Hi all,
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer. As we are approaching end of August, time to review what's done & what's next for project!
I gave myself a quick pat on the shoulder when reviewing Aug goals in the pas post. Why? Because primary goals were 100% met with secondary goals with measurable progress!
Had to quickly pick up video editing, but I'm happy about the current version! Mainly, it's good that the video captures the key ideas I'd like to express. Also, I think it's interesting that although I thought I was making a trailer, but according to steam's definition, I was making a teaser. So yea, I plan to at least 1-2 trailers to better explain what are the specific elements that make the game interesting as I push forward development of the full game. Stay tuned!
As part of my investment in marketing, I made some reasonable effort to make a complete steam page. I suppose the main idea here is to make the game searchable on a well-known platform among gamers, theoretically each a bit of extra traffic will help increase discovery of the game. Wishlist seem to be a nice feature, and steam's playtest feature would certainly be helpful for any future closed playtests for the demo. For future demo updates, it can be a downloadable updates on itch and/or closed playtests by steam keys. I think eventually I'll upload a stabilized demo on steam, and make it public.
Oh and don't forget to wishlist if you like the game!
Unsure if you've noticed or not, I've updated the itch store with a new teaser & more specific text intro about the game.
Checked the analytics, and I roughly think the new version looks more convincing for people to try it out. Moving forward, I'll update the store accordingly as I edit the storyline. I'll discuss more about the improvement direction in the feedback reflection below.
If you only found the the game through steam, you might be a bit confused and ask yourself, 'There's no demo here, why are you talking about content update?'. That's because demo is not stabilized enough to be available on steam! If you are interested in trying out the current demo 1.0, please search on itch. It's even better if you can let me know your thoughts, so I can take those into consideration while improving the demo for the next release!
As planned, side casts' sprite enhancement has made great progress, to be exactly, 50% of the 1st draft is completed. Months before, I thought shadows for side casts can be enough, but it was only when I implemented the full sprites and realized, 'Wow, it made a huge difference.' Personally, when I saw those different colorful characters, I felt more liveliness from the story, and I found the game to be more interesting visually. Quite happy I made the decision to improve the sprites, and hope players will share my joy! Finally, with current progress, I'm confident to announce demo 1.1 will be released in Sep! Keep an eye out if interested!
Drop your email below if you'd like to participate in playtest of demo 2.0! Or let me know in the comments if interested!
https://forms.gle/qyVFTAY27HQEXU669
It's reassuring to know there's a pass on the basics. First, I haven't received reports about grammar or awkward expression in writing, or any bugs that broke the program. It's certainly a delight to know some players enjoyed character dynamic, and find story interesting or art resonating, which serves as concrete evidence that the game has great potential. Thus, it makes sense to shift my attention to more advanced technique to further improve quality of the demo. However, this doesn't mean the game is free from problems, and I'd like to briefly discuss these in the next paragraph.
Part of the purpose of marketing is to find the target audience, and simultaneously solve common problems identified by player feedback. I'm glad I've collected enough info which convergently points to a direction for demo improvement. Personally, I'd say the problem source came from vague thinking during demo 1.0 development, many decisions were roughly made on the fly with the spirit of 'getting sth done'. Things seem to work in a big-picture way of thinking, but I've already seen some clashes when it comes to how to present the game to players. Thus, I'd spend some time to narrow things down to get the project vision a focal point, like what's the conceptual focus, what are the key elements that makes the game shine, etc.
On the flip side, I found it fascinating that the game got likings from aspects I didn't really think of. For instance, recently one feedback suggests the art is styled in a way that adds atmosphere, and some said it reminded them of watercolor paintings. It's honestly eye-opening to me, because I wasn't really thinking I wanted X style when creating art. Instead, I was learning and experimenting a lot on the spot. If I recall correctly, I believe the majority of my attention was on shapes and colors to ensure things looked visually appealing. Very glad players could feel the art carries some feelings. My goal for art is to add a layer of liveliness of the story, so nice to know players' views on this aspect!
Release demo 1.1 on itch
Curate a target contact list for outreaching
Specify project vision
Draft a strategic plan for marketing
Edit promotional materials
I sincerely appreciate anyone who's tried out demo 1.0, and leave fruitful feedback to help improve the game. The journey doesn't feel too lonely with your support!