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[io3 creations]

I love low poly style and your game certainly makes good use of it.

Regarding Kickstarter, be sure to contact  LobsterSundew  https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?action=profile;u=68970   He's helped many Kickstart campaigns with useful info.  Doesn't seem like he posted a lot recently, but he did log in recently and might be available.  If not, you can look at his posts
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?action=profile;u=68970;sa=showPosts
A few things to look for:
-usually better to avoid times around game industry related events, AAA relase times
-on what day of the week to start and end the campaign
-how to set up pledge amounts

I agree with others that the blood seems out of place.  Perhaps yellow sparks or "little birds flying around the head" type cartoony visual effects would fit better.  Plus, if you show blood, that might add some age restriction to the game ... meaning less $$$  though it might be "okay" if it's cartoony?

However there are some issues when the bike and legs are intersecting and they are rapidly seperated - I haven't found a good solution for that case. Any advice?

Just to be sure, could you provide an example?  For now my guess is that the physics colliders are still overlapping.  Box2d has bitmasking to enable/disable certain types of objects from colliding.  Or you could perhaps disable one of the colliders for a while?

[DrWDSo]

Hey Devs! We are super happy right now with the feedback so far and on a good way - currently #55 on Greenlight!

Regarding Kickstarter, be sure to contact  LobsterSundew  https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?action=profile;u=68970   He's helped many Kickstart campaigns with useful info.  Doesn't seem like he posted a lot recently, but he did log in recently and might be available.  If not, you can look at his posts
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?action=profile;u=68970;sa=showPosts

Thanks for your input on that! We will discuss next week how we will proceed with the development, since a lot of people asked to play the game although it is really early in development. However we are not sure, how much content and features we need for that, which platform to use and so on... your thoughts?

I agree with others that the blood seems out of place.  Perhaps yellow sparks or "little birds flying around the head" type cartoony visual effects would fit better.  Plus, if you show blood, that might add some age restriction to the game ... meaning less $$$  though it might be "okay" if it's cartoony?

True about the age restriction, but there are quite some people out there who really like it and want it even more gory. I can understand both sides and I would love to let the player choose what she/he wants.

Just to be sure, could you provide an example?  For now my guess is that the physics colliders are still overlapping.  Box2d has bitmasking to enable/disable certain types of objects from colliding.  Or you could perhaps disable one of the colliders for a while?

Thanks, that's already fixed, as it can be seen in the trailer.

[ghosted]

Been following this quietly for ages and the final trailer is great. Loving what seems like a very pure experience and can't wait for the release. If I could vote more than once I would.

[io3 creations]

Thanks for your input on that! We will discuss next week how we will proceed with the development, since a lot of people asked to play the game although it is really early in development. However we are not sure, how much content and features we need for that, which platform to use and so on... your thoughts?

This is just based on my experience, but I'd go with developing and releasing on Steam first.  Chances are you can get the most players with a wide variety of systems so (if there are) plenty of bugs/issues will be encountered and tested.

As for pre-release development, some devs start with uploading free demos to gather feedback and build community/player base.  If you prefer to go with Early Access (i.e. charge for the game), then you'll need "more".  There's no magic number, but I'd say for your game almost all game mechanich should already be in the game and have "enough" levels that players can have fun with.  Also, don't have exact numbers, but I've often seen people mentioning the price being high if there isn't enough content.

Here are a few posts with Early Access advice:
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=40732.msg1249027#msg1249027
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=40732.msg1249032#msg1249032

True about the age restriction, but there are quite some people out there who really like it and want it even more gory. I can understand both sides and I would love to let the player choose what she/he wants.

I agree that certain settings are good in the game.  But, as in this case, if you go with gore, then that'll add the age restriction aspect.

Yes, I know a few similar games with gore ... but still my "feeling" is that I'd go without the blood and gore and focus on the other aspects.  But since it's your game, it's up to you to make that decision.    

This of course leads to what kind of game do you want to make.  Do you already have an exact vision and will stick to that?  Or do you prefer to maximize sales? If your intent was to maximize sales, then market research could help figuring out whether having gore is better for a larger number of players or else.  
But either way, you'll have to decide about your target audience and stick to that.  Especially, dealing with feedback (as mentioned in one of the posts above: http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.se/2015/09/early-access-difficulty-fetishests-and.html  )

Thanks, that's already fixed, as it can be seen in the trailer.  

How did you fix it?

[DrWDSo]

As for pre-release development, some devs start with uploading free demos to gather feedback and build community/player base.  If you prefer to go with Early Access (i.e. charge for the game), then you'll need "more".  There's no magic number, but I'd say for your game almost all game mechanich should already be in the game and have "enough" levels that players can have fun with.  Also, don't have exact numbers, but I've often seen people mentioning the price being high if there isn't enough content.

True, that's what we are afraid of. It will take a while until we have a larger amount of tracks, since we are still working on our tools to be able to create levels more quickly and flexible. In terms of game mechanics I agree for the core mechanics, but I think we can very well add different modes which extends the experience later on.

But either way, you'll have to decide about your target audience and stick to that.  Especially, dealing with feedback (as mentioned in one of the posts above: http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.se/2015/09/early-access-difficulty-fetishests-and.html  )

Thanks your thoughts and for the links! We will really have to think about that.

Thanks, that's already fixed, as it can be seen in the trailer. 

How did you fix it?

A mix between optimized collider shapes, layer masks and delayed activation of the colliders.

[io3 creations]

Congrats on getting Greenlit!

As for pre-release development, some devs start with uploading free demos to gather feedback and build community/player base.  If you prefer to go with Early Access (i.e. charge for the game), then you'll need "more".  There's no magic number, but I'd say for your game almost all game mechanich should already be in the game and have "enough" levels that players can have fun with.  Also, don't have exact numbers, but I've often seen people mentioning the price being high if there isn't enough content.

True, that's what we are afraid of. It will take a while until we have a larger amount of tracks, since we are still working on our tools to be able to create levels more quickly and flexible.

Yeah, track development and testing will probably take the most time for your game.  If you can speed that up, then you'll be able save lots of time.  I have a similarish idea for a low poly game and have started to think of ways to speed up development.

Thanks, that's already fixed, as it can be seen in the trailer. 

How did you fix it?

A mix between optimized collider shapes, layer masks and delayed activation of the colliders.

Then you did what I had in mind.  Thank you for confirming.  Just out of curiosity, have you come across or thought of situations where it can still be an issue?

[LobsterSundew]

We’re also thinking about doing a Kickstarter for the game in September. What do you think? Could a Kickstarter work?

September is one of the strongest months on Kickstarter for video games, but something to note is the first week of September has fierce competition. It can get extreme. Some of the strongest campaigns of the entire year pick September to launch. I've been nicknaming it the "meat grinder". Competition cools off around halfway through the month.

Kickstarter announced that Kickstarter Japan support is coming later this year. I'd expect it to launch in September to November because of when Kickstarter expanded in past years. When support for a new country is added to Kickstarter, there is also a surge in projects coming from that country from developers that were previously unable to launch.

I haven't made a launch table for September yet. Below is the one for July 2017 as an example.
http://i.imgur.com/TRYHsn0.png
In general, launch before noon in the Eastern Time Zone and end in the evening on the final day for that same time zone. Many campaigns nerf themselves not following that advice. I see too many campaigns ending around times like 8am in the morning. It harms the final day which could be valuable time for a struggling campaign to just reach 100%. The good days to both launch and end campaigns on are Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thursdays can work, but they need more effort coordinating press coverage. Mondays also require more marketing work to be done in the week before if launching on them. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays should be avoided for launching or ending. The first and middle weeks of a month can see better performance. Try to run as close to 30 days as possible, but also consider adding up to 4 additional days as wiggle room to help fit around difficult dates.

Below are some current notes I have for September 2017. One of the reasons I have not made a launch table for September yet is there are more release dates that far in the future that haven't been announced yet because E3 2017 is not over yet.
- Gamescom ends on August 26th. This could impact the responsiveness of various bloggers and Let's Players. You would need to contact them before Gamescom to help get covered in September. Gamescom is a busy time.
- Destiny 2 is September 8th. This is one of the biggest releases and will be a time sink for many gamers.
- Divinity: Original Sin II is September 14th (if no delays).
- Marvel VS Capcom Infinite is September 19th.
- FIFA 18 is September 29th.
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War is October 10th. This is another potential big release soaking up press and playtime.
- The Bard's Tale IV may come out in October.
- South Park: The Fractured But While is October 17th.
- Call of Duty: WWII is November 3rd.

After September, October is also a very good month. October is actually one of the best months in the annual cycle. November is the most unpredictable month because it is good some years and terrible other years. December and January are very poor months to run on Kickstarter. The second half of the year can have AAA releases to try to dodge around.

Before September, August is a complicated month that can be good if you avoid some really difficult dates like Gamescom. I describe it as playing Tetris to find good windows of time to fit a campaign in. July is often poor. June is one of the worst months in the annual cycle (due to E3, Steam Summer Sale and various other sales). Summer months also have extra difficulty getting Let's Players to play a game because they can be traveling to various conventions.

[Hellfish]

Hey,

it's been quite a while since our last post. Seems like we're still really bad with this dev log thing...

The big news (well not really news anymore) is that our game is now on Kickstarter. Actually it's there since 24 days

It also got a new trailer in which we invested a lot of time so I hope you like it.





And here is the KS page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/megagonindustries/lonely-mountains-downhill

We're still iterating the page all the time so if you have any feedback or recommendations please let me know!

While the first two weeks (especially the first 48 hours) we really good and we're now at 90% the campaign has really slowed down over the last week.

To give it a little push we released a 1-minute-demo of our demo. I know - that sounds weird but it's actually pretty fun and gives you a good insight into the game.

You can get the full demo when you back the 35€ tier.

You can test the demo here: http://lonelymountains.com/demo

Have fun and I'm looking forward to your feedback!

PS: Like all the other cool kids we also have a Discord channel if you want to join the community: https://discord.gg/xgG3JXm