itch.io

Thanks for the reply Maidelen, I see what you mean there, but yes this post is more oriented to people that live off their work, where that "optional donation" is not enough and you really need a solid income. But thank for sharing ^^. So I want to share back with the plan I had after pondering what made AmongUs so popular. I rushed to make this gif just for this! If you know the story you will agree that It was a good game, it has always been good. So The first step is making an awesome game, and we do those. Yet before the pandemic it was an obscure, unknown, unappreciated game.  So.. I draw my conclusions... and the second step might be ...

Have a nice dayl! :D

Denis

Let's be honest, making our game known to people is a job we didn't signed up for when we decided to become the awesome indie developer/artist we are. Make that good game, code, level design or just release your awesome music or that art that is really beautiful and deserves to be appreciated is our bread and butter, and we are good at that, very. Yet the wall of anonymity stands there before us and is hard to climb. Enter the social platform to let our creation known.. can be an overwhelming feat a times. And the more you are committed to your game or art, the more it becomes heavy. 

With a Kickstarter campaign ongoing  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thestarknight/the-starknight  ( <--- see, still trying to climb the wall ) I had few choices. So I decided to take a different approach to the problem. Being a creative mind, crafting ingame scenes and events is what I do best and I said to myself, why you don't try to turn those skills you already have into a small comedy video. 

And I did that. I made 4 short videos, with the game engine and characters but based outside the game world, for the people to view and enjoy to help the game be know to the world. As a developer and "sort of artist" myself I love to learn new things but still..  this is an extra, and it takes time and efforts and it must be done well or it might backfire. 

Sometimes it feels to me like chasing a deaf dog with a giant bone. 

Because you know your bone must be gigantic to gather the deaf dog attention.  So now the videos are out and I am waiting the fruits of my work. Patiently looking and what happens, to draw my conclusions and learn more, yet... I want to go back to code the Weirdwoods but until the kickstarter campaign ends I must become my own promoter, video maker, editor and tyrant.  

Did you know you could share a playlist from youtube ? Such a simple thing yet, I didn't ! Why ? Because I never needed to do it! I just click links, I am indie dev not a sharing professional! Until now. 

Now I know you can share a youtube playlist.

 look https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJMTEMOr20bE4-OvsrtT4z-dIRom5WNq see ?! 

Another success ! :D 

So if you feel like me at times, and you see that giant wall of anonymity before you, you have all my sympathy. Using your own work in  ways you wasn't prepared for, to make it know the to world is hard but it might reward in the end... and can be a funny experience on his own... if you have time. 

Oh one last thing before I end this post:  credits are never optional, even if the artist says so, you will be the indie gentleman and put his name there, on the wall of fame inside your game, because the same you feel for your game they do for their awesome art, and it might be even harder for some of them to be known. I mean, you remember the game, the author, may be the musician... but.. the graphic artist? I bet you don't. Is up to us devs for those who's art we loved and put in our creations to make them shine with us. You'll be the indie gentleman and do the right thing. 

I am using the music of Tim Beek for example and I love his work so much I put him on the front page in the intro credits, he is my musician of choice! But I don't forget the CC0 artists that made their assets public domain and if  their nicknames are not NSFW is on the credits. 

And this is all I wanted to share for this post, now I go grab a coffee and  then follow that new compulsory attitude of "refreshing youtube page" and checking Kickstarter analytics, but what I desire is going back to munching code and draw storyboards and animations.

What am I become ?

 My games defines me but, yes, until you pass the "trial of firefox" (metaphoric for internet, social platform. The meaning of suffering a great deal to make your work known on the social platforms ) you are not a true 3thousand indie I guess..

Have a nice day you all and like subscribe and share! ... sorry, I really have been editing too many videos lately :D

Have a nice day- 

Denis

So... I was toying with Openshot when I saw that nifty 4x Speed button... What do you think I did ? Well I obviously pressed it.. 

This is The result... and.. I am not sure why.. but I like it xD

I just released The Speedrun trial for The Starknight :D 

You will find it in the demo in the last page of the Options menu, Feel free to share your records and link your speedrun video in this post because I am curious of how you will fare in this new mode.

And if you wonder why if The Starknight is an awesome story focused JRPG  I added a Speedrun mode? Well is simply because we are indie and we always add cool stuff to our games! Don't We ? Don't We ? :D

Check out my Kickstarter page too and spread the voice so with your help the game can have a full release :D

Because a thanks was in order! :D

https://itch.io/t/3306553/download-file-corruption-reports

Yes is exactly like you described.

1. https://thestarknight.itch.io/the-starknight-extended-demo  but it happens on my other projects page too
2. Size of file: 342 Mb
3. I pushed a release two days ago, but the download was fine back then, the new ones i pushed today, after the problem appeared, all fails.
4. Was the file uploading using butler? Yes butler, but i did a test uploading the same zip from the browser and the problem showed for that one too.
5. Europe
6. Summary: Simply it stops downloading, signaling the file is completed, but is not. I noticed it happens often at the same size, like for 340 mb at 220 mb or so. I tryed to push fresh builds, push on new channels, upload from the browser, nothing works. Oh, if you download a backup copy from the "Edit Game" page, that one works. The alternate download seems fine too  according to other users but for No Payment games the option is not shown.
7. Browser, I tryed Firefox and Chrome and they both give the error.

There is not a solution sadly, I have just put on a text on  the dowload page telling the users "The site is experiencing download issues" and to try later if the download fails. Until they fix it on Ich.io side we can't do much else sadly..

The Download problem is still persisting.. please some dev give a look at the issue. thanks!

I have seen your solution, yet is still disrupting for the users and in my case, since I am releasing a free demo, no paid option,  the alternate download method doesn't even show up, so i hope devs will look in this fast.

I have this problem too, changing browser does nothing, both firefox and chrome ends sooner, also every build seems affected, windows, linux, ect. in ll the my projects too.

So, I have uploaded a lot of files and never had an issue but today, after pushing a build with butler it ends up with a corrupted archive. I deleted the files, and pushed again but the error persists. So when I donwload the file from  "Edit project" as backup the file is of the correct size and the archive is good, but when i save and download it from the offical links in my page the file is 100 mb shorter and obviously corrupted. I deleted and pushed new fresh builds but the error persist and. I tryed to push to a new channel but the error is the same.

I see others are having the issue, please fix this because I really need the files up and running.

thanks

https://thestarknight.itch.io/the-starknight-extended-demo

So, I have uploaded a lot of files and never had an issue but today, after pushing a build with butler it ends up with a corrupted archive. I deleted the files, and pushed again. So when I donwload the file from  edit project the file is the correct size and the archive is correct, but when i save and download it from the offical links in my page the file is 100 mb shorter and obviously corrupted. I deleted and pushed new fresh builds but the error persist and, i need the files up and running. So i really need help, thank you.

https://thestarknight.itch.io/the-starknight-extended-demo

The Starknight your awesome 2d + JRPG + turn based + game released the public alpha demo today!

So prepare to embark in the beloved journey to become a Starknight in a world full of warm and charming characters, challenging dungeons and mysteries accompanied by the fantastic storyline.

With a flexible exploration system, waves of enemies in a turn based combat, is the story driven game worth your love!

So what are you waiting for ?  Watch the trailer and download your demo here -> The Starknight  :)