The creation of the game on your eyes — part 5: Intermediate result (prototype)

so a little over a month since we started our series of articles about our game, and it's time to sum a Subtotal.

In early March we submitted an application to participate in the GamesJamKanobu and all this month, hard to wrote a prototype of our game, because 26.02 had to be sent to the judging finished build.

Below I will give what we had to do, and will also share about how we are working on marketing.

Prototype.

I have to say — we have time. And surprisingly we managed to make a logically complete piece of the game. Yeah, we don't have time to do a large number of "strapping" — quests, plot, dialogue, perks, scripted scenes, relationships, etc., etc., that justifies the word "Story" in our name. But on the other hand, managed to write a more or less working combat system and leveling system. And to make the prototype full completion, we have limited the length of the gaming session (food in the fridge) and attach online the table of records. As a result we have a build that demonstrates some of the game mechanics and allows you to compete for a place in Haskalah.

At the moment we are waiting for the end of the judging.

See what we've got, you can the link.

As we begin the PR.

We did not like many developers, who think about marketing only when it's time of release. We decided to start to slowly gather an audience from the start. Of course, to deploy full-scale fighting earlier. According to this, we have been working in Lite version, and collect the experience/information.

so, what we did:

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1. Made own blog where you are trying to write about the development process, the team, etc. With it, did it right in Russian and in English. If someone is interested in the technical side — it's a WordPress with a modified theme Corpo.
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2. Made Twitter accounts: Russian and English. We post the same thing in a blog plus trying to post something else. Some screenshots, photos, sketches, etc. as long as bequeathed Galyonkin to post a couple times a day does not work — not enough imagination. But we are trying. Try also using well-known hashtags: #pixelart, #indiedev, #gamedev, etc.
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3. Opened accounts in the social. networks — Vkontakte and FaceBook. In fact, this is the same Twitter, but to post less often.
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4. Created a small video teaser:
   

Began this series of articles on habré. For the most part, of course, he is not justified PR, and our desire to share information superimposed on our desire to write lyrics. And this is the first post of a series where I blatantly poschu links to our game. But still, throwing it out of PR should not be.

And now, what have done for us:

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1. vizhen our game got to the three "editor's choice Kanobu" from over 300 applicants.
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2. a small games cut out our prototype from the browser, and Packed in .exe. We do not mind let more people know about us.
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3. Someone already has done to us video-update (he, we didn't even know).

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What's all this?

And here — interesting.

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• the Blog is visited by approximately 60 people per day.
  
  
  
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• in the Russian Followers on Twitter — about 50 in English — almost 500.
  
  
  
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• In the VK group of about 130 people on FB about 100. However, in contact in recent days, ran a bunch of students:
  
  
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• Video review of perpetuum'and looked more than 25 thousand people.
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• Our teaser looked about 300 people.
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• the Page with our game on small-games was watched by more than 7,500 people.
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• In the last 2 days (after video review) the official version of our game (on the website), played more than 3,000 people.

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Tips.

Of course, tips to give yet, and we do not have any experience. But something is clear now.

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1. Start to collect the audience as soon as you have something to show them.
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2. To operate with Twitter (especially multiple accounts) — use the https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/
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3. be Sure to use Twitter. This is a live tool where you can find an audience. Use hashtags. Pollute your potential audience, many of them followed you in return. Find the audience for the same hashtag. Give preference to people with live (real) accounts, and especially those who like to revitcity. Because revetti people may very well be that retweeted you.
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4. Audience — is alive and active, you need to work on it.
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5. How to use Facebook — we have not yet understood (as acknowledged in his book Galyonkin, he did not understand this too).

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Conclusion.

At this point I will wrap it up with Perova and marketing articles will continue to write about the technical side. If you have ideas for articles, you have something interesting on the development or Unity — write.

Yes, and start playing our prototype. It is important for us to know your opinion.

According to the plans — want closer to the summer to go to GreenLight (and KickStarter, if possible). And the autumn zarelizitsya.

All articles in this series:

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1. the Idea comes, the choice of setting, platform, distribution models, etc
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2. the Shader to stylize the pictures, CRT/LCD
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3. Fasten a scripting language for Unity (UniLua)
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4. the Shader to fade in the palette (a La NES)
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5. Subtotal (prototype)
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6. let's Talk about PR indie games
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7. 2D animations in Unity ("how to flush")
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8. Visual side scripting cut-scenes in Unity (uScript)

Article based on information from habrahabr.ru