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    Thursday, September 27, 2018

    Home Unlabelled Game launched less than 10 hours ago and it's already pirated

    Game launched less than 10 hours ago and it's already pirated

    September 27, 2018

    Game launched less than 10 hours ago and it's already pirated

    Game launched less than 10 hours ago and it's already pirated

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 02:52 AM PDT

    My game went live on Steam at midnight, and by 10am there were already multiple websites offering torrents of pirated versions of the game - I knew this would happen but I'm just astounded at how quickly.

    Is there anything I can do to stop it spreading? I've heard of developers uploading their own (broken or otherwise edited) pirated versions of the game but by the time I do that I imagine it'll be too late (lesson learned there).

    I had already priced the game on Steam at a much lower value for Russian and Chinese marketplaces, which I read several times was a decent preventative measure due to the prevalence of pirating in those countries, I'm now wondering whether or not there's anywhere else I should do this? What anti-piracy measures have other developers taken, and was it worth the effort?

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

    EDIT: Thanks everyone for all the advice, I'm going to go with 'just ignore it' and taking it as a compliment that the game deemed good enough to pirate, although going DRM free via GOG in the near future is looking like a good option, thanks to u/Dukenume and u/_Anal_Discharge_ (hrmm) for the recommendation

    EDIT #2: Link to the game as some folk are asking for it, but happy to take it down if it's against the rules

    submitted by /u/kdizzle1987
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    Hi Gamedev! I recorded over 10 GB of oceans and updated the album with beach, harbor, piers and underwater recordings! Feel free to use these sound effects if needed!

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 08:05 AM PDT

    Why publishers leave Steam? A make-your-own-platform trend?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 10:10 AM PDT

    Whenever I bring up big questions about the future of the games industry I can't help but feel like the village idiot. But I guess Thursday evening is as good a time as any to discuss the current problems and trends in the PC game market. Let's use our imagination. What could be changed?

    https://i.redd.it/rav9h4fvbto11.jpg

    Sorry about all the GIFs in in this article — hopefully they'll help me lighten the mood a little.

    So what does the pie look like? According to UBM (the host of GDC), PC is still the most popular platform among game developers. 60% of them are currently making games for PC and plan to continue working in this market segment. PC games also account for nearly a quarter of the global video game market ($33 billion a year). Based on predictions, revenue from PC game sales will grow by more than a billion dollars over the next two years. By 2021 the PC game market will be growing by an average of 4.2% per year.

    https://i.redd.it/d71nc1uxbto11.png

    In other words, this piece of the pie is big, and it's getting bigger fast. Our "pie" is made up of a few large "islands," digital distribution platforms created by game developers and publishers. Let's take a look at some of the more interesting ones.

    https://i.redd.it/b9tlmii0cto11.png

    And here's a more detailed list of digital distribution platforms. The list contains just under 200 platforms and storefronts from around the world. Please help us expand it.

    I think it's safe to say that by now we've all realized just how big the pie actually is. It's time to take a closer look at the filling.

    A make-your-own-platform trend?

    It looks like we're barreling headlong towards a major decentralization event. Several new platforms will appear over the course of 2019, each with its own customer base. And at least some of them will have an opportunity to change the market drastically. This is just a taste of what we can look forward to next year:
    · EPIC Games has more than 100 million Fortnite users to serve as the audience for its platform.
    · Discord has 130 million users and its own storefront (and a platform is in the works).
    · Bethesda is going to launch Fallout 76 on its own platform (rumor has it we'll get access to third-party games later on).
    · Ubisoft's Uplay service is gradually making it easier to release third-party games on the platform.
    · Tencent's WeGame platform is itching to break into Western markets in 2019.
    · The same goes for Kongregate's Kartridge platform, which is coming by the end of 2018.
    · A number of blockchain-based platforms are also on the horizon, including Robot Cache from Brian Fargo (InExile) and Shark from Fig.co.

    Why is this happening?

    All false modesty aside, having an audience and the ability to freely interact with it are the most valuable resources for both platforms and developers. After all, Steam essentially sells a developer's audience back to it, and it does this despite offering meager analytics and no options for tracking marketing campaigns. However, this approach is typical not only for Steam, but also for all major players in the third-party distribution market.

    https://i.redd.it/j4ppdfz5cto11.gif

    If you bring your audience to someone else's platform, you have no guaranteed way to interact with it. Just think for a second: how many indie devs with popular games have managed to effectively transfer their audience to a sequel?

    Good companies should be able to calculate their own profits, and "what am I giving up 30% for?" is a pretty practical question to ask when it comes to medium-term planning. However, it's not like every developer with a successful game can just go ahead and create its own platform. Even if you release a BB or AAA game every year that attracts hundreds of thousands of players, launching your own platform won't exactly be a utopia. Good games from other devs will only keep an audience on your platform until your next title comes out.

    Global publishing

    The mantra "we'll release the game in Asia — the audience there is huge!" isn't the most helpful thing in the world. European publishers and developers of all sizes have just as much trouble launching in Asia as their Asian counterparts do in North America or Europe.

    https://i.redd.it/x5ve82r8cto11.gif

    Not only do you need high-quality translation and localization, you also need to have an understanding of the unique characteristics and mentality of the players in that region, to say nothing of purely utilitarian concerns such as finding regional platforms and negotiating contracts.

    You need to develop an optimal traffic strategy and conduct a high-quality PR campaign in every single region in order to create a core audience. You have to know which platforms to use to communicate with your audience and be able to do it in Asian languages.

    If you're not a major publisher, refusing to use local distributors (which charge a 5% –30% commission) will require a pile of contracts and related activities: royalty statements, reconciliations, document workflow, the whole bit.

    Contemporary pricing

    The good old "big box" days, when shipping, retailer margins, and physical media manufacturing costs gave us the $60 standard for the US market, are long gone.

    https://i.redd.it/rrfvlwgbcto11.gif

    In the era of digital distribution, dominance pricing is easier, with prices in each country based on the stable currency's exchange rate to the local currency adjusted for purchasing power.

    None of the existing conversion systems apply fine adjustment to regional pricing. Nobody knows how to choose the ideal equivalent price for a $15 game in Japan, Mexico, China, Poland, Russia, England, and so on. Everyone just takes the ratio of sales to price for a group of similar games and stops there. What should the price really be to ensure the largest number of sales and optimal conversion into purchases for each region?

    Slow money

    It can take anywhere from one to several months for a developer to get their money after a copy of their game is sold.

    https://i.redd.it/yzqb51xdcto11.gif

    There's no way to quickly reinvest the profits from a game or in-game items directly into advertising, which is especially painful for smaller teams and games.

    Integrating payment aggregators is often unprofitable. Payment processing intermediaries that handle bank cards usually charge a commission of 5% — 6%.

    Piracy and cheating in games

    Games that don't require a constant connection to a server suffer from piracy. There are several stolen copies of a game for every legal copy sold. Popular online games tend to attract large numbers of cheaters and communities that make money illegally by exploiting vulnerabilities in the game's software. Third-party copy protection solutions like Denuvo don't last long and are expensive.

    https://i.redd.it/2x2ttb7gcto11.gif

    We hear a lot of magic formulas in favor of piracy: "if the game is good, I'll buy it later." And there's the old chestnut: "I always download a pirated version for a test run. If I the game, I'll buy it." But neither of these excuses reflects the whole truth.

    What about the audience?

    While active players prepare for the special kind of hell that awaits them (imagine trying to wrangle a dozen different platforms, each with its own launcher), the platforms themselves are fighting for immersion.

    https://i.redd.it/78ozfdykcto11.gif

    Let's call a spade a spade: most of the major players don't buy traffic. They mainly work on brand awareness, not direct sales — even with an audience of millions. The second pillar is retention. Any decent platform will use your games and the traffic you drive to them for that.

    A thousand hits cost three dollars. Buying this kind of traffic is more cost-effective — the more data you have, the better you can evaluate its quality.

    It would seem like the next logical step for participants in any market would be to start exchanging user data. This year advertisers have been actively discussing the CDP (Customer Data Platform, a subspecies of DMP) and the holy grail of a 360 degree profile. They're talking about optimizing traffic and proper audience management, and they actively use and buy segments or raw DMP data from each other. So why is PC distribution so far behind in this respect? I honestly have no idea.

    Do you want to create advertising that only targets paying users or PC gamers who play only specific genres? Well, there's currently no way to do this without access to third-party data. There's also no way to exclude players who have already purchased your game on another platform and won't want to buy it again.

    Not only do companies not share data to optimize sales, they're often reluctant to even talk about it.

    In lieu of an afterword

    https://i.redd.it/8wv5xq0ncto11.gif

    So we've mused for a bit and realized that the games market is big and getting bigger. A lot of people want in. However:

    · Everything is centralized around the big "islands."
    · Those few companies that aren't centralizing are hastily cobbling together their own platforms.
    · Comprehensive global publishing isn't really a thing yet — it still takes truckloads of labor for every single territory.
    · In other words, there's no magic "Publish to the World" button.
    · Trying to set effective prices in different regions is like some kind of voodoo dance with drums and ancient incantations.
    · Your money is going to take a long time to get to you.
    · Piracy and cheating continue to be the bane of the industry.
    · Your audience, data about it, and access to it are the three golden keys to the gates of paradise in this brave new world.

    Many of my colleagues in the industry are skeptical about current trends. "Show us where the traffic is, and we'll go there," they say. "Nothing else matters."

    I'm certain that if the games market is about to become overcrowded with new platforms, people need to start thinking about consolidation. They need to learn not only to exchange data, but also to create their own tools for gathering and analyzing data (unfortunately, all open-source solutions in this market are pretty crummy). Someone is eventually going to create that "Publish to the World" button, then sell it for a fortune. Before this happens we need to reduce costs and make the ubiquitous sales and discounts irrelevant by actually lowering the prices of games.

    Which problems do you see for the PC game distribution market? Not to be overdramatic, but what can we do to change the world for the better? What's your vision of an ideal world? Or maybe you think we already live in an ideal world and shouldn't change anything. Good enough is good enough, right?

    submitted by /u/misterionkell
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    Devlog: Making Tactical Doors for a Multiplayer Stealth Shooter (Unity3d)

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 06:31 AM PDT

    For the love of all things holy and good! Comment your code!!!

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 07:21 AM PDT

    Ahh! So I'm a hobbyist/solo Dev and work in my spare time. All my programing knowledge is self taught and isn't at all my normal 9-5 vocation (nor do I want it to be...) Anyways, I always knew I should comment my code, just never did. I thought that since I wasn't sharing my code with anyone, no one would be asking questions about it. After all, I am the one who wrote it! I'll remember it!!!

    I had to step away from my main project for about 1 1/2 months and opened it back up last night to work on it some more... And instead of doing anything useful I spent the evening re learning my code, finding certain methods, functions, and the likes. What I expected to be I laid back evening if catch up turned into a stressed evening of going through thousands of lines not knowing what I was looking at... Anyways I decided that this weekend is devoted to commenting all existing code so this doesn't happen again.

    Learn from me. Comment your code.

    Edit: Oh, wow, A lot of opinions. Just voicing my experience. Do what you want with your code. Comment, Refractor, clean your code. I don't care what you do, but as a hobbyist I've been more concerned about creating working code than creating clean code. This experience has taught me that clean code is just as important.

    submitted by /u/Squirrel09
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    Can Gun bug strikes again

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 07:25 AM PDT

    ​

    https://i.redd.it/v3kcgo65gso11.gif

    We were scratching our heads for a few weeks on this one. Basically when you picked up a can of food with a weapon in your hand it would carry both around from that point onwards. At first we thought it was to do with the pistol but soon we were running around with shotguns and AR's augmented with cans which just made it even more frustrating. Anyways, finally narrowed it down this week and we are officially can free! The joys of game development

    submitted by /u/FracturedVeil
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    A Guide to Your Start Up or New Indie Studo's Legal Needs and Budgets

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 08:11 AM PDT

    Good Morning everyone,

    During my AMA I had quite a few people asking me through direct messages about Press Start Legal's fees, and what a new Start-up or IndieDev needs while to get their company started. Typically I don't like posting our fees, as we try to work within the budgets of our clients, so I am going to give a more general guideline as to what you should generally budget for, and what you as a new Start-up or Indie Studio needs to get started. Again this is a general guideline of what you should budget for.

    If you have questions about anything in this post please contact me at [Zac@PressStartLegal.com](mailto:Zac@PressStartLegal.com)

    · Incorporation. Depending on your company's ultimate needs and current goals this can be a corporation (S or C) or an LLC. Each has its disadvantages and advantages depending on where you're at as a company, and what your immediate plans are. This step protects you and your personal assets from liability if you get sued. Meaning, if you're out there creating a game and an issue arises where your involved in a lawsuit, without this company protecting you, I can come after your personal assets. You should budget between $750 to $1200 for an LLC, and between $1750 and $2500 for a Corporation. The difference in price is related to different corporate formalities that must be followed and the different documents you'll need to properly run your company.

    · A Good Set of Agreements. I cannot stress the importance of agreements, and while I don't want to generalize and say contractor agreements, but all agreements from Contractor/Employee agreements to Shareholder agreements. If you're making a physical product manufacture and supply agreements are a necessity. If you can only afford to budget for one of these, then outside a shareholder agreement between you and your partners, the most important is a contractor agreement. These are so important because it transfers and assigns the rights in what that contractor created to your company, without this that contractor maintains ownership of the IP he created for you. This will be a common theme in this post but do not and I cannot stress this enough, do not just download any form you see online, have an attorney draft an agreement for your company. While I'd say shy away from templates, I know budgets don't always allow for that, so my firm creates what we call a kitchen sink agreement and provide you in instructions on what can be removed or added depending on the situation. You should budget between $500 to $3000 for a good set of contracts. The range is based on the needs, size, and amount of time to create a contract that fits your goals. Generally, PSL drafts agreements on flat rate fees regardless of how long it takes for us to make it perfect for you.

    · Intellectual Property protection. This is a two prong section, Copyrights, and Trademarks. I am not going to discuss patents as I am not a patent attorney, wouldn't even nowhere to begin. Additionally, most developers are not creating something is can be patented. Trademarks are your brand, it's your studio's name, your logo, the title of your game etc. It's important to think of Trademarks at the start especially for your studio as you would hate to spend all the time and resources creating your company to realize someone else owns that name. Budget between $500 to $1500 to register a Trademark, plus $275 Gov. Filing Fees. Why the difference? Trademark registration should always company a search, not just a direct match for the mark but for similar names that are likely to cause confusion. The reason being is you can spend the money for a trademark registration only to have that registration rejected via an office action for the likelihood of confusion, and you'd have to pay an attorney to file a response which can be expensive, especially if done on an hourly rate. Copyrights, this is for all of your creative works. Your game assets such as sound, graphics, and code, can all be copyrighted and in some cases be part of a single application. It's important to know that anything that gets a copyright is now accessible by the general public, so if you're creating something that you want to keep secrete this is your last step. Budget between $300 and $1000 to copyright your work, plus a $35 Gov. Filing Fee for a single work or $55 for a collection.

    · Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, End User Agreements. This is not exactly on everyone's radar at the start, but I can assure you with the changes in privacy law that are happening in the United States you need to start thinking about this early and often. I cant stress this enough do not use automatically generated documents. These documents which are often overlooked protect your company more often in a way you never thought of. T/C will asset you in customer disputes, it governs actions you as a company can take under certain circumstances, govern return policies, credit card processing etc. Additionally, T/Cs host your class action waivers, and arbitration demands, something you're going to want. Privacy Policies, you collect and use data different from any other company, so why would you want a general automatically generated privacy policy? In the United States State changes such as the new California consumer right of privacy act that was just passed or US or EU companies that activity target EU customers have to deal with the GDPR. EULA's are the rules of your game. With video games going digital rights have changed, no longer is someone purchasing ownership rights but rather a license to use your software. EULA's come into play when dealing with hackers, botter, or players conducting activities detrimental to your game. Budget between $750 to $1500 per document that said I've seen these documents cost some company's $10,000 + depending on the size and detail.

    · Don't Do This On Your Own. What I mean by this simple statement is I'd be willing to put my legal degree and years of experience against your google search any day. I know that can sound harsh, but attorneys are experts in what they do, just like your hiring experts to create your game why treat protecting your company be any different? Press Start Legal offers free consultations, don't be afraid to call us we are here to help you.

    Each law firm that operates in the interactive entertainment industry is different. Make sure you find the right firm to help you with your needs. I will leave this post with this last bit of advice. While all lawyers operate in the law in some function, not all lawyers can accomplish what your company needs. Don't hire your brother's wife's sister's husband who handles personal injury cases to incorporate your company or file your trademark. If you have any questions about this post or Press Start Legal's fees, please contact me at [Zac@PressStartLegal.com](mailto:Zac@PressStartLegal.com)

    ​

    EDIT 1: My associate brought this to my attention, and I agree with her that Tax is another topic that should be on everyone's mind. I am not a tax attorney or a tax expert by any stretch of the imagination, but you need to consider employee withholding, sales tax, and corporate and personal taxes. If your at the point where your company is collecting revenue from sales and paying employees (not independent contractors) you need to seek out a tax adviser who can provide guidance on this issue.

    submitted by /u/PressStartLegal
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    Post-Release Disorientation

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 09:21 AM PDT

    So, I am the co-founder of Irrazionali, an independent start-up.

    A couple of days ago we (a team of two) released our first game for mobile (a new arcade space runner titled "Asterings"), and since then we have started to receive e-mails from publishers and app promotion services, asking us to schedule Skype calls and such.

    I'm sure this is pretty standard, but we're new to it and wondering about the best way to deal with this stuff.

    Do you have similar experiences and/or much needed wisdom to share?

    submitted by /u/felineSynthesis
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    The Making of Underrun – A WebGL Shooter in 13kb of JavaScript

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 04:28 AM PDT

    Feeling alone as Project Lead

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 04:21 AM PDT

    As the title already said, I'm having one of those days. Trying hard to stay positive and strong, trying to work on the game, but it's just not happening. Right now, I feel like the game is trash and bound to fail. No amount of 5/5 demo reviews are going to cheer me up, not today. Because clearly all of those people are full of shit.

    And I'm exhausted from being the "boss" of the project. The one who's supposed to be 100% certain of what to do and how to do it. I usually believe in the game completely, and when someone in the team has doubts, or issues with motivation, we sit down and discuss it. It helps them and often makes the game better. But I dont feel like I can do the same when it's me. In fact I'm terrified. It's like they cant ever know I ever doubted or got scared.

    I feel like I have to be steadfast and unwavering in my faith in our game. Like I cant doubt or fail or have a bad day. I realize that sounds ridiculous; we're all human. But still. I just really don't want to let the team down. They're counting on me to see the game through, and keep everything running.

    Other "project leads" or "bosses", how do you deal with this?

    submitted by /u/marafrass
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    Make Games Magazine, a physical magazine about all things game development

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 06:43 AM PDT

    How to Add Voice Recognition to Your Game - Unity Tutorial

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 10:35 AM PDT

    Building a capital city in indie MMORPG - Gloria Victis 100 Days Against All Odds Challenge #7

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 12:21 PM PDT

    What programs are great for making a simple small mobile game for fun ? "No-coding, drag and drop"

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 11:54 AM PDT

    I'm just looking for some kind of program that I would be able to make simple tap games for mobile, for fun like a hobby, making a game for myself to kill the time when there is no internet.

    I used Buildbox but it is too costly and have a lot of flaws.

    Then I checked another open source software, but forgot how it is called.

    So can you suggest any program or software, free is more preferably. Thanks

    submitted by /u/yEzas
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    How to learn all aspects of game development.

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 11:50 AM PDT

    How can you become an indie game developer alone? Like, how can you learn programming, art (pixel art), and music (chiptune) all at once? It seems really hard because you got a lot going on at once.

    submitted by /u/PaulTheRoman
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    MoCap on a Budget - Capturing dances with a Kinect

    Posted: 26 Sep 2018 11:36 PM PDT

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4aRgDXedSA

    Just a bit of a behind-the-scenes for how we managed to motion capture a professional dancer with a very small budget. Thought it might interest you guys!

    submitted by /u/Vaconcovat
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    Working prototype

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 04:56 AM PDT

    Hey guys,

    I have made a working prototype of a fast pace 4 PvP couch game, kind of like towerfall but top down.

    I have a few things that I wish to understand from all the veterans here, what to do and how should I proceed ?

    1. How many of you think there is a market for such a game ?
    2. I want to play-test, should i complete the game first or should i start giving out to test right away ?
    3. If the game gains some good traction should i contact some publisher or do it myself ? (I have 0 money)
    4. My friends and family aren't gamers (they have trouble holding the controller right), so I don't think they would be the right people to play this game.

    Thanks for all the replies in advance.

    ​

    submitted by /u/IronBoundManzer
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    Engine/Framework for 2D Multiplayer Turn Based Strategy?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 09:34 AM PDT

    Hey guys,

    this is literally my first time on reddit, if Im doing sth wrong let me know and Ill delete the post or whatever.

    ​

    Im a final year student in computer engineering and I want to make a game. I've got coding experience and all, but since most of the things we do is hardware related, I have little to no knowledge about what kind of engine or framework would be a good starting point for what I want to do.

    Im going for a 2D turn based strategy game with 2 players (online, not local), think starcraft + magic the gathering and you got the idea xD

    ​

    Do you guys have any recommendations whatsover about what kinda software to use? I dont need anything super fancy but want something thats not gonna limit me in the long run. I thought about unity and Godot so far, any other ideas?

    Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, if you wanna know more about the game concept and story and all that good stuff (I didnt wanna bother you guys with that even though I think its kinda cool) feel free to message me!

    ​

    Cheers,

    Kilian

    ​

    submitted by /u/skinnynugget
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    Game development books or documentarys

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 09:31 AM PDT

    Hey guys, I need your help. Do you know any books or movies (documentarys) about game development? I'd really appreaciate every helpful comment :3

    submitted by /u/Enzo9876
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    How do you start a game development ?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 05:37 AM PDT

    Hi gamedevs !

    ​

    I already made a few games for fun and I'm working in IT. I will soon increase my free time and wanna try to earn enough to live developping games on android (using libGDX) and maybe PC later, with my artist friend.

    I'm wanting to have the best approach to avoid a chaotic development.

    But I don't really know how to start a clean game project, do you design UML diagrams, dev your own library, make a CI, apply TDD, use git with modules, etc.

    All I found atm are articles for beginners, who explain how to succeed doing your first game by not aiming too high etc, I don't need this type of article anymore.

    So if you know a good article that explain how to start your development phase from a dev point of view I'd love it !

    And also, I'd like your own point of view on how you use to start a game development.

    Thanks a lot guys !

    ​

    submitted by /u/Azalkor
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    how to survive and thrive as a indie developer, advice from Adam Saltsman (he made Canabalt and recently Night in the Woods)

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 09:07 AM PDT

    Scooby Doo programming contest ;)

    Posted: 27 Sep 2018 06:53 AM PDT
    Read more
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