Ive gotten to the end of my planned development stage . What advice would you give a first time indie like myself, as the next step after development is done.
1- Make sure your plan isn't too big. You absolutely MUST start with small projects instead of big ones 2- Don't procrastinate. If you watch YouTube and do other things on the sideline your project will move very slowly 3- Just work, doesn't matter if its good or bad you will learn everything you need to know with experience and no matter how many people tell you what is right and wrong you will most likely end up doing the wrong things anyway until you from your mistakes
Have you shown people your game yet? Have you received overwhelming positive response from people who don't know you at all? Those are the first steps to the next steps after development... DURING development!
Game dev, especially marketing, isn't broken down into discreetly distinct steps, one doesn't start when another ends. They all should carry on at the same time.
To break it down a little more: If you don't know how to distribute or market your game, it means that you don't know how people react to your game, who wants to play it or what you need to tell people about the game to get their interest.
People's reactions dictate whether or not you market a game at all (at the high level), where you market the game and what kind of marketing systems work best for your specific game - is it all about twitch streamers, reviews, word of mouth or paid ads?
Who wants to play your game comes from people's reactions, but dictates what platforms you aim for and what distribution methods and business models are likely to be successful. You don't want to try and secure a core gamer market with a F2P mobile app, nor would you hunt for casual players between the ages of 5 and 15 on Steam Greenlight, etc.
What you need to tell people about your game is all about understanding people's reactions too. By showing the game to lots of people, you can try out different introductions, tutorials and opening phrases to pique people's interest. Sometimes you'll need to have different openers for different types of players as well.
All of this stuff can and will change your game, potentially quite a lot. So you might feel like development is finished, but there's a strong chance you might need to do more if you're focused on really producing something that people will want to buy. I realise that's disheartening, but there's really no other easy "oh hey, all you do is X and the game sells" feedback anyone can give you. At the moment, posting the game online is the starting point.
I think you've misunderstood what everyone has said...
What's being said here is you shouldn't jump into "marketing" mode, you should show your game to people first. All kinds of people, and this community of people is a great place to start doing that.
It doesn't matter if it's grand or not, casual or not. We don't only play hardcore games. There's a diverse group here with many different angles of insight. For you to not show your game here is to waste an opportunity at that insight.
Don't try and communicate whatever through whatever materials yet.
The products themselves are not grand. They are for casual gamers. No hard core reflexes and thinking power needed.
So how would you describe each of your games? (sounds like you've got more than 1) Try a 1 sentence description. There's a great talk about describing your games here.
Comments
2- Don't procrastinate. If you watch YouTube and do other things on the sideline your project will move very slowly
3- Just work, doesn't matter if its good or bad you will learn everything you need to know with experience and no matter how many people tell you what is right and wrong you will most likely end up doing the wrong things anyway until you from your mistakes
Good luck :)
Game dev, especially marketing, isn't broken down into discreetly distinct steps, one doesn't start when another ends. They all should carry on at the same time.
People's reactions dictate whether or not you market a game at all (at the high level), where you market the game and what kind of marketing systems work best for your specific game - is it all about twitch streamers, reviews, word of mouth or paid ads?
Who wants to play your game comes from people's reactions, but dictates what platforms you aim for and what distribution methods and business models are likely to be successful. You don't want to try and secure a core gamer market with a F2P mobile app, nor would you hunt for casual players between the ages of 5 and 15 on Steam Greenlight, etc.
What you need to tell people about your game is all about understanding people's reactions too. By showing the game to lots of people, you can try out different introductions, tutorials and opening phrases to pique people's interest. Sometimes you'll need to have different openers for different types of players as well.
All of this stuff can and will change your game, potentially quite a lot. So you might feel like development is finished, but there's a strong chance you might need to do more if you're focused on really producing something that people will want to buy. I realise that's disheartening, but there's really no other easy "oh hey, all you do is X and the game sells" feedback anyone can give you. At the moment, posting the game online is the starting point.
The products themselves are not grand. They are for casual gamers.
No hard core reflexes and thinking power needed.
So i will try and communicate that through my marketing materials.
Okay i will update when ive done some more marketing and research. :)
What's being said here is you shouldn't jump into "marketing" mode, you should show your game to people first. All kinds of people, and this community of people is a great place to start doing that.
It doesn't matter if it's grand or not, casual or not. We don't only play hardcore games. There's a diverse group here with many different angles of insight. For you to not show your game here is to waste an opportunity at that insight.
Don't try and communicate whatever through whatever materials yet.
Show us your game first.
When i said 'other website' i meant other indie game sites and forums.
I think posting a showcase of one level playthrough will help show how the games look and play.