HyperSilence - an original retro adventure game

[HyperSilence]

Thank you!

[HyperSilence]

Thank you!

[stu]

uh... can't you integrate the two? dont you want to 'finish' part one before going on to part two?

[HyperSilence]

Thank you!

[Ex]

I've been thinking of releasing my next roguelike as a commercial game, so you'll have to report back and tell us what the sales numbers look like. I've estimated between 5-10 sales in the course of a year, but since so few people have ever attempted it, it's hard to know. So please, report back often!

[stu]

um yeah, good luck with um selling it.

[Fenrir]

I wish you much luck as well, but I hope you can forgive me if I point out that, judging by the feature list, there isn't anything in your game that one can't find in any of the free roguelikes. I can see that being a problem.

[HyperSilence]

Thank you!

[Ex]

Wow, six sales on day one? Nicely done! I'll have to give the demo a try.

[Krice]

I've estimated between 5-10 sales in the course of a year, but since so few people have ever attempted it, it's hard to know. So please, report back often!

I think it could be a good idea to make good/funny looking roguelike. It doesn't matter how good the actual game is. People are buying like anything. Good examples: Minecraft and World Of Goo. People are fucking weird, but those who buy games today are average people, not old school players like many of us.

I would never play (not to mention buy) "games" like Minecraft, World of Goo or HyperSilence (fuck what a name, I'm crying).

[Fenrir]

I apologize if you can't afford or just don't want to pay for Part Two. Six others felt it was worth it, and it's only been out one day. Feel free to play Part One for as long as you want though. It's completely free. But if you think it doesn't have anything new or different, feel free to play just about any other free "Roguelike"

Fenrir narrows his eyes at HyperSilence.

Well, well, well. What a marvelously passive-aggressive way to tell me to "piss off". It's not like I was trying to discourage you or anything. I put it politely in an earnest attempt to point out a potential problem.

I should really start selling roguelikes, because it seems you can make a generic roguelike, be a complete ass to potential players, and still make sales.

[linux_junkie]

I apologize if you can't afford or just don't want to pay for Part Two. Six others felt it was worth it, and it's only been out one day. Feel free to play Part One for as long as you want though. It's completely free. But if you think it doesn't have anything new or different, feel free to play just about any other free "Roguelike"

Fenrir narrows his eyes at HyperSilence.

Well, well, well. What a marvelously passive-aggressive way to tell me to "piss off". It's not like I was trying to discourage you or anything. I put it politely in an earnest attempt to point out a potential problem.

I should really start selling roguelikes, because it seems you can make a generic roguelike, be a complete ass to potential players, and still make sales.

I'd be surprised if he actually made any sales.  The screenshots are totally unimpressive, even by roguelike standards, and the first game was glitchy and unoriginal.  I think it's just an attempt to make the game look worth buying, by claiming others have already done so.  $7.50 for that?  Diablo only costs $10, and is actually fun.

I think HyperSilence's attitude is rather revolting, and has completely turned me off from even wanting to try the game.  Granted, it's Windows only, which is rather lame, considering almost every good roguelike is cross-platform.  Plus it looks like a Technicolor nightmare, with an offensive array of colors blinding my eyes.

HyperSilence, I'd reconsider your stance, and check your attitude before you post in here.  And by the way, if you want to sell a game, try developing an existing fanbase first, otherwise, good luck.

[corremn]

Well if you develop an existing fan base then tell them later they will have to pay for the game, you will lose every one of them.  If you sell your game from the start, people might buy it because "if it is worth something it must be good".  You wont piss anyone off that way and you might get a couple more sales.  Being upfront about it from the  start is a cool thing.

However I would look to games like Legerdemain and at Nathans sales model, which is pretty cool.  It really sells well to those nerds out there. Not that there are any around here of course

[dephbokks]

Well if you develop an existing fan base then tell them later they will have to pay for the game, you will lose every one of them.

Are you referring to roguelikes specifically, or games in general? I thought I remember seeing some games that were free in alpha/beta stages and then transition to pay after the stable release, although I guess they announced the pay intention from the beginning.

I checked out the Legerdemain page and you're right it is a pretty cool model. Lot's of value added with collectibles, maps, giant book, etc.

To my knowledge, Legerdemain, Unreal World, and Dwarf Fortress are the only roguelikes (this definition may be stretching) that generate money for the developer. I don't think financial reward for roguelike developers is a bad thing though and if I ever can rich-ify myself in these coming years I would definitely support some of these cool projects out there.

Having said that, for a roguelike to generate money it has to be DEEP: deep gameplay, epic awesomeness, and something that sets it apart. It is interesting that there was a recent, sometime in the last couple of months, thread at tigsource where a poster asked if a roguelike could make money by selling the game and surprisingly many responses said, I don't see why not, but...

[jim]

You leave Minecraft out of this! Minecraft is fricken tight!