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[tieTYT]

I've made the last 5 replies in my devlog and it's getting kind of lonely and depressing in there.  What can I do to drum up more replies?  Thanks!

Here's a link to my devlog: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=41345.0

[Ky.]

I find it kind of hilarious you mention lack of readership/interaction to your devlog

and then didn't provide a link to it lol


Screenshots, GIFshots, small videos, short text (otherwise TLDR), seems to stir the most interest. Make your logs visually interesting

[tieTYT]

Oh sorry, it's in my signature.  I'll edit the post to put a link in the body of the question.  Thanks

[Ky.]

You only haven't had a reply since the 6th

Your thread seems fine. It's just a Devlog, it's just supposed to spill out your experiences. Like .plan files of yesteryear, it doesn't matter if people don't interact with it. But from what I can see is you dont exactly have much trouble, you got subscribers, you got feedback and interaction since your first post.

it's fine, you're fine, your logs fine lol

EDIT: I did want to actually apologize for not noticing your signature, should have looked there

[AleHitti]

Hey, I'll share a few secrets with you

Why should you listen to me? Well, I have had two fairly successful DevLogs so far. One of them is FROG SORD, which managed to get 9000 views in 15 days and currently SUPER III, which managed the same feat in 30 days. Disclaimer, I am not taking personal credit for this as I am not the only one responsible for running both of these threads. The whole team did a lot to help.

Anyway, here's a list of tips we use to generate traffic:

• We try to ALWAYS post a screenshot or a GIF with every post. At least with the main account (the company account). We then proceed to reply to questions and comments until it stops.
• We let the thread drop to page 2-3 and then we bump it again with an update. Sometimes we decide not to reply to some question to bump the thread later or we queue GIFs and post them when we are not in the front page.
• Ask questions! The whole point of the DevLog is to get feedback, so ask questions to get more comments and hopefully improve your game. If not, it turns into a status report and you will end up talking alone.
• Whenever you make a decent update, use your social media to promote it. Tweet about it and post it on Facebook.

I cannot guarantee this will bring you thousands of views overnight, as it also depends on the quality of your game and, unfortunately, how pretty it looks, as people enjoy reading through DevLogs of "Pretty games". That being said, I'm sure traffic will increase significantly if you follow the list I posted above.

Good luck with your project!

[tieTYT]

EDIT: I did want to actually apologize for not noticing your signature, should have looked there

NP, thanks for the advice

[tieTYT]

We try to ALWAYS post a screenshot or a GIF with every post. At least with the main account (the company account). We then proceed to reply to questions and comments until it stops.

Same, problem is I'm not getting many questions.

Ask questions! The whole point of the DevLog is to get feedback, so ask questions to get more comments and hopefully improve your game. If not, it turns into a status report and you will end up talking alone.

Yeah that's a good idea.  I don't really ask many questions.  

Whenever you make a decent update, use your social media to promote it. Tweet about it and post it on Facebook.

Another good idea.  Do you link to your tigsource devlog, or directly to your game?

I cannot guarantee this will bring you thousands of views overnight, as it also depends on the quality of your game and, unfortunately, how pretty it looks

What percent of replies do you think comes from "pretty looks"?  I think that's the main problem with my game.  

BTW, I follow your devlog.  Your game looks really cool.  I think I've seen Screenshots for Frog SORD, too.  Why did you lock the thread and why don't you have gameplay screenshots on the first post?  

BTW2, thanks a lot for the actionable feedback, I appreciate it.

[Konidias]

We let the thread drop to page 2-3 and then we bump it again with an update. Sometimes we decide not to reply to some question to bump the thread later or we queue GIFs and post them when we are not in the front page.

I feel like a lot of people use this tactic... but you have to really be careful when you do this because if you bump your thread with something silly like "added a black outline to this sprite I just posted yesterday", you are going to get some backlash.

I have seen several "popular" devlogs here where the majority of the posts are insignificant updates by the dev just to get bumped back up to the front page. Maybe it's just me, but unless you have something that's actually worth reading/showing, you shouldn't be posting just to bump over other devlogs. It should be a friendly competition between devs here, and not just bumping daily with useless updates to stay on top and push down other potentially great devlogs.
 
Also if you have like 3 separate questions posted on your dev log and then you span out answering each question so that you can bump your devlog... that's pretty shady too. Just have one post that addresses any questions asked up to that point.

I just tend to save most of my devlog posts until I have something interesting to show or talk about.... and it's extremely annoying to see my devlog get knocked back 3 pages in an hour because some guy had to post in his devlog about "not much going on today.." or "I shifted the hue of this sprite by 20 red" or "added drop shadow to this font".

[tieTYT]

Maybe it's just me, but unless you have something that's actually worth reading/showing, you shouldn't be posting just to bump over other devlogs.

"Something that's actually worth reading" is somewhat subjective.  Do you feel like my devlog is making that mistake?

[ink.inc]

pretty pictures

[AleHitti]

We let the thread drop to page 2-3 and then we bump it again with an update. Sometimes we decide not to reply to some question to bump the thread later or we queue GIFs and post them when we are not in the front page.

I feel like a lot of people use this tactic... but you have to really be careful when you do this because if you bump your thread with something silly like "added a black outline to this sprite I just posted yesterday", you are going to get some backlash.

I have seen several "popular" devlogs here where the majority of the posts are insignificant updates by the dev just to get bumped back up to the front page. Maybe it's just me, but unless you have something that's actually worth reading/showing, you shouldn't be posting just to bump over other devlogs. It should be a friendly competition between devs here, and not just bumping daily with useless updates to stay on top and push down other potentially great devlogs.

I agree, we usually have a new GIF, new mechanic, new enemy, something to show when we bump. We also do major updates like once a week where we list a bunch of things that were done that week.
 

Also if you have like 3 separate questions posted on your dev log and then you span out answering each question so that you can bump your devlog... that's pretty shady too. Just have one post that addresses any questions asked up to that point.

That's not what I meant. We answer every question in the same post as well. What I meant was, we usually spend 14-18 hours a day near a computer and I get notified on my phone every time someone replies to my thread. We could reply to every single question on the spot, but instead, we let a few pile up and then answer every one in the same post. This is really to avoid bumping our post every hour or so and also it helps us focus more on working on the game and focus a bit less about the DevLog and social media to increase productivity. Replying to 3 separate questions over a span of time is shady indeed.

Another good idea.  Do you link to your tigsource devlog, or directly to your game?

We usually link directly to the DevLog if we made a DevLog update. To the website if we made a website update. Depends I guess.

What percent of replies do you think comes from "pretty looks"?  I think that's the main problem with my game. 

Quite a bit actually. Though we did get a lot of good feedback on SUPER III when we only had white, blue and red blocks hoping around. That game was meant to be a Jam game, but because we saw it got positive response, we decided to shift our artist's focus from OTTO REPAIR, which wasn't getting as much attention even though it had pretty art in it. Thing is, Zack, my partner, specializes in rapid development. He can produce a game idea that is polished enough in a few hours to a week tops. We then proceed to see if people seem interested in the idea. Sometimes a game just needs to be a bit further along in development to get attention, like Otto, which was a huge project and we didn't have nearly enough content to show at the time.

BTW, I follow your devlog.  Your game looks really cool.  I think I've seen Screenshots for Frog SORD, too.  Why did you lock the thread and why don't you have gameplay screenshots on the first post? 

FROG SORD is somewhat cancelled at the time. The thread kept getting bumped, so we locked it.

[darklight]

Reduce your game resolution to 8bit style graphics, rename it to something funny & ironic ("Don't [main way of failing in your game]), otherwise I think you've got the zany game mechanic down, and should be all set for tigforums popularity

[PowRTocH]

Reduce your game resolution to 8bit style graphics, rename it to something funny & ironic ("Don't [main way of failing in your game]), otherwise I think you've got the zany game mechanic down, and should be all set for tigforums popularity

A+ post

[eigenbom]

Make sure you involve yourself in other people's devlogs by giving feedback, support, or criticisms, and they may return the favour. But ultimately just try to think of your devlog as a journal and don't expect any replies. Your game is the most important thing so focus on that, and if it's any good or even a little bit interesting then you'll get some interest. It may be months or years before that happens, but by then you'll have a small clique of friends here who'll support you and drop by every few posts.

Good luck with the game!

[joe_eyemobi]

Hey Guys, there are some great tips in here.  Do these principles apply to any thread e.g. Playtesting?  I found that after an initial spike, no one bothered after that despite updates, gifs, etc...

[jgrams]

Do these principles apply to any thread e.g. Playtesting?  I found that after an initial spike, no one bothered after that despite updates, gifs, etc...

I think that's fairly normal for the playtesting board. If you're looking for ongoing feedback, you're probably better off starting a devlog...

[Blademasterbobo]

Hey, I'll share a few secrets with you

Why should you listen to me? Well, I have had two fairly successful DevLogs so far. One of them is FROG SORD, which managed to get 9000 views in 15 days and currently SUPER III, which managed the same feat in 30 days. Disclaimer, I am not taking personal credit for this as I am not the only one responsible for running both of these threads. The whole team did a lot to help.

Anyway, here's a list of tips we use to generate traffic:

• We hired barbiturates as an artist.

I cannot guarantee this will bring you thousands of views overnight, as it also depends on the quality of your game and, unfortunately, how pretty it looks, as people enjoy reading through DevLogs of "Pretty games". That being said, I'm sure traffic will increase significantly if you follow the list I posted above.

Good luck with your project!

[Pandara_RA!]

What are your expectations? You've never made a game before and have no art. You are new to tigsource and dont have a following of friends to back you up and create initial support.

There aren't "weird/easy tips" to solve this problem.

1. Meet people in game development, and form actual friendships.
2. Hire an artist or learn to make something that looks desirable.
3. Being "fun" doesn't give your game an obligation for views. You can't expect people to take the word of someone they never seen anywhere before.

You can't passively sit there and expect to attract people to your devlog through design/layout changes.

Go out and say hi, join the IRC, get some game friends. If the game is surprisingly good it'll eventually work its way through the channels.

Tough love, but it's real advice.
 

[tieTYT]

Thanks for the advice

[Pandara_RA!]

Thanks for the advice

I respect that.