Comments - SquidLord

I am surprisingly interested in giving you money in exchange for Fleet – an emotional position only solidified by the fact that you consulted Homeworld: Cataclysm for inspiration on how to manage the appearance of fighter craft. Anyone inspired by such a superior example of game experience clearly needs money thrown at them.

Ultimately, I have to ask, did you end up going with a 3-D version of the Boids algorithm with projected positions/vectors influenced by observed obstacles or something less agent-centric? Color me curious.

First off, I just want to say that Frozen Synapse is one of the games I'm seriously looking forward to not only playing once it's released but experiencing the milestones along the way. As far as the game goes, I'm an early adopter; Frozen Synapse searches out that little gaming place that my soul inhabits and relentlessly targets it with artillery. I'm in for the ride, without question.

Secondly, I think it's worth saying that I believe that the people who are implying that Mode 7 Games -- and specifically you -- aren't doing everything that they can in order to get Frozen Synapse in front of as many eyes as possible, well, they have an inflated idea of their own understanding of the promotion of a product. Rest assured, some of us out here understand how hard a job is for you to get the game in front of not just reporters but likely players. The only way to sell a game is to get eyes on it, and it is very, very difficult to get eyes on something that's not backed by major player, whether it's financially or memeticly. It's simply hard, and you have to be commended by anyone who understands how hard the job is for doing as much as you have for Mode 7 Games. You deserve all the kudos and at-a-boys that we as a community can find to heap on you.

You, sir, are doing a hard and unforgiving job and doing it well. Have no doubts on that point.

The radical transparency that you guys are engaged in in terms of keeping the fan base involved via Facebook and here on ModDB is -- and will continue to be -- one of the strongest, most compelling reasons that people stay tied in and talking about your product. As long as people are talking, people are buying. And that's where you want to be.

Thanks guys, keep rocking the Frozen Synapse and I can only look forward to hearing more and seeing more from you guys as we get closer to release.

Crap, you guys have cited me, now I have to actually do a little more promotion for Frozen Synapse. Not that I really mind; I get the opportunity to talk about games on live shows fairly frequently of late.

My own feeling about independent game promotion and development is that there is no way that you're going to be able to penetrate the advertising "mind share" as deeply as Microsoft or Sony or one of the other major players. That's simply a fact; they can afford airtime on TV, product placement in very public fora, shows like E3, etc. Competing directly is just not something that you're going to do -- the big three have trouble competing against each other. In light of that fact, the only reasonable move is not to play. Literally. As importantly, you can't get bent out of shape were concerned or emotionally involved when the ebb and flow of the advertising cycle takes you out. You can't compete with E3 -- don't even try. It would be foolish to try. It would be foolish to get upset about the fact that you can't try.

Setting up a major push for next week or even a week after is a way better investment of your time and effort. Let the momentum from E3 die down a bit and then when the news cycle is beginning to fade abandoned the major blog sites are looking for something new to put up on the front page -- BAM! Have something ready to roll, something that's interesting to look at, something compelling, and I think that you'll see pre-orders shoot back up. Maybe not to the pre-E3 levels, but certainly to something respectable because you're back in front of people's eyes. That's all you have to do, get in front of people's eyes. The game itself takes care of the rest.