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[Sp1ke]

Thanks for the tips.
I am newbie to marketing so I'm prone to make mistakes.
In previous post I wanted to give impression that although SEM starts as accident which is very common in sci-fi games,
SEM uses this cliche a bit more clever way (but for safety reason I will delete that)
That is the reason behind I don't post fragments of gameplay not to spoil anything.
Thank again

I have a question: the game is almost ready especially for windows version download. It's about 200MB.
Is it reasonable to publish some kind of demo here and then on itch.io?
Or is it better to publish just the whole thing?

[Jayesh]

Is it reasonable to publish some kind of demo here and then on itch.io?
Or is it better to publish just the whole thing?

Is your final publishing platform Steam? If yes, then make sure the steam page is ready to be wishlisted when you publish it on itch.io or elsewhere. Put the steam link on the itch.io page.

If you are not ready to create steam page yet, then at least create an email signup page, where people who like your game can know when it will be released on Steam.

[Ramos]

Is it reasonable to publish some kind of demo here and then on itch.io?
Or is it better to publish just the whole thing?

Is your final publishing platform Steam? If yes, then make sure the steam page is ready to be wishlisted when you publish it on itch.io or elsewhere. Put the steam link on the itch.io page.

If you are not ready to create steam page yet, then at least create an email signup page, where people who like your game can know when it will be released on Steam.

ContrailSurfer is right.
Here is how the full thing works:

Itch.io and gamejolt do nor provide huge amounts of sales like Steam do BUT, they support indie devs by offering much visibility.

This is what I recommend:
- FIRST: make steam coming soon page / why: here main sales will happen
- with ONLY 1 week before release post a free version(vertical slice/demo) / why: 1. many people like to try games but are very calculated with the money, most of them if they like the game will go and buy it on steam from various reasons, I am not going to explain all those reasons here. Condition: the vertical slice/free version/demo must be AMAZING! DO not forget to add a call to action for people to know the game is also on steam. 2. second reason why only 1 week away from the release is because of YouTubers. If you plan to send the game to decent YouTubers know that most of them like to have some exclusivity in the content to some extent and after you post a free version on itchio/gamejolt , many small YouTubers will cover your game which will lower the game value for big YouTubers.
- Release full game on Steam (I am not going into details but skip early access)
- Release full game on Itch.io and Gamejolt

---------------------------

Your game looks nice here are a few tips:
- add simplified Chinese, the most target audience for this type of games (JRPGS and Text adventures) are in Asia, + the second language on Steam is simplified Chinese after English
- add some basic animations to those static backgrounds, you do not need to go overboard, just some light flickering, some animated bugs, small stuff that shows the game is polished and the developer cares and knows what he is doing. For max results, add a bit of parallax background on mouse movements

Hope it helps
Good luck sir

[Sp1ke]

Is it reasonable to publish some kind of demo here and then on itch.io?
Or is it better to publish just the whole thing?

Is your final publishing platform Steam? If yes, then make sure the steam page is ready to be wishlisted when you publish it on itch.io or elsewhere. Put the steam link on the itch.io page.

If you are not ready to create steam page yet, then at least create an email signup page, where people who like your game can know when it will be released on Steam.

ContrailSurfer is right.
Here is how the full thing works:

Itch.io and gamejolt do nor provide huge amounts of sales like Steam do BUT, they support indie devs by offering much visibility.

This is what I recommend:
- FIRST: make steam coming soon page / why: here main sales will happen
- with ONLY 1 week before release post a free version(vertical slice/demo) / why: 1. many people like to try games but are very calculated with the money, most of them if they like the game will go and buy it on steam from various reasons, I am not going to explain all those reasons here. Condition: the vertical slice/free version/demo must be AMAZING! DO not forget to add a call to action for people to know the game is also on steam. 2. second reason why only 1 week away from the release is because of YouTubers. If you plan to send the game to decent YouTubers know that most of them like to have some exclusivity in the content to some extent and after you post a free version on itchio/gamejolt , many small YouTubers will cover your game which will lower the game value for big YouTubers.
- Release full game on Steam (I am not going into details but skip early access)
- Release full game on Itch.io and Gamejolt

---------------------------

Your game looks nice here are a few tips:
- add simplified Chinese, the most target audience for this type of games (JRPGS and Text adventures) are in Asia, + the second language on Steam is simplified Chinese after English
- add some basic animations to those static backgrounds, you do not need to go overboard, just some light flickering, some animated bugs, small stuff that shows the game is polished and the developer cares and knows what he is doing. For max results, add a bit of parallax background on mouse movements

Hope it helps
Good luck sir

Thank you very much for your advice. But the game will be free. It's caused by the fact that many images are heavily modified versions of images found on the net by google "Labeled for noncommercial reuse with modification" of course all sources will be described in "credits" section. The majority of the pictures are mine and taken in different places and parts of the world. Music is free and mainly taken from flashkit.com which contains a lot of free tracks (of course all sources will be also described in "credits" section).

Unfortunately, as one-man team with limited resources, I wouldn't be able to create enough art to and music to provide the desired experience. To be frank I'm not happy with it at all.

With those constraints, I don't know if the project will be appropriate for steam.
What do you think?

[Jayesh]

- add simplified Chinese, the most target audience for this type of games (JRPGS and Text adventures) are in Asia, + the second language on Steam is simplified Chinese after English

Good point Ramos.

Unfortunately, as one-man team with limited resources, I wouldn't be able to create enough art to and music to provide the desired experience. To be frank I'm not happy with it at all.

With those constraints, I don't know if the project will be appropriate for steam.
What do you think?

It's understandable how you feel now. But if you have any plan of monetizing this or any future games, this is your opportunity to start gathering audience. Make sure to give the players who like your game at least a chance to subscribe to your email list. Use mailchimp to setup a basic signup page.

Imagine a player who plays your entire game. If he found it so intriguing to see it through (even though you may not like it right now), he very likely would like to know when you release your next game.

[Ramos]

- add simplified Chinese, the most target audience for this type of games (JRPGS and Text adventures) are in Asia, + the second language on Steam is simplified Chinese after English

Good point Ramos.

Unfortunately, as one-man team with limited resources, I wouldn't be able to create enough art to and music to provide the desired experience. To be frank I'm not happy with it at all.

With those constraints, I don't know if the project will be appropriate for steam.
What do you think?

It's understandable how you feel now. But if you have any plan of monetizing this or any future games, this is your opportunity to start gathering audience. Make sure to give the players who like your game at least a chance to subscribe to your email list. Use mailchimp to setup a basic signup page.

Imagine a player who plays your entire game. If he found it so intriguing to see it through (even though you may not like it right now), he very likely would like to know when you release your next game.

100% correct!

And if you still want to go for free versions you can also try in addition to Gamejolt and Itch IO, indiexpo.
But no matter what you do, listen to ContrailSurfer and start building your fan base

[Sp1ke]

100% correct!

And if you still want to go for free versions you can also try in addition to Gamejolt and Itch IO, indiexpo.
But no matter what you do, listen to ContrailSurfer and start building your fan base

Thanks, I will follow rules

[Sp1ke]

I've started to encourage people to try and test the game in "Playtesting" section.
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=70735.0

I would be very grateful if you give me any feedback on any things that should be corrected and modified. English is my second language and it is far from being perfect so If I've made any serious mistakes please let me know.

The game is free to download from my google disc drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DbvZxkPgA1KZY7uKTKAQQCn4zRO_6z1H/view?usp=sharing

Thanks,
Mike

[Sp1ke]

This is what happens if you play Death Stranding for over 500h   

[Sp1ke]

So, I decided to skip steam and right now and focus on youtubers who cover and review indie games.
Game will be free. It will take about 1h to complete. I will skip demo version (it may be not good enough).

Ramos, you said

second reason why only 1 week away from the release is because of YouTubers. If you plan to send the game to decent YouTubers know that most of them like to have some exclusivity in the content to some extent and after you post a free version on itchio/gamejolt second reason why only 1 week away from the release is because of YouTubers. If you plan to send the game to decent YouTubers know that most of them like to have some exclusivity in the content to some extent and after you post a free version on itchio/gamejolt , many small YouTubers will cover your game which will lower the game value for big YouTubers.
- Release full game on Itch.io and Gamejolt

I'm not sure if I understood you correctly.

Should I send complete game to youtubers who potentially are interested in my game to inform about release or even get review and then place my game on itch.io and gamejolt?

Or should I place my game on itch.io and gamejolt and then inform youtubers?

Thanks for help.,
Mike

[Ramos]

So, I decided to skip steam and right now and focus on youtubers who cover and review indie games.
Game will be free. It will take about 1h to complete. I will skip demo version (it may be not good enough).

Ramos, you said

second reason why only 1 week away from the release is because of YouTubers. If you plan to send the game to decent YouTubers know that most of them like to have some exclusivity in the content to some extent and after you post a free version on itchio/gamejolt second reason why only 1 week away from the release is because of YouTubers. If you plan to send the game to decent YouTubers know that most of them like to have some exclusivity in the content to some extent and after you post a free version on itchio/gamejolt , many small YouTubers will cover your game which will lower the game value for big YouTubers.
- Release full game on Itch.io and Gamejolt

I'm not sure if I understood you correctly.

Should I send complete game to youtubers who potentially are interested in my game to inform about release or even get review and then place my game on itch.io and gamejolt?

Or should I place my game on itch.io and gamejolt and then inform youtubers?

Thanks for help.,
Mike

I mean if your game is awesome and you target BIG YouTubers, send it to them first before you release the game on itch and gamejolt,  because the BIG YouTubers prefer to have exclusive content to some extent and a release on itchio and gamejolt will spam many videos of your game from small YouTubers.

But as it stands your game now I would advise you to make a list of medium YouTubers by following these:
- to have activity in videos in the last time
- to have similar gaming content to your game(indie, puzzle text adventures and so on)
- to have around 5k-10k subs
- NOTE: youtube allows you to see 5 email adress per day so start building the list in time, a decent list must have MINIMUM 100 emails
also if you do this add a call to action, either direct the people to your discord or to a coming soon page or you will have nothing to gain from this

After your list is done start sending emails with a press kit version of your game.
DISCLAIMER: because your game uses free art from google, some YouTubers may turn it down, such content on their channel may cause legal problems, or at least a friend of main said so

Or you could just release free version on itch and gamejolt and indiexpo if you do not aim on expanding it to a monetized version

[Sp1ke]

So, I decided to skip steam and right now and focus on youtubers who cover and review indie games.
Game will be free. It will take about 1h to complete. I will skip demo version (it may be not good enough).

Ramos, you said

second reason why only 1 week away from the release is because of YouTubers. If you plan to send the game to decent YouTubers know that most of them like to have some exclusivity in the content to some extent and after you post a free version on itchio/gamejolt second reason why only 1 week away from the release is because of YouTubers. If you plan to send the game to decent YouTubers know that most of them like to have some exclusivity in the content to some extent and after you post a free version on itchio/gamejolt , many small YouTubers will cover your game which will lower the game value for big YouTubers.
- Release full game on Itch.io and Gamejolt

I'm not sure if I understood you correctly.

Should I send complete game to youtubers who potentially are interested in my game to inform about release or even get review and then place my game on itch.io and gamejolt?

Or should I place my game on itch.io and gamejolt and then inform youtubers?

Thanks for help.,
Mike

I mean if your game is awesome and you target BIG YouTubers, send it to them first before you release the game on itch and gamejolt,  because the BIG YouTubers prefer to have exclusive content to some extent and a release on itchio and gamejolt will spam many videos of your game from small YouTubers.

But as it stands your game now I would advise you to make a list of medium YouTubers by following these:
- to have activity in videos in the last time
- to have similar gaming content to your game(indie, puzzle text adventures and so on)
- to have around 5k-10k subs
- NOTE: youtube allows you to see 5 email adress per day so start building the list in time, a decent list must have MINIMUM 100 emails
also if you do this add a call to action, either direct the people to your discord or to a coming soon page or you will have nothing to gain from this

After your list is done start sending emails with a press kit version of your game.
DISCLAIMER: because your game uses free art from google, some YouTubers may turn it down, such content on their channel may cause legal problems, or at least a friend of main said so

Or you could just release free version on itch and gamejolt and indiexpo if you do not aim on expanding it to a monetized version

Thank you very much

[vdapps]

Hi Sp1ke! I not tried your game yet, but I want to do it, I'll wait for full version.

I'm not playing games very much now, focusing on my paid work plus my projects development, not lot of free time left. But I like to check interesting indie projects plus you stated 1 hour of gameplay, so it's no-brainer for me to finish it, as this sci-fi setting is my cup of coffee.

I like hard-core sci-fi and scientific background. It adds lot of value to me. Together with art, I feel like 'existencial crisis' atmosphere.

[Sp1ke]

Hi Sp1ke! I not tried your game yet, but I want to do it, I'll wait for full version.

I'm not playing games very much now, focusing on my paid work plus my projects development, not lot of free time left. But I like to check interesting indie projects plus you stated 1 hour of gameplay, so it's no-brainer for me to finish it, as this sci-fi setting is my cup of coffee.

I like hard-core sci-fi and scientific background. It adds lot of value to me. Together with art, I feel like 'existencial crisis' atmosphere.

Hi,
I'm very happy that you are interested in my game. At the current stage, the project is in the final phase of testing and correcting minor issues. I would like to deliver the best experience as I can.

[Sp1ke]

Due to the fact that some puzzles in Singular Matter may be too challenging I decided to release two versions of the game:

Singular Matter Normal - version for those who want to discover the twisted plot and like the challenge of solving puzzles that give them satisfaction.

Singular Matter Easy - version for those who want only to discover the twisted plot.

All versions are equal concerning content. Easy only gives the player option to skip puzzles.

[Sp1ke]

Due to the fact that some puzzles in Singular Matter may be too challenging I decided to release two versions of the game:

Singular Matter Normal - version for those who want to discover the twisted plot and like the challenge of solving puzzles that give them satisfaction.

Singular Matter Easy - version for those who want only to discover the twisted plot.

All versions are equal concerning content. Easy only gives the player option to skip puzzles.

So, after about 3,5 years of work I'm finally releasing the project. As mentioned in previous post and a quote there are two versions:

Singular Matter Normal: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SWY_DNPn8bMSlH0275LwNjfqXtAsn8dB/view?usp=sharing
Singular Matter Easy: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9yOnuFlBWx9taeRPJtMnAOD8Hm42miW/view?usp=sharing

I hope you have fun 

 

[vdapps]

Cg man!

I'm looking forward to download it!

[Sp1ke]

Cg man!

I'm looking forward to download it!

You can already download it from the links:

Singular Matter Normal: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SWY_DNPn8bMSlH0275LwNjfqXtAsn8dB/view?usp=sharing
Singular Matter Easy: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9yOnuFlBWx9taeRPJtMnAOD8Hm42miW/view?usp=sharing

Or, from gamejolt or itch.io   
I hope you have fun.

[vdapps]

Just finished it. It was short but great. I start with cons as they are far less important: you have some typos, grammar errors (I'm fighting with the same in my games as I'm not native English speaker), and as I mentioned, it's a bit short and quite easy (I played normal version, I guess easy version is just reading the novel). Also I see that you're more novel writer than programmer. I can image the game more polished from programmer's perspective. I understand you were limited by SW in which you were making this novel.

Now pros (far out-weighting cons):

- mentioned here many times here in this thread - great art
- great reading. Reminds me of reading hard-core sci-fi novels, when I was younger.
- I liked humor very much. You were not f.cking around with it.
- great value for everyone who knows a bit about current physics (relativity / quantum mechanics / a bit about particles)
- playing the game induced in me feelings of existential crisis. It happens to me every time when I think too much about Universe, entropy and inevitable end of everything. Big rip or vacuum decay are merciful, most gruesome for me is the thermal death of Universe.

In short: great hard-core sci-fi visual novel. I can recommend.

[Sp1ke]

Just finished it. It was short but great. I start with cons as they are far less important: you have some typos, grammar errors (I'm fighting with the same in my games as I'm not native English speaker), and as I mentioned, it's a bit short and quite easy (I played normal version, I guess easy version is just reading the novel). Also I see that you're more novel writer than programmer. I can image the game more polished from programmer's perspective. I understand you were limited by SW in which you were making this novel.

Now pros (far out-weighting cons):

- mentioned here many times here in this thread - great art
- great reading. Reminds me of reading hard-core sci-fi novels, when I was younger.
- I liked humor very much. You were not f.cking around with it.
- great value for everyone who knows a bit about current physics (relativity / quantum mechanics / a bit about particles)
- playing the game induced in me feelings of existential crisis. It happens to me every time when I think too much about Universe, entropy and inevitable end of everything. Big rip or vacuum decay are merciful, most gruesome for me is the thermal death of Universe.

In short: great hard-core sci-fi visual novel. I can recommend.

Thank you very much for your review. I'm glad that you liked it. I hope that humor wasn't to scatological after all.
 
And yes, I'm not a programmer at all. In the past, I tried to learn java, but nothing came out of it. I think I lack certain skills to write lines of code and then expect to achieve the desired results failed almost every time. So the game was created with as little code as it was possible. I'm more like a storyteller but fascinated with games for many years.

Someone said (maybe Philip K. Dick) that science fiction shouldn't be called sci-fi, rather "speculative history" which in my opinion makes a lot of sense.

Speaking of existential crisis, who we are (I mean baryonic matter) only 5% of the visible universe brings so many unknown to the fate of the universe that really can't be predicted. If dark energy caused early inflation of the universe (which was faster than the speed of light) we have no clue how it will act in trillion years in the future. So maybe our universe will die in cold after a very long time when all-stars will burn out or maybe something totally unexpected happens. Unfortunately, we are too small to shortlived to get a glimpse of the truth.