Fractal Softworks Forum
Starsector => General Discussion => Topic started by: Vain on August 13, 2018, 07:58:34 PM
-
I assume there is some deliberate reason for keeping this game so low-profile as it is REALLY off the radar considering its quality. I only found it after specifically searching for a game like this. (2-D, open-world, space etc...) for a couple days. Even then it was because some dude happened to mention it in an off-handed way in some steam review for another game and I decided to google it.
After a few hours of playing this game I can tell it is complex and lovingly crafted. I look forward to figuring it out, even though right now I am absolutely getting my ass handed to me (which is admittedly, part of the fun).
So thanks, I'm glad to have discovered it.
-
Welcome to the forum, and thank you! Glad you've been enjoying it so far.
It's always really interesting to me how someone new finds out about the game, not even from a marketing perspective, necessarily, but just as a "how the heck does it actually happen" curiosity. So, thank you for shedding some light on that :)
(I do wish there were more ways to increase the game's visibility! But, well, the main way to do that seems to be coverage from a YouTuber or a streamer, and reviews; hopefully the .9a release will generate some of those.)
-
Haha, I appreciate the thought :) When I said "review" I meant it in the "article on an established games website" sense, but in retrospect, I can totally see how that's confusing.
-
I am sure you have put much more consideration into the topic of exposure for this game than I have. I just thought as an avid indie gamer who specifically looks for games like you have made here, it might be worthwhile mentioning that your game is a little hard to find.
It occurred to me that maybe you were keeping starsector on the down-low until the product was complete in order to avoid fickle negative reviews from early-access players on platforms like steam, which I understand can be burdensome to sales. I also understand there is a percentage cost to having your game sold on steam and similar distributors as well as many other factors that I am very likely ignorant of.
Anyways, your game seems well wrought and better than other similar games on steam who have "over-overwhelmingly" positive reviews, your pricing model is in sync as well.
Good stuff, keep it up.
-
I think it's going to get some attention when this next release is ready.
Definitely talk to Rock, Paper Shotgun; prepare a press release and bomb Polygon, Game Informer, PC Gamer, etc., and see if you can get a little exposure. A press release works pretty well, if the game's done-enough that those folks feel like looking at it.
I suspect, for the few in the gaming press that know about the project's existence, that they're holding off saying much until it's Done or at least Nearly Done and they can see the shape of it. This game has had a really useful, constructive community, in terms of offering real feedback, so what you hear from us is largely what to expect to hear from reviewers.
So, perhaps the right timing is after hitting 0.91a or so (i.e., after releasing the inevitable bug-fixes and gameplay patches). I think it's going to be ready for some scrutiny at that point, and I'll be happy to re-review and offer detailed feedback then. Like you and all of us vets, it's hard to really see the game from a newbie's perspective; we need to be careful about that, because the newbies' reviews will make it or break it on Steam, GoG, et al, where the crowd gets their say... not what some jaded ex-game-dev says on PC Gamer's Indie page.
-
I am sure you have put much more consideration into the topic of exposure for this game than I have. I just thought as an avid indie gamer who specifically looks for games like you have made here, it might be worthwhile mentioning that your game is a little hard to find.
It occurred to me that maybe you were keeping starsector on the down-low until the product was complete in order to avoid fickle negative reviews from early-access players on platforms like steam, which I understand can be burdensome to sales. I also understand there is a percentage cost to having your game sold on steam and similar distributors as well as many other factors that I am very likely ignorant of.
Anyways, your game seems well wrought and better than other similar games on steam who have "over-overwhelmingly" positive reviews, your pricing model is in sync as well.
Good stuff, keep it up.
I definitely appreciate you sharing your experience, yeah. You're right on as far as the reasons for not going on Steam, with the added potential issue due to the rather long interval between updates; I don't think that'd go over real well there, either.
Thank you again!
Definitely talk to Rock, Paper Shotgun; prepare a press release and bomb Polygon, Game Informer, PC Gamer, etc., and see if you can get a little exposure. A press release works pretty well, if the game's done-enough that those folks feel like looking at it.
Yep, got a press release out last summer (to good effect), and planning to do that again after .9.1a or thereabouts.
-
So Alex didn't actually hide (not advertise) the game and it just happened? Huh, I thought that one was to obscure the long developing cycle.
When it comes to actually advertising, I think that journalists aren't as big as they were and it's streamers and youtubers now.
-
I found Starsector (Starfarer back then) because TotalBiscuit did a review of it. Getting the right youtubers to cover your game really is the way to go nowadays.
-
The silver-lining is that there are still a lot of potential players/customers out there waiting to discover the game.