Suddenly, it was 2013
It’s been a long time between updates, so please accept my usual apologies. Let me fill you in on what’s been happening.
Despite the Roadmap, I managed to go careening off a cliff. Which is to say, things didn’t go to plan. Towards the end of last year I had a long bout of depression which left me questioning not only my willingness to do this type of work, but also my capability. I really started to think that I just didn’t know how to make games any more. It was a bit scary, actually. I think it may have been exacerbated by some design issues I was having with the city builder game I was working on. By the time I came through all that, putting that game on the back-burner seemed like the smartest option, especially as I was getting more excited about Godfall. That city builder is the strategy game I referred to in the Roadmap post, and though it still doesn’t have a name I think it’s a neat idea. I do hope to come back to it one day.
So I’ve been back on Godfall full time for a little while now, and it is exciting. Time has helped clarify some questions I’d never had firm answers to, and the direction and scope of the game is more solid than ever. The amount of work still ahead of me is daunting, and I’ll try to communicate progress better here, like I used to. One thing I may have got right in the Roadmap is that the game does have to come out this year. I don’t have the financial resources to go any longer than that, that’s all the runway I have. It’s an incentive and a challenge and an ulcer in my stomach, all in one.
There is one big question hanging over the game, and that’s whether it should be aimed at the web. Should I release another free, sponsored game, or is it time to try selling it as a download? I do want to make that transition eventually, and this will be by far my biggest game yet. It is a real risk though, and I’m still undecided.
| Print article | This entry was posted by garin on January 28, 2013 at 11:47 pm, and is filed under Blather. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. |
about 3 months ago
You’ve designed some pretty amazing games, so there needn’t be such self doubt.
If any of the Monsters Den games landed on Android or Steam I’d be thrilled. GoG has picked up indie titles recently too, and they’d be a great marketing platform.
about 3 months ago
Yeah, GOG is great. I’d definitely be open to it.
about 3 months ago
Hey Daniel,
everybody gets stuck every once in a while and sometimes it’s wise (though very hard) to give up on a game – at least for a certain amount of time. You did realize that time helped you sort out game design questions with Godfall, so maybe it will do the same for you with the city builder.
Most important is, IMHO, that you work on something that excites you and inspires you so you’ll find the energy to pull through, although the amount of work that awaits is daunting you. Just tackle the challenges one at a time and you’ll be fine!
Monetization is hard to predict, but since I suspect you’ve got a certain follower crowd by now (e.g. on Facebook and Twitter) you might stand a good chance getting greenlit on Steam for example.
I don’t know if you still use Flash to make your games but have you considered building a limited version for the web (like the first level or so) and then providing the retail for download? Or have you considered crowdfunding (at least a part) of it? Seems to work quite well these days for RPGs and adventures. Might lower the risk and relax your stomach.
I know those are some tough choices, but if you want to make that transition, eventually – why not with this game?
I guess there’ll always be a “what if” sticking to any answers to these questions. You’ll never get a guarantee whether either way will work out. But the most important thing is that you have the will and energy to make these decisions. So what couts most, right now, is that you’re back on track!
Go for it!
Michel
about 3 months ago
Thanks for the encouragement Michel.
The problems with the city builder were definitely not insurmountable, they just came at a bad time. Coming back with fresh eyes is always a help though, and I am looking forward to tackling it again eventually.
Greenlight is definitely on my radar, I have just been waiting until I really decide 100% to throw myself behind this approach.
I’m a bit wary of Kickstarter, I have some friends who’ve done it and it wound up being a bit of an albatross around their necks. I might consider it (in a limited form) at some point.
about 3 months ago
It’s good to hear that you are still working on Godfall. I have no doubt in your ability to overcome all the obstacles and produce the best game on Web.
If I read this post a year before, I might probably get mad at you because I hated people who made game just for the money (I still hate those MMO pseudo forces players to “pay to win” though). But now I’ve come to accept the fact that game makers are also ordinary people like the players. I don’t want to pay any money and neither do the game makers want to give everything away without a cent in return.
Just want to let you know that, as one of the many Monster Den lovers, I will not oppose you for your plan to earn the money you deserve. But, just so you know, I don’t want to and probably will never spend money on a game. Maybe your game will change my mind, maybe it won’t. Anyway, your spirit and your talent just earn every respect from me no matter if I will get the chance to play Godfall. Good luck and have a good 2013.
about 3 months ago
Yeah I’d be quite happy to make free games forever, if somehow my living costs would be covered. Nobody has offered me that deal yet though.
I find it really interesting that you say you’ll never pay for a game.. I guess with the amount of free content out there now that’s totally viable. You might miss out on a lot of good stuff, though!
about 3 months ago
Depends. How much would the download roughly be?
about 3 months ago
Perhaps $10. Certainly not more than that.
about 3 months ago
I’m game for an app version of your game. I’d be willing to pay 1-2 bucks for a moble game on average. I’ve been playing a mind numbing amount of dark summoner (their micro transactions is not a direction I would encourage you to go into but they seem to be making money with it) which is free.
You are very talented and if given the opportunity I think a well polished game of yours would sell well. You do have a deadicated base of fans. With the amount of issues we had with saves on the last game I’d welcome a more concrete way of experiencing your games going forward. I’d rather moble over just a regular PC experience.
I bought Baulders Gate the other day and I keep thinking man I wish I could play this on my Droid Bionic, I really don’t want to sit at my tower.
I’m with you regardless. Please keep us updated though. I’ve tweeted with you before about updates- but honestly you are just fun to read.
It would also be nice if you gave us the ability to communicate with the fan base here through a fourm.. I’m sure wed see fan art, fan fiction, and good constructive conversations as well as the usual flaming but I think the opporunity for good outweighs the bad.
about 3 months ago
To be clear, in this post I’m talking about a downloadable PC version, rather than a smartphone app. A mobile version of Chronicles is not impossible at some point, but Godfall for phones/tablets is not on the table at the moment.
I would like to have a forum again one day, but I’d like it to integrate with the user accounts here on the blog, and the existing solutions for that are pretty crap.
about 3 months ago
I just found myself digging through the dungeon for days. Chronicle is simply too addicting even after I have purposely deleted my save file to stop myself from playing too much.
I have to be honest : I want to play Godfall and I want it to be free on web. I’m being a selfish asshole here so you may just ignore me because I’m too lazy to get a god damn credit card or something like paypal account to pay money through any electronic means.
about 3 months ago
Have you considered an app version of the original monsters den? I noticed someone else mentioned this too, and for some reason I find it easier to buy an app than something you download strait from the internet. I don’t know how converting games to apps works, but since your first game wasn’t as large as chronicles it might be a decent way to get a some cash.
I would however ask that you keep godfall free. I know I’ve been excited about it for a long time and if it turns out to be a game you buy it would be a little dissapointing after everything. Premium content is always an option of course, provided its fair.
But if you really were about to starve or something, I would probably buy a downloadable game anyway, especially since I love all your past ones. If its everything you want it to be, it would probably be worth it.
I hope you decide soon, cause if you do need to buy it, I’d like to be prepared.
about 3 months ago
hi,
first of all , your games are amazing, its great to see how streamlined dungeon crawler can be made and I enjoyed both of them immensely. you definitely have gotten this right.
The reason you are successful is that you started giving your stuff for free. I will be willing to buy a mobile version of your games as an app and support you further.
I suggest looking into Unity, it is not very expensive and you may get it to do what you want.
The important thing here is to be able to get most of your players from the free version to the paid one. I don’t know how you’ll do it, but I suggest starting to gain more momentum in the form of twitter or Facebook and getting to know your customers.
Ah, and you can doubt yourself as much as you like, but don’t let it get in the way of your happiness. if that happens consider getting help, and I’m saying that from experience.
Regards,
me
p.s. contact me if you would like to talk more.
about 3 months ago
Thanks for your support.
about 3 months ago
May I suggest putting godfall out as a free sponsored game and then continuing devellopment into a “premium” extended version for Steam, GoG, Desura, what-have-you. People like myself who have loved your past game are more inclined to buy simply to support and it provides access to those who do not typically play flash games. 4.99 seems a good selling point if your past games are any indication of what to expect from godfall. Dungeons of Dredmor did that model and Gaslamp has done extremely well for themselves. Careful to not fall into the “overpriced indie game” chasm. 10$ should be the absolute maximum as people who buy it and do not like it at that price are likely to become extremely indignant. I think your games are good enough to sell themselves.
edit: if Steam won’t pick it up try greenlight, I know your work ethic enough to say you’ve already got my vote.
about 3 months ago
That is another option, but part of the reason I’m eager to make this move is that the future of the Flash market is fairly uncertain. It is going to die eventually, but nobody knows exactly when.
My feeling is that there would still be a web version of Godfall in some form, even if just a demo. The Defender’s Quest model.
about 3 months ago
man, im glad to hear news on godfall. you were running ahead of yourself. take it easy and make one game at a time. give the consumer something and be sure to have additional dlc like content to keep us busy while you make your next game. i think you should pick up on FPS maker or unity ofr one of your future games. a full on 3D Monster’s Den title would be pretty badass! and i would pay to play monster’s den. hell i know someone who can revamp the music in the first 2. i know VB well enough to make a hub launcher to have all 4 games in in and i have installshield compiler, so i can compile it all. if you EVER want to sell all your MD titles at once, i can prob whip up some samples for ya.
about 3 months ago
this is me, i forgot to sign in ^^^
about 3 months ago
Garin,
Would just like to say that your games have been absolutely amazing. The very few that I continue to play. I’ve enjoyed all of the Monster’s Den series.
If I could make a suggestion. As far as selling product online through download. A strategy that tends to work is offering a free version and then having an activation cost afterwards. It will alleviate a lot of the pains of new customers not sure if they are willing to download it.
I know I’ll be buying Godfall if its for sale, or at the very least, buying the additional content like the previous game.
about 1 week ago
Yep, I do understand the importance of letting people try the game first. Hopefully I can hook them.
about 3 months ago
I would be willing to pay to play, but only because I played your other games. I bought the premium content for Chronicles and a few other games. I have never bought indie content that I did not get to try at least a demo of first.
You have to pay your bills and make a living. I get it, and some of the kids in your fan base won’t until they have to support themselves. Just the way life is. But if you go broke, no more Monsters’ Den for us.
Make the game big, and I’ll fork over $10 no problem. I think most returning fans will pay if the demo/first third of the game rocks.
Be well.
about 1 week ago
Thanks! I plan on a web demo, similar to the way Defender’s Quest did it.
about 1 month ago
Hello,
I reacently started to play Monsters den: book of dread and i’ve fallen in love with your game. So my main question would be, is Godfall going to be in the same format? cause i do like how simple it is to navigate the menus and manage the inventory.
I’d be willing to pay for the game if it got onto a decent platform, such as steam and GoG. It would also need quite a big addition to the items and classes, if it was going to be a indie game. If you ever plan on selling it on this website for example then i dont think it will do as good as the fanbase isn’t massive. I only got here cause i saw a comment about this being made and got curious.
So if it’s going to be a pay to play game you should consider may trying to get youtube coverage, maybe? try and spread the word about the game and maybe you could appeal to dungeon crawler fans. If you made it a free to play, you could sell starter packs with a few items, or diffrent classes, maybe a new campaign?
Also as a side note, you could make a community dungeon maker. So people make a dugeon with a set amount of floors and loot, people can play them and rate them and stuff. I think that would be nice but it’s just a suggestion.
Hope to see this soon, Bezy
about 1 week ago
It’s too early to try to court the press I think, the visuals have to really be in place for that to make sense.
I considered the user-created dungeons thing for Chronicles, but it’s a pretty large feature and with the limited amount of enemies and features in Chronicles most of the results would be a little boring anyway.
about 1 month ago
Hello Garin, I’ve been a fan since Book of Dread and I have been excited for Godfall ever since you announced it. I was just as excited for it, in fact, as I was to go out and get Skyrim (the only game I ever went midnight release on).
To be perfectly honest, in the past I have been a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to games like this. It always irked me when flash games would start charging money for extra content or for the game itself, as they tend not to be worth it.
Your games aren’t like that.
Personally I would certainly pay for the opportunity to play Godfall, as it is quite clear it isn’t some scheme to make money, but is in fact, a well thought out, and incredibly deep game.
I still have misgivings about the Premium Content button on Chronicles (I’m of the opinion that you should either charge money or don’t, middle ground is unstable ground) but Godfall is certainly worth any reasonable price tag.
(I would consider reasonable to be somewhere around or below $20, still a cheapskate
)
about 1 week ago
The price will definitely be reasonable by your standard. Thanks for your support!
about 4 weeks ago
Huge Monsters’ Den fan here. Since Book of Dread came out, I’ve spent more time playing it than any other game. I also really liked Chronicles, although it didn’t have quite as much longevity for me. Book of Dread simply has a more open-ended, “anything can happen” feel to it, thanks to more character classes and skills, legendary monsters, and random dungeon events like the treasure monster. I do prefer the Chronicles combat system, however.
At any rate, I can hardly wait for Godfall. My preference would be to buy it as a download, ideally through GOG.
about 1 week ago
My plan is for Godfall to be the best of both worlds. It should definitely have more “stuff” in it than any of the previous games.
about 1 week ago
I know I’m a little late to the party, but I’d love to share my opinion.
Like seeming everyone else here, I am a huge fan of the game, and I’ve spent countless hours playing it, in all of its version, sometimes more than I’ve played games that I’ve bought.
Going to something like steam might not be a bad idea, it’s a great way to get the word out, and broadcast to a larger audience.
A sum of something like $10 would be laughable, and I know for one that I’d pay something like that in a heartbeat, especially for an even larger game than predecessors.
In any case, I’d definitely be willing to pay money to see more content, deeper story, and better gameplay than ever, in that case money wouldn’t be a problem!
Now excuse me, I’m off to play Monsters Den…
about 1 week ago
Thanks, this is encouraging.