Lemma Soft Forums

anyone have thoughts on pre-orders? They make me nervous but I thought it might be a good way to raise a little bit of money for the game to cover some little extras. I've funded it completely myself so far, but I'd like to hire a proof reader and maybe commission more CGs... which isn't really Kickstarter worthy LOL

I'd be able to offer a rough demo as incentive... but some of the art would be rough. The game is almost done I just need to polish everything, maybe pretty up the GUI a bit more, and then code in the assets I'm waiting on when they are finished. So, I'm not worried that I won't be able to deliver the game for some reason. Unless something absolutely crazy happens (I'm going to go back up my game right now just saying that XD)

so thoughts? opinions? As a buyer or as a developer? (pre-order would be through itch.io if that matters)

I can say that I preordered VA-1 HALL-A through itch.io well over a year and a half before it was finished, based on the strength of the playable demo they offered. (A demo which actually ended up being a standalone prologue rather than part of the finished game.) It showed promise in terms of atmosphere, gameplay, tone, and writing which I loved. And that was even less far along than you sound like you are.

The tricky part is the art. If you don't have enough solid assets to put together a good demo that illustrates what you're going for, a preorder's a trickier sell. I'm having the same problem with mine; we've got a Patreon and offer demo builds through it but they're 90% placeholder art because we need to finish the writing before we start contracting artists.

So, I guess the answer is "it depends." If you feel like you can put your best foot forward, or at least a strongly representative foot forward, it can't hurt. At worst nobody preorders and they just wait for the finished game.

Twoflower wrote:I can say that I preordered VA-1 HALL-A through itch.io well over a year and a half before it was finished, based on the strength of the playable demo they offered. (A demo which actually ended up being a standalone prologue rather than part of the finished game.) It showed promise in terms of atmosphere, gameplay, tone, and writing which I loved. And that was even less far along than you sound like you are.

The tricky part is the art. If you don't have enough solid assets to put together a good demo that illustrates what you're going for, a preorder's a trickier sell. I'm having the same problem with mine; we've got a Patreon and offer demo builds through it but they're 90% placeholder art because we need to finish the writing before we start contracting artists.

So, I guess the answer is "it depends." If you feel like you can put your best foot forward, or at least a strongly representative foot forward, it can't hurt. At worst nobody preorders and they just wait for the finished game.

demo-wise I'm only missing final art for 4 (maybe 3 if I get the next one in time) of the sprites. It's a shorter game (maybe... 5ish hours) so the demo will be pretty short. I was planning to release a final demo probably closer to the actual release

you're right though, I get worse case scenario no one preorders it lol

This is off-topic from your original question, but about proofreading, you can find some decent proofreading for free, especially around here. A hired proofreader would of course have financial motivation, and usually credentials as well, but I know that SweetChiel had a while army of free proofreaders who are perfectly happy being compensated with just the sneak peek of the game.

Regardless, good luck with your preorders! I likely won't be able to get it myself but I would love it if I could.

Zelan wrote:This is off-topic from your original question, but about proofreading, you can find some decent proofreading for free, especially around here. A hired proofreader would of course have financial motivation, and usually credentials as well, but I know that SweetChiel had a while army of free proofreaders who are perfectly happy being compensated with just the sneak peek of the game.

Regardless, good luck with your preorders! I likely won't be able to get it myself but I would love it if I could.

It's a commercial game, a lot of the proof-readers only offer free services for free or small games(at least when I looked through them). 54K word doesn't seem small in terms of proof reading :-/ I also hate asking ppl to do that much for free. the final demo will be free when I have all the finished assets ^^ and that will be... in... July-ish? I think?

If it was from a group that has release a couple games, then yes, I would be okay pre-ordering. If it's the groups first game then no. I just see so many games and groups go under, even if they do have a strong demo. Makes one a little gun-shy. lol

KittyWills wrote:If it was from a group that has release a couple games, then yes, I would be okay pre-ordering. If it's the groups first game then no. I just see so many games and groups go under, even if they do have a strong demo. Makes one a little gun-shy. lol

exactly my worry, since this is my first real game lol I mean I know I'll finish the game but a stranger doesn't. I think I'll still offer, since it can't hurt.

KittyWills wrote:If it was from a group that has release a couple games, then yes, I would be okay pre-ordering. If it's the groups first game then no. I just see so many games and groups go under, even if they do have a strong demo. Makes one a little gun-shy. lol

This is the same way I am. I wouldn't pre-order a game from an unknown developer.

Of course, I don't pre-order ANY game now, because with digital distribution there isn't any true scarcity, and if I wait to buy a game, I can know that it is both finished, and if it is well-reviewed or not.

I don't buy Early Access games on Steam either, for much the same reasons.

LateWhiteRabbit wrote: I don't buy Early Access games on Steam either, for much the same reasons.

Same, I've also been burned paying almost full price for an unfinished game that never got updated. Even with Triple A games, quality is just so all over the map. You would be almost better off doing a kickstarter and offering the game through that.