Go To Market

Yep, I know that dump button is a mess. Still pretty psyched that I can use this clip in this post.

The Plan

Can't sit on this game forever. I need a lot of feedback. Let's get this thing out to players. Also, let's not just let if fall out of the back of the van.

Steam is pretty great with their calendar. I should use it.

Step 1 - Demo for Next Fest

There's a steam Next Fest in late February. "Steam Next Fest highlights upcoming games on Steam with this thrice-yearly event, packed with free demos for players and the opportunity for developers to connect with and build an audience through wishlists." Perfect.

I didn't just pull this out of a hat today. We're close enough that discussing it makes sense, as in, there is enough game to make a demo out of so I think we're cool. I'm cutting a preliminary trailer right now and scaling some content back to hopefully make a cool demo experience for players. It is not a vertical slice of the game. Long-term progression mechanics are still not in. But you can play for hours (and hours) and have fun noodling around.

The point here is that I'm new to this and have not met and greeted players with a game yet. I want folks to be able to play a demo and see what this cruft thing is all about. The game is also designed in such a way that a demo is reasonably easy to make. I don't look back fondly on making E3 builds. Derailing a whole bunch of development to make a build you are not actually releasing is a huge pain. I get it and it's important. But for me, it is better to make a game that has a core that is fun to tinker with as a demo, then after that plug in long-term progression for the folks that want to pay for a long ride.

I don't mind if a lot of folks just download the demo and put 20 or 30 hours into it. It is a cool experience with (opaque right now) things to discover. It's got some novelty to it. Frankly, the feedback on the demo is worth the risk of someone not buying the game because I "gave out too much". I also do not believe that the risk of giving too much out here is real.

I've been tracking towards Next Fest for a couple of months now. I have not modified the design to get here, but I'm thoroughly keeping my dates in mind as I work. I've pulled out some items that do not have art yet and done other curation here and there but for the most part development has just stayed on the rails. Essentially, I'm just spending more time on polishing things than I was before, and that's a good thing.

Also Important: Cutting a video is a really good tool for catching small things that get overlooked. When I test the game, I'm still playing. When I'm scrubbing through footage there is zero play bias or suspension of disbelief. It is like hearing yourself speak on tape and realizing that you "Umm..." 20 times per minute. You get to see all the interactions for what they are. Great tool.

If I whiff on this step all is not lost. I'll just release the demo later and lose out on the free marketing. I'd like to make Next Fest for sure. Still, let's not act like this is the release date for some big studio magnum opus. It ain't. The point is, though, I have a very tasty milestone that is going to create a forcing function in my development of the game. Early milestones that have teeth are good for the game. You have to ship something in order to find all the stuff you can only find out after you ship. I want those learnings.

Side note: I've been having a go at cultivating you, the reader, since... Nov 30th, says the date of my first post here. While I certainly can froth at the mouth about game design whenever, the point is to get on the map with people close to me a few months before going minorly public with CRUFT. You are my sleeper agents... the cool kids that knew about this before it was cool. If I still have the means to contact you, you will almost certainly get a message during Next Fest requiring you wish list CRUFT. This is the cost of long, enduring, friendship these days... a few clicks. After that you are free to go about your business, friendo.

Step 2 - Early Access

Hey, the Spring Sale starts up 3 days after Next Fest. Now there are a lot of things that need to go right during Next Fest itself in order to come out of the corner swinging just a few days later. In theory this is doable though. I need to have the demo build all set and out the door long before Next Fest starts (Days from now, actually). My store page will be in "Coming Soon" territory so people can already find it. Perhaps the game is on their wish list from playing the demo during Next Fest.

The big risk here is that the game has not really been played on a lot of configurations. There could be a whole slew of weird interactions with certain hardware or configs. We're hopefully going to find that out during Next Fest and I'm hopeful that not too much BS will surface there. Never know though, ahead of time. If Next Fest goes smoothly, I can try to get into the Spring Sale.

If this does not go smoothly, once again, I'll live. I do need to find out all the stuff that isn't working right. There is no need to delay that. It's a calendar win to make the Spring Sale and I need to be mindful. I also have bills to pay and a family to feed. I can go into Early Access later if it comes down to it. If there is a lot of stuff to fix before that, then I want to fix that stuff before Early Access.

Step 3 - Release

When will CRUFT be done? The answer is definitely not never.

On the not-public draft of the store page, when asked how long the game will be in early access, it reads "Long enough to offer 25 hours of clean, engaging play at a minimum." I think that is a good goal. There is no chess clock for this project. 25 hours of great play for an indie game day-one seems pretty solid. I do plan on leaving that statement in. It gives customers a good indication of intent. I'm pretty sure that number will get absolutely crushed.

Full release is not, by any means, the end. I'll continue to grow the game. I have lofty ideas for sure. But CRUFT is not the last game I want to make. I respect that certain games benefit from long-term Early Access phases. I don't think this is one of those games. If players are having a great time and want more, of course I'll lean in on it.

CRUFT was born out of a whim. I got hella whims. There is too much to learn from releasing to not release it for realsies. Moment of Truth. Scary, but has to be done.

There is no date, but there is a, wait for it, goal. That goal is not overly specific in terms of features, nor should it be. That feedback I'm getting in steps 1 and 2 should be getting folded into the release. I have sound ideas for the features that I believe really need to be in there. Namely, some long-term progression that brings the player to new yards to do new things, and some actual narrative that brings the world and characters to life. Beyond those two things, everything else is just nuts and bolts like supporting more steam features. But people are going to play the game and have their take on what they would like to see. There will be a lot of considering to do. There will development to support those considerations.

Step 4 - Profit(?)

I don't actually think this game will be financially profitable relative to having a jobby job. More than happy with pleasant surprises but you know how I like goals? Well the goal of CRUFT isn't really to be able to leave the workforce entirely. I think maybe with a second or third title on the books that might be a possibility. CRUFT should at least get some money rolling in that will be extremely appreciated and help out a lot, but realistically, it is not a moonshot, one-and-done, sort of game. It is designed with room to breathe and space to grow. It is also designed to ship.

Everyone always has stuff they wish they could go back and do. There is a ton of iteration in making a single game, even just a singular feature for a game. But there is an iteration loop above all of that which relies on releasing and then starting over with a new project. I need to get that loop cooking.

The goal here is to get a first game on the market that I am proud of and that is a good showing for a new studio. Going through all the steps to reach that goal will teach innumerable lessons. Take those lessons and fold them into the next title. Repeat.

So I'm not 100% sure of the shape of step 4, but I do know I can reach the goal and learn from it.

See you soon! No, really soon!