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[Mark Mayers]

Update 75: 04/20/2016

It's been a while since I posted a devlog entry. This has been largely due to general life craziness, but mainly preparations for PAX East.

I'm really excited for the event later this week. This is the largest and most significant event I've shown at this far; the floor will be packed with 60,000 people.

Although I'm feeling pretty nervous, I've been preparing for this for several months at this point.
I'm feeling confident that the demo will go well.

---

I've been working on three new worlds that I will showing during the PAX Demo.
Each area demonstrates aspects of new or revised puzzle mechanics I've been working on.

World 0: The Desolus

The player starts out in a desolate beach surrounded by eroded stone, and a sky with neither sun nor moon.

This is essentially the 'tutorial' level of the demo, and when you acquire the ability to absorb your first type of energy in the game.



When the player activates each star in the environment, a prism is activated unlocking a door (leading to another level).

I've put a lot of thought in regards to the best way to slowly introduce mechanics to the player.
I've (finally) added tutorial text demonstrating controls.

There is an 'eye' that encompasses your screen, giving tutorial text.





I'm laughing at myself that I took this long to create true tutorials, but it was necessary.


World 1: The Anti Canyon

The first main world of the game is in a cold and barren canyon with ethereal trees and a crescent moon.



This world reinforces the core mechanics of the game.

The puzzles in this world are focused on how the player carries energy from one star to another with obstructing barriers.
I won't post any spoilers for the sake of the PAX East demo



When all prisms are active (meaning all puzzles are solved) a world door opens to the next area.


World 2: The Ether Forest

The second world takes place in a verdant forest, with bright sky raining particles.
This is intentionally antithetical to the first world, as it's a very warm color pallet and has a very different mood and atmosphere.



This world I introduce an inversion of mechanics, and the player controls 'anti' or dark energy instead of 'ether' or light energy from previous levels.
Some puzzles in the game you can complete with opposite energy, which unlocks a different pathway.

For example, the first level in the second world starts out with a completed puzzle with dark energy. The energy shines on a door that is inaccessible due to the terrain.

With the new anti/dark energy ability, the player can create 'anti-stars' which unlock different pathways.
These puzzles all explore this theme and introduce several new mechanics expanding on anti energy that I will talk about in a future devlog.


---

Thoughts on PAX Level Design

Overall, I'm feeling happy on how these levels turned out.
This is by far the best version of Desolus I will be showing so far, and offers a look into a variety of the game's early mechanics.

The tutorial World and World 1 I foresee little difficulty in the player completing.
Out of the many playtesting sessions I've done, nearly 100% made it through these levels.
These levels are meant to be easy/straightforward and simply demonstrate the mechanics.

World 2 is more experimental. These levels are new and I'm still trying out these mechanics; particularly how positive/negative energy work together.
I expect few people to finish this area, but it should allow valuable feedback in my design.

The game has developed a very strong sense of direction, and I'm feeling confident moving forward in development.

---



All of this being said, if you're at PAX East this year, definitely come by and say hello!!

[Mark Mayers]

Update 76: 04/25/2016

PAX EAST 2016 Retrospective



This weekend was PAX East!

This post documents my personal experiences at PAX East showing as part of the MEGABOOTH in the MINIBOOTH section.
Hopefully other developers can gain value from reading.

I would also recommend looking at William Chyr's MINIBOOTH Post-Mortem from two years ago for additional information, as it helped me immensely.

I've been working on Desolus alone since I first started in September 2014.
I've shown the game previously at events including the Boston Festival of Indie Games, IndieCade, and MAGFest.

This has been the largest event I've shown at so far and involved months of preparation.  
I'm happy to say it went extremely well!

---

Booth Setup and Placement

I opted for the MINIBOOTH for PAX East, because this was my first time presenting at PAX East, and also a solo developer.

What's great about the MINIBOOTH is that all set up is done for you. All you have to do is show up.

However, I opted to bring my own hardware to the event and recommend any other developers to do the same.
My game needs pretty powerful hardware to run, and I wanted to do thorough testing before hand.



I was very fortunate to have exceptional placement for my booth.
Although Desolus wasn't located on this map (since I was in the MINIBOOTH section) I couldn't have asked for better placement.
My booth faced outwards in the corner near the center of the showfloor. A large stream of people constantly flowed through.



I took this picture right before the show began, and the floodgates of people opened.
You can see the Desolus booth in the bottom right hand corner at the edge of the red carpet.

---

Costs

In total, my cost for showing at the MINIBOOTH was $1740.

I'm estimating this to be on the cheaper side of PAX showings for the MEGABOOTH (I was told to allocate upwards of $3000).
Although I have a relatively non-existent budget, I consider this well worth it as the event was everything I could have hoped for.



I opted for three days at the MINIBOOTH. If you got into the MINIBOOTH and have the funds, you might as well show for all three days!

Since I'm local to Boston, I didn't have to stay in a hotel.

I commuted to the convention center from my apartment near Cambridge.
My transportation expenses were due to Uber, which I took instead of the MBTA due to time.
I live about 45 minutes away from the convention center via the train/bus, but only 15 minutes via car.

The food in the convention center is pretty awful, but fortunately there are food trucks nearby and I had friends who brought me food.
I would recommend bringing Energy Bars/Beef Jerky/other small snacks to keep your brain moving.
Most importantly: DRINK WATER. Buy or bring lots of water. You won't regret it, trust me.

I bought my business cards from Vistaprint, and they turned out to be great:

 

I gave away almost all of my 1000 business cards, but I feel that was a pretty solid amount to buy.

---

The Show Floor

Two of my best friends helped me with my booth this year.
This was invaluable to me, as it would have been nearly impossible to talk to everyone and manage my booth by myself.
 
The volunteers at the MINIBOOTH were very helpful, but obviously they couldn't help with the actual demo.
I would recommend any solo developers showing at similar events to bring at least one friend with you.

One of the most exciting parts of PAX East for me was that people recognized the game!
I've had many individuals come up to my booth stating "I played Desolus at X event before" or "I recognize this from X."

I'm estimating around 250 people played the demo, with a thousand people stopping through the booth (maybe more?)
There were estimated 60,000 people total at the convention over the course of 3 days.  

---

Networking with Developers and Publishers



There were SO MANY PEOPLE as part of the MEGABOOTH this year.
I met many exceptionally talented developers at the booth, and I was happy to be a part of them.

Probably the most interesting parts of PAX were the three developer events that I went to:

-Thursday: PAX Made in MA-

The Made in MA party consisted of several developers showcasing their games before PAX.
This is a public event that happens every year, and anyone can attend.

I would say this event is definitely worth going to. I had a great time and had the chance to talk with a few friends before PAX began.

-Friday: Valve Indie Party-

At the Valve Indie Party I spoke with a few representatives from Valve about launching on Steam.
This event was very valuable to me in regards to networking and knowledge gained, so thanks to Valve for hosting it!

-Saturday: MEGABOOTH Mixer-

The MEGABOOTH mixer is an excellent chance to talk to fellow developers as well as representatives from various companies.

During the MEGABOOTH mixer I spoke with several reps from Sony about potential publishing opportunities.
There were also people I recognized from Microsoft as well as Google.

I also briefly spoke with Jonathan Blow, which was interesting.

---

Press Coverage

Desolus is still pretty unknown, but PAX was great for exposure.  
I'm still far from release (at least a year), so my main goal was to establish connections with journalists.

I was told by other developers at PAX that they sent over a hundred emails about a month before the convention.
In contrast, I only sent out a few press emails about a week before the convention (around 10).
These were targeted at people who I thought would enjoy the game.

A few press people stopped by my booth including reps from Destructoid, Indie Hangover, and Hardcore Gamer.

For any other indies who are showing at PAX for the first time:

-You should probably write your emails around 3 weeks in advance. Most press book up pretty quickly with meetings.
-If you're relatively unknown as a developer, you might get better response rates with targeted emails rather than mass emails.
-Practice your 'one line pitch' and prepare for interview questions that you might get asked.
-Be authentic and genuine.

---

Demo Feedback

The PAX MINIBOOTH was an excellent opportunity to playtest the game.

However, I made preparations for this demo months in advance.
Many people playtested the PAX Demo beforehand, so I could iron out any major issues.  



The majority of people played through the entire demo, approximately 20 minutes long.
This was a fantastic victory for me, as there are so many things to do on the show floor and I managed to hold people's attention.

Many people who played previous versions of Desolus stated, "this is the best version of the game yet" which gave me a good amount of confidence.

The demo gave me great feedback regarding gameplay elements I need to refine moving forward.
I'll have these issues and fixes documented in a future devlog entry.

Overall, feedback was very positive and I'm feeling pretty good about the game.

---

Conclusions

I feel several years led up to this year's PAX East.

PAX East in 2011 was my first real exposure to indie games and part of why I started developing independent games.
Ever since the MEGABOOTH began in 2012, I wanted to be a part of it.
 
Over the past year and a half I've put over 2000 hours into this game's development.
So much emotional and mental energy went into this year's PAX East demo for Desolus.

Although it's intimidating and I have so much further to go, I can at least take a moment to appreciate I've come this far.
This is a turning point for me. The game is really starting to come together.

---

A massive thanks to everyone involved at the MEGABOOTH!

[Mark Mayers]

Update 77: 04/28/2016

Slowly recovering from PAX East. I took most of this week off so far to relax.

---



Indie Hangover published an article yesterday: '5 Fantastic Indie Puzzle Games From PAX East'

Quote from the article, featuring Desolus:
"The production value is astounding for an Indie team of one, and it’s clear Mark Mayers has been pouring his heart and soul into this project"

Thanks Jacob for including me in the article.  

---

On Tuesday, Ken Levine gave a talk at Northeastern University (my Alma Mater).



I had the chance to speak with him after the talk and he gave me some really great advice.

(Paraphrasing parts of our conversation based on memory)
Me: What advice would you give to a rising independent developer in 2016?

Ken: Game development is difficult. You need to make sure you stay in the game as long as possible.
It doesn't matter how much talent you have, it's dedication which pushes you to succeed in this industry.
Tell me, do you really want to make this game?

Me: If I didn't I would regret it for the rest of my life.
 
This conversation came with pretty good timing.
After PAX I was met with a 'what do I DO now?' type of feeling now that it's over.
But that talk was super motivating for me to push forward.

---

This weekend I'm going to IndieCade East. However, I'm not presenting in any official capacity.
I'm bringing the PAX East build of Desolus with me to get some feedback from other devs.

I've never been to IndieCade East before, so I'm excited about it!

[Emma Larkins]

Awesome update, thanks for sharing your stats and stuff! How did you count how many people played the game? That's always something tricky for us.

[Mark Mayers]

Awesome update, thanks for sharing your stats and stuff! How did you count how many people played the game? That's always something tricky for us.

Unfortunately these are only rough estimates!
I had a metrics system planned out in my head, but I didn't have time to implement it.

A quick overview of what I was thinking:

1: Program the 'start' button on the controller to reset the demo.
2: While the game is running, log time data of how long the player takes per level
3: When a player resets the demo with the start button, or finishes the demo:
   -Write to a file with the collected data of level times
   -Take a screenshot of where the player reset the demo

This gives you metrics based on:
   -Exactly how many people played the demo
   -The time players took per level
   -Where/when players quit in the demo process

I'll very likely do this for future conventions.

Fortunately I have a near photographic memory so I can remember exactly where some people got stuck, and common problems with the demo.
I also write down issues in a notebook I carry with me.

[io3 creations]

It seems like you already have a good idea about collecting game data but in case you (or anyone else) needs a few more ideas especially for the times when you can't be observing players: https://medium.com/steam-spy/understanding-your-game-through-data-8b09ca93ec11#.bctn1d2rs
There are also some useful tips in terms of how to interpret certain results.

This gives you metrics based on:
   -Exactly how many people played the demo

Is that certain?  I mean, when someone is playing, he/she can just restart the demo.  Wouldn't that be counted as two people?  Of course, technically the computer wouldn't really know if it's the same person or a new person starts playing.  Maybe, if there's a webcam available, it could take a picture when the game starts?   Overall, you can probably get an reasonable idea for how many people start again in a given time period and use that for reference.

Another developer here on TIG mentioned that he found it useful to have an automatic way of resetting the demo after a player leaving mid game and the game wasn't played for a certain time (maybe 30 seconds).  In that case, you can be fairly sure that a new start would be a new person. 

Ken: Game development is difficult. You need to make sure you stay in the game as long as possible.
It doesn't matter how much talent you have, it's dedication which pushes you to succeed in this industry.
Tell me, do you really want to make this game?

I'd say that's true for almost every endeavor. The level of commitment (and the steps that come from that) tends to be a good measure of success.  It helps if you are inspired by or have a motivating reason as to why you want to do something.

Oh, I've been following but don't think that I've commented on it yet.  Looks great!

[Mark Mayers]

It seems like you already have a good idea about collecting game data but in case you (or anyone else) needs a few more ideas especially for the times when you can't be observing players: https://medium.com/steam-spy/understanding-your-game-through-data-8b09ca93ec11#.bctn1d2rs
There are also some useful tips in terms of how to interpret certain results.

Ah, that's a really good article, thanks for sharing.

Since PAX I've transitioned into business mode and am refocusing my efforts on marketing/publishing the game. Articles like this definitely help.
I'm trying to figure out how to gain exposure and reach an audience, even more so determining what my 'core audience' even is. 

Is that certain?  I mean, when someone is playing, he/she can just restart the demo.  Wouldn't that be counted as two people?  Of course, technically the computer wouldn't really know if it's the same person or a new person starts playing.  Maybe, if there's a webcam available, it could take a picture when the game starts?   Overall, you can probably get an reasonable idea for how many people start again in a given time period and use that for reference.

Another developer here on TIG mentioned that he found it useful to have an automatic way of resetting the demo after a player leaving mid game and the game wasn't played for a certain time (maybe 30 seconds).  In that case, you can be fairly sure that a new start would be a new person. 

The steps I listed above would be pretty crude for analytics, but I was looking at a quick solution to get in before PAX (which I didn't even have time for).

One of the problems I did notice was that people would sometimes hit the start button thinking it paused the game, but it was actually a reset button.
This would both interfere with analytics but also represents a gameplay issue (I need to create proper menus).

The webcam idea is interesting! Although I'm concerned about consent to photograph during an expo; not everyone likes their picture taken.
For future demos I'll definitely take those suggestions. I'll write a devlog entry based on what I come up with.

Oh, I've been following but don't think that I've commented on it yet.  Looks great!

Thanks!!

[io3 creations]

Ah, that's a really good article, thanks for sharing.

There's quite a few good ideas/threads posted here on TIG.
Here's one that coveres much of the marketing ideas:
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=54019.0

In general, indie game marketing seems fairly "simple".
1) Start early to "recruit" fans/followers on various social media website through devlog like activities (i.e. various regular updates).
2) Spread the news about the game: Contact YouTubers/Twitchers after you have a playable demo and contact journalists if you have something newsworthy (demo, begin fundraising, Steam Greenlight, game release, etc).

You can find YouTuber/Twitcher lists (some can even be searched by interests).  Here are some websites that I bookmarked:
http://videogamecaster.com/
http://youtubers.brightside-games.com/
http://youtubeforindies.com/
http://tinybuild.com/twitch
http://videogamejournaliser.com/
http://www.pixelprospector.com/the-big-list-of-indie-game-sites/

As mentioned in the thread by UnfoldGames, you'll have to do your own research regarding journalists.

Of course, going to game conferences can be beneficial both in terms of "recruiting" more fans and also establising contact with journalists that will make future communication easier.

One of the problems I did notice was that people would sometimes hit the start button thinking it paused the game, but it was actually a reset button.
This would both interfere with analytics but also represents a gameplay issue (I need to create proper menus).

Yeah, that's something you want to avoid.  Especially, if a certain feature is already used for something. 

Interestingly, just the other day a similar kind of thing happened to me.  I wanted to open a door and based on the shape handle, I expected that it would open if pull on it.  It didn't open and when I wondered what was going on, I noticed a (very large) "Push" sign above the handle.    As I happened to sit nearby for a while, I noticed that the same thing happened to many others as well.  Two people even thought that the door was locked.

The webcam idea is interesting! Although I'm concerned about consent to photograph during an expo; not everyone likes their picture taken.

I've seen a few developers post photos of people playing their games.  I wonder if those players had to sign some kind of release form or not.   However, as long as you don't intend to release the images, I guess that may not be necessary.  Another possibility might be that if you can apply a filter/shader to image than the image can be distorted - e.g. low res pixellated black and white image where the players aren't recognizable.  The important part is to help you distinguish between players somehow.

[Mark Mayers]

Ah, that's a really good article, thanks for sharing.

There's quite a few good ideas/threads posted here on TIG.
Here's one that coveres much of the marketing ideas:
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=54019.0

In general, indie game marketing seems fairly "simple".
1) Start early to "recruit" fans/followers on various social media website through devlog like activities (i.e. various regular updates).
2) Spread the news about the game: Contact YouTubers/Twitchers after you have a playable demo and contact journalists if you have something newsworthy (demo, begin fundraising, Steam Greenlight, game release, etc).

You can find YouTuber/Twitcher lists (some can even be searched by interests).  Here are some websites that I bookmarked:
http://videogamecaster.com/
http://youtubers.brightside-games.com/
http://youtubeforindies.com/
http://tinybuild.com/twitch
http://videogamejournaliser.com/
http://www.pixelprospector.com/the-big-list-of-indie-game-sites/

As mentioned in the thread by UnfoldGames, you'll have to do your own research regarding journalists.

Of course, going to game conferences can be beneficial both in terms of "recruiting" more fans and also establising contact with journalists that will make future communication easier.

I think in *theory* indie game marketing is simple, and those resources definitely help!
However the 2016+ market for indie games is a very difficult environment.

Taking marketing philosophy from other solo developers:

How does one get several million people to see the game?
Figure I'm aiming to sell 100k copies.

With a 1% (estimated, general) conversion rate between views/sales, I need to reach 10 million people.
Obviously maximizing conversion rate between views/sales is essential. You need to market towards your core audience.
That 1% views/sales rate could become 10%, maybe even 50%+ if your game is seen by the correct audience.
 
So the problem is:
A- How do I discover what my core audience is?
B- How do I reach and cater towards said audience?

Much of this I've tried to do organically; ex. via Twitter or expos/festivals, but that can only take you so far.

There's a 'chicken before the egg' problem with press in 2016.  Press really only covers games that are popular, and to become popular you need press.
In my current situation I'm virtually invisible to press. I'm a random guy making some weird game that almost nobody knows about.
There's also the issue of getting too big, too early, but that's another problem entirely.

It's easy to say just make a good game and success will follow, but this isn't the 2008-2012 'Golden Age' of indies anymore.

So what are my immediate goals from a marketing/business perspective?
1: Finish creating a well polished demo suitable for public distribution
2: Make a really awesome trailer
3: Get on Steam
4: Send out press preview builds to journalists/streamers/YouTubers, etc.
5: Pitch to publishers and get funding, or find funding through other means
6: ? ? ?
7: Profit

It feels disingenuous to talk about sales and money. I never really cared about those things when I set out to make this game.

The reality is if I want to make another game, Desolus needs to do very well.
I need to figure out how to make that happen, because I really don't want to do anything else besides make games.
 

[io3 creations]

You've probably heard/seen that marketing is putting the right message in front of the right person at the right time.

When I said indie marketing is "simple", I was mainly referring to compared to the developer business model of a decade and earlier where you primarily had to rely on a publisher.  If you couldn't find one then your chances of (financial) success were almost none existant.

How does one get several million people to see the game?

YouTubers and Twitchers.  Very cost effective!   I've been following a few Kickstarter campaings in the last few months and there have been many that reached their KS goal because they released a demo and YouTubers and Twitchers played it.

Of course, I agree that only covers one aspect and you have to consider the game idea/genre itself.  Making a game that has a a larger target/core audience is (one way or another) going to be easier to get in front of the "right" people while niche games will need more targeted marketing.  And there are times, when you can be *creative*.  For example, in one of the links that I posted before, UnfoldGames not only contacted gaming related websites with DarQ but also horror releated ones.

While I agree that there are more indie games and it can feel like the market is getting saturated, real gems will always stand out.  Overall, I'd say you are still in a good position.  You have a unique idea, good looking visuals and the puzzle adventure gameplay covers a significan portion of gamers.  If the gameplay itself is fun, then you shouldn't have issues with marketing.  I might've read it in someone else's devlog but contacting about fifty journalists before a game expo while other developers contacted way more than that.  I've also seen quite a few greenlight or kickstarter projects get press - but mainly because they were the ones contacting the websites/journalists.   So, yes.  In some areas you will still have to do "your part".

That's the theory and it seems to have worked for many.  Of course, I don't really have any stats about how many others do the same and don't have the same results so it's hard to say what the overall results are.  But if you look at the ones that do well, there are certain common patterns.

I'm finishing up some smaller games and will start my own "indie developer adventure" soon enough and will devlog that.


As for funding, have you seen Indie Fund?  http://indie-fund.com/

[gimymblert]

There is plenty fun game that still bomb because there is enough fun game that there is competition within fun.

Good marketing is about finding an inspirational focus that makes people dream.

"Desolus is a surrealist puzzle game where you control a black hole to power mysterious structures with solar energy."

Desolus is "weird" and it's description is kind of "random". It's important to link to theme that appeal to people, to find a meaning, to make it make sense on an emotional level.

Look at no man's sky, at the core it's not new, there is plenty game like it, why no man's ky stand up? well he ad the inspirational angle, instead of the overdone old military realistic dangerous black space aesthetics, they pull a very naruralistic artsy adventure feel that is a throw back 70s scify that encoded visually this idea of discovery of new land, they make it pretty.

Desolus have idea of beauty, mysteriousness and mysticism, what's a good narrative to sell? What human drive and experience it appeal to? Why are we doing the action of the game, why is teh world is that way, what is the sense of purpose? These don't need EXPLANATION, they need JUSTIFICATION that resonate emotionally with a public. It beg the question what is the aspiration of the public, what are their deep questions about the world, what connection can we build with that?

Desolus is a surrealist puzzle game where you control a black hole to power mysterious structures with solar energy.   
Explore beautiful dreamlike landscapes and unravel the secrets behind Desolus, an entity of enigmatic origin
The game takes place inside the Desolus, an ominous alien structure that hovers over the landscape.
The core mechanic of Desolus is the black hole called the singularity.
The player uses the singularity to attract and repel elemental particles to navigate a hostile environment.

WHY?
whay are we there, why are we doing that? what is happening? what's the stakes? Who are we? what are our role?

Get a good narrative (that does not mean astory) and then it's easier to let people frame their head around the game and therefore sell it.

[io3 creations]

A similar game, Obduction, comes to mind where you can see how they approached the points that Jimym GIMBERT mentioned.

[Mark Mayers]

When I said indie marketing is "simple", I was mainly referring to compared to the developer business model of a decade and earlier where you primarily had to rely on a publisher.

Definitely! Publishing and releasing commercially has been greatly democratized, which we're fortunate for.

YouTubers and Twitchers.  Very cost effective!   ...

I'm fortunate to have Kyle working with me on the soundtrack.
We've talked about marketing Desolus with his YouTube channel to hopefully get the hype snowball rolling when the time is right.
He has ~500k subscribers, so we're in a decent position from the YouTube end of the spectrum.

While I agree that there are more indie games and it can feel like the market is getting saturated, real gems will always stand out.  ... If the gameplay itself is fun, then you shouldn't have issues with marketing. 

Looking through this devlog you'll see it's full of haphazard ideas gameplay wise.
I'm hoping from all the crazy iterations I've done with this game, I've wound up with something special.

Of course the game is really emotionally important to me, but that's because I spent a 18 months of my life so far creating this.

However, the PAX East feedback gave me the feeling I'm finally getting somewhere.

I might've read it in someone else's devlog but contacting about fifty journalists before a game expo while other developers contacted way more than that. 

Yea, the critical mistake I made for PAX East was not sending enough press emails before hand.
In only sent 10... 10! And this was less than a week before the convention. I should have sent 100+ weeks before.

As for funding, have you seen Indie Fund?  http://indie-fund.com/

I've been considering Indie Fund as an option and plan on applying some time in the future.
I spoke with Jonathan Blow and Rami Ismail during PAX East about it.

I still need to make a few additional preparations (mainly on the legal and financial side of things).

I'm finishing up some smaller games and will start my own "indie developer adventure" soon enough and will devlog that.

Looking forward to reading it!!

---

[Mark Mayers]

Desolus have idea of beauty, mysteriousness and mysticism, what's a good narrative to sell? What human drive and experience it appeal to?

You're definitely right, I need more of a narrative hook and purpose for the game.

A lot of the emotions and feeling I put into Desolus are based on the difficulties I've had making the game itself.

Desolus is a 'tragic dream' conveyed almost as an elegy.   
However there's no narrative context to why the game is this way and I need to establish that.

I've been primarily focusing on puzzle mechanics and visuals so far, but maybe it's time I sit back and think more about narrative.

[Mark Mayers]

Update 78: 05/11/2016

Last few weeks I have been mostly recovering from PAX, as it took a lot out of me.

However, IndieCade East was fantastic. I got to meet some old friends and made some new ones.
I'm not doing a post-mortem of that event, since I only did a 2 hour presentation at 'Show and Tell.'

I'll be applying again to IndieCade 'prime' in LA this year, but I'm not sure if I'll get in or not.
In some aspects it's even more selective than the IGF... but it's worth a shot.

---

A lot of the central themes of Desolus revolve around symmetry and inversion
I've been contemplating world narrative, and how the game will play out.

I made an inverted title screen for the game which will have a large significance in the future.





---

I received my HTC Vive from Valve two days ago. I've been playing various demos and have been having a great deal of fun.

HTC Vive support is likely, but I don't think Desolus will end up being a roomscale VR title.
I'm more looking at a sitting VR experience, with parity between Vive and Rift.

Speaking of, I fixed a few rendering bugs specific to Oculus. There's now full support for Oculus CV1 with the new Desolus build. 

I'm doing an Oculus Rift demo on May 26th as part of a special event with Boston Virtual Reality Group, if you want to check it out!

[nnyei]

I'm sorry if you've already mentioned it somewhere, but has no one who has used the Oculus Rift while playing your game experienced nausea? I'm asking because I heard that games with a first person view in which you walk around (as opposed to driving around in a vehicle, steering from a cockpit, etc.), cause a kind of disconnect in your brain and you feel nauseous as a result of that.

I haven't had the chance to try VR yet so this might all be hearsay, or there are more factors needed to actually cause that feeling, or maybe it only happens to people who have problems with motion sickness to begin with, but I figured I'd ask you seeing as you must have been confronted with this by now if it's actually a thing.

(Also, this is one beautiful looking game. But I've already said that in an earlier comment. )

[Mark Mayers]

I'm sorry if you've already mentioned it somewhere, but has no one who has used the Oculus Rift while playing your game experienced nausea? I'm asking because I heard that games with a first person view in which you walk around (as opposed to driving around in a vehicle, steering from a cockpit, etc.), cause a kind of disconnect in your brain and you feel nauseous as a result of that.

I haven't had the chance to try VR yet so this might all be hearsay, or there are more factors needed to actually cause that feeling, or maybe it only happens to people who have problems with motion sickness to begin with, but I figured I'd ask you seeing as you must have been confronted with this by now if it's actually a thing.

(Also, this is one beautiful looking game. But I've already said that in an earlier comment. )

Nobody reported feeling directly nauseous when playtesting on my Oculus DK2.

However, a few people after ~20 minutes said they had to take a break. I was running below 90FPS at the time (based on the MAGFest feedback I received).
Also I have yet to publicly test my CV1. So the increased technical fidelity might play a factor in comfort too.

I think the game does well in VR because it's mentally relaxing. I removed all timing/execution elements from the game, so it's now more slow paced and cerebral.
This might reduce VR discomfort, but I'm not sure. I think there are both psychological and physiological factors at play. 

I also take some pretty specific steps to make sure the control scheme is suitable for VR.
I'll do a devlog sometime in the future regarding what my VR implementation is like. 

And thanks!!!

[nnyei]

Nobody reported feeling directly nauseous when playtesting on my Oculus DK2.

That's good to hear.

VR is still very young so there's most likely going to be some trial & error involved before we figure everything out.

I'll do a devlog sometime in the future regarding what my VR implementation is like. 

That's going to be interesting. I'll be looking forward to it.

[TooKindStudio]

This game looks great! And one I would love to see on VR! Congrats!

[Mark Mayers]

VR is still very young so there's most likely going to be some trial & error involved before we figure everything out.

This generation of VR titles will be interesting for sure. There's no set standard and everyone is trying their own approach.

I think by the time Desolus is released (2017-2018?) there will be a solid install base for platforms like Oculus and Vive.
I'm also making this as a 'normal' title, meaning you don't need VR to play it.

I'm doing a relatively safe bet while VR is still in its early stages, but I'm a huge believer in the medium's potential.
Maybe next game I'll do a VR exclusive title, but who knows!

This game looks great! And one I would love to see on VR! Congrats!

Thanks!

I'm working on getting an official Steam page up and running sometime in the next few months so I can distribute builds.
Hit me up when the game is on Steam in 'closed-alpha' and I'll send you key for playtesting.