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[wizardfu]

Hi Christian, I'm currently prepping the video, music and other materials for the Kickstarter and Greenlight. Shooting for the first or second week of April. Will be updating this thread to let you know. Also got some juicy new content to share...

[wizardfu]

The first boss is complete. He's a giant Drobth who smashes things with his hammer. Still more art to do to make him even more awesome but for now he's functional.

[and]

Awesome boss! I look forward to the kickstarter, I'll have to see if I can scrape something together to contribute

[wizardfu]

Got approved and planning to launch the Kickstarter next monday April 6th. Anything anyone would like me to post about during the Kickstarter / Greenlight process?

Also, does anyone have any tips or know any good articles on how to get reviews? My fear is that I will just get ignored if I reach out to PC Gamer because I'm an unknown  dev... Maybe I just need to try anyway though.

[and]

Hey - that's so cool! I'd love to do a Kickstarter but I reckon I'd make about £30 and go cry for a while.

Anyway, there's some good stuff on pixel prospector about contacting press:

Press kits and how to contact press

[wizardfu]

Awesome!! Thanks for the links. Best article I've ever read on getting press coverage and really has given me some courage. Thanks again.

[Christian]

Personally I prefer RockPaperShotgun over PC Gamer. RPS covers indies just as much as it covers AAA games, so it's my favorite PC-focused site.

[oldblood]

Personally I prefer RockPaperShotgun over PC Gamer. RPS covers indies just as much as it covers AAA games, so it's my favorite PC-focused site.

Yeah I'd agree with that. They don't really cover KS games like they used to (let's be honest, not a story anymore) but they still occasionally cover stuff that catches their eye. I used to send out blasts to 400+ sites (each personalized). With press, its about contacting as many relevant sites as possible (eh, what do you have to lose?) and getting a small % to stick. You throw enough food at the wall, some of it is going to stick...

For the KS, my tips would be 1. Remember to update 2. Don't forget to keep some content off your main page and video. Always good to have some new content to show during the "lull" and people love updates that show new elements. Best of luck, looking forward to checking it out...

[wizardfu]

Thanks for the tips everybody. My general plan is thus:

1. Launch on Kickstarter and Greenlight both on the same Monday (prob. April 6th or 13th).
2. Share on Twitter, FB, the live stream, etc.
3. Share with all my friends and contacts
4. Wait about 1 week then email all relevant press contacts hoping for some coverage during the usual Kickstarter lull period.
5. Approach let's players about 1 week later.
6. Keep updating and live streaming throughout the process, total time 45 days.

Any thoughts?

[wizardfu]

Here's the possible drop-in co-op hero, Velle, frozen in cryo-sleep.

[and]

I think it's probably worth getting family and friends ready to donate as early as possible so you get a good start and try to ride that.

Same with youTubers, maybe websites, I'd probably try contacting them before the KS goes live because they've got to make time to record it and might not put the video up until the KS is over otherwise.

Also, found another link in my bookmarks that you might find useful:

A Strategic Approach To Kickstarter

It's a few years old now (which shows just how long I've wanted to do a KS and haven't) but I'm sure a lot of it is still relevant.

Hope that helps and good luck again!

[oldblood]

Thanks for the tips everybody. My general plan is thus:

1. Launch on Kickstarter and Greenlight both on the same Monday (prob. April 6th or 13th).
2. Share on Twitter, FB, the live stream, etc.
3. Share with all my friends and contacts
4. Wait about 1 week then email all relevant press contacts hoping for some coverage during the usual Kickstarter lull period.
5. Approach let's players about 1 week later.
6. Keep updating and live streaming throughout the process, total time 45 days.

Any thoughts?

I'd reach out to the press sooner rather than later. It can take time after you reach out to see any activity.

Be sure to regularly update. Backers that are "on the fence" about supporting may be swayed by regular updates showing new and fresh content. Existing backers may be inspired by updates and increase their pledges. I can't reiterate how important regular updates are.

Also, I'd highly recommend you do NOT run the campaign for 45 days. If it can't successfully raise funds in 30 days, it won't be successful with 45 day either. You think a 15-20 day lull in the middle of a 30 day campaign is bad? Picture a lull that last for over a month on a 45 day campaign. The energy is at the beginning and end of the campaign, extending the gigantic lull in the middle won't help your campaign at all. I'd even go so far as to say you want to start hitting the "final week of the Kickstarter!" sooner rather than later. It's not by accident that most Kickstarters see rapid growth in the final week...

[wizardfu]

I'd reach out to the press sooner rather than later. It can take time after you reach out to see any activity.

Be sure to regularly update. Backers that are "on the fence" about supporting may be swayed by regular updates showing new and fresh content. Existing backers may be inspired by updates and increase their pledges. I can't reiterate how important regular updates are.

Also, I'd highly recommend you do NOT run the campaign for 45 days. If it can't successfully raise funds in 30 days, it won't be successful with 45 day either. You think a 15-20 day lull in the middle of a 30 day campaign is bad? Picture a lull that last for over a month on a 45 day campaign. The energy is at the beginning and end of the campaign, extending the gigantic lull in the middle won't help your campaign at all. I'd even go so far as to say you want to start hitting the "final week of the Kickstarter!" sooner rather than later. It's not by accident that most Kickstarters see rapid growth in the final week...

Got a lot of updates planned and lots of it will be really juicy and visual stuff.

Thanks for the thoughts on 30 vs 45 days. I will reconsider that. I was leaning towards 45 because something I read recommended it if you are new to KS but I may have taken that out of context or at least not considered the alternative very well.

Thanks again everybody for the comments. Really a big help!

[wizardfu]

Fire orb + Teleport chip == Fire teleport.

[Christian]

Fire orb + Teleport chip == Fire teleport.

Whoa, those effects are really cool

---
Could you talk a bit about the combat? I was browsing your main site and saw the Combat GIF. How's it structured? One main weapon/attack, with secondary weapons and gear to use? Or do weapons have different attacks? Can you modify/buff your sword?

[wizardfu]

Could you talk a bit about the combat? I was browsing your main site and saw the Combat GIF. How's it structured? One main weapon/attack, with secondary weapons and gear to use? Or do weapons have different attacks? Can you modify/buff your sword?

Cool question to answer. Thanks for asking! Yep, you have the one main weapon, the nanotech-powered, humming sword. It's always the A button. Your B button is a choice of items from your inventory. Pretty Zelda 1-esque. The cool part though is that you can craft most of the items in your inventory, including the sword. There will be a robot you find in a cave of the overworld who can craft items given the right components or materials. If you find a fire orb you can combine that with the nanosword to get the fire sword, which basically is a flaming version of the nanosword. Combine a fire orb with a teleport chip and you get the fire teleport (seen above). There's going to be fire, lightning, ice and plasma orbs, maybe more. There will be all sorts of chips too, like the teleport chip, defensive shield chip, speed boost chip, projectile chip, etc. i'm open to suggestions.

[wizardfu]

Hi everybody. I'm excited to announce that Songbringer is live on Kickstarter and already 25% funded in under 24 hours! It's thanks to such a rad community. 3 of the folks who watch the live stream pledged before I could even share the link! Cheers everybody. I'm so excited to make this game better and better.

Also, Songbringer is on Greenlight! If you have a chance, please vote yes/no. Appreciate it!

[DMJohn0X]

Backing and Greenlighting this for sure. Absolutely love the art style here and the sci-fi/fantasy setting. Im so sold on the idea of a procedurally generated old school zelda-like.

Best of luck, brother! 

[wizardfu]

 

[oldblood]

Great start to your campaign. Backed. Glad to see you took the 30 day route, think that will be advantageous for you in the long run.