Going Social: The Rise of Super Gunball! Good news everyone! My ongoing efforts at acting like an extrovert are paying off!
Well... not PAYING yet per se, but they are having a noticeable and empirically traceable effect.
The current development cycle goes something like this:
I watch the social sites all week and make notes of the feedback I get including bugs and suggestions for gameplay tweaks.
A few things happen during the week like a new sounds or sprites get made by the artistic teammates.
The three of us that are currently engaged with the project talk about it on the Google+ private community I set up just for this purpose.
The weekend arrives to where I implement all the changes that I have received and solved during the week.
Friday or Saturday, I build and release an "odd" version for internal testing and feedback. (Ex: 0.1.9)
Sunday is when the game gets bugfixed from new bugs that popped up for whatever reason and I update the version info file.
Late Sunday, I build the "even" version and
upload it to the project page at IndieDB.com for public download. (Ex: 0.2.0)
Late Sunday / early Monday, I
write up the IndieDB.com news article and upload some screenshots to stay on their front page.
Monday I write journals and blogs like this one in about three different places about the progress and learning I've accomplished that week.
Next verse... same as the first!
First off, if you have been following these journals, you can see the progression of "polish" in the quality of the artwork provided by the screenshots embedded in the article. It's like watching evolution in fast-forward.
Secondly, through my efforts, I now have the seed of a community. Some early adopters, if you will. People beyond relatives and lifelong friends are now noticing this game (and, by extension, me). While I make no effort to conceal the fact that I'm an introvert and very uncomfortable putting myself in the spotlight, I've noticed that to succeed in promoting a product, it has to get seen. And since I'm not rolling in pallets of cash and can't pay someone else to do it for me, that means it's up to me to get out of my comfort zone (check!) and do it myself. And so I have...
As of this posting, the
ranking on IndieDB for Super Gunball DEMO is 216 of 11335. Last night before I uploaded Version 0.2.0, it was in the mid-3000 range. I watch it all week like a new cook hovers over the oven. Since I've been in this cycle for about a month now, I am seeing the cause-and-effect of my social campaign actions reflected in the metrics provided by IndieDB. It is exhilarating. Learning how to work the social networks and drive traffic to and fro across the web is a fascinating study. I am still uncomfortable with it, but it's interesting nonetheless.
So the quest continues to make a polished demo of a game in hopes of it leading to a successful Kickstarter and development of a Full Version! Thank you for reading my ramblings! Don't forget to help an up-and-coming Indie by going to
LIKE my Facebook Page and
Download the Lastest Version of Super Gunball DEMO! (The page hits drive the popularity index up!)
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