Sheep Tag Community
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: AName on July 10, 2015, 04:42:34 am
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Okay, so here's the deal: I want to release my game really, really soon as an alpha game. It would not come with fully playable Sheep Tag in it, and I'm currently debating with the help of some friends whether it will even have a very basic Sheep Tag implemented when I go alpha. I'm also considering whether I should have it be an open or a closed alpha (closed would be e.g. only 20-100 players are allowed to play the game).
If I release early, I get these advantages:
- quick quality testing on peoples' computers to find bugs, overlooked problems, and general feedback
- earlier exposure, which gives the game and the community behind it a lot longer time to develop
- a lot of encouragement to me as the developer (and those helping me with various stuff) to work harder on it
However, I'm afraid of releasing too early because it could lead to:
- a hole in my pocket: this is because as soon as I release the game, I need to host the server publicly and that costs money, anywhere from $6/month to $40/month per server (will start with 1 for the first few weeks at least) - note that I'm already paying it a lot of my time and some $72/year on the website for domain name and good hosting
- players driven away from the game (possibly) due to its suckiness (underdeveloped state*), though I will probably set up an email list to play so that I can at least email everyone at a later time when the game gets good
So I really want your feedback, and it would be great if everyone could respond and get those who would still play the game but aren't active on WC3/STC to give their feedback as well. What's best for you and me is the same.
- If I set up a Paypal donation, would you donate some money, and if so, what kind of money? $1? $5? $20?
- Of course, on what conditions/promises/rewards/etc. would you donate money, and what would cause you to donate more?
- What do you think the most effective release time for the alpha game would be? How playable would the game need to be for it to benefit the most?
- When I announce the game and its website and forums, will you help to make and keep the forums active over the next few months?
Basically I need your guys' support in whatever way you're willing to give it: money, testing, advice, etc. So let me know what I can expect so I can plan this alpha release better, thanks.
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Based on what I read I think you should hold back, a little bit. Wait until the game has maybe 2-3 playable modes where bug testing can be done on multiple fronts. Because the game I assume would have the same kind of interface ish from game to game I would assume some bugs would tie into each other. Also the servers / websites seem expensive, so I think you should try to start the game by storm sort of speak. Once it's officially moving forward obviously get the general knowledge into people's heads, they will either support you or not. Within th alpha stages are you planning on including chat? I think it would be awesome to talk to others and see what they have to say RIGHT after a game. I'm not sure how well you could publicly advertise the game AT FIRST so I'm not sure about open / closed alpha. I can test the game and attempt to give advice like this in the future. Thanks.
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The website is up for good now. The cheap server I can get for only $6 a month ($72 a year), and it should be able to support chat and games just fine for the alpha stage. If we can raise a little money like $30-200 from donations (over time) why not? What are good reasons not to release the alpha early?
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Is the game even ready for multiplayer (no offense)? Or is it just going to be a bunch of sheep and wolves running around not doing very much? You can probably just have us test single player for the time being to test out the feel of the game, running around, building farms, check out the UI, etc. Have cheat commands to spawn wolves, reset the game, etc.
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It's just that I feel the overall experience to those who are aren't from this community etc would be more inclined to see the potential and see the development through with because they can see that potential. Don't get me wrong it's fine if you release alpha as early as you want.
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It's just that I feel the overall experience to those who are aren't from this community etc would be more inclined to see the potential and see the development through with because they can see that potential. Don't get me wrong it's fine if you release alpha as early as you want.
I doubt it'd hurt the public image for the game if he keeps the alpha within this community and close friends.
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I had meant if it was open to all, Myll. As for donations I sure as hell could if my current position was different, but I'm sure some people would. All at differing levels.
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Closed alpha definitely (If you think its ready), but start going public with pictures/videos as soon as you can.
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http://www.fragilegame.com (http://www.fragilegame.com)
I do ask that you make an account on the forums. :) Feel free to subscribe to the blog as well.
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I think you should put even just a little of a description going on within that website.
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pro tip: give up
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Who are you?
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Somebody that wants you to fail. Someone who can't do it themselves and think YOU CAN'T DO IT. I however believe you can. DO IT, MOTIVATION!
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AName so how is the game going?
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Working on it now, actually. :D It turns out I made the server login and registration process synchronous, aka. it can only handle 1 at a time, which is not good, but I have a good quick fix for that. I'll try to cut down on my gaming.
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Total donations so far:
$400 from SirensOfTheSea and he cancelled his summer holidays
$240 from Shoop
$200 from DemonicFailures
$150 from Polar
$80 from Nightmare
$10 from Hawkys (he's broke, it's the thought that counts)
Where is da FACKEN GAME???????????
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lol at how I'm in everyones memes and photo edits. ^^
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Total donations so far: $2, from a guy who didn't even know that I was making a game; he just saw the website and knew it was mine
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Total donations so far: $2, from a guy who didn't even know that I was making a game; he just saw the website and knew it was mine
welcome to game dev. work hard, stay poor!
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I'll donate 10$ if the game is a success and people play it. :D
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welcome to game dev. work hard, stay poor!
Yups. That's why you guys are just going to have to accept that I have to make this game for myself as well. :)
I'll donate 10$ if the game is a success and people play it. :D
Thanks bruh. Not sure what qualifies as a "success" but yeh.
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Total donations so far: $2, from a guy who didn't even know that I was making a game; he just saw the website and knew it was mine
welcome to game dev. work hard, stay poor!
If you wanna make money, don't make games.
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If you wanna make money, don't make games.
yep, spent the last year learning that.
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If you wanna make money, don't make games.
yep, spent the last year learning that.
Ye the industry is heavily over saturated and the marketing is run by triple A studios. Make games because you enjoy it not to make a quick buck.