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Plan for Markus Nuebel

Name:	Markus Nuebel
Date Posted:	Jun 14, 2005
Rating:	Not Rated
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Blog post

Sometimes the internet is really funny.

Some days ago I posted a second Image of the Day announcing, that HackIt Release Candidate 1 was done.
The reaction to the post was kind of moderate, compared with a previous IOTD post, so I was a bit disappointed. I hoped to get a little more responses and a little more interest, what could have helped to make publishers interested in the game.
(Referencing to a hot IOD discussion over at the GarageGames board should be a good argument, aren't you thinking so?)
Since this did not turn out as expected, I was very surprised and pleased to see, that GamePlay Monthly features HackIt on it's main news page. They even did a dedicated page for HackIt, after our artist helped them out with a few screenshots and they are even offering the HackIt Trailer Video for download.

This made me cheer up a bit ;)

On another topic: HackIt Demo
I am currently extracting a two-level demo from the RC1 build of HackIt. The question I am asking myself is: Should I offer the demo as free download, even if we do not have a publisher?
Having the free demo at this time means that interested people are not able to buy the full version?

If someone has some opinions on that, please post up here or mail me privately. But only serious posts please. We all like to get games for free, but keep in mind that HackIt is a typical indie game. It will likely be cheap and I see nothing bad in the fact, that a little money from game sales helps to cover the upfront investments we did. Without a little bit of "Return on Investment" it will be hard to start over a new project.

On yet another topic: Realm Wars
Since we are closing down towards the HackIt release I am finding more and more time to continue work on Realm Wars 2, now taken over by MaxGaming.
If you want to keep track of the RW progress, don't miss the project blog:
www.realmwarsgame.com/news.shtml
or my personal Realm Wars Development blog:
realmwarsdevlog.blogspot.com

Have fun ... and stay indie ... ;)
-- Markus

Recent Blog Posts

List:	05/25/06 - HackIt Release and other things.... 12/11/05 - Plan for Markus Nuebel 11/11/05 - Plan for Markus Nuebel 10/09/05 - Plan for Markus Nuebel 09/20/05 - Plan for Markus Nuebel 09/06/05 - Plan for Markus Nuebel 08/18/05 - Plan for Markus Nuebel 07/23/05 - Plan for Markus Nuebel

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Stephen Zepp (Jun 14, 2005 at 20:24 GMT)

I wouldn't stress too much about a feeling of lackluster response--in many ways, .plan's happen often enough that people tend to just view them, instead of discuss them!

An IotD however does tend to be a discussion place, so the response in those is almost always going to be bigger/stronger/better than before. Don't let it get you down!

For myself, I'm extremely excited about HackIt...it looks like a very interesting game concept, and I know it will be one that I will wind up playing--and me playing any game is actually pretty impressive.

Unsung Zero (Jun 14, 2005 at 20:30 GMT)

Not having a publisher, potential customers would have to contact you directly. This isn't really the way one would like to market their game. Something you could do is have a "buy now" link in-game that points to a sales page that you create. You could throw up something very decent with little time using mambo. http://www.mamboserver.com/ it's free and very easy to implement and maintain.

There are modules for shopping carts and whatnot, but you'd need a merchant account or go through paypal. Most indie gamers wouldn't feel uncomfortable with paypal (or I would guess they wouldn't).

As far as distribution: I haven't really gotten that far. But there are LOTS of people who will swing by and some of them may have ideas.

Good luck!

Matt Fairfax (Jun 14, 2005 at 20:32 GMT)

None of the Devshots have been getting huge responses since the new format went up.

L Foster (Jun 14, 2005 at 20:55 GMT)

I second Matts comment, the IOTD just isnt as popular anymore now that it isn't front and center and always reminding you that its there and you should check it out. So don't get too bummed out by it, HackIt is a cool game and it will get its true spotlight when it comes time.

Canon (Jun 14, 2005 at 21:32 GMT)

prepare your demo and send it to publishers only.
IMO, it's a mistake to release a demo whit out a "buy now" link.

Christophe

Joshua Dallman (Jun 14, 2005 at 23:32 GMT)

seems like it would make more sense to have the snapshots next to the community blogs, and the "gg blogs" next to the "gg news"

gg blogs are not updated as frequently as the dev snapshots so you'd think it would be positioned higher

in any case, don't be too bummed about it, your game will definitely speak for itself as Logan said

and don't don't dont release a version of the game w/o a link to buy the full version or that little demo will be floating around the internet "forever" into corners unknown, each resulting in a potentially lost sale.

Chris Labombard (Jun 15, 2005 at 10:45 GMT)

Agreed. The sole purpose of your demo is to sell your product. There is NO reason to release it if it can't do it's only job.

Gabor Forrai (Jun 15, 2005 at 11:42 GMT)

Release a demo only for the distributors in the first round.
Make a decision on working a distributor (ESD) or keep it totally self hand. As a first release of yours, im recommending to give it out to a leading ESD. Smaller percentage, but much much more marketing, and thats
a MUST for a release to survive. Especially if its a very first one in the market from yours.
You must to build your own brand, and there arent a better way to marketing it like hell. An ESD probably can do a much better marketing than a developer..
HackIt looks like potent, dont waste the possibility ;)

Michael Cozzolino (Jun 15, 2005 at 13:02 GMT)

Quote:
None of the Devshots have been getting huge responses since the new format went up.

Unfortunately I agree. I don't notice it sometimes until 2 or three have passed. Then I feel dumb posting to something that seems for lack of a better word"old".

Markus Nuebel (Jun 15, 2005 at 22:03 GMT)

Thanks guys. It really feels good to read your comments and advises.

Someting I got from all this:
- It is overll not a good idea, to release a demo without having a place, where the game is offered for sale.
- The IOTD feature on the new GG site has lost something of its former importance, because of the new positioning.

This is a great comunity :)

Charlie Malbaurn (Jun 16, 2005 at 10:58 GMT)

I didn't even know realm wars 1 was even remotely close to being finished.

Regardless, hackit looks cool to me. If its a beta demo then it shouldnt matter if you have a publisher or not

Markus Nuebel (Jun 16, 2005 at 18:59 GMT)

No Charlie,

RW was not close to realease. We are currenly working towards Milestone 1.
(Which has been deleayed by some Real Live issues).
After that, a couple of other Milestones will be scheduled before releasing the game.

Regading the HackIt Demo:
This is no BETA demo. Is is a demo made from Release Candidate 1, which is the nearly final HackIt build. It's a demo of a product, not a technology or testing demo.

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