I have been looking through Steam Green light now for some time and have noticed one thing, I don’t like 95% of the games on there. It’s very sad when I look at a game a say “No, not interested” I feel like every time I hit that button that developer is slowly dying inside. As much as I feel bad, I feel even worse when I see some of the games people are making and worse they think they look good. My problem isn’t with the art or the audio or even the concept it’s just that a lot of the games look rushed. Even if they have been working on them for months they have not taken the time to make a good first impression on me.
I normally judge a game 10-20 seconds into the first trailer. If the first 10-20 seconds is filled with logos and nothing to do with the game, I normally get frustrated, skip the intro then get 30 seconds in to see some game play. Now that I am annoyed it doesn’t help when the next 30 seconds is filled with text or terrible voice overs. Indie studios aren’t going to win any fans with there self made audio reading skills. Then by minute one I finally see some game play, then…bam! Trailer over. A minute and a half video with 10-20 seconds of actual game play. While this is okay for big studios, it’s not for indie ones. No one is going to indie game for there amazing production value or their incredible special effect, we go to indie games for the game play…nothing else. Sorry to say it but it’s true.
Tip #1 - Make a video that shows the best parts of the game in under 30 seconds.
You might think that this is going to ruin the game, but if you show me the best parts of your game I am more willing to say that game looks good and approve it or maybe buy it. If you show me one good part a bunch of boring parts, why am I going to buy it at all? Don’t fill the video with clutter to try and make a two minute video. Make a 30 second video, that shows it all. If you can’t make a 30 second video that will get people to want to play then you might want to reconsider your game. Then once you have your quick 30 second video, then you can make your 2 minute long master piece. But you first need to bait the player in.
Tip #2 - Make your cover art look good.
I don’t care if your making a pong clone. Make that cover art pop. If your cover art is bad, your game is bad. Your cover art is like your cloths, it’s the first thing people see when they see your game. You don’t want to start off the relationship with them already disliking your game based on your ms paint drawing.
Tip #3 - Do internal testing before you ever release anything.
This one is one that I hate seeing. People put up forums or post and take about their game and put a playable demo of it online for everyone and their mother to play. While you think this is a good way to get feedback and a quick QA of the game it is the complete opposite. If you let people play your game before it’s to a testing part of the process your only hurting yourself. Before you do anything, let your friends play it or people close to you. Give it a soft opening rather than a mass opening. Then you can quick some kind feedback and then make some adjustments before you give it to the wolfs. Most of the time, people don’t play it anyways, and the ones that do either don’t leave feedback or say things that don’t help. It will only make people say Oh yeah that’s that game that was terrible.
Tip #4 - Prototype first, design second.
Most people and companies say they design the game then they make it. Well for most of us this sounds like the correct thing to do, but let’s face it, we all have limitations. Weather it be time, skill, funds or stress we all have something that will keep us from making these block buster games. Big studios can design a game first because they have the people required to make whatever they design come true(for the most part). We on the other hand don’t. That is why I feel it’s best to think of a quick idea, then prototype it. Once you have the core of game play mechanics done then design around your prototype. I like to work first think second, so this approach works best for me. It may not for you. You don’t want to design something that you can’t make or work well. Something that sounds good on paper may not play well once you have prototyped it. Then you have wasted all that time designing to only go back to square one.
Tip #5 - Show your faces.
When you make a video to promote your game, show yourself. If you don’t want to show yourself hire a model and show him talking. When I actually get to see the developers it makes you like them a little bit more and see that it is a person behind the game. One thing to do is just show a picture of the team or show you talking something that shows that people are behind making the game and that it’s not just a robot that put together games in a basement some where in Canada.
Tip #6 - Don’t limit yourselves.
Don’t limit yourself to one platform. If your making a PC game look into porting it to Mac/Linux. Same with mobile games don’t make just iOS but also android and windows phones. If you lock yourself into one platform your only hurting yourself. A trick you can do is release your game on PC, then wait a little awhile and then release the port to other platforms. This will help you create a buzz again when you release the ports. Look at Frozen Synapse that just came out on iOS. The game did great on PC then it came out with the iOS port and didn’t great there. Event though people played the same game on computer.
Tip #7 - Make a game with the people you have.
If you 3D models look bad and they don’t have good textures, ditch them or make a 2D game. If you are making a FPS and your models look bad no one is going to play it because there are 100 other FPS out there with better graphics and production value. Whatever your making the art has to stand out. Not mind blowing but it can’t look bad. If your thinking about making an FPS and don’t have a 3D modeler…just stop make a game where you have the required resources. Same if you don’t have a programmer. Don’t try and make something crazy if you have to learn the coding yourself because it will become a mess and will cause you to quit making your game.
That is all I can think of, any other tips feel free to post.
