Today we have released our first open world pirate game out of early access. Here’s what we learned! |
- Today we have released our first open world pirate game out of early access. Here’s what we learned!
- Steam Winter Sale Data from Cogmind
- Online tool I created to procedurally generate 2D sprites [More info in comments]
- The CRPG Book Project -- reference on 400+ RPG games now released
- Build a game framework with Python using the Pygame module
- 48 Things every game dev should know about marketing...
- Procedural generation and failsafes
- AABB vs SAT collision detection (explained simply)
- Unity3D: Gang Beasts Physics 102 - Assemble an Active Ragdoll Tutorial - Subtitles Available!
- Game Job Hunt
- Translating the humor and tone of Yakuza games for the West
- How can I go about remaking an old game?
- Texturing Pipeline of Hunt: Showdown
- What is the best computer setup for developing games?
- Help needed connecting points with roads. Kruskal's MST.
- OpenGL based 2D Snake game play with neural network and keyboard hit
- Unable to export Tiled map using Tiled2Unity
- Least effective Marketing Strategies?
- How to work efficiently in Unity3D and not repeat yourself
- Developing VR for different playforms
- Publishers talk budget, assessing games, marketing and answer questions from developers (Control 5000), Video on Youtube
- Map design for a "Realistic" WWII FPS game.
- Making a unity game
- Recommended 2D engine ? 2018 Q1 ed
- Does these softwares enough to become a good game designer in AAA games?
| Today we have released our first open world pirate game out of early access. Here’s what we learned! Posted: 06 Feb 2018 07:43 AM PST A little over three years ago we released our game Salt onto Steam's early access program. We had spent a year or two before that getting the game to a playable state. Our team is small (only three members) and so we knew it would be useful to have support and feedback from the community early on in the process. Today I thought it'd be helpful for other developers considering early access, or just wondering what it looks like to have a game in early access, have some insight at least from our perspective on what we experienced throughout the process. The Initial Launch First, even back then, we knew there would be a good bit of competition in the indie game sphere. Obviously it wasn't near as bad as it is now, but we wanted to do some marketing and try to play it as smart as we could early on so that we could have a successful game. One thing we did was choose to make a first person open world game. Although that had been done a lot, we figured it would help the game stand out a little visually. We also chose a cartoony and somewhat stylized art style. Obviously making a first person open world game would be a lot of work and pretty time consuming, so we knew we needed to do proper marketing and have a good product in order to make it worth the time investment. Back when we released onto Steam's early access program, Greenlight was still a thing. It took us about a month to get through that. We actually sold the game for a little over a month via our own website before we released onto Steam. At first we didn't see many sales through that avenue, which really isn't surprising. We didn't have the budget to do any paid ads or anything like that. However, we did put a great deal of focus on social media and influencer marketing. That paid as off as we had a few large YouTubers end up checking out the game, as well as a RPS article, which not only drove our sales up a little bit, but helped us throughout the greenlight process as well. We went from less than 10 copies a day to around 50 before we even hit Steam. The Stigma of Early Access We knew going into early access that it kind of had a bad reputation. A lot of games ended up being forever in early access or just completely abandoned. We knew we weren't going to do that but how do you build trust with a community when it's your first game? One thing we did was choose to have a free demo available for the game. This was before Steam offered refunds and back then the general consensus was that having a demo would hurt your sales, mainly because you lose impulse buyers. We kind of felt that type of thinking wasn't right and we didn't want to take people's money who didn't enjoy the game. So we offered a demo as a way for players to try the game out, see if they like it, and also see if it runs well on their computer before buying it. We actively encouraged people to try the demo before they bought the game and I think this really helped us build goodwill with our community. Even though a demo is less relevant today with Steam's return policy, we still offer one and think it's a good way to be transparent as a developer. Polish vs Content The skillset on our team basically consisted of programing, game design, music, and marketing. We did not have an artist nor did we have much funding prior to launch to buy art. This means we basically had to do everything ourselves or use free/cheap assets. I do believe this definitely hurt us but it was the nature of our situation. We chose instead to focus on adding content in the game and we figured we'd focus on polishing later. While that sounded like a good idea, we realized that most players have a hard time looking past a game to the content if it's unpolished and lacking graphically. It definitely hurts the first impressions players get of your game. One big takeaway we've learned is to make sure that your game is polished and looks as good as it can graphically before you release. Grahpics aren't everything, and you need a game that is actually fun, but that initial polish and art style can have a big impact on whether a player is willing to give your game a go or not. While we still believe it's important to have content and actual things for the player to do, we believe our feedback and sales would have been higher had our game been more polished early on. Marketing By and large we found the most important marketing we did was contacting influencers. We spent a good bit of time sending out keys to YouTubers, Twitch streamers, and blogs/websites. We also tried to be targeted with this approach. So instead of just sending out keys to any type of influencer, we would actively build a list of people who played games similar to ours and therefore would be more likely to check it out. We also maintained a social media presence primarily on Twitter and Facebook. This proved to be helpful as a community management tool, but not super great at driving traffic. Twitter can also be incredibly powerful for connecting with influencers and I highly recommend it when taking that approach. The Results While I can't release actual sales figures, we did well enough in early access to fund our team for the few years we were on it. We saw the typical stegosaurus tail where over time your average units sold declines but you still get bumps around holidays and discount periods. One thing that surprised us is actually how long you can keep selling copies. We were surprised that even after over two years on early access we were still selling decently. Obviously way less than we were originally, but it was nice to see that it could support you that long if needed. We also saw a pretty decent bump back in average sales after the release of multiplayer. This was somewhat expected as multiplayer is a very demanded feature in most games today. TL;DR Overall we had a successful game on early access and did decently well with marketing. The process could have gone better if we had put more focus on polish early on and reduced development time. I hope this helps some of you considering releasing a game, especially onto Steam or early access. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them! [link] [comments]  |
| Steam Winter Sale Data from Cogmind Posted: 06 Feb 2018 09:16 AM PST |
| Online tool I created to procedurally generate 2D sprites [More info in comments] Posted: 06 Feb 2018 08:17 AM PST |
| The CRPG Book Project -- reference on 400+ RPG games now released Posted: 05 Feb 2018 02:00 PM PST |
| Build a game framework with Python using the Pygame module Posted: 06 Feb 2018 09:13 AM PST |
| 48 Things every game dev should know about marketing... Posted: 06 Feb 2018 03:37 AM PST I'm just staring out as an indie game dev. But before this I developed an app in 2005. I've been in business ever since.
When I first started, I HATED marketing. But I quickly learned that marketing is vital for success. Here's what I've learned, and what I'm also going to implement with my new indie game...
1. Marketing does not create desires... the desires are already there
2. Gamers want the same desires fulfilled in different ways... desires hardly change
3. Show gamers how your game can fulfill their desire... in a way that no other game can
4. Gamers buy emotionally and then justify their purchase rationally
5. Show gamers fantasy first, then facts second... you need both to be persuasive
6. You go first because people do not take initiative... direct them to where you want them to go
7. Your biggest challenge isn't money or time, it's being invisible and getting buried in the noise
8. To cut through the noise, your marketing message must be simple and specific
9. It's counter intuitive, but if your target is smaller it's easier to hit
10. If you talk about game dev, you will attract game devs... not gamers
11. If you talk about your passion for gaming, you will attract gamers
12. Conversion means how many people saw your stuff then took action in some way
13. Engaging person-to-person converts the best, then email... social media follows way behind
14. People value things by price... if you believe in the value of your game, then raise your price
15. Never give away your demo too freely... what is often obtained cheaply is valued less
16. Your tiny indie game niche could be the next mass market... so it's worth experimenting
17. Marketing is about finding gamers who are already looking for you
18. Trying to convince or plead gamers into buying your game will lead to buyers remorse
19. Would you buy your own game for $15? $25? $2? Then that's what you charge
20. The more you tell the more you sell
21. It's true that the ones that self promote are more successful than the timid ones
22. Youtubers and Twitch Streamers don't want free game keys... they want a bigger audience
23. If you approach content creators with your own big audience, then you have what they want
24. Don't rely on other platforms audience... focus on building your own community first
25. Go to market because perfection paralyzes you... you can always improve your game after launch
26. Reduce your uncertainty about how many games you'll sell at launch by building a community first
27. Commit to talking about your indie game everyday because that's how gamers will find you
28. Marketing isn't an activity you do sometimes.. it's part of dev just like art, story, code
29. Just because successful game devs have connections you don't, doesn't mean your game isn't better
30. Copying other game devs successes is a road to ruin
31. Innovation = Domination
32. Don't underestimate how much effort it takes to get attention... it's often 3x more than you think
33. Even if your game is free, has 200+ of content, amazing story, fun mechanics, you still have to fight through obscurity
34. Biggest challenge and frustration gamers have with indie games is "slop developers" and the low quality in indie games
35. No idea what to say in your blog? What makes you so passionate about your sub-genre? Passion will fuel your creativity
36. It's counter intuitive, but don't ask for a gamer to buy your game right away... build a relationship first
37. Create content (blogs, tweets, images, videos, screenshots, gifs) because it's your first step in getting a sale
38. Your game is intuitive to you, but not to your gamer... show them how to play your game because education is great marketing
39. How do you discover great books, stories, movies? Word of mouth, right? Publish content because it helps generate word-of-mouth
40. You need both market research AND innovation... balance both
41. Action = Traction
42. Most important parts of your game isn't the features... but what advantages the gamers gets from those features
43. Gamers are novel seeking by nature... they are attracted to the new... focus on how you're trying to do something new
44. Simple, free, grassroots marketing is still very effective for indie games
45. What are gamers mostly interested in? Themselves... put the spotlight on them and you'll get attention
46. Gamers want games made specifically for them, not games made for anyone and everyone
47. Two reasons why somebody didn't buy your game: lack of familiarity and lack of relationship
48. Finishing your indie game is only half the achievement, the other half is selling it
If you have questions, DM, I'd be glad to help.
Later game dev! And good luck today. edit: formatting update: I'm thinking of adding more details and show you some examples, and action steps for each tip. Will do that in another post. [link] [comments]  |
| Procedural generation and failsafes Posted: 06 Feb 2018 05:15 AM PST I'm developing a space-based game for fun, and a friend of mine recently pointed out that the method the game uses for generating stars is possibly flawed. Simply put, the game is split into grid squares which each have a 1/5 chance of containing a star based on a random number generator seeded with a galaxy-specific seed and the coordinate of the square. This obviously allows the game to tell if a square contains a star without having to store any information about it, which is ideal for the incredibly large galaxy sizes involved. My friend points out that it is technically possible for a large area (or the entire galaxy) to be unpopulated by stars. While this is true, the chance of that happening is 1 in 10~22 (even less for larger areas), so my question is this: [link] [comments]  |
| AABB vs SAT collision detection (explained simply) Posted: 05 Feb 2018 08:00 PM PST |
| Unity3D: Gang Beasts Physics 102 - Assemble an Active Ragdoll Tutorial - Subtitles Available! Posted: 06 Feb 2018 05:53 AM PST |
| Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:34 AM PST |
| Translating the humor and tone of Yakuza games for the West Posted: 06 Feb 2018 10:03 AM PST |
| How can I go about remaking an old game? Posted: 06 Feb 2018 09:42 AM PST Like the title says, I would like to remake a racing game I really loved as a kid, but it's in VR. What is the legality of doing this and how would I go about getting assets from an old PC game? Thanks in advance [link] [comments]  |
| Texturing Pipeline of Hunt: Showdown Posted: 06 Feb 2018 10:20 AM PST |
| What is the best computer setup for developing games? Posted: 06 Feb 2018 06:45 AM PST Hey, /r/gamedev How are you guys doing today? So, I've been thinking about posting here from a little while, so here i am. I'm considering to design games for mobile. I went from considering to seriously considering in a span of 2 days. I'm a beginner and i'm willing to put in time and hard work to learn and execute in a couple of months, but the problem is i don't have a good setup to play/design games. The one i'm using now is old, and i bought it way back in the 2010 and it still works like a charm even today, but still i need something powerful, don't you think? It'll be a one time investment at the moment so i need a powerful setup for mobile game development. I can also buy a laptop, but i prefer a PC because why not! So, what do you guys recommend? Could you list your setups too? Might help one or two yeah? Thanks in advance :) [link] [comments]  |
| Help needed connecting points with roads. Kruskal's MST. Posted: 06 Feb 2018 05:32 AM PST Hi, I think this is more of a general programming thing but its for a game so I thought this is a good place for it. I've had trouble implementing Kruskal's algorithm for MST in c# and was wondering if someone could say what I am doing wrong. Above I have a vertex class with a root attribute showing the current parent item, but it seems my find() is not filtering anything in the main loop of the algorithm. Here's the main loop: These edges in the result list I use for drawing lines between objects with a linerenderer. If anyone has an idea of how this is going wrong, or a better way to do the whole connecting random points thing, I'd really appreciate any help. [link] [comments]  |
| OpenGL based 2D Snake game play with neural network and keyboard hit Posted: 06 Feb 2018 06:29 AM PST |
| Unable to export Tiled map using Tiled2Unity Posted: 06 Feb 2018 09:13 AM PST I have created a Tile Map by importing multiple PNGs into a Tileset. After completing the map, I have attempted to export the project to Unity. I have noticed that the map that is exported only contains empty objects and nothing is on the map. If I go into the Tiled2Unity Map Previewer, the map that is shown is completely empty. I am unsure what I have done wrong or what is needed to resolve this issue. Below is a link to some screenshots for context. Any help that you can give would be greatly appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Least effective Marketing Strategies? Posted: 06 Feb 2018 04:34 AM PST Hey, I asked myself which marketing efforts don't really have a strong impact (if any at all). For me it was definitely using Twitter - I use Twiter all day just for fun but the amount of retweets you need to really make any impact seems huge. Devlogs also seem to be not the best way to promote your game (but it's nice to write one just to have another way to keep track of everything). What are your thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| How to work efficiently in Unity3D and not repeat yourself Posted: 06 Feb 2018 05:29 AM PST |
| Developing VR for different playforms Posted: 06 Feb 2018 05:41 AM PST I was wondering if there is anyone who has had experience developing for VR would be able to help me understand what the differences are in approach to developing for headset VR like oculus of vive, compared to a phone setup for VR. I assume its down to a processing and memory difference but am wondering if there is more to it then that. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Feb 2018 03:37 AM PST |
| Map design for a "Realistic" WWII FPS game. Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:47 AM PST Hello fellow redditors ! I've been working on a sort of "Realistic" WWII FPS recently. Alone on this huge project, I have the task to do the whole coding but also to make the graphics and the maps/models etc. Anyways, you have to choose between 2 factions (obviously the Axis or the Allies), in which you then play as a soldiers with different sets of equipment, e.g SMGs, rifles etc. The damage system is quite harsh -1 rifle bullets on your chest and you're dead, pretty much like Red Orchestra 2 or Day of Infamy-, and now that I have almost everything set for the prototype, and having done a lot of playtesting, the only things missing are actual maps. I want 3 of them before releasing anything -and I have a bunch of assets given by peoples for free-. So I've found some article here and there about map design in video games in general, but I can't really get to it. I've tried a lot of times, yet I'm unable to make maps involving a bit of verticality, aswell as major areas on which the player will focus -besides from the flags point that I've set-. Moreover, I'm a really really bad city designer overall, and in games like Simcity or Cities: Skyline, my cities would end up looking like a bunch of squares. I might have forgotten to tell you, but the place is set in Europe, mostly France, Belgium and Western germany, and I know that cities/small towns are really curvy with small roads and a lot of little "shops" down the streets, but even trying to reproduce these using aerial photos -along with hedgerows for the fields nearby- either ends up looking bad or overwhelmingly unbalanced (too much cover/too much opened space, bushes in which player will always hide in, etc). SO this is why I'm here asking you guys if you've got any articles or advices about map design in FPS games, especially WWII ones ! Thanks ! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:46 AM PST I am looking to make a game that is similar to the old Bosconian game. I want to use Unity as my engine and I have been making the sprites in Photoshop. Is there any help out there that can point me in the right direction for starting to program it? Also, how close can the game I make be to the original before I start treading towards legal troubles? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Recommended 2D engine ? 2018 Q1 ed Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:41 AM PST Hi everyone Considering the many changes happening recently with several engines like Unity and the release of Godot 3 i think it's a good time to ask wich 2D Engine are recommended to develop games . Wich 2D Engine would you recommend and why ? Have a nice day ! [link] [comments]  |
| Does these softwares enough to become a good game designer in AAA games? Posted: 06 Feb 2018 11:24 AM PST Modelling: Maya 3DS Max Sculpting: Zbrush Mudbox Texturing/Materials: Quixel Suite Substance Painter Photoshop Game engines: In house engines (made by the company developing the game) CryEngine Frostbite Unreal Engine Source Unity [link] [comments]  |
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