We might be able to get by with just a Windows release + Steam Play on Steam, but we might also want native Linux and macOS versions.
• Enhanced Rich Presense: The Steamworks SDK has a feature called Enhanced Rich Presence which could show your Steam friends information about what you're doing in-game, such as which server you are on and what the game mode is.
• Update default keybinds: Our default keybinds are based on a very dated paradigm and should be modernized. Also, our F12 fast quit key is the same as the default Steam screenshot key.
• Legal entity: A lot of these online stores are going to want you to have some legal entity. I have one registered, but I need to fix a few things first.
• Code signing: I'm not 100% sure this is required for Steam, but it's something we need to do anyways. Right now we aren't digitally signing either our Windows nor macOS builds. Windows tends to make it harder to run unsigned software, and macOS 15.0 now makes it necessary to go into the system preferences to allow unsigned/unnotarized programs to run. Though as of March 2024, programs signed with an EV code signing certificate are no longer instantly trusted by Microsoft SmartScreen.