After nearly a year in the works, I'm finally just about ready to launch my zombie survival life sim They Don't Sleep. (Wishlist it now on Steam!) Here is the launch trailer:
While I'm at it, since this is a developer-focused website, I thought I might share a little that I learned about how to make trailers more quickly between my first trailer, which was difficult to make and doing so consumed nearly a week of my time, and this one, which came together in one night and I think might actually be the stronger of the two. I won't claim to be any good at this stuff, but maybe I can at least offer some things not to do.
Don't: Try to painstakingly plan out each specific shot for your trailer and get them one by one, trying to make each clip absolutely perfect.
(Maybe) Do: Sit down and play your game normally for an hour while recording and get a bunch of different clips you can scrub through and choose from later.
Don't: Try to match your shots to the specific beat of your trailer music like you're a beast of a video editor (unless you are, in fact, a beast of a video editor). It will take forever for minimal gains.
(Maybe) Do: Try to fit the overall "story" of the visuals to the rising/falling intensity of the music, and match one or two key turns in the way it unfolds to the way the music unfolds.
Don't: Spend a long time setting up the story with slow, deliberate shots.
(Maybe) Do: Get into the gameplay fast and let the gameplay tell a story.
Also: I decided here to put a brief clip of my most impressive art--the animated background for my main menu screen--at the beginning instead of leaving it for the end, and I think that's better. But let me know what you think. Would it be better without that and just getting right into the action instead?
They Don't Sleep comes out September 14th on Steam, and you can wishlist it now.
