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Author Topic:  Insights and advice for hopeful game makers  (Read 3867 times)

Fujihime

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on: September 30, 2014, 10:39:28 AM
Hello!

My mates and I are building an otoge now. We are trying to get fundings from Kickstarter for games engine and stuff. What are the possibilities that a game is successfully funded? We are targeting about 15k. I believe we have a strong plot and art style and we hope to be on par with Voltage in future.

Anyone knows how much per game do Voltage earn per month? How much failures were there and why? What are the things that you look for in an otoge?

Any insights or advice for a bunch of hopeful game makers?

Thanks!

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Aiwethryne

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Reply #1 on: September 30, 2014, 10:55:13 AM
Oh, dear. 15K USD is kind of... absurdly high. But if you believe that everyone on your team has enough of a following already, it can still work. If you are a bunch of relative unknowns, the likelihood for success at that amount is rather low. You'd need to already prepare some proof to backers that you can produce what you aim to complete. Compare with other small time video game creation projects in Kickstarter to see how they set things up.
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SunStarlight

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Reply #2 on: September 30, 2014, 12:26:09 PM
For me personally the most important factor in an otome game is art. I would never play a game with art I find bland or amateurish no matter how interesting the story is (with the exception of Ib, but that's not an otome game, so...). Story comes second, but I think story without any sort of plot twist wouldn't catch anyone's attention.

Other tips: good product is one thing, but focus on marketing too. No profit if no one knows about your game.


Fujihime

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Reply #3 on: September 30, 2014, 03:05:38 PM
Thank you both for the feedback!

Aiwethryne: Is 15k really a high aim? If we take out the salary part then I guess we could go below 10k. But we are putting in a lot for licenses and programming. I found an example, Queen of Arms which was listed on a subforum. Will try to search on for some similar examples. But yea we are rather unknown...

SunStarlight: ...which comes to the point of marketing. Other than marketing here and in our FB, we are still struggling to think of where else we can campaign it on. Could you recommend some places? Could you also share an example of good game art? Maybe on the extreme good, medium and acceptable level?

Thanks a lot!!


SunStarlight

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Reply #4 on: September 30, 2014, 03:59:38 PM
I think the most effective way of getting attetion is have a popular blogger make a blog post about it or tweet a link to it and stuff like that. Doesn't have to be a 5 star review or anything, just mentioning it usually does the trick, if the game's any good. You may also try asking popular artists to make fanart, this is less effective, but brings some attention too.

As for art... Everyone's got a different taste. You need to consider your target age group. From my experience: teens tend go for stuff with lots of color contrast, like black-white-pink, dynamic design (people running somewhere or making weird faces) lots of sharp lines etc. People is their twenties learn to appreciate softer colours, detailed designs, simplicity etc. etc.

I think it's been generally acknowledged that one of the best otome game artists are Kazuki Yone (Hakuouki, Kamigami no Asobi) and Usuba Kagerou (Wand of Fortune, Reine des Fleurs). They're extremely good.

Other good artists: Kazuaki (Starry Sky, Seishun Hajimemashita), Satoi (Diabolik Lovers)

Acceptable? Hmmm... Hanamura Mai, perhaps (Amnesia). Her art annoys me, because Amnesia characters look different in every CG and their bodies seem to be made of rubber or something...


OtomeBabe

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Reply #5 on: September 30, 2014, 04:38:32 PM
for me, the best place to learn about making game is Lemma Soft forum. You can announce your game in forum too and I bet, if the project is good, a lot of members are willing to play your game.


I'm curious since you plan to raise fund on Kickstarter up to 15K, are you planning a commercial game or a free one?


Social network like Twitter is good. Other website where you can sell you game :
1. http://www.gamasutra.com
2. http://www.desura.com


Beside Kickstarter, have you tried Patreon?


Fujihime

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Reply #6 on: October 01, 2014, 01:55:19 AM
SunStarlight: Thank you for the feedback and suggestions! I need to start to do some homework now :) The art we have are mostly geared towards women in their 20s. So the art style is more matured looking. We will post some up when in progress. But the artists you mentioned are pretty much in another level! Wow.... Our art style is more like Voltage Inc. type...

Marie: Went to check out Lemma Soft forum, seems pretty active and useful, the other websites seems very useful too, thanks a lot! Actually we're planning to do a mobile game because I believe on portability and not just stuck to PC. It's gonna be free to try/download but offers in-app purchases. Another reason why the high fund is because we want to clear as much legal/license issues as possible from the start. And that includes game engines that can publish on both iOS and Android. We also just found out we are not eligible to use Kickstarter due to countries limitation so will probably go to Indiegogo instead. I checked out Patreon earlier but their funding is per month? Not too sure how it works, but will  read deeper into it


OtomeBabe

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Reply #7 on: October 05, 2014, 07:31:22 AM
sorry for late reply..yeah Patreon gives monthly support for the creators so not based on projects like Kickstarter. I think you at least have to have fanbase of your work to be able to do that.
Hmm... I thought Ren'Py is free to use? So you can save money for game engine?



Is this your 1st project?


Good luck!



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