Anonymous writes "Rainfall Studios http://www.rainfallstudios.com just sent out their newest newsletter. Contents can be read below.
Spring is almost here and everyone at Rainfall Studios is looking forward to spending some time in the sun. Things have been progressing really well during the month of March. We are getting ever closer to the accomplishment of our second milestone and it is getting really exciting.
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In this issue
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- Katsu's Journey Update
- Promotion versus Hype
- The Need to Be Flexible
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Katsu's Journey Update
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With the first playable level completed last month Joshua has been busy refining the overall look and feel. He has some great ideas in store for you all. Hopefully next month we will have some new screen shots showing off this first level and some of the concept art as well. We might also have the first piece of the story available soon for everybody to take a look at. And of course those on the newsletter will get to see it first.
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Promotion versus Hype
By: Dan MacDonald
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There is a fine line between promotion and hype but the effects each has are surprisingly different. Promotion style marketing, otherwise known as advertising or publicity, increases the number of individuals who know about the game and thus increases the potential market for a game. The word "hype" comes from the word "hypodermic" and often refers to a style of marketing that stirs its audience into an almost drug like fervor. From the standpoint of selling a product both marketing methods seem to be equally valid however this is not always the case.
Retail industry games are typically marketed in the following manner; as a game is entering the last few months of its' development the publisher starts to invest substantial amounts of money in marketing. They take screenshots, write sales copy, and can spend upwards of $1,000,000 putting full page ads in gaming magazines and buying time slots on television networks. With these deep pockets they are able to expose a lot of people to their game in a very short amount of time. This generates a buzz around the game's release and when it comes out in stores people are lining up to buy it.
An independently developed game must advertise a little differently. The developer must rely on slower and cheaper mechanisms to market their game. The more money someone has, the more people they can reach in a short period of time. Because indie developers work with thight budgets they must rely on cheaper, and slower, channels to inform people about the existence of their game. Things like posting on forums, uploading screenshots, and submitting their demo to download sites. These methods along with steady search engine submissions and begging website editors to review their game allow an indie developer to gradually expose more people to their game.
Due to this slow process it is a good idea for indie developers to start building marketing momentum behind their games sooner rather then later. One of the main priorities at Rainfall Studios was the development of a frequently updated website along with a monthly newsletter. The idea is to build interest about Katsu's Journey now so that when it is completed there will already be a number of people who know it exists and are interested in downloading the demo. This is much better then starting the slow marketing process from scratch once the game is finished.
So the question every indie developer has to ask himself is "How should I market my game?" There is a very strong impulse for the developer to tell everyone about all the amazing features that they are planning for their game and that their game is the best game of its type ever created. If a developer is convincing enough it can certainly create a nice buzz of interest around the game. This buzz can do wonders to the number of people who come to visit the games website each day. In doing this the developer would have just successfully "hyped" his game. The short term benefits of "hyping" a game are evident however it can often come back to bite the developer later on.
There are numerous examples from the retail industry which illustrate this trend. During development developers go out of their way to make all kinds of statements about how amazing and revolutionary their game is going to be. Unfortunately later in the development cycle they realized they are not going to be able to do the things they promised. As a result they are late shipping their game and when it is released it is just and "ok" game as opposed to the "revolutionary" game which was promised. Expectations had been set so high, the fans end up feeling cheated and tricked. In the end this inaccurate hype leads to less then stellar sales.
A better option for indie developers is to try and build awareness of their game through "promotion". This involves using the games website to publish some basic information about the game and keeping people informed about the status of its development. Promotion does not generate the quick increase in public awareness that hype does, but it is far more sustainable. If the developer is honest about the features in their game and is conservative about what they promise the community there is a much greater chance of their game exceeding gamers expectations when the game is finished. Because indie game promotion happens so slowly and their game can sell for such a long period of time, it is important for the developer to have a good reputation for honesty and integrity. Thoughtful promotion can be an asset in this process. Unsubstantiated hype can do serious damage to the developer's credibility.
In short, it is never too early for a developer to start building public awareness of their game and begin forming relationships with people who show interest in it. It is best not to give them false expectations or promise them things the developer cannot (or might not) deliver. In the long run this "hype" will damage a developers credibility and disappoint any potential customers that may have been interested in their game.
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The Need to Be Flexible
By: Morgan Eason
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When working on as an independent developer there are times when the most important thing that is needed is to be flexible. Being flexible is especially important when it comes to scheduling. With a small development team each individual's contribution accounts for a significant portion of the work. Their may be an artist, a programmer, and a designer and no one is really prepared to just step in and take over any one position with out a significant hit to productivity. This means that everybody's contribution is a very integral part of the success of the product.
Another item which is usually tight on independent projects is financial resources. This means people are usually volunteering their time. So with individuals who are important parts of a project working for free the need to be flexible with them is important.
Being flexible in a small independent project is different then being flexible in large well funded project. The main difference is that there is no such thing as deadlines. Work gets done when it gets done. The key here is to provide a frame work which can work with this limitation. One way is to keep everybody focused on the same area of the game. One possible solution for this is a milestone system. In the milestone system at Rainfall Studios the over all game design was broken down into its' core game play elements. Then these individual elements became the basis for each milestone.
With a milestone in hand everyone knows what they should be working on at any given time. There is no deadline for these milestones however and people can work at their own pace. However as people see other areas of the milestone getting closer to completion it instills in them a desire to get their piece done as well. This allows people to work at their own speed, on the weekend or perhaps in the evening, with out a minute by minute analysis of the work they should be doing. This relies on people understanding the goal of the milestone as well as what they need to do to achieve it.
Once people know what they need to do then they are free to do it. When they are working for free however it is important to be flexible with the delivery dates of these tasks. If hard deadlines are set then inevitably the little things that come up in day to day life will throw a schedule off and eventually demotivate the entire team as a deadline continues to slip. With a flexible delivery system this problem can be avoided will help keep the development team happy and focused on their tasks.
Please sign up for the newsletter at: http://www.rainfallstudios.com "
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