Category: Video Game Law

Indie Developers need to stick together… yeah right!

I’ve always been an advocate for indie developers helping their collegues out in any form. But seriously there comes a point when things can be blown out of proportions and obviously that does not help anyone. As is the case with a post made on IndieGamer.com about Malathedra. So I do recommend that you take a time to read this thread and analize what happened and how to avoid conversations like this in the future.

(Hint: There is no way to avoid this type of conversation. They will always happen.)

Pre-Development Research

Sometimes I question as to whether or not indie developers research into the market before they set out and make a game. In most cases I would say that they don’t. At the indie level, it doesn’t matter if your game sells, you just want to make a game. But isn’t it nicer when thousands of people actually buy your game rather than a couple hundred?

The most effective way to achieve this is to do your research. Find out if there is an audience that you’re aiming for. Is this audience large or is it niche? Niche audiences are extremely hard to find without the proper marketing so what is your marketing strategy? What will you do if your strategy fails? Are there portals/distributors who would be interested in your game? If you cannot reply to these questions with specific details then you’re screwed.

I’ve played some great indie games before but some of those never sold well. Some were even higher quality than the ones that do sell well. So what’s the difference? The ones that sold well did the research before they developed the game.

Never lose your cool

Yesturday I found another 3D artist forum so I went ahead and posted a help wanted thread for The Divine.  (http://www.cgchat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25285)

You can see from reading the thread that members keep on questioning my intentions. I understand where they are coming from. It does make clear sense that volunteer projects could be considered scams.

At the same time I’m replying to their posts with a calm tone. It’s important that in these situations you represent yourself and your game with a clear and conscise voice. If you lose your cool, you have lost a potential market for your game.

This will happen to you multiple times throughout your career, so just be ready for it. Always avoid a flame war.

High Quality is the ONLY Quality

If you are serious and want your game to sell, you have to make a high quality game. Major portals will not accept any game that has poor gameplay or graphics. With a good game, gameplay and graphics go hand in hand. Developers must balance the two.

When designing your game keep this in mind. It’s much easier to make a cartoony looking game rather than something that’s realistic.

When you’re done with your game, go back and look at things that could be polished. There’s no reason why your game shouldn’t be the best that it can be. Spend at least a month tweaking as much as you can. Beta test your game and get feedback!

Mediocrity is not an option in this day and age. There are too many indie games being released every week for your game to get noticed if it looks or plays bad.

Why would you want to waste months to years of your life on a project and not have it sell well?

Copycat

Remember those people in school who always used to copy anything you did? Well I sure don’t but someone here must! Anyways…

It’s ok to copy someone else’s game idea/gameplay as long as you change it just slightly enough to offer something new. If you make a game that has already been made before, you’ve just hung yourself. No distributor wants to sell a game that they just played a year ago. That’s how portals are run to the ground. Portals have to offer their visitors the good and unique stuff.

A genre that is really hot is serving tables - Diner Dash, Mystic Inn, Snowy: Lunch Rush, etc  all use the same type of gameplay but they coat it with a completely different style of graphics. Each one of these games has sold very well because they all change the formula just enough that players feel at ease with the game.

This is just how the industry works. Like it or not, it’s better to make money then waste money.

Website Presentation

Your pitch is your website. Whether you are looking for a publisher or a distributor, the first thing they’ll see is your website. When you release your game your website will be the first thing a player interacts with. You must at all costs make the presentation of your website as simple and professional as possible, while maintaining the game’s atmosphere.

If your game is a horror game, the website should be dark and graphically run-down. If you have a puzzle game, the website should be bright and colorful.

No matter what the layout looks like it doesn’t matter if the visitor can’t find what they are looking for. Any page besides News, Forum, Screenshots (Media/Downloads), Purchase, Contact could be pointless. You want to keep things organized and clutterless. If your visitor cannot find what they want in 5 seconds your website layout sucks.