It's been over a month since the last blog update, and what a busy damn month it's been. We've managed to finish and release SiC, produce a patch, and start on our next game. Today I just wanted to take a quick second to get out some thoughts and comments on where things are and where they're going.
Fist off, SiC's release. If I had to describe the release in one word, I'd probably use 'Quiet'. Thankfully I have as many words as I like.
Any indies that aren't established in the industry already know that the biggest issue with growing as an indie nowdays is exposure. All the tools that make game development easier and more accessible also bring in more and more people. Now, I really don't think this is bad, I think more people making more games helps spread ideas and grow the community, which are good things. Though it does mean that it's very hard to get anyone to pay attention to your game, especially if you don't have incredible graphics or some inherently sell-able gimmick. SiC Had neither of these. After a few artists fell through, I did the graphics myself, and the game-play is a pretty standard old school shooter.
I thought if I could just get people to try it, if they'd just play it or see it played, people would see that it was worth their time and at least download it, if not play it. After emailing over 50 YouTuber's of most every size, I only got one response and did not get a single shred of extra publicity from it. I don't know why not a single youtuber cared, and at this point that's out of my control.
The people who did play the game seem to have liked it. I've gotten a few messages through email and twitter expressing that players really liked the game, which was really encouraging. If it werent for the people who hit me back about liking the game, I'd have considered it an abject failure.
In closing, I really messed up SiC. I stand by the quality of the game, I think it's a damn solid shooter, but I messed up in getting it in front of people. I spent 14 months working insane hours on SiC, I really cared about this game, all to have it come out to a chorus of crickets. I spent a week or so moping around, I ate copious amounts of pizza, drank Mountain Dew till my eyes bled. It was a little rough, not gonna lie. BUT, I've picked myself back up, and am in the process of finishing my B game, which we'll be talking about in a sec here. Before we do that though I just wanna say a big thanks to the people that played SiC, and an even bigger thanks to the people who bought it. You guys keep me going.
NOW! Time for the more interesting part. THE NEXT GAME! I've been in love with the idea of doing A and B games. A large project, followed by a small project, followed by a large project, and so on. SiC was the A game, and while it certainly under-performed, I was already working on a B game before SiC was released. RLL is that B game.
RLL is a short, small-arena slasher about a lone pirate beating up a shit-ton of undead pirate ghouls before summoning and destroying their Ghostly King. It's not meant to be anything profound, just a small comically bloody way to spend a few minutes of your time.
Fist off, SiC's release. If I had to describe the release in one word, I'd probably use 'Quiet'. Thankfully I have as many words as I like.
Any indies that aren't established in the industry already know that the biggest issue with growing as an indie nowdays is exposure. All the tools that make game development easier and more accessible also bring in more and more people. Now, I really don't think this is bad, I think more people making more games helps spread ideas and grow the community, which are good things. Though it does mean that it's very hard to get anyone to pay attention to your game, especially if you don't have incredible graphics or some inherently sell-able gimmick. SiC Had neither of these. After a few artists fell through, I did the graphics myself, and the game-play is a pretty standard old school shooter.
I thought if I could just get people to try it, if they'd just play it or see it played, people would see that it was worth their time and at least download it, if not play it. After emailing over 50 YouTuber's of most every size, I only got one response and did not get a single shred of extra publicity from it. I don't know why not a single youtuber cared, and at this point that's out of my control.
The people who did play the game seem to have liked it. I've gotten a few messages through email and twitter expressing that players really liked the game, which was really encouraging. If it werent for the people who hit me back about liking the game, I'd have considered it an abject failure.
In closing, I really messed up SiC. I stand by the quality of the game, I think it's a damn solid shooter, but I messed up in getting it in front of people. I spent 14 months working insane hours on SiC, I really cared about this game, all to have it come out to a chorus of crickets. I spent a week or so moping around, I ate copious amounts of pizza, drank Mountain Dew till my eyes bled. It was a little rough, not gonna lie. BUT, I've picked myself back up, and am in the process of finishing my B game, which we'll be talking about in a sec here. Before we do that though I just wanna say a big thanks to the people that played SiC, and an even bigger thanks to the people who bought it. You guys keep me going.
NOW! Time for the more interesting part. THE NEXT GAME! I've been in love with the idea of doing A and B games. A large project, followed by a small project, followed by a large project, and so on. SiC was the A game, and while it certainly under-performed, I was already working on a B game before SiC was released. RLL is that B game.
RLL is a short, small-arena slasher about a lone pirate beating up a shit-ton of undead pirate ghouls before summoning and destroying their Ghostly King. It's not meant to be anything profound, just a small comically bloody way to spend a few minutes of your time.
Note: Most of this is still my prototype art. We've got a dude sprucing it up as we speak.
While we don't have a date set in stone, RLL is aiming to be dropped onto the internet sometime in early December and will be available for free.
I know this was a metric ton of text, but thanks to those that read through and to those that actually care about what we're trying to do here.
Thanks,
Wyatt White
Human Lump extraordinaire
While we don't have a date set in stone, RLL is aiming to be dropped onto the internet sometime in early December and will be available for free.
I know this was a metric ton of text, but thanks to those that read through and to those that actually care about what we're trying to do here.
Thanks,
Wyatt White
Human Lump extraordinaire