Re: What if No One Plays It
Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 5:24 pm
I kind of went through this with Carin. Sure, I marketed a wee bit to dip my feet into the pond, sent it to a few friends, got a few players. But mostly silence was the response to that. Not complaining, mind you. It was an experiment anyway.
What I did was as any normal first-time creator did: freak out and wallowed in self-doubt. However, what I found to be important when you release a project is distance and time to recalibrate. Being face-first into the screen doesn't help; stepping back and allowing yourself to breathe is important.
I then watched the threads. Saw what trends most people respond to and then saw what projects I liked and responded to, noting what I liked and why I liked it. I also noted what out of the popular trends I can appropriate to something that is quintessential to me yet be a bit more accessible to people.
I stopped thinking directly about game dev and the game itself (bar checking the thread ever so often) and immersed myself in other mediums: books, other forum members' games, movies, wiki articles, people watching, so on and so forth.
I return to the project with a clearer mind and see what I am good at, what I need to work on, and then just continue honing my craft for when the next game idea comes along. It's important to step it up only a notch. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Take what you learned and expound on it in a natural and patient manner. There's nothing worse than rushing into something that is out of your reach and then crashing and burning.
Show your face more, talk to creators who's work you admire and those who have a wealth of experience to share, form connections and ease yourself out there. Eventually more and more people will take note.
What I did was as any normal first-time creator did: freak out and wallowed in self-doubt. However, what I found to be important when you release a project is distance and time to recalibrate. Being face-first into the screen doesn't help; stepping back and allowing yourself to breathe is important.
I then watched the threads. Saw what trends most people respond to and then saw what projects I liked and responded to, noting what I liked and why I liked it. I also noted what out of the popular trends I can appropriate to something that is quintessential to me yet be a bit more accessible to people.
I stopped thinking directly about game dev and the game itself (bar checking the thread ever so often) and immersed myself in other mediums: books, other forum members' games, movies, wiki articles, people watching, so on and so forth.
I return to the project with a clearer mind and see what I am good at, what I need to work on, and then just continue honing my craft for when the next game idea comes along. It's important to step it up only a notch. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Take what you learned and expound on it in a natural and patient manner. There's nothing worse than rushing into something that is out of your reach and then crashing and burning.
Show your face more, talk to creators who's work you admire and those who have a wealth of experience to share, form connections and ease yourself out there. Eventually more and more people will take note.