Marketing is hellish. What would be the best option?

Hate is such a strong word. We're talking about computer games. 
Yes, I need to understand my customers but they also probably should understand the processes involved. And I think the numbers of people who hate - are fairly low to the number of people who love games. And as other have said - it comes down to the advertising which helps with being seen. 

Why wouldn't Steam like the business model: 
A) Develop the game, early release on a different site.
B) Release the final version on Steam.

From what I can see so far, people on Steam want the final version. Yes, steam can deny keys - but they haven't so far. Out of interest sake, are you in the SteamWorkshop / released a game on Steam? 

@TuomoL

Are you accusing me of trying to, basically scam people? 

@DStecks

I think the Steam admins like to give people from all walks of life, a chance. It's basically up to the community to either buy or not buy, right? The SteamWorkshop is one heck of a confusing place. If you try to do 1 thing, chances are you have to do 15 other things. Plus everyone needs a passport to even register as a partner.

I see what you mean. Marketing is key, I agree with you there. 

Recently I've been talking to the 'target demographic'. Pretty insightful so I thought I should share this info.  Some may know this already, it might seem like common sense to some but anyway.

Steam game collectors, will only buy from Steam. They consider itch to be low-par. Which is funny to me, because they seem to not really try itch... Anyway.

The time it takes to upload into Steam can take days, costs 100$ for Steam Direct (which his ok I guess because it goes to charity, probably tax deductible because its then technically a donation?) 
Itch is a bazillion times easier to use, and updating a game is easy. 

So my plan is to:
1. Release early access games / in development games, on itch 1st. 
2. Refine the game, ready for Steam.
3. Anyone who purchases on itch will also get the Steam Key when that's ready.
(game price will be more on Steam, so people who help support the game from the start will be saving money.) 

Is this a good plan? If 'game collectors' only use Steam then they're missing out, imo. Not that my games are 100% great at the moment. I guess I'm trying to make an excuse for myself. I uploaded a game on Steam ages ago, and it hasn't gone well - and that's ok because it was really a test. I should've researched the current state of Steam and what people's honest opinions of indie games are. Sure there'll be awesome indies on Steam, but from now on, I wont be putting any of my games on Steam until they're ready. 

Here's my 2c... Not legal advice, etc.

1st off, a lawyer & going down that road can be a HUGE financial burden. If you're in a tight spot already - because of the current situation, it's not going to be easy to hire a professional lawyer. And scammers know this. Plus, hardly any law firm will care for anything under $5,000.  

I have gone through the same / similar experiences. 

1) People who don't pay for the work, but then claim that the contract says so... Which it didn't, plus the contract was signed with a fake name - so that makes the contract redundant anyway. 
2) People who over charge for work, set a completion date, but then fail to meet that date. So I tried to reverse the payment through PayPal (buyers protection) which didn't work. PayPal basically said 'nope, we can't help. You might want to try and settle the dispute with the contact.' Which also doesn't work because the person ignores me. Plus I had another programmer review the work, and it wasn't worth the money I spent. 
3) People who make you work and then abandon the project for <insert excuse here> and, that's it. 

You'll just have to declare the financial loss. Which also leads me to another point - if the person got a refund from the work, then technically they do not own the work anymore. Simple as that. Like, how shops work. If you refund an item, can you still walk out of the shop with said item? Nope. But this is the digital world, where he/she has, walked out of the shop, with the item that was refunded. The point still stands.
If you really want, you could edit the assets by over 51%, therefore it's a different product. 
I'd respond in the comments and say 'You don't own this anymore.' and leave it as that. It's now up to them to hire a lawyer. If they do, then they'll be the one using money to try and prove a point. All you would have to do, if the person won - is to take down the assets in 72hrs. 

From now on, make a good contract before any work starts. Cover every aspect of the project, send the contract to be signed & if they want to re-negotiate the contract, then try - but also you've gotta say 'no' if it doesn't safeguard you and your business. 

That was fun! Nice concept. 

For the Republic! :D 

Here we go everyone...!

I'm not going to sugar coat this because it's still in development.  It's relatively short with 4 levels, but it will be improved and expended over time. There will be more levels, items, animations and new lighting and the price may rise as new updates are done.  Some things are placeholders so please don't kill me. This project is basically being done by 2-3 people, myself in Australia and programmers from Poland. We're obviously fans of the show and couldn't resist but to release an early version.

This project began some time ago when I imagined a game based on the 80s MacGyver (since then I'v discovered about 3 other games which are MacGyver themed, but not a 3rd person action-survival-like game). I was fortunate enough to discuss the idea with the original creator of the show and agreed on certain rules, like MacGyver can't use a gun or use grenades to hurt anyone. In one of the episodes from the show he does fire a gun near people to make them surrender, but in this game that's not implemented yet.

The Alpha version is available is basically also the pre-order for further updates (and the Steam version, when that's done). A free demo version also available. Unknown completion date however. We're unsure on the system requirements, but the game is fairly low-medium poly and should be able to run on almost anything even potatoes. 

Any feedback is much appreciated!! 

Further information can be found in the development logs.
https://tobop.itch.io/macyver-game/devlog/56133/development-log-1

Thanks for reading!

*edit* all going well. :)

From what I understand; Just don't mess with copyright laws, and you'll be ok. If you're a developer and you really really need to make a thing which may conflict with something else, just ask 1st. Or, take the risk and don't be surprised if you get sued. 

I think there's 2 other factors;
If the thing is free - hardly anyone cares - unless it's somewhat giving off a negative appearance to the original thing. Like if someone made a really bad & offensive Nintendo ripp-off - but it's free - Nintendo could still force it down? 

If it's a paid thing, people only really care if it's made over a certain amount of money, before they pursue legal action. 

Either way the best bet is to just ask 1st, and if they do not respond, ask subsidiaries, or associated groups to see if you can get a reply. I think with these new laws, these rules also apply to the larger companies. Which is a good thing imo. But, as creators of content the best thing to do is to actually add a copyright symbol on your content. Or they assume it's free for everyone? 

Well, from what I now know about Australian Tax rules - the game project does not even exist, unless it has at least 1 sale. Fun hu? 

Loop-hole, (but not really, because I can understand why the rule exists):  Sell a copy. 

Looks very nice! I've been getting requests to make a 2D pixel art game. So, this tool will be very very useful. It's certainly something I should consider!!! 
The very fact that people make stuff like this, is - dare I say it - a God send. 

The free prototype for my latest game is out now! (PC only at the moment)
https://tobop.itch.io/ned-kelly-armoured-outlaw-prototype-v01

(All of the links below go to youtube videos about the events. Some say he was a villain, other say he was a hero.) 
There are quite a lot of updates to come, but basically it's based on the true story of Ned Kelly, in Australia in the 1880s - mainly the last stand in Glenrowan (which is actually where the game begins - the game will be alternate history based). More information about the events, here.  

(Image not used in the game.) 

I've known about this historical event for ages but I never really understood the details until about a year ago when I went full into the details, and looked up all sorts of information about what happened and why - and into all sorts of random bits of information. One which I do not know yet, is - was Ned wearing gloves? Some depictions (such as the one above) indicates yes, while others indicate no. 

The prototype is only 1 level. There are certainly more to come. Many updates, and functions to implement. 

Please enjoy, or laugh me off the internet. If you really enjoyed it, please consider pre-paying - as it will help me out a lot.

For me, I wanted to try making games for a living with various teams. Over time, lives changed and some people went their separate ways. My life changed too and time for game dev has gone from full time to casual. So basically it is a hobby, but also to earn money so that maybe I can go back into full time again, hire more teams, etc. 

Not at the moment unfortunately. But I'll add one when I can. 

Hey thank! As you may have noticed, I haven't streamed recently. Mainly because the lag is just horrible. Makes your eyes bleed. But, I will try again later on this year when the NBN is installed. It should be much better, and I will re-try out the stream service 'Mixer':
https://mixer.com/TobopAUS

The recent Twitch glitch killed all of my videos except for 3. I do have back-ups of them but, kinda frustrating. 

....And after all of your efforts in creating a game, you then have to advertise, and contact various people without coming across as a spamlord. All the while receiving spam email, after spam email of hack fraudsters asking for free keys, sometimes in the hundreds of thousand batches. And even the ones you trust after a bit of research could still be fake. 
It can get a little stressful. Development involves a great deal of juggling. I am but 1 person. 

Hooah! Semper Fi! 

Hey there,
I'm starting to play & stream games from itch, on twitch :D
https://www.twitch.tv/tobop/

So far I've played / tested:
Mud Slinger (Full screen issue / glitch - will try again later / fix later)
Project Hedra (Full screen capture issue - will try again later)
Minimalist Freeman (Awesome fun!)
Tail Gunner (Awesome fun too!) 
&
two of my own titles.

As well as a few non-indie titles (two non-itch games):
OpenRA (modded version of Red Alert, so almost indie, great fun!)
Vietcong 1 (Classic old game!)

I'm going to do lots more later on. I'm open for requests, etc. At the moment I prefer games which can run in windowed mode because sometimes the capture wont detect full-screen games, in XSplit anyway. I have to get onto updating the video details & links at some point. 

Thanks in advance! Keep up the good work!

This is nice! I streamed it :D
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/211546089

That's a nice idea. I'll upload a demo when the new version comes out.

Hey, thanks for the interest!
Currently, we're fixing the vert jump & grinding functions, plus implementing basic multiplayer. There's a ton to implement and update :D all in good time. 

This thing will be on Steam soon for $1. I know I am going to receive a fair bit of dislikes.

Ultimately, the sales from this game help fund new ones.  And when a new game is released, I think I'll make Zombie Quarantine free.

I'd love to start live streaming. Anyone else here in Australia? The lag factor somewhat ruins live streaming. Even with a 'good' connection, for some reason it lags. And people can't stand lag. Then again, maybe it's my end. Or the tools I'm using.

All of that being said... A new satellite was launched (Sky Muster), which - they say - will give Australians 25mbs internet speed. We'll see. But that would be sweeeet.

I'm willing to help out, but only part-time at the moment. I have some free examples on my page / name link.

Excellent advice!
Also keep in mind that soemthing can 'blow-up' with out even trying. Rare case, I know.. But jsut saying - don't give up!

I like this style too very much, but you'll encounter a slew of people demanding changes.
Maybe have that art style as a graphics option - if possible.

I need to be more proactive. Been busy / lazy.

Sorry if this has been posted before, but is this true? If not, ignore this.
http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/10/14578780/valve-s...

It basically says, there's a bottle-kneck @ steam because of - basically - vote fraud, & I have proof of this.
But it's not worth ranting about the developers. They saw a loophole, and exploited it.

Before I say anything else, I'd like to say that itch.io is better than steam, imo. Crazy hu? Well, no.

So steam is going to apparently change the rules, and just have it so that it will cost money to upload a new game. But that can range from $100 - $5000?! Seems a bit daft. Not every dev team is the same.

I plan on making something in the future, but damn... It's going to be a while. However mine will probably be an RTS.

Hey! Yeh for sure, the more the better. Email or PM through itch is fine. I check up on this reguarly.

Hi BBP Games,

Sounds awesome! I've tried it myself somewhat. The internet speed here isn't' fantastic but I might try again.
Send me links when you're ready, I'll show up :)

Thanks for the responses so far.

I'll get around to sending links etc - but mainly the game I wanted reviewed was Zombie Quarantine.
https://tobop.itch.io/zombie-quarantine

It's a nasty little game. Hehe - very difficult. But imo it's still fun. Here's some level walkthroughs / spoilers if you get stuck.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5OZaZKvlJw...

Hey everyone!

Who here makes let's play vids? I've tried various people, and they're all busy or not interested at the moment.

I am willing to pay -say $10 for a review above 5 min (negotiable) - doesn't matter how mean, or crass you are about the review.

Let me know if you're up for it :)

Hey all!

I've released this :D (asset, not a game)

https://tobop.itch.io/red-dwarf-characters

Obviously, I've binged on the TV recently & went a bit mad. I've been trying to contact the person developing the inner halls of the ships;

https://reddwarfgame.wordpress.com/category/floorp...

But no response yet, and there's plenty of others... So I just thought - may as well make these accessible. The characters are a bit rough, but they can be used to test things or what-not.
I also have a few ship meshes, but they're available elsewhere.
Red Dwarf is just one of those things where any story is possible. A bit silly at times, but not extremely violent. It's more of a comedy.

I apologize of this is in the wrong thread.

Hey guys! Ready for a really hard puzzle game?
Level 5 is hell, but passable. This was made a while ago, but I didn't post anything about it.

Game link here ($1.00)

The game is a mixture of 2 main types of game. Plus zombies!

• Pipe dreams
• Generic tower defence (minus the building aspect)

Hey all!
This is my 1st post. I can't believe I haven't posted in the forum yet. I've been too darn busy.

Here's some of my characters in development, etc.

I can't go into the games currently in development just yet, because - you know - even I don't know what to expect once these things get programmed. I really need to learn programming one day!! :D (I know a tiny bit, not much.)











Here's some other ones, you might guess what they are... :D

(I didn't make the Cylon - just rigged it)

Any feed back is much appreciated, & thanks for viewing!