I am back (7 years later) with a new project !

[Geoffroypi (OP)]

Seven years later, after going through a short episode of poverty and quitting developpement in rage and shame, as someone had the good idea to steal my last posessions, that was my computer and all its content (yes all the code was into a single hard drive) . I am back with a solid game project, that I started the 10th of april this year.

Some of you may have noticed my thread on bay12 :  http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=176315.0
Or maybe you have followed my first kickstarter campaign that allowed me to test the water of feasability: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geopi/war-industry-a-sandbox-city-builder-with-physics/description

Back in 2013 Steve has graciously created this subforum to present my 4X project. Current developement slowly gets into making a large scale 4x, and as I speak I am finishing the ship to ship combat that is very similar in tactics as Aurora.

There is no doubt that I drew some inspiration from Aurora and from Distant Worlds for the 4x part. The game project is ambitious, the codebase is already huge and one of the benefit of not being a teenage anymore is the incredible hability to make backups.

If any of you is roaming into this forum : welcome ! and stay stuned for regular updates.
here is the main topic : http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=11846.0

[vorpal+5]

Color me impressed! You clearly have a lot of talent. Hopefully you'll have the will and motivation to go through the end of this project, I foresee some serious sales here. Count me as a customer, definitively.

You'll need visibility though ... A good but unknown product don't translate to a good income.

[SpaceMarine]

Hey man am sorry to hear about what happened in the past, I hope the game turns out well and whenever your ready to get people playing It feel free to give me a shout, Id be up for testing it out and playing it on my channel and am sure others would be interested to see how the game plays and the like.

[Geoffroypi (OP)]

Hey man am sorry to hear about what happened in the past, I hope the game turns out well and whenever your ready to get people playing It feel free to give me a shout, Id be up for testing it out and playing it on my channel and am sure others would be interested to see how the game plays and the like.

Thanks, I have looked on your channel, first time I see a Aurora youtube channel, that's great. The game will probably have an early alpha Q1 2021. I'll gladly reach you once I have a build.

Color me impressed! You clearly have a lot of talent. Hopefully you'll have the will and motivation to go through the end of this project, I foresee some serious sales here. Count me as a customer, definitively.

You'll need visibility though ... A good but unknown product don't translate to a good income.

Thank you, I am very aware of the importance of PR for any commercial project, and I agree on the importance of marketing (I even told a friend today that a marketing Ex would be the first position I'd open if I open a company around this project). Hopefully, I already have a business so I am not dependant on this projet or counting on a commercial success to get anywhere in my life. I would love to work fulltime on this game though .

My current "marketing strategy" is first building trust and low key awarness of my project, and so far the reception is good and I feel that many people that heard of the game now see me as a reliable person to execute this project to the end, thanks to the 21 updates on kickstarter on my development, 3 videos and quick reply to any questions. This kind of communication will be helpful for how people see my enterprise in the long run. Other than that, traditional marketing is very tricky if you don't have any budget, and kickstarter has been the most efficient way to initiate it so far.

Most forums and the likes don't see self promotion with good eyes and significant influencers and game journalists mostly ignore any game that is not already established/well known or that don't provide any kind of retribution (I have experienced it some years ago).

That is why my workflow doesn't require any external help, I do everything in the game, lack of funding would just slowdown the developement a bit and some arts won't make it to the game. Funding also fuel my motivation, as the prospect of making game/software developement my trade would be a dream becoming reality.

My intention isn't to make a financial fortune, there are other viable ways to achieve this kind of goal. I just want to make a great game I'd love to play myself, and others enjoy it like they enjoy aurora or DF.

A good but unknown product don't translate to a good income.

While I mostly agree with it I'll nuance by giving a general pattern I have observed in most indie game without marketing.

Oversimplified :

The forgotten games
Bad game -> No income
Mediocre game -> No - insignificant income
good game -> insignificant income.
Excellent game -> May pay the dev back

What sells
Exceptional game (unique + good + wanted) -> variable to very high

Add a serious marketing budget and this lose any relevance  A good marketing would sell about anything .

I am telling this just to point out what I should aim for. There is no ground for mediocrity if I dare to aim for a success.

[Greyjoy]

Dude, your game hooked me quickly, in a way that few games did.  I just loved the idea behind it and I can even see myself spending a good dozens of hours taking my civilization into the space age.  I'm reading Duna's books, so the desert worm part seemed pretty cool (maybe we might find a little bit of melange in this galaxy, right?  )

Financially, the game may not be a great success, but certainly, from what I've seen from the mechanics and images, it will have a special place in the hearts of 4X game lovers.  It is rare today to find devs so passionate about their projects.  Some of the best games I've ever played were developed out of pure passion for their devs (for example, Unreal World, Ymir, Lands of Lords, Haven Hearth and Aurora).

It already has a place on my radar and when it is released I will certainly buy it, if the exchange rate in my country improves by then (6. 63 for each Euro discourages giving more substantial aid  )

[Geoffroypi (OP)]

Thanks a lot Greyjoy.
The giant worm is a tribute to Dune indeed ^^ It became somehow the mascot of the game.
I also play Unreal world and Ymir, I hope you haven't raided any of my town on Ymir or else I'll make sure to put a particular high price for your country