Does the same thought process apply to developers using KickStarter merely to "launch" projects that are only a month or two out from release? That is, it's more clearly a pre-order, because the game is at this point almost entirely created.

I try not to let my thought processes overlap. They tend to be single-use items, these thought processes of mine.

I am pretty jaded when it comes to Kickstarter and its ilk. I would be more likely to ignore a "lauch" crowdfuning campaign (as you describe) than a well presented "We need marketing money" kind of thing. It really depends on my wildy vacillating moods, I guess.

Although using IndieGoGo instead of Kickstarter worries me (theoretically I can't have KS campaign as well) , IndieGoGo has "advantage" of flexible funding which allows you to get money whether fully funded or not.

So you might also consider something like "my goal is $1000, if I hit $5000 you get better environment (a nicer way of saying I'll get Unity Pro) and voice acting" , that way you at least sell copies anyway.

So you might also consider something like "my goal is $1000, if I hit $5000 you get better environment (a nicer way of saying I'll get Unity Pro) and voice acting" , that way you at least sell copies anyway.

I disagree -- I think full disclosure is the way to go. I'd me more inclined to fund something like: First $1500 gets the upgrade to the "Pro" engine, the next chunk adds this, that, or the other. I've already stated I'm a cranky, pessimistic old coot, so "I need $1000 and $5000 will make it look nicer" just makes me think the guy needs rent money and time.

I've been with indieDB since 2006 and honestly with what you've CURRENTLY got out there, not a chance unless I've under-evaluated the genre's appeal and supply-demand by a lot. But!

I can see you have a huge amount of content done but you just aren't really selling it. You should have maybe done some gameplay videos before you went for "feature complete alpha" to grow a better fanbase. But it's still a new project on the site and this is a perfect opportunity to test your marketing abilities. First focus on climbing indieDB popularity and see what works and what doesn't.

Son of Nor is one example of how to do it. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stillalivestudios/son-of-nor-the-world-is-your-weapon

They just tackled the public from all angles, they did everything from indieDB to this site, Steam Greenlight, Kickstarter, facebook, Twitter... they had so much content fired all over the internet that nobody could miss it and once they got people interested they kept them tagged along by constant updates and video blog with in-game material, developer insight etc. I'm not saying that's what it takes but getting the public interested in your game enough to fund it even if you have a solid idea and good progress is hard work and you probably only get once real chance with the crowdfunding.

So get the trailer out there and start marketing the project. Update the indieDB site frequently (each update bumps the project back to top) and try to reflect your project status accurately because you are further than one could deduce from the screenshots alone. Currently the indieDB site is your only base on the net and you've got around 30 followers (now including me :) ) and if each of us were interested enough to chip in we'd have to donate quite large sums of money.

I think you should pay attention to establishing the "brand" of your game. Logos, fonts, colors, visual style. Maybe that'll come naturally as you complete the trailer.

When you get a growing fanbase and start to attract the masses you know you're on the right track. For indiegogo campaign It might be a good idea to dissect the $5,000 budget and really go over the costs to see if that's the right amount to make the game really happen. Prove people that your game is awesome, this is where you are, this where you want to be and this is what it takes to get there. After that it's just a matter of listing the right perks :)

I might be speaking just my personal opinion but even if you have a game that is almost playable I suggest you don't stress the fact that people are getting the game for their money or that they are buying the product. I feel like this only makes the audience more skeptical and critical. "Is he really going to finish it?" "What if he won't get all the money? Then I don't get the game and my money isn't returned" "Do I really want to play this game more than my favorite $20 game?" When they might just want to give you some money because they liked your project.

GL and I'll be watching your progress :)

I've been with indieDB since 2006 and honestly with what you've CURRENTLY got out there, not a chance unless I've under-evaluated the genre's appeal and supply-demand by a lot. But!

I can see you have a huge amount of content done but you just aren't really selling it. You should have maybe done some gameplay videos before you went for "feature complete alpha" to grow a better fanbase. But it's still a new project on the site and this is a perfect opportunity to test your marketing abilities. First focus on climbing indieDB popularity and see what works and what doesn't.

Son of Nor is one example of how to do it. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stillalivestudios/son-of-nor-the-world-is-your-weapon

They just tackled the public from all angles, they did everything from indieDB to this site, Steam Greenlight, Kickstarter, facebook, Twitter... they had so much content fired all over the internet that nobody could miss it and once they got people interested they kept them tagged along by constant updates and video blog with in-game material, developer insight etc. I'm not saying that's what it takes but getting the public interested in your game enough to fund it even if you have a solid idea and good progress is hard work and you probably only get once real chance with the crowdfunding.

So get the trailer out there and start marketing the project. Update the indieDB site frequently (each update bumps the project back to top) and try to reflect your project status accurately because you are further than one could deduce from the screenshots alone. Currently the indieDB site is your only base on the net and you've got around 30 followers (now including me ) and if each of us were interested enough to chip in we'd have to donate quite large sums of money.

I think you should pay attention to establishing the "brand" of your game. Logos, fonts, colors, visual style. Maybe that'll come naturally as you complete the trailer.

When you get a growing fanbase and start to attract the masses you know you're on the right track. For indiegogo campaign It might be a good idea to dissect the $5,000 budget and really go over the costs to see if that's the right amount to make the game really happen. Prove people that your game is awesome, this is where you are, this where you want to be and this is what it takes to get there. After that it's just a matter of listing the right perks

I might be speaking just my personal opinion but even if you have a game that is almost playable I suggest you don't stress the fact that people are getting the game for their money or that they are buying the product. I feel like this only makes the audience more skeptical and critical. "Is he really going to finish it?" "What if he won't get all the money? Then I don't get the game and my money isn't returned" "Do I really want to play this game more than my favorite $20 game?" When they might just want to give you some money because they liked your project.

GL and I'll be watching your progress

Hey thanks for the throrough answer. You have a lot of valid points.

My biggest worry (and the reason I mostly post screenshots of the landscape) is that there isn;t enough stuff to show. I mean it's a first person adventure game. There is not a lot of gameplay I can show. It's mostly story driven. I didn;t see gameplay of games like dear esther or gone home or lifeless planet before release so I assumed there's not really a lot to show. The greatness( or lack of) of these games hinge on the story and how it's presented. And until I get a least some voice acting going it's kind of dull for me to show the players lots of text and interactions that lack context for them .

And everything regarding the gui is still using the default unity skin for buttons/menus etc that look very ugly and I'm afraid showing them now would deterr some players ( I always was under the impression that showing something off too early hurts more than it helps).

At this point my plan is basically this :

1. Release a teaser trailer ( Currently editing it, so that should be ready soon ish).

2. Continue to update IndieDB with one screenshot per day.

3. Continue working on the game until it reaches a Beta status.

4. Start focusing on promoting the game through every media available(steam greenlight etc)/ go for the indiegogo campaign.

5. If indiegogo is successful , switch to unity pro and finish the game,while also investing time on promoting it.

6. If indiegogo is not successful ,finish the game,while also investing time on promoting it.

7. After game is finished....promote it some more

8. Release it

That's the basic idea. I know there will be a lot of hurdles, but i'm afraid to start promoting it too soon, and would rather work on the actual game first. I'm not sure this is the right mentality , so let me know your opinion on it.

I don't think an early campaign (meaning talking about the game before the beta) fit well your type of game (adventure, story-driven)

What you want to show is not really the game. Everybody know what an adventure game is. You also can't show the story, as the player would probably prefer discovering it himself.

What you want to show is most likely the atmosphere of your game.

And screenshot often fail at rendering an entire atmosphere. I would focus on very short video (30 sec max) with few words like a movie teaser. Imagine a camera moving slowing over a lake, then the screen go blakc, and a sentence appears, then the camera move slowly over a forest, and then again, another sentence. Add to this a good music, nice audio effects, and you didn't have to show any gameplay, any completed level, just the stage you made for the teaser :D

To better illustrate there is an exemple of sentence which may fit in a teaser, from Flower of Evil : "When, after a decree of the supreme powers, The Poet is brought forth in this wearisome world, His mother terrified and full of blasphemies Raises her clenched fist to God, who pities her".

The goal is to make the potential player wondering : "What is this?"

Even better, post each n week a short video with a sentence each time apparently unrelated to the previous. But, when you assemble all the sentence from each video, all make sense.

Having some sort of enigma, and making the potential player already thinking about your game, before the game is released can be a nice way to get some attention. And when your game will be ready, by playing your game, player will be : "Ah, I understand now!" Or something like that.

But this "solution" can be more risky than other more classical.

I don't think an early campaign (meaning talking about the game before the beta) fit well your type of game (adventure, story-driven)

What you want to show is not really the game. Everybody know what an adventure game is. You also can't show the story, as the player would probably prefer discovering it himself.

What you want to show is most likely the atmosphere of your game.

And screenshot often fail at rendering an entire atmosphere. I would focus on very short video (30 sec max) with few words like a movie teaser. Imagine a camera moving slowing over a lake, then the screen go blakc, and a sentence appears, then the camera move slowly over a forest, and then again, another sentence. Add to this a good music, nice audio effects, and you didn't have to show any gameplay, any completed level, just the stage you made for the teaser

To better illustrate there is an exemple of sentence which may fit in a teaser, from Flower of Evil : "When, after a decree of the supreme powers, The Poet is brought forth in this wearisome world, His mother terrified and full of blasphemies Raises her clenched fist to God, who pities her".

The goal is to make the potential player wondering : "What is this?"

Even better, post each n week a short video with a sentence each time apparently unrelated to the previous. But, when you assemble all the sentence from each video, all make sense.

Having some sort of enigma, and making the potential player already thinking about your game, before the game is released can be a nice way to get some attention. And when your game will be ready, by playing your game, player will be : "Ah, I understand now!" Or something like that.

But this "solution" can be more risky than other more classical.

I actually like that approach. I'll try to think of something interesting and see how it goes. Thanks for the tip!

This whole thread goes to show that another crucial member of the game project is the marketing person. I'm the worst at it since I've got this "Hey, don't play it if you don't like it" attitude.

Yeah, obviously your trailer is not going to be with explosions and lasers and doing running jumps. It's going to be about... well, what your game is about. Focusing on the story start with the conflict and bring in the diversifiers but don't reveal too much. Don't worry about the GUI or any other content you don't want to show yet, focus on what looks nice and delvers the atmosphere you're going for.

TBH I assumed you had a clear view of where to aim for having mentioned some great names like Dear Esther. I was there when it was released as HL2 mod and I can tell you they had nothing but couple images and some piano tracks there IIRC. It was truly a hidden gem and people were blown away having played it after all the countless unoriginal HL2 mods. The current trailer for the game is not a bad reference and source of inspiration, just don't feel bad if you can't go for the same visual perfection. Be confident, It was once no better than your project is now. :)

Yeah, obviously your trailer is not going to be with explosions and lasers and doing running jumps. It's going to be about... well, what your game is about. Focusing on the story start with the conflict and bring in the diversifiers but don't reveal too much. Don't worry about the GUI or any other content you don't want to show yet, focus on what looks nice and delvers the atmosphere you're going for.

TBH I assumed you had a clear view of where to aim for having mentioned some great names like Dear Esther. I was there when it was released as HL2 mod and I can tell you they had nothing but couple images and some piano tracks there IIRC. It was truly a hidden gem and people were blown away having played it after all the countless unoriginal HL2 mods. The current trailer for the game is not a bad reference and source of inspiration, just don't feel bad if you can't go for the same visual perfection. Be confident, It was once no better than your project is now.

After making a first draft of the trailer and discussing it with a few game designer friends , I've realized that what i have now in the trailer is not appealing. It feels empty and rushed ( well i did rush it to get it out as fast as possible). The consensus is, while it looks nice for something made it a short timespan by me alone, that's not worth anything at all. So I need to go back , get the game in beta stage , where I can show more and then make a trailer that actually makes you want to play the game.

So thanks for all the feedback. I'm gonna to back to work now and see what I can come up with in about 7-8 weeks from now. Hopefully it will be something that will get people talking and supporting!

Also for anyone interested here is the trailer(I'm not too proud of it)Even with adding a title screen and music I still don;t think it's any good :