Commercial Game ideas

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Trance
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Trance »

insightguy wrote:
Trance wrote:I've got it! What if we make a $60 tech demo
$60 for an indie game? that's EA levels of greed mixed with Square enix levels of over expectations. I'd argue $30 is the best you can hope for on a first release, and that's pushing it.
Aw nuts, I thought I was really on to something there with my 60dollartechdemo idea

I should've known that project would be nothing but a joke
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60dollartechdemo
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by 60dollartechdemo »

Right. You know what? I'm done here. Goodbye.
dpJudas
 
 
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by dpJudas »

Color me interested as well. I didn't notice this thread until now because, usually, a thread with this kind of title is a waste of time to read. :)

For me to commit myself to such an endeavor depends highly on who exactly else you pick. As Kinsey already pointed out, there's no shortage of people that pitch their idea as "you do all the work, you take all the risk, and then we share the profits as I came up with the idea!". The best Doom scene analogy are those megawad mapping threads where half of DoomWorld and ZDoom sign up for doing a map, and then two months later half of them haven't even started on their maps.

I have a full time project/job for the next three months, but after that I should have my coffers filled and could commit myself full time to a game project. But once again, I'm only willing to take such risks if the team you pick are reliable and known to finish their work on realistic timelines. No kb1's here, please!
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

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I'll contact you privately with the relevant information to allow you to make a better judgment with.
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Graf Zahl
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Graf Zahl »

dpJudas wrote:I'm only willing to take such risks if the team you pick are reliable and known to finish their work on realistic timelines. No kb1's here, please!
Fully understandable. If I had time to spare I'd surely be interested but seeing how my work doesn't leave much to spend on side projects I'd rather pass. It makes no sense to participate in such an undertaking if one cannot commit to it.
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Reactor
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Reactor »

In the meantime, it might be a good idea to create a homepage or some sort for the game, with a short overview of the game, the required and already acquired "ingredients", and maybe a message board. It won't hurt at all, and will draw some attention of the public as well. It would truly be a shame if this project turns out well, and nobody would care about it, just because it's too obscure...we would not want that to happen.
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Kinsie »

insightguy wrote:
Reactor wrote:I like the idea, Trance...but where exactly should we publish it to gain support and notoriety? Kickstarter maybe?
kickstarter is only a good idea if:
  1. you already have a working demo
  2. already have a portfolio that matches with the product
  3. are able to accurately plot out how you handle the money and how much you need
first one is a goal, second one is a must to even succeed, and the third ensures that all that cash you got does not end up in a money sink that ends with people wanting your head.

kickstarter should be a goal, not a starting point.
In addition (and I'm sorry to keep ducking in as the bearer of bad news), I've been led to believe by other indie devs that there isn't as much money in Kickstarting videogames as there was in previous years - a lot of backer enthusiasm has shifted over to tabletop and card games, I've been led to believe.

(There's also the issue where, in order to make hit 100% funding and thus get any money, developers tend to severely understate the amount of money they actually need to make the game and cover any backer rewards, leading to situations where they run out of money mid-development and/or have to live near or below the poverty line to keep on-budget... but that's another discussion altogether.)
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Dancso
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Dancso »

Kinsie wrote:(There's also the issue where, in order to make hit 100% funding and thus get any money, developers tend to severely understate the amount of money they actually need to make the game and cover any backer rewards, leading to situations where they run out of money mid-development and/or have to live near or below the poverty line to keep on-budget... but that's another discussion altogether.)
I can confirm this. The kickstarter for a game I'm working on (now in early access) had raised $2600. That's for a developer group of 4. It took 7 months from there to get the initial release out and we're basically running off of secondary jobs and projects at this point.
At least our backer rewards were 100% digital, so we didn't lose money there.
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Reactor
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Reactor »

OK, so Kickstarter was not a bright idea, I see. But still, if we wish this project to succeed, we shall need something to show for the public, so the game won't be damned to obscurity.
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Scripten
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Scripten »

You will want to contact someone with experience dealing with the legal side of things. That will cost money but it will save you a huge amount of headaches in the future. I know of someone from the Bay 12 forums with a decent amount of knowledge in that area if you all are interested.
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by insightguy »

Reactor wrote:OK, so Kickstarter was not a bright idea, I see. But still, if we wish this project to succeed, we shall need something to show for the public, so the game won't be damned to obscurity.
Well other options include YouTubers, controversy, publisher or by "increments" (A.K.A. releasing other games to build a portfolio).

YouTubers are not a bad idea if the game is not youtube bait and is actually good (unless the game is story focused, then it's basically a free game play demonstration to a large audience).

Controversy if your dumb and want to get a very divisive fan base that can and will become cancerous, though steer it right and it can be successful (same can be said for using explosives to put out fires).

Publisher can be a good idea if they are friendly with indie games. (so long as you read the contract and are satisfied with the terms and conditions)

The last option is rare nowadays, but is usually goes after one of the 3 previous points (Supergiant games is a good example of this in my opinion.)
Scripten wrote:You will want to contact someone with experience dealing with the legal side of things. That will cost money but it will save you a huge amount of headaches in the future. I know of someone from the Bay 12 forums with a decent amount of knowledge in that area if you all are interested.
Is this guy an official certified lawyer or not? because getting a full fledged lawyer seems to be the better option.
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by kevansevans »

/r/doom, /r/games, /r/gaming, /r/gamedev, and /r/indiegaming are all great places for free advertisement. Take advantage of the reddit community and show you have a product worth paying for, the exposure alone will guarantee the sales will cover what needs to be paid towards the team. A lot of tech and gaming news websites like to lift content off of reddit as well, so word of mouth will push it further.
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Rachael »

https://discord.gg/2dkW4ng

This is our Discord server, for those of you who like Discord servers and want to follow us.
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insightguy
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by insightguy »

Rachael wrote:https://discord.gg/2dkW4ng

This is our Discord server, for those of you who like Discord servers and want to follow us.
If I was banned in the zdoom server, will I be kicked on sight? because if so, I won't bother.
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Reactor
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Re: Commercial Game ideas

Post by Reactor »

Youtube can be a good idea. I can promote the game, but alas, only in Hungary. You see...my videos are all in Hungarian, so I could only spread the word amongst the Hungarian fans of that genre. Thankfully, I have quite a fanbase, and they shall happily try out anything I recommend to them. Once the game itself is complete, I can even churn out a full episode about it...with your given permission of course.
If the game is story-focused, it is not a problem for me. I had luck with Limbo and Heart of Darkness which were heavily focusing on the story, so I couldn't really cut the gameplay that much.
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