itch.io

Hi, thanks for asking!

Most of it was free/organic marketing. I posted the game in indie game communities and on social media, but the biggest spike came from outside that.

The Hive was featured on the itch.io front page by itch.io staff, and a YouTuber found the game there and made a video about it. That brought most of the 25k views.

So it was not really paid marketing. More like organic visibility, a good bit of luck, and the game being discovered by the right person.

Thanks, that is useful feedback.

Yeah, I think that is one of the harder things to communicate because you are not playing as a single character, but as the insectoid hive/swarm itself. So the “who you play as” is basically the alien insect faction, commanding workers, warriors, and other creatures as they explore and fight underground.

Voice lines could actually be a good idea. Maybe something from the advisor or hive perspective could help frame it better, so viewers understand they are rooting for the insectoids and not just watching random creatures fight.

Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll think about how to make that clearer.

The Hive

Thanks for the report.

The grass tiles line up correctly in Photoshop, so this is most likely an engine sampling issue (atlas padding, bilinear filtering, mipmaps, compression) causing seams. In Unity for example you can fix this by creating an atlas: Create -> 2D -> Sprite Atlas, then add the tiles/sprites there to prevent lines between tiles.

For the ghost “spotted” sheet: the slight off grid framing is intentional, it simulates a small up and down floating motion across frames.

Let me know if this solves the issue.

All the best
~Sauli

Hey Tom,

We ran Underworld update sale first when the patch released and now followed up with Itch Winter Sale, that has the same discount % as Steam.

Happy holidays!

Yes, and we also noticed that using fewer but more relevant hashtags gives us better results. Thanks for the comment!

Happy to hear that! G0G has been actually the 2nd best store for us after Steam. (Let's not talk about Epic Games Store)

Haha, perfect username for a Hive comment thread!

Thanks a lot, really happy the analytics helped. Best of luck with your dev journey.

We’re focusing on polishing the Windows version first to make sure everything is solid. Once that’s done, it’ll be much easier to work on a the Linux version.

Hey, if it says:  "Couldn't switch to requested monitor resolution"

=> type -force-d3d11 to the launch option:

Properties => Set Launch Option => -force-d3d11

All the best
-Sauli

Thank you for the kind words! :)

Alien Insect army under your control!

The Hive is an RTS RPG single player game where you assume control of insectoid hive mind, and explore the vast underworld on your journey to the surface.

The emphasis of the game is in exploration, discovery and story telling via the RTS style game play.

Trailer

Features

• Assume control as the Insectoid Hive mind. Explore a beautiful, vast and ruined underworld riddled with dangers and lost civilizations
• Build your own underground nest and forces to defeat massive ancient creatures
• Defeat enemies and dissolve their DNA to unlock new units and abilities
• Equip your creatures with relics scavenged from the ruins of long lost civilizations
• Experience an epic story that spans across the vast underworld of New Eden
• Strategize your way to victory across 10 different levels and an estimated 10-12 hours of gameplay
• The calming serenity of the blooming springs, the aggressive heat of volcanoes and the ruins holding a story of a sad history make up the world of Hive.

Itch.io Store

Steam Store

Thank you for the kind words! :)

We uploaded new 1.203 on Steam today, I will upload it for Humble Bundle aswell. Thank you :)

Today we are proud to release update 1.2 "The Hive - Rise of the Behemoths" on Itch.io, which includes new player units, buildings and a reworked DNA upgrade system.

You can find more information about it on our devlog: 

https://skydome.itch.io/thehive/devlog/128038/the-hive-rise-of-the-behemoths-is-out-now

We would love to hear what you think about it!

All the best
~Sauli

Hey Kapstok,

We plan to release The Hive  1.200 - Rise of the Behemoths soon. So I will upload all new versions to Itchio at the same time :)
All the best
~Sauli

Hello everyone,

We just released The Hive on Itch.io moments ago. Here is small description about it :)

The Hive is RTS RPG fantasy game. Gorgeous music and a beautiful visual design takes you to planet of New Eden. There you assume control as the Insectoid Hive mind and face the challenges ahead. How long can you survive?

Play it: https://devath.itch.io/thehive



All the best
~Sauli