Game finished - scared as hell to publish Thread

Hi guys.
I am crawling and stalking this very forums from like ages.
I come here every now and then to learn something, fetch myself some inspiration or to just not feel alone - by looking and reading other people. But I never seek some sort of interaction. That's mostly because long time ago I had a very ugly occurrence when I tried to "blend in" into a Game Developers community (no, not this one). And because I tend to react very emotional once I am attacked. But today I am feeling I need to throw out some stuff out of my system.

So to cut the chase - some time ago I've managed to finally establish a small indie studio, counting me and 3 other maniacs. We've made and published our first game. The game was not very successful but it didn't matter that much. The goal was to test us, each other. Do we match, can we work together and don't bite each other heads off. And it was rather fine. But then a shitstorm happened. Our programmer got his mainframe busted, leaving him unable to code. GFX artist fall into depression and PR guy had to look for a job and couldn't focus on studio. So I've found myself a bit stressed, to say the least. I knew I had too keep myself busy or I'll go insane. I had to develop something. There had to be some sort of movement. So I started developing my own game. As a pet project. For the heck of it.

At that time I was filled with hate, anger, fear and misery. And I took all of that and made it into a game. A retro, horror, surreal, hard as hell adventure game. I did the GFX, audio, coding and whatnot. And now it's done. Its sitting hidden at Newgrounds, Gamejolt and soon Kongregate. Unpublished. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the best time to publish game on those portals is Monday. So I am waiting. Making last minute fixes and correction. Starting marketing a bit. Hinting audience about my existence.

And I am scared. Scared as f**k.

I've done couple of games here and there but they were always paid projects. So as long as the money was rolling in - I didn't care much about negative feedback, trolls and the whole haternet. But this time is different. This game is practically me. Weave into audio, visuals and story. Its inperfect, user unfriendly, hard. And as personal as it gets. And I love it. You see, I never done Adventure Games before. From business point of view - Adventure games are not really gold mine. Player come, plays, finishes the game and its over. There's no replayablity. So the cash flow stops very soon. Yet I just made one, and had shit load of fun on the way. But because the game is so personal, I am afraid of letting it go. Afraid of publishing it and being bitten by the internet crowd. And we all know people, especially gamers can be the worst human beings on the planet, when it comes down to voicing opinion. And I don't know how to handle it. I don't want to argue and bash any idiot who will jump in, bomb me with 0/5 ratings and say the game is stupid, without giving me any explanation "why". I keep always saying that I don't care do people like my games or not. But not in this case. I want them to like it. I want them to love it. I want them to ask me to make another one. Because this game is me. And I want to be liked.

Eh... Anyway. What should I do? How can I handle this mess? Read only positive reviews lol? Ignore feedback in general? Or make peace with all this - but then HOW?

/sorry for typos and what not. English is not my native. I learned English Lang watching satellite TV and old cartoons. So yea. That's that.

Edited by: Vilehead

That sounds like a messy past but it's good that you kept yourself busy at this time.
Anyways it is always good to love his work and put a lot ofd effort and even love in it as you said. Especially if you put anger and hate in a horror game.

Just publish your game whenever you like because it's YOUR game and if you love it then players gonna love it too. And a little hint: There are ALWAYS , no matter where you are or when - there are always haters that don't like you and your work. That's life and be honest - wouldn't it get very boring if everything you did was instantly loved by others. You want to convince others to like your game and have fun and that's one point of why we develop games, isn't it?

If you'd like to I'll go and play your game and give you fair feedback 'bout it.

Cheers!

Phoenix1747 wrote: That sounds like a messy past but it's good that you kept yourself busy at this time.
Anyways it is always good to love his work and put a lot ofd effort and even love in it as you said. Especially if you put anger and hate in a horror game.

Just publish your game whenever you like because it's YOUR game and if you love it then players gonna love it too. And a little hint: There are ALWAYS , no matter where you are or when - there are always haters that don't like you and your work. That's life and be honest - wouldn't it get very boring if everything you did was instantly loved by others. You want to convince others to like your game and have fun and that's one point of why we develop games, isn't it?

If you'd like to I'll go and play your game and give you fair feedback 'bout it.

Cheers!

Wow thank you Phoenix! And yes i would love to!!!
Do you have an account on Newgrounds? I have the game already parked there. Not published, but i could invite you to betatest this thing. So you could go inside and tell me what do you think before anyone else.
The game looks kind a like this:

Sure why not! I just signed up for anaccount. My username: Phoenix1747 as usual

Phoenix1747.newgrounds.com

Phoenix1747 wrote: Sure why not! I just signed up for anaccount. My username: Phoenix1747 as usual

Phoenix1747.newgrounds.com

Wohow! Awesome!
Added you as a betatester. Check your profile there.
As for testing - my english sucks. I did run the game script via 3 diffrent spell checking softwares and stuff but there might be a lot of mistakes that slip thru. So keep your eye on grammar/spelling and whatnot. Also tell me if/when the text does not fit the text box. And in general - rape that thing
Also the game is insulting hard, and might take you hours before you'll manage to finish it. Out of 5 betatesters i had so far - only one finished the game. And that took him 6h. But i gave him 2 hints here and there when we got stuck.
Of course i dont expect you to sit now for so long and test, so whenever you'll get stuck for longer then 5 -`10minutes - ring me, and i'll give you the solution. To keep you moving.
Thank you again! This really means a lot.

Okay nice!

Edited by: Phoenix1747

okey guys if you would like to check the game - its published now. I would love your feedback. So far people are not liking my game that much... Ech...
Newgrounds.com
Kongregate.com
Gamejolt.com

It just takes its time

Hmm. Okey. A recap of past 24h.
On GJ 136 plays. Score 4/5 | Earnings = 0 $
On KG 265 plays, Score 2.96/5 | Earnings = 0 $
On NG 2952 plays, Score 3.51/5 | Earnings = 0.03 $

Technicaly speaking - i failed. Even being #8 on IndieDB

Only because you earned 3 cents?
You should consider extremely lucky and be happy to be #8 on indiedb. That's an achievement by itself and it should be a natural course of action that you can't live from being a little indie developer these days :/

Phoenix1747 wrote: Only because you earned 3 cents?
You should consider extremely lucky and be happy to be #8 on indiedb. That's an achievement by itself and it should be a natural course of action that you can't live from being a little indie developer these days :/

Phoenix. I do value all the positive feedback and reviews and what not. I do value my spot on IndieDB. I do consider it as an achievement.
But if achievement doesn't pay your bills - its void. You know from where are this traffic comes? I'll show you.
9gag.com
I wish one day i will be capable of making games driven only by my passion and love for them. But today is not that day.

Bear in mind i am not feeding on pity. And neither i am an emo. I am 30yo. I have a wife and a 4yo son Jacob. Our total revenue is about 2500 polish złoty per month. thats about 630 bucks. After paying all the bills, which is around 1500-2000 polish złoty (depends what month) we are left with 500-1000 polish złoty for food, for a whole month. Thats around around 128 dollars. And new problems are stockpilling each day. In past 3 months situation is getting worse and worse. To the point where i am really running out of idea. Filled with depression, hatered, anger, sorrow and misery - i took them all. And i turned them into a game. I took all the nightmares. Everything that makes me - Me. Because, Antumbra is ME. You are literally venturing my mind and soul when playing it.
Antumbra, is the current state of my mind.

I'm really sorry for your difficult situation but especially in that case you shouldn't fully rely on the income of your games. I'm not saying that you shouldn't make indie games because they help you to escape your every day life and let out your frustration but yeah as I said being a lone indie dev is not a reliable full-time job

Btw a little hint: Don't release your games on 3rd party sites because as you see you get for nearly 3000 views 3 cents.... If you sell it as a standalone on eg. steam for .40$ you can get much more and everybody will fully accept this price. I know that your game is flash/HTML based and you can't make a standalone out of it but yeah just do that next time

Edited by: Phoenix1747

Phoenix1747 wrote: I'm really sorry for your difficult situation but especially in that case you shouldn't fully rely on the income of your games. I'm not saying that you shouldn't make indie games because they help you to escape your every day life and let out your frustration but yeah as I said being a lone indie dev is not a reliable full-time job

Btw a little hint: Don't release your games on 3rd party sites because as you see you get for nearly 3000 views 3 cents.... If you sell it as a standalone on eg. steam for .40$ you can get much more and everybody will fully accept this price. I know that your game is flash/HTML based and you can't make a standalone out of it but yeah just do that next time

Actually i can make a port to almost any platform. Windows, linux, iOS, mobiles even few consoles. The problem is entry fee on Steam, which is 100$.
I dont have 100$

Oh right :/
Maybe Desura? It's a platform like indiedb only with a proper store where you can sell games, join for free and it also has an own client. They just have a 70/30 royalty. Here more info: Indiedb.com

Hey man - how is it going with your game? Just checked on Newgrounds and saw it was down from the site which is too bad. Hope thing overall are well for you and you're doing well.

Keep on keeping on!

-Tim

DonleyTimeFoundation wrote: Hey man - how is it going with your game? Just checked on Newgrounds and saw it was down from the site which is too bad. Hope thing overall are well for you and you're doing well.

Keep on keeping on!

-Tim

Jesus Tim dont scare me like that @_@
Nah my game is fine. Even more then fine. Its just NG updating some stuff - check the new login screen. What a mess lol.

Drone_Locker wrote:
Jesus Tim dont scare me like that @_@
Nah my game is fine. Even more then fine. Its just NG updating some stuff - check the new login screen. What a mess lol.

Thank goodness! ... massive relief. You can imagine, i read your first post, went to NG, could see the game and was like uh-oh....

^__________________________________________________^
Very good then!!! All is well!

-Tim

Dum dum dum :3 Lemme just drop it here...

Niiiice

Heya Drone Locker!

I read all of your posts right from the beginning, and I just have to pop in here and say a few words, even if they are a tid-bit late.

First, I want to point out that your fantastic game has earned you a good reputation, and it has created your very own brand. Sometimes that is worth far more than money, as it definitely pays off in the future.

Second, you should be really proud of your work. I saw many, many famous and semi-famous YouTubers play your game, and they loved it. Pat yourself on the back! You succeeded in my eyes and in many others'.

And third, keep going! Keep making games the way you want to make them. Keep doing what you love doing. Can't wait to see what great stuff you're going to come up with!

Sorry for the late reply mate As you can figure I've got very busy lately.
First things first: Thank you. For the kind words and inspiring vibe.
Now... i need your support guys. more then ever.
Antumbra 2... landed
ANTUMBRA 2