About to publish my first AGK game. Can't afford to pay for the privaledge so was going to try itch.io. Any thoughts about this.
Haven't every published anything, might be good idea to do it on itch.io for apparently publishing on Steam would cost you $100,-
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/want-to-get-a-game-on-steam-100-is-all-you-need/ (https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/want-to-get-a-game-on-steam-100-is-all-you-need/)
Similar fee for Google play store 1x per year $100,- + a 1 time fee of $25,-
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113469?hl=en (https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113469?hl=en)
Rick, since when there is an anuall fee for Google?
Quote from: MikeHart on March 09, 2018, 22:36:17
Rick, since when there is an anuall fee for Google?
First I've heard of it and I've got quite a few apps on the store!
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435?hl=en
QuoteThere is a $25 USD one-time registration fee that you can pay with the following credit or debit cards:
Maybe Rick has mixed up the Apple App Store costs...
I thought so too. I signed up in 2011 and never had to pay anything else beside the 25 usd.
Does anybody know of any other places I can. Launch my game on that is also free like itch.
really no idea (today)!
But a rapid search on google (how to publish a game) bring me many possible solutions (no grant of course :D)
One of these
https://ninichimusic.com/blog/2017/9/1/11-places-to-publish-release-your-indie-game
Of course everyone has its OWN vision of what is the right roads...
Oh by all means correct me if wrong. I just did a quick google as I never published someth myself and this was mentioned somewhere.
I'll correct. :-)
Had a look at that site of where to publish games and itch.io was right up there in number 2 position. Thanks for your input. Could someone tell me where to get an AGK logo from to brand my game prior to release.
I believe the logo is necessary to comply with the game creators rules. I don't suppose they would know though. Would like to comply with the rules.
Quote from: Pfaber11 on March 11, 2018, 12:33:12
I believe the logo is necessary to comply with the game creators rules. I don't suppose they would know though. Would like to comply with the rules.
They do not need to include the logo with your game. The Game Creators do not require you to do that. They only have recommendations if you do want to include the logo.
Quote from: https://www.appgamekit.com/documentation/distribution.htmlDistribution
If you want to help support AGK then please consider the following. This is optional but would be greatly appreciated.
Gonna try game jolt this evening and see what happens. It's free like itch and hopefully will generate some interest. Not sure where to go from there probably face book.
Oh right no need to worry about branding then. Thanks for that.
Well I published my 2 AGK2 games on game jolt and itch.io. . put them on there for free as they're not that great also put a blitz3d one on as well that I wrote before I got AGK2. Will be interesting to see how many downloads I get. Probably not many by the look of it. There's a lot more free games out there than I realized. Anyway have a nice day.
A link would help your cause greatly. :)
Yeah, i am curious to see what you have made. link(s) !
https://pfaber11.itch.io › Games › Action › Free
not sure if that will work but hope it does . It's a link to my game wingfighterz
It's only my second game using AGK2 . It's not much but i have improved.
well it's a link to all my games . Hope you guys take a look . Intend to make my next game a lot better. wingfighterz and attack by air were written in AGK2 and Alien invaders.exe was made with Blitz3d. I can only get better.
Well I have decided to try charging a dollar for my games to see if I can sell any of them . I will post back to let you know how I get on. I won't be giving up the day job anytime soon. Have a nice day.
The visual quality of the games does not justify a price tag of 1 eur.
People will surely think you are not meaning that serious. These games look as if they there put together in less than a handful of hours. It does not matter if you put weeks of coding and learning into it - people do not see that. they judge by videos, screenshots - and not descriptions.
bye
Ron
ahahah good luck with that (nothing else to say) :P
Yes I appreciate they are a bit rough around the edges. But from tiny acorns the all that. I intend to be knocking a new game out at the rate of 1 every 4 to 8 weeks. At least I havn't spent a year working on 1 project for it to be a flop. I'm thinking keep it simple. I actually think all games have gotta be worth a dollar. If I were charging 10 bucks per download then yes some sort of quality would be appropriate. But for a dollar we are talking bargain basement.
Checkout what other games are offered for 1 dollar - and compare yours with theirs.
I understand that many games are sold cheaper than they should but still you need to "compete" with them. If you had luck and get 100 downloads for one of your games I bet the paid user count will be less than 2 - as this would still be a good "conversion rate".
But for these kind of games I am pretty sure that 100 downloads would be already a good download count.
As said: I did not check these games and they might have superior gameplay, but gameplay is not what people see when coming to your website or to a game-list-page-wherever-it-is.
bye
Ron
Yes I take on board what you are saying. Gotta compete. Unfortunately a lot of the games are free and this does not not help anyone in the long run. I am happy my games are out there and a few people have played them. Gonna try something different with my next game.
Quote from: Derron on March 16, 2018, 12:28:07
I did not check these games and they might have superior gameplay, but gameplay is not what people see when coming to your website or to a game-list-page-wherever-it-is.
I agree. In the current totally oversaturated marketplace this is actually a really important point.
First impressions are crucial. Having the best gameplay ever is irrelevant if noone ever gets to experience it because you don't back it up visually.
Quote from: Pfaber11 on March 16, 2018, 12:45:57
Yes I take on board what you are saying. Gotta compete. Unfortunately a lot of the games are free and this does not not help anyone in the long run. I am happy my games are out there and a few people have played them. Gonna try something different with my next game.
Agreed, unfortunately there is a crazy race to the bottom going on. Those people racing to the botton are mostly doing it because their products are crappy and they can't compete otherwise though, so there is hope.
Try to rise above the vast ocean of mediocrity and you have a chance to succeed. Admittedly, not a big chance, but still.
In the end, we can't do anything about the market situation, gotta roll with it.
In my opinion gamedev is all about putting in the effort.
There are no shortcuts, those few who put in the effort will always have more success than the masses who do not. (and Steam is my witness for the masses not doing it :P )
You made several finished games, that already puts you above a huge percentage of the new aspiring devs.
Invest a lot of time into learning and practicing the graphical side of things and apply that knowledge, that will improve your games dramatically and catapult you much higher.
I'd say the key is to not underestimate or skip any part of the process, your product is only as strong as it's weakest part.
My suggestion is to try some game jams.
They not only help you focus on gameplay and graphics. But also how to compete against others (and their skills).
Game Jams also give an opportunity for you to try their games and see what you think is wrong or right.
It also means you start to get a reputation for being good at something or crap. And that brilliant game you just spent months on - no one is interested, no one cares and you only got 3 downloads <- Learn from this, take it onboard and try to improve.
If your graphics are crap, then play to your skills or learn how to make things better.
Can't do sound - buy some in or use some chip sounds.
You are NEVER going to doing AAA games, so don't try to. do some retro games, some atari ones. Find out what you are good at and what works...
Remember, your download page is your calling card; dump anything that make you look like crap. Only 3 downloads but you 'know' is brilliant < it's not. dump it. The downloads don't lie. And if it is brilliant - you now have all that knowledge and graphics to make your next effort even more impressive.
You won't get there today or tomorrow. But maybe with some thought next month or next year <- thats a good thing :)
Well I've made them free again . Gonna start a new. Project very shortly. The next one will be way better. The interesting thing is wingfighterz is way better than the other two and yet hasn't had a single download yet. Can't believe how much free stuff is out there on itch.io. .
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Can't believe how much free stuff is out there
Yes, I know what you mean...While I can understand people not wanting the hassle of taking money, they are very gradually destroying the games industry by giving their work away for free.
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At least I havn't spent a year working on 1 project for it to be a flop
(oups that's what i did in the past...) :-X
I am trying a different approach, similar to yours : create more games but less complicated to create, and see what is appreciated or not.
You have to admit that you could at least add a brief video / animated gif with an overview of the gameplay / possibilities, because as it was, i personally would not pay 1USD (i don't even know if it is interesting / fun to play !)
Don't assume that what you know is what others know...
And about the graphics, you certainly don't need to have very detailed graphics, but at least nice / polished enough ?
Yes that's what I think too. I think if itch.io game jolt and steam insisted that all Devs charge something for their work things would be better.
Well, i can send you 1USD via Paypal right now if you want, but only when i have seen that you have added a gameplay / possibilities video (or animated gif) of what your games are about. ;)
To be honest I'm not much of an artist but I do try. Anyway as I said previously things can only get better.
If you want to create a gameplay / possibilities video of your game, what i do is capture the area of the game window using "debut video capture" (free version), then i edit the video to keep only the parts that i want and to add some titles for each section using "video pad video editor" (free version), then i export in avi, then i can upload the result to youtube...
Well I did manage to make and upload a video of wingfighterz . Used OBS I think it's called. Open broadcaster studio or something. Anyway all my games are free for the foreseeable future. Can't really complain if they're free. Gonna make my next one with a view to selling it though . The day I make a dollar out of this it will be awesome. At leased I know what's involved in the process now and have tested the water. Happy at Patrick's Day.
Do not forget that commercial games (ad or price-tag-based) are more suited to legal problems:
- taxes for your income
- if you get sued, the price tag might differ (as you had a commercial interest)
So make sure you tackled these issues before releasing something "for money".
bye
Ron
Quote
The day I make a dollar out of this it will be awesome
indeed, same goal here... (more for the challenge than for the money...) Keep trying !
QuoteThe day I make a dollar out of this it will be awesome. At leased I know what's involved in the process now and have tested the water.
..do not lose your enthusiasm man..im sure it will work out, but im highly recommending word from mr. Derron, before money change hands..
QuoteDo not forget that commercial games (ad or price-tag-based) are more suited to legal problems:
- taxes for your income
- if you get sued, the price tag might differ (as you had a commercial interest)
I have uploaded a video to you tube and put a link in the wingfighterz game page. Don't think it'll make much difference but we'll see. Thanks for all the tips .
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if you get sued, the price tag might differ (as you had a commercial interest)
@Derron>>what do you mean by that ? (in the case that a developper creates a remake / clone of an existing game ?)
At least in Germany the differentiate between a personal "crime" and a crime done by a business related thing. Eg. you have a website which is for just your hobby - compared to a website having some banner ads on it - or some amazon-referal links ("buy this book, its good").
The cease and desist letters might have a different price tag. But the most different aspect is: acting as a business man (even if you just impose to be one) allows some laws to be used against you which are not allowed against private persons. Eg. in Germany any "non private" website needs a valid impress. No problem isn't it?
Also one cannot sue everyone for everything. In many cases you need a "business opponent" doing similar stuff - so painters can sue painters, bakeries other bakeries, ... but as a "commercial programmer" it becomes harder to sue these dudes in very specific things. Most problematic are things like "logos". While you as a private person do not really care about your logo - doing it from your names initials or so, it becomes a bit of a minefield if you do this as a "commercial acting one". Then people with registered trademarks/picturemarks in the same nizza class will have to sue you (or make you otherwise "change your opinion") to not loose their mark on the logo - only counts once they know about the existence of your logo.
Nobody does such things? There are individuums around there just doing this stuff - they finance theirself and their buddy-lawyers by sueing people here and there.
On the other hand: I do not want to make everyone afraid of things which might never happen to them. I just wanted to make you aware of all the trouble you might get once you sell things - or earn something. 1 cent is enough... or even the "will" to earn something. So in Germany they could argument about you acting as a commercial one as soon as you add a "pay for my software"-link, or a referal link. Even with 0 sales, and 0 clicks the "will to earn" is there and makes you acting "commercially".
Things might differ in your country but I assume every "big country" has such more or less "odd rules".
@ Remakes and Clones
- do never (repeat: never) use images as provided by the original software (except for FOSS - or if you got the licence - of course :-))
- do not use the original name if that was still trademarked (in your country!)
- do not copy texts from the original as soon as they have a certain level or "originality" (eg. Quest texts, whole story passges)
Game plays/ideas are not copyrightable (yet - they tried already). You could write a similar story (in your own words). You could paint things looking very "similar" to the original ones - so same style, similar look-a-like but do not just take the original image, tint it in another color and add a black line on top. This is not enough.
Game titles, certain elements (I got such a letter for a "red rising sun"-image in a settlers-of-catan-freeware game - a decade ago. They had an imagemark on this kind of background for computer games - and this made me sueable as the Dutch author of the game was out of reach for the German lawyers around the board game distributor.)
If you do not earn money with your remake and they sue you, you will have a different pricetag than as if they see you as a company ("will to earn something") pirating in their product pond.
Price tag will correlate on the potential damage. Damage is here often incorporating download count. I got a penalty cost which tried to multiplicate with the download count the game had - and any further download would have cost me X euros. You normally strike that then and mention that a court will have to decide the price tag - and they accept it. But these price tags define how many money the lawyer can require for "the letter".
Privat persons get more and more "secured" (cheap - easy to overcome as I've read - so it seems just to calm down the "easy people" aka the plebs ). Just think of the "strike rules" in the US (first, second, third strike). Such things only are valid for private persons ... not commercial ones.
bye
Ron
Well, you seem a little paranoid...
Create a similar game (not a clone or remake), create everything yourself or use things that you have a license to use, all good...
It's generally a good idea to have a limited liability company to run your business through, so that even in a worst case scenario it gets targeted instead of your personal savings. A safety net to separate you from your external business stuff.
Lots of scammers and nutjobs out there, you never know what will be thrown your way. Better safe than sorry.
@ paranoid
Yes - but I also have paid not just once for such issues. So better warn/inform people, than - as GaborD said - sorry.
And there are dozens of people out there doing their pong clones, pacman clones - to learn stuff. Plenty of old games are "cult trademarks" and heavily protected. Talking about Pac Man, Super Mario ...
As you already wrote in your reply: if you do everything on your own, and do not hurt their trademarks, nothing will happen. And NO just because YOU (and me ...and many others) are aware of some "clones" (copying trademarks) this does not mean the owner of the trademark (officially) knows about it. As said they need to fight such issues to not shallow their trademarks. That is why there seem to be "legit" remakes/clones around.
And no, I think differently to the current laws on this subject, but for now we will have to accept it. Just a side note: in Germany we cannot just use the original movie titles in my game TVTower. As the owners might (maybe - it is not strictly clear, but got responses from multiple lawyers on this question) sue one to not use them in the game. Why? Because our game would benefit from the "reality" ... and benefit means you need the allowance/right to use the title, name of the actor ... (as you're game gets "better" with these names. This is also why you cannot name your game "This is not Candy Crush" - except maybe in the US - as you would try to piggy-back on the fame of the name).
Another thing: if you are not creating "art" and a officially satiric reminiscence of a product, even things like "pun" - making a slightly fun name out of a real name - can be problematic as soon as it becomes a kind of revile).
In the US things can be a lot different (fair use etc.) but as far as it concerns Germany things are as I described.
bye
Ron
@Pfaber11>>well done for the gameplay video, even if these games are not liked, you have learned the process, so level up ! and it will be better for your next game. Keep trying !
( Oups! i have clicked the wrong button ;) )
Thanks remid much appreciated. Yes I've cirtainly learnt a lot from this experience and my next game will be much better and so will my marketing and presentation. Thanks for all the tips.
Well I'm back a year later . Still using AGK2 and have produced a few more games over the last year. Programming skills have improved a fair bit and my games are better than they were. still room for improvement by a long way . Anyway I'm still out here and still developing . I've created a web site for my games now but am not sure if I'm allowed to put it on here as it might be seen as spamming . If you google pfaber11@yahoo.com it'll list my site if you would like to take a look. Still waiting for Bing search to kick in .
Welcome back :)
QuoteI've created a web site for my games now but am not sure if I'm allowed to put it on here as it might be seen as spamming
If you've made games or anything you think the community will like both free or paid then feel free to post about it in our Showcase section of the forum (https://www.syntaxbomb.com/index.php/board,16.0.html) :)
Well I'm halfway through my next game looks like being interesting haven't seen anything else like it . Decided to use my own meshes and sound effects . Not much to look at and very simple but at least it's my own work and there's no chance of running into problems . Using wings 3D to create them tried Blender but really don't get on with it. just find it too complicated and nearly put me off creating my own models. There certainly is a lot of skill in it. Did find quite a lot for free on the internet but would rather produce my own. As for sound I've downloaded a free sound recorder to make my own . Bonjour
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As for sound I've downloaded a free sound recorder to make my own .
Audacity?
Quote from: Steve Elliott on May 06, 2019, 15:23:24
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As for sound I've downloaded a free sound recorder to make my own .
Audacity?
Doesn't everyone have a copy of Audacity installed? it's the law ;D
:D
It just says free sound recorder. It does the job though.
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Doesn't everyone have a copy of Audacity installed? it's the law ;D
Pfaber11 doesn't. :o
I'll go and take a look at it. It saves to wav. and that's all I was looking for really . I'll edit this post when I've looked at it.
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It saves to wav. and that's all I was looking for really .
Audacity is ace, and it also exports to ogg (much smaller files).
Just downloaded it and tried it and it's very nice . Thanks for the tip.
The multi track bit should be interesting . The one I had didn't do that.
Quote from: Steve Elliott on May 06, 2019, 18:01:39
Audacity is ace, and it also exports to ogg (much smaller files).
Yup, it's a must have free app. Great for clipping sounds, equalising the volume, adding effects and exporting. Been using it for yyeeeaarrrssss.