Highlighting a quality game that somehow slipped by our attention and is now on hold

[Ghost Rida]

Just wanted to give a shout out to Duo. The Devs put it on hold last month (Oct '18) because of apparently low interest. It has very good art and an interesting story. There's a novel game mechanic where you can select which character you want to play for a particular scene but the I thought the artwork and story was was far more interesting. I don't usually like Unity games but it works well here. The last release was a v0.2 and I think the Devs gave up way too soon on it. Try it out and let the Devs know they should continue it if you enjoy it.

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[Conviction07]

Honestly, I wouldn't even bother playing anything made by a developer who abandons their game at such a ridiculously early stage because of low interest. I'm not sure what kind of following they expected by 0.2, but when their new game garners similar popularity (or maybe even less because they've just hurt their reputation), I'm sure they'll scrap that one too, because third time's a charm, right?

 

[Ghost Rida]

Honestly, I wouldn't even bother playing anything made by a developer who abandons their game at such a ridiculously early stage because of low interest. I'm not sure what kind of following they expected by 0.2, but when their new game garners similar popularity (or maybe even less because they've just hurt their reputation), I'm sure they'll scrap that one too, because third time's a charm, right?

I understand what you're saying but not all early releases are the same. Some v0.1 releases are 3 just screenshots and some others actually give you 20-30 minutes of gameplay. Duo actually has quite a bit of content for a v0.2 especially considering that there's two characters you can play through as. I can't speak for their decision of putting it on hold or what they based that decision on (# of Patrons?). All I can say is that I admire their work and I think they've made a game worth playing, even if it's in the early stages. There's easily 30 minutes of playtime in their v0.2. The expected v0.5.5 release for The Tyrant, whenever it comes out, will probably have about 15 minutes of actual gameplay to it and it's one of the more popular games on here.

You're free to think what you want and not check the game out based upon their decision to put it on hold, but I posted this thread to highlight the game. Criticizing or defending the developers wasn't the point.

 

[Conviction07]

I understand what you're saying but not all early releases are the same. Some v0.1 releases are 3 just screenshots and some others actually give you 20-30 minutes of gameplay. Duo actually has quite a bit of content for a v0.2 especially considering that there's two characters you can play through as. I can't speak for their decision of putting it on hold or what they based that decision on (# of Patrons?). All I can say is that I admire their work and I think they've made a game worth playing, even if it's in the early stages. There's easily 30 minutes of playtime in their v0.2. The expected v0.5.5 release for The Tyrant, whenever it comes out, will probably have about 15 minutes of actual gameplay to it and it's one of the more popular games on here.

You're free to think what you want and not check the game out based upon their decision to put it on hold, but I posted this thread to highlight the game. Criticizing or defending the developers wasn't the point.

I'm only being critical because I don't see why anyone should invest time into a game that's effectively been abandoned. I understand your desire for the development of the game to continue, but realistically, what's the best case scenario of you starting this thread? Maybe a few people comment how much they like the game and that the dev should stick with it? That's nice and all, but money talks. Unless a lot of people suddenly pledge to their patreon, none of it will matter.

 

[Ghost Rida]

I think this is one of the better games out there and definitely worth trying out. It's in my top 5 list and is currently ranked at 4 1/2 stars. Either try it out or don't but please don't threadshit here.

 

[hameleona]

Nobody is going to just start bringing in buckloads of cash at a second release. You can make a great game and still not hit it big. I looked at the thread of the game and there is nothing making me wanna play it. New developers should really work on their presentation. And dedication.
If you have started a big project a lot of people won't care, just because very few of those big projects move past 10-20% content, before they are abandoned. Way too many leaches and people with unrealistic expectations have jumped on the patreon bandwagon for it to be different.
Building a fan-base is not easy and takes a lot of time. Especially if one does something quirky or unusual. Sadly, the amount of money a developer makes is not always about the quality of their product, but about how appealing it is to the casual player. There is a reason so many "young idiot MC wants to bang his family" games are sustainable, for example.

And honestly, who drops a project after two releases? I'm sorry, but ether you want to make a passion-project and patreon is there to buy you a beer for it (so you won't just drop it after 2 releases) or you want to make money and you need to woo people. To prove them, they will support a product, that won't disappoint.

 

[Avaron1974]

Of course it won't get attention, how do they think it works?

You make a game and update it regularly and slowly build up a player base, anyone going in thinking they make any money at the start are beyond delusional.

Doesn't matter how good something is, it still takes time. Most of us already have games we back and i'm not going to drop a game with a proven track record to back something by an unknown dev. After dropping it so soon i'm glad I didn't back them and I advise everyone else to avoid them too.

If money is their only goal they have picked the wrong career choice. You won't make anything for at least a year unless you get insanely lucky.

 

[Conviction07]

Of course it won't get attention, how do they think it works?

You make a game and update it regularly and slowly build up a player base, anyone going in thinking they make any money at the start are beyond delusional.

Doesn't matter how good something is, it still takes time. Most of us already have games we back and i'm not going to drop a game with a proven track record to back something by an unknown dev. After dropping it so soon i'm glad I didn't back them and I advise everyone else to avoid them too.

If money is their only goal they have picked the wrong career choice. You won't make anything for at least a year unless you get insanely lucky.

Exactly. And this is coming from a guy who works with a dev who just came off a forced 3 month hiatus. Does it suck that the lack of consistency hurt the momentum of the games success? Sure. But we care enough about the project that we’re just gonna keep plugging away at it and hopefully we’ll regain peoples trust. But to calculatingly abandon a 0.2 version game in favour of something they’ll hope to be more profitable is just bs.

 

[Joraell]

Ehm 2 years. .... ......

 

[Domiek]

You know, my game didn't break $20 a month until after the fourth release. I could have called it quits but didn't because it's a passion project and abandoning it is a slap to the face of those who believe and support it.

I don't have much sympathy for those who abandon games (unless it's because life took an unfortunate turn). If you want to make money, get a job. Hell, even minimum wage work will earn more than 95% of us make when you count the hours put into development.

I'm not making a dig at you @Ghost Rida. I'm just sorry that you got burnt by an uncommitted dev. No point in crying over spilled milk when we have guys like @HopesGaming and @Philly_Games who wouldn't squander your support.

 

[HopesGaming]

Of course, it's hard to see a game you've spent so much time on fail.
But abandoning it at stage 0.02 shows that it wasn't a passion project but a project that wanted a piece of the top %1 of the creators.
But that is what it is - 1%.
Contrary to popular belief about patreon and the money, it's incredibly hard to reach a point that justifies the work hours. Hence you have to make it a passion project to plow through the hard times. People aren't like they were two years ago. They have been burned too many times by devs that promised them the world or games that turned out to be a copy paste of the big ones.

Now, this isn't aimed at the devs of that game. From what I read they are returning the patreon money, the game is well written, and they were using 4k renders.
It just looks like the devs tried to make a game catered to the audience in a hope it would be among the big titles. They gave it to 0.02 and didn't gain the money they wanted and giving it a go again with a new game. And probably will keep doing it till they hit the jackpot.

It's a combination of a nonpassion project and failed grasp on how patreon really works. It won't happen overnight. Many of the top games have had a really slow start.

If the game is at 0.5+ and the patrons are less then 10. I can understand giving up. But anything before that means you never had a real love for the project.

 

[User_51567]

It's just a trend that soon followed after the popularity of games like Big Brother, Teacher Pets, Dual Family and Dreams of Desire (I'm sure i am forgetting a few).
Developers that make way more money than the average Joe makes on his 40 hour work week.

People thought, hey.... I can do that to because i watched a lot of porn and played my fair share of games.
Quit their job(if they even had one) and started working on a game and soon release a short 0.1 that took all of their resources and was already way more than they can handle(coding, designing, writing, programming) with the expectation that they would make hundreds of dollars within the first couple weeks.(How naive).
After a month or 2 they would release another really small update but still would not make enough money so they would give up shortly and never be heard of again

Or you have the people who believe that they can create a game just because they have 1 horny idea for 1 scene.
They start making a Ren'py game directly with that scene but soon realize that making a game/story is way harder/more than they thought. Suddenly they realize that they have 0 talent for writing, designing, coding and programming and have 0 financial resources available to purchase new things for the game or even to live on.... So again, they would give up shortly and never be heard of again.

90% chance that if you pick a random 0.1 or 0.2 on hold or abandoned one of those 2 reasons have happened.(stupid and naive)

Like @Domiek says.
If you don't have the commitment or passion for your project then you are already doomed before you start.
I believe i am a $1.00 or $5.00 at your patreon page b.t.w, well.. My fiancé is but my credit card so i am to

But because of those reasons i said above i no longer pledge to a new developer(Of course there are some exceptions if i know the people from this website or have a good feeling about it all)But 9 times out of 10 these days i will wait until that game has had at least a handful updates and i am confident that the developer is going to continue the game.

 

[Joraell]

Ehm Iam already released 1 and ehm half of game. But at all they are longer than some other games twice. And my patreon account was for the whole time still at. Hope that I'm finally get some attention to my actuall game. It is 2 years I was started.
But when you take a look on my fiirst render and on last I think you will see the difference.

There is no rules about supporting the dev. If dev have thousands of supporters it doesn't mean that his game is so superb. But at the most he is just popular. Just talking about art there is many devs with 30 patreons doing better stuff than guys with 3000. And they game will never been discovered.