Unreal Engine Monolith Bay [v1.1 Release] [Team Monolith]

[ParadigmShift]

You get all content for 10 bucks, all the other tiers we consider a small thanks bonus for people who want to support us with more money. You don't need any of the cheats to play the game, especially not the VIP ones, they are just a bonus. Pretty much every Patreon creator gives a small reward for very high support. Many of the biggest adult creators on Patreon like for example

You must be registered to see the links

go up to $300 for their tiers.
Besides that most of the cheats, you could just do with cheat engine.
A full release of the game won't even have these cheats build-in. Like pretty much every game does not have build-in cheats, these days.

I'll try to reign in my sarcasm (my superpower) and be professional as I respond:
You say that, but there's literally no $10 tier on your patreon. So please, tell me again how 'you get all content for 10 bucks'?
Also, just because other's offer it doesn't make them not shameless cashgrabs also.
Even the patreon you linked as an example acknowledges multiple times that their target price is $36 USD for the final product and beta access, with $8 (38% less than you) for current build access, and even their $95 tier is expected to be a one-off pledge (" You will continue receiving every update and monthly bundles till end of the project even without further pledging"). This basically amounts to $60 for skins every month, of which there have been 6-months worth offered so far. Is that worth $60 right now? No. Might it be worth $60 later on? Maybe, if they keep it up for another 12-18+ months (72-96skins for $60, between $0.60-0.70 a skin). But that's VALUE-PERCEPTION, which is subjective, differing from person to person. They also offer recognition through putting donor names in the credits, which has value to some people (not me). As well as promising all money pledged would be reimbursed with an equal amount of their premium currency, once available, which could be worthless in end, but again, value-perception.

Also the 'we're expensive because most people are going to steal and cheat anyway' argument is a terrible one and acknowledges that you KNOW you're asking too much for what you're offering. (This is basically the US Health Insurance 'we're gonna charge you 4x as much cuz you can afford it, so 3 other people can have it for free' argument) Have you considered that they cheat and steal BECAUSE they feel the asking price is too high? Some, not all, people that pirate games/software would be more than happy to support the product IF they felt the asking price was in line with what they received. As it is, your high prices are actually encouraging and driving people to cheat and pirate, which is just 100% lost revenue.

Don't get me wrong, some people are just cheap and wouldn't purchase/support no matter the price. But I can tell you from ample (20+ years) experience (and millions in revenue a year) in retail that value perception, and the sheer lack of it, is costing you money. If I were to see this game, as a finished product, available for purchase, I would probably put the price tag at about $25-30. +$5 with regular content updates. $3-5 for large DLC content additions.

In the end though, you're free to do as you please. Just as I'm free to keep my $3-5 and wait patiently on F95. All I can say is, your project was unknown to me until encountering it on F95 (yay free publicity and bug reporting!). Having now found it, I see potential that could be realized with additional funding and additional talent/manpower, but I can't in good conscience give you what you're asking. I'm not so generous as to give you money for nothing (so the 1.50 and 6.50 tiers are out), nor do I feel what is received for $13 is sufficient to warrant the cost. So, I'll stick to option C: Hang out on F95, check progress occasionally, and MAYBE purchase the final product, if there is ever a final product, if I feel the product warrants the asking price, and if I haven't already exhausted my interest in the game.

 

[SmhKrkcn]

how many hours of content does this game have right now? And when will the game be fully finished?

 

[D-ricky]

iirc it helps to sleep a few times to different times of the day and retry

Yeah I tried that a couple of times and just gave up after while. Hopefully it fixes itself or ill have to wait for an update :///

 

[panrtip]

Yeah I tried that a couple of times and just gave up after while. Hopefully it fixes itself or ill have to wait for an update :///

There is hotfix already on patreon. But nobody posted it here yet

 

[Rhennius]

I'll try to reign in my sarcasm (my superpower) and be professional as I respond:
You say that, but there's literally no $10 tier on your patreon. So please, tell me again how 'you get all content for 10 bucks'?
Also, just because other's offer it doesn't make them not shameless cashgrabs also.
Even the patreon you linked as an example acknowledges multiple times that their target price is $36 USD for the final product and beta access, with $8 (38% less than you) for current build access, and even their $95 tier is expected to be a one-off pledge (" You will continue receiving every update and monthly bundles till end of the project even without further pledging"). This basically amounts to $60 for skins every month, of which there have been 6-months worth offered so far. Is that worth $60 right now? No. Might it be worth $60 later on? Maybe, if they keep it up for another 12-18+ months (72-96skins for $60, between $0.60-0.70 a skin). But that's VALUE-PERCEPTION, which is subjective, differing from person to person. They also offer recognition through putting donor names in the credits, which has value to some people (not me). As well as promising all money pledged would be reimbursed with an equal amount of their premium currency, once available, which could be worthless in end, but again, value-perception.

Also the 'we're expensive because most people are going to steal and cheat anyway' argument is a terrible one and acknowledges that you KNOW you're asking too much for what you're offering. (This is basically the US Health Insurance 'we're gonna charge you 4x as much cuz you can afford it, so 3 other people can have it for free' argument) Have you considered that they cheat and steal BECAUSE they feel the asking price is too high? Some, not all, people that pirate games/software would be more than happy to support the product IF they felt the asking price was in line with what they received. As it is, your high prices are actually encouraging and driving people to cheat and pirate, which is just 100% lost revenue.

Don't get me wrong, some people are just cheap and wouldn't purchase/support no matter the price. But I can tell you from ample (20+ years) experience (and millions in revenue a year) in retail that value perception, and the sheer lack of it, is costing you money. If I were to see this game, as a finished product, available for purchase, I would probably put the price tag at about $25-30. +$5 with regular content updates. $3-5 for large DLC content additions.

In the end though, you're free to do as you please. Just as I'm free to keep my $3-5 and wait patiently on F95. All I can say is, your project was unknown to me until encountering it on F95 (yay free publicity and bug reporting!). Having now found it, I see potential that could be realized with additional funding and additional talent/manpower, but I can't in good conscience give you what you're asking. I'm not so generous as to give you money for nothing (so the 1.50 and 6.50 tiers are out), nor do I feel what is received for $13 is sufficient to warrant the cost. So, I'll stick to option C: Hang out on F95, check progress occasionally, and MAYBE purchase the final product, if there is ever a final product, if I feel the product warrants the asking price, and if I haven't already exhausted my interest in the game.

Kudos to you for putting in the time to hash this out. His post was wildly disingenuous and that $300 example he used was cherry-picked as hell even before you broke down the details. I would not have had the energy to unpack all that.

 

[Team Monolith]

I'll try to reign in my sarcasm (my superpower) and be professional as I respond:
You say that, but there's literally no $10 tier on your patreon. So please, tell me again how 'you get all content for 10 bucks'?
Also, just because other's offer it doesn't make them not shameless cashgrabs also.
Even the patreon you linked as an example acknowledges multiple times that their target price is $36 USD for the final product and beta access, with $8 (38% less than you) for current build access, and even their $95 tier is expected to be a one-off pledge (" You will continue receiving every update and monthly bundles till end of the project even without further pledging"). This basically amounts to $60 for skins every month, of which there have been 6-months worth offered so far. Is that worth $60 right now? No. Might it be worth $60 later on? Maybe, if they keep it up for another 12-18+ months (72-96skins for $60, between $0.60-0.70 a skin). But that's VALUE-PERCEPTION, which is subjective, differing from person to person. They also offer recognition through putting donor names in the credits, which has value to some people (not me). As well as promising all money pledged would be reimbursed with an equal amount of their premium currency, once available, which could be worthless in end, but again, value-perception.

Also the 'we're expensive because most people are going to steal and cheat anyway' argument is a terrible one and acknowledges that you KNOW you're asking too much for what you're offering. (This is basically the US Health Insurance 'we're gonna charge you 4x as much cuz you can afford it, so 3 other people can have it for free' argument) Have you considered that they cheat and steal BECAUSE they feel the asking price is too high? Some, not all, people that pirate games/software would be more than happy to support the product IF they felt the asking price was in line with what they received. As it is, your high prices are actually encouraging and driving people to cheat and pirate, which is just 100% lost revenue.

Don't get me wrong, some people are just cheap and wouldn't purchase/support no matter the price. But I can tell you from ample (20+ years) experience (and millions in revenue a year) in retail that value perception, and the sheer lack of it, is costing you money. If I were to see this game, as a finished product, available for purchase, I would probably put the price tag at about $25-30. +$5 with regular content updates. $3-5 for large DLC content additions.

In the end though, you're free to do as you please. Just as I'm free to keep my $3-5 and wait patiently on F95. All I can say is, your project was unknown to me until encountering it on F95 (yay free publicity and bug reporting!). Having now found it, I see potential that could be realized with additional funding and additional talent/manpower, but I can't in good conscience give you what you're asking. I'm not so generous as to give you money for nothing (so the 1.50 and 6.50 tiers are out), nor do I feel what is received for $13 is sufficient to warrant the cost. So, I'll stick to option C: Hang out on F95, check progress occasionally, and MAYBE purchase the final product, if there is ever a final product, if I feel the product warrants the asking price, and if I haven't already exhausted my interest in the game.

Just to clarify the price is 10€ (my local currency) and 1€ is pretty much 1$, but I can't control what Patreon takes in other currencies.

About your other points, I always appreciate constructive feedback so thanks for that. Your points are valid but there are also valid points for the other direction. So lets rather talk about the solution than the problem, what would you actually suggest? We are pretty set on the 10€ for the game, so we probably not gonna change that. We like the "get the final game with total pledged amount is over X" but we don't have the resources to do that. (pretty sure you need your own website API handling that somehow, Patreon can't do it)
So we could drastically reduce the price of the higher tiers. I am not opposing that idea, but not having these tiers at all, for the people that want to give more doesn't seem right to me. So what would you actually change?

 

[Gamesman01]

Just to clarify the price is 10€ (my local currency) and 1€ is pretty much 1$, but I can't control what Patreon takes in other currencies. Also, I did not cherry-pick, all the big adult games I know have high amounts of money tiers in some form (CloudMeadow, SuccuDev, Sad_Crab, adeptussteve and so on) darkcockie being the only exception. But I am sure there are some I don't know.

About your other points, I always appreciate constructive feedback so thanks for that. Your points are valid but there are also valid points for the other direction. So to rather talk about the solution than the problem, what would you actually suggest? We are pretty set on the 10€ for the game, so we probably not gonna change that. We like the "get the final game with total pledged amount is over X" but we don't have the resources to do that. (pretty sure you need your own website API handling that somehow, Patreon can't do it)
So we could drastically reduce the price of the higher tiers. I am not opposing that idea, but not having these tiers at all, for the people that want to give more doesn't seem right to me. So what would you actually change?

Okay I'm not going to attack you for wanting to get paid for your art. It is art and if they want more you need to be able to put food on the table. I only have 1 gripe. It seems you put the Hotfix out of reach of those of us who can't afford to pay the monthly fee. Now if you never planned to have a public version why have codes to unlock cheats in the game? If you want a fair review and more people buying into your Patreon you should release the fix. Otherwise it's like putting a defective part in a car and charging a monthly fee to replace it.

 

[Team Monolith]

Okay I'm not going to attack you for wanting to get paid for your art. It is art and if they want more you need to be able to put food on the table. I only have 1 gripe. It seems you put the Hotfix out of reach of those of us who can't afford to pay the monthly fee. Now if you never planned to have a public version why have codes to unlock cheats in the game? If you want a fair review and more people buying into your Patreon you should release the fix. Otherwise it's like putting a defective part in a car and charging a monthly fee to replace it.

The version here is pirated, what is uploaded here has nothing to do with me. I am not gonna upload a version my Patreons pay for on a pirate website. But since it is just a fix I already gave my consent to anyone that uploads it here. But you have to understand I can not do it myself...
Also, what do you mean by no public version? There is a public version available on Patreon, it is older but does not have this bug.

 

[Rhennius]

Just to clarify the price is 10€ (my local currency) and 1€ is pretty much 1$, but I can't control what Patreon takes in other currencies.

About your other points, I always appreciate constructive feedback so thanks for that. Your points are valid but there are also valid points for the other direction. So lets rather talk about the solution than the problem, what would you actually suggest? We are pretty set on the 10€ for the game, so we probably not gonna change that. We like the "get the final game with total pledged amount is over X" but we don't have the resources to do that. (pretty sure you need your own website API handling that somehow, Patreon can't do it)
So we could drastically reduce the price of the higher tiers. I am not opposing that idea, but not having these tiers at all, for the people that want to give more doesn't seem right to me. So what would you actually change?

Specifically to the part about, "not having these tiers at all, for the people that want to give more doesn't seem right to me": are you not aware that people can simply choose to give more than the the price listed for the tier, or that you can make higher tiers where the reward is your gratitude or something equally tangible like a "producer credit"? I've seen $100+ tiers on patreon where the description was along the lines of, "This is a crazy amount to subscribe to and I've already offered all the rewards I have, so you would only have my sincere thanks."

 

[ParadigmShift]

Just to clarify the price is 10€ (my local currency) and 1€ is pretty much 1$, but I can't control what Patreon takes in other currencies.

About your other points, I always appreciate constructive feedback so thanks for that. Your points are valid but there are also valid points for the other direction. So lets rather talk about the solution than the problem, what would you actually suggest? We are pretty set on the 10€ for the game, so we probably not gonna change that. We like the "get the final game with total pledged amount is over X" but we don't have the resources to do that. (pretty sure you need your own website API handling that somehow, Patreon can't do it)
So we could drastically reduce the price of the higher tiers. I am not opposing that idea, but not having these tiers at all, for the people that want to give more doesn't seem right to me. So what would you actually change?

I see what you mean regarding the 10€ tier. I don't think I've ever really noticed anyone referring to Euro's as 'bucks', so my mind immediately thought 'USD'. Honest mistake. Still too much from my perceived value; by comparison, you can go sub to AAA studio MMO, or a streaming video sub for a silly amount more 'content' for the same or lesser price.

As far as how they are handling the 'total amount pledged is over X' stuff...my best suggestion would be to reach out to another creator on Patreon and ask how they are handling it. I've never seen the backend of Patreon nor do I deal in that area in my retail operation to know how they are going about tracking such things. You're probably right that their using some API exporting to a spreadsheet to keep running totals for each patron, along with username and email.

Beyond that, I can respect not wanting to get rid of the higher tiers for those diehard 'shut up and take my money' fans. That being said, the first step in making things more attractive is the one you've just taken, and that's ask your existing patrons / public what kinds of things they'd like to see. For starters, the donator recognition through 'name in credits' is a popular option. I would expect, at some point, you're going to want to have some kind of 'About the Team' or credits in your game to give, well, credit to all the people that worked on the game, contributed assets, etc. You obviously have coders and artists and at least one voice actress (that I know of) to credit for their work.

The sky really is the limit for what you can offer, as the best part about digital goods....they're basically free to generate. Create it once, SAVE (always save and regularly backup your work), and then just copy it 9billion times to all your subscribers. You don't have to manufacture it, there's no resources needed to make more (other than bandwidth). You're basically printing money.

For another option, lot of creators do weighted polling for 'what do you want to see next' kind of stuff. First one that comes to mind is

You must be registered to see the links

w/ Lifeplay. Does polls regularly, to line up the next 2-3 things (ie fetishes) that they work on next, and then does 2-3 updates a month, adding 6-8 scenes to each of the requested things, as well as taking commissions from high tier patrons for specific scenes they want to see added to the game. They are not trying to make a living based on thier game however, as its more of a passion project that they do and share because people appreciate it, so marketing and making more money is not something they focus on.

Another option that comes to mind, for higher tier pledges, often creators will offer limited quantity tiers, like 'the first 20 to pledge $100 can design an NPC that will be in the final game'. They give you a premise, little bit of background, you go back and forth on appearance until they're happy, and viola. You've got yourself a milfy neighbor that may not have a deep background or a quest line or dates, but maybe a dozen unique 'Talk' dialogues (I'm lookin at you Nana )

Another idea is delayed releases of builds. Some creators will offer a 'get it right NOW/first/weekly/alpha' tier to get the build ASAP, and then a lower tier that gets access at a later date, or a monthly beta build, usually 2 weeks to a month.

You must be registered to see the links

is one such example, and a personal favorite, but like Vinfamy, they create because they enjoy it, not as a profession. It may be renpy, but that code is a work of art and feat of engineering for what they've done with it. Procedural generation using 2d images of 3d renders, billions of possible combinations of over a dozen different facial and body features. Just glorious.

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head. Asking the folks that are in the $1 tier what they'd want to make them sub higher is an excellent way to connect with your fanbase.

If you want to see some GRADE AAA patreon tiering, take a look at

You must be registered to see the links

. This person knows how to market their game, knows what people are willing to spend, takes advantage of limited quantity tiering and tier 'sales' (never underestimate deal FOMO), and is just raking in money. Almost $4k USD in just $1 and $2 subs. They might have been able to get more from those people, another dollar or two, but they baited their hook with a tasty, discounted deal and BOOM 4grand. Their game is also available for outright purchase on Steam for $20USD + TAX/VAT/All that fun stuff.

The

You must be registered to see the links

game also markets their game and tiering quite well, as they acknowledge the value perception of their fanbase, and respond by making their tiers chocked full of 'stuff' (or at least looking like they are), which all comes at basically zero cost to them (other than time). Even their weighted voting isn't linear, but on a curve, with higher tiers getting more votes per dollar (goes from 8:1, to 6:1, 4:1, ~3:1, and tops out at ~2.5:1vote), which contributes to the perception of higher tiers being a better value.

I'm gonna end my wall of text here. Once I got started, I just kept going and going and going....You gotta ask yourself 'how do I make this look like it's value is higher than it actually is' and then find that sweet spot between margin and volume. Sometimes it's better to take a slight lower profit margin if it'll increase overall sales volume, resulting in a higher overall revenue.

 

[hejez]

plz someone post the hotfix for the coira quest - i am unable to progress further

 

[Gamesman01]

The version here is pirated, what is uploaded here has nothing to do with me. I am not gonna upload a version my Patreons pay for on a pirate website. But since it is just a fix I already gave my consent to anyone that uploads it here. But you have to understand I can not do it myself...
Also, what do you mean by no public version? There is a public version available on Patreon, it is older but does not have this bug.

I can see that. As I said I think artists should be paid. What I said was IF you didn't want a public version not there isn't one. I think the cheat codes are a good way to get people to pay. And I have no real bitch about paying for a full version of the game. I just can't do it at this time because I'm at a $0 income until I get my Disability ironed out which knowing my Government means maybe years. 40+ years they take my money and now it's like I'm stealing money from them. Anyway I can see how it might sting a little but believe it or not this posting probably increased you earning from Patreon a noticeable fraction. I know in the past I have donated to DarkCookie's Patreon basically to get the newest version first and some of the art he didn't put in the game. He is pretty active in the game forum or was. If I could monetize telling stories (no I don't mean writing) it would bother me if someone pirated it but if it meant more full subscribers I'd be overall happy. That's the same reason Weird Al Yankovick never worried about his songs being downloaded. He makes most of his money with concerts and other ventures. Especially while he was under contract to a record label. His share was pretty low. Now he works when he wants and makes new music when he wants. He puts it on Youtube and lets people download it.

 

[Team Monolith]

I see what you mean regarding the 10€ tier. I don't think I've ever really noticed anyone referring to Euro's as 'bucks', so my mind immediately thought 'USD'. Honest mistake. Still too much from my perceived value; by comparison, you can go sub to AAA studio MMO, or a streaming video sub for a silly amount more 'content' for the same or lesser price.

As far as how they are handling the 'total amount pledged is over X' stuff...my best suggestion would be to reach out to another creator on Patreon and ask how they are handling it. I've never seen the backend of Patreon nor do I deal in that area in my retail operation to know how they are going about tracking such things. You're probably right that their using some API exporting to a spreadsheet to keep running totals for each patron, along with username and email.

Beyond that, I can respect not wanting to get rid of the higher tiers for those diehard 'shut up and take my money' fans. That being said, the first step in making things more attractive is the one you've just taken, and that's ask your existing patrons / public what kinds of things they'd like to see. For starters, the donator recognition through 'name in credits' is a popular option. I would expect, at some point, you're going to want to have some kind of 'About the Team' or credits in your game to give, well, credit to all the people that worked on the game, contributed assets, etc. You obviously have coders and artists and at least one voice actress (that I know of) to credit for their work.

The sky really is the limit for what you can offer, as the best part about digital goods....they're basically free to generate. Create it once, SAVE (always save and regularly backup your work), and then just copy it 9billion times to all your subscribers. You don't have to manufacture it, there's no resources needed to make more (other than bandwidth). You're basically printing money.

For another option, lot of creators do weighted polling for 'what do you want to see next' kind of stuff. First one that comes to mind is

You must be registered to see the links

w/ Lifeplay. Does polls regularly, to line up the next 2-3 things (ie fetishes) that they work on next, and then does 2-3 updates a month, adding 6-8 scenes to each of the requested things, as well as taking commissions from high tier patrons for specific scenes they want to see added to the game. They are not trying to make a living based on thier game however, as its more of a passion project that they do and share because people appreciate it, so marketing and making more money is not something they focus on.

Another option that comes to mind, for higher tier pledges, often creators will offer limited quantity tiers, like 'the first 20 to pledge $100 can design an NPC that will be in the final game'. They give you a premise, little bit of background, you go back and forth on appearance until they're happy, and viola. You've got yourself a milfy neighbor that may not have a deep background or a quest line or dates, but maybe a dozen unique 'Talk' dialogues (I'm lookin at you Nana )

Another idea is delayed releases of builds. Some creators will offer a 'get it right NOW/first/weekly/alpha' tier to get the build ASAP, and then a lower tier that gets access at a later date, or a monthly beta build, usually 2 weeks to a month.

You must be registered to see the links

is one such example, and a personal favorite, but like Vinfamy, they create because they enjoy it, not as a profession. It may be renpy, but that code is a work of art and feat of engineering for what they've done with it. Procedural generation using 2d images of 3d renders, billions of possible combinations of over a dozen different facial and body features. Just glorious.

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head. Asking the folks that are in the $1 tier what they'd want to make them sub higher is an excellent way to connect with your fanbase.

If you want to see some GRADE AAA patreon tiering, take a look at

You must be registered to see the links

. This person knows how to market their game, knows what people are willing to spend, takes advantage of limited quantity tiering and tier 'sales' (never underestimate deal FOMO), and is just raking in money. Almost $4k USD in just $1 and $2 subs. They might have been able to get more from those people, another dollar or two, but they baited their hook with a tasty, discounted deal and BOOM 4grand. Their game is also available for outright purchase on Steam for $20USD + TAX/VAT/All that fun stuff.

The

You must be registered to see the links

game also markets their game and tiering quite well, as they acknowledge the value perception of their fanbase, and respond by making their tiers chocked full of 'stuff' (or at least looking like they are), which all comes at basically zero cost to them (other than time). Even their weighted voting isn't linear, but on a curve, with higher tiers getting more votes per dollar (goes from 8:1, to 6:1, 4:1, ~3:1, and tops out at ~2.5:1vote), which contributes to the perception of higher tiers being a better value.

I'm gonna end my wall of text here. Once I got started, I just kept going and going and going....You gotta ask yourself 'how do I make this look like it's value is higher than it actually is' and then find that sweet spot between margin and volume. Sometimes it's better to take a slight lower profit margin if it'll increase overall sales volume, resulting in a higher overall revenue.

Thanks for the nice feedback

Here my thought on your ideas:
1) 'total amount pledged is over X' stuff... I tried asking but it is hard to reach them. But I am sure they have a person dedicated to the development of their webpage and their webpage handels the stuff.

2) we already have in-game credits and a name in the credits tier.

3) "Voting power" Isn't money = power in a vote way more unethical than some cheat codes? Besides that this is also not something nativ Patreon supports and needs to be done via your own website.

4) "early alpha" What you get for 10 already the very lates build we have. Making a build requires setup/time and things being completed so we can't do it all the time, once a month is often already for a small team game dev. So would you suggest that for 10 you get an older version and only for more you get the newest?

5) "Limit amount of patreons and abuse FOMO" well yes I can see this working, but than again I am trying to be mr. nice dev (even if you get another expression because of the cheats) and abusing FOMO sound unethical to me.

Hope I didn't miss anything

 

[farukzafer]

i use save editor but game have error corrupt save file pls help for in game money

 

[ParadigmShift]

Thanks for the nice feedback

Here my thought on your ideas:
1) 'total amount pledged is over X' stuff... I tried asking but it is hard to reach them. But I am sure they have a person dedicated to the development of their webpage and their webpage handels the stuff.

2) we already have in-game credits and a name in the credits tier.

3) "Voting power" Isn't money = power in a vote way more unethical than some cheat codes? Besides that this is also not something nativ Patreon supports and needs to be done via your own website.

4) "early alpha" What you get for 10 already the very lates build we have. Making a build requires setup/time and things being completed so we can't do it all the time, once a month is often already for a small team game dev. So would you suggest that for 10 you get an older version and only for more you get the newest?

5) "Limit amount of patreons and abuse FOMO" well yes I can see this working, but than again I am trying to be mr. nice dev (even if you get another expression because of the cheats) and abusing FOMO sound unethical to me.

Hope I didn't miss anything

I mean...abusing FOMO is basically marketing in a nutshell.
"Look at this shiny thing! See how shiny it is?! Normally priced at $13, be the one of the first 2000 people to pledge and Ill give it to you for half price!"
It's basically all about targeting people that are on the fence, that maybe want a product, but aren't sure if they're willing to buy it for the asking price. But tip the scales with a limited time offer that is a "better" value, and they'll spend less time thinking about if it's worth it or not, and jump in. I don't think you can really even consider it 'abusing' FOMO as the patron is getting something they want for a lesser price, and you're getting more money from new pledges and people that bumped their pledge up. Seems like a win-win for everyone. Putting a time or quantity limit simply adds a sense of urgency so people deliberate less.

If you really want to talk abusing patrons, the lower the price tag on a subscription, the more likely a person is to overlook and write it off as 'just a dollar' (or whatever) and leave a sub running long after they've moved on. I know I've done it; I left a $6 sub running for over 2 years without using it once before I decided to cancel. And it wasn't like I forgot about it, it was more of a 'it's only $6, and maybe I'll still use it', but I never did.

From a marketing standpoint, you should be asking yourself 2 questions:
1)How do I convince the $1.50 folks to increase their pledge?
2)How do I convince more new people to pledge?
Hint: The answer to both is convince/offer them more value for their pledge, either by giving them more for their money, or giving the same for less money.

In regard to your pricing of $13, you're more likely to see people that give you $13 one time every so often (be like 6 months for me), as the price tag is so high. You have to remember that we live in an age of ala carte entertainment and subscription streaming services. The average person has 12 running subscriptions at any given time, totaling an average of over $200 a month. Roughly $30 of that goes towards streaming services. That's the pie that you're trying to get a piece of. Makes $13 a month seem a bit restrictive, especially when the user considers what they get for $13 a month vs what they could get someplace else. That puts you in almost direct competition with streaming GIANTS like Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix, both coming in at about $15 a month (10 for netflix if you dont want HD) for HD streaming with massive libraries, not to mention pretty much every other AAA MMO with a subscription model (if there are any left worth mentioning). Makes $2-3 for

You must be registered to see the links

game much more reasonable in that context.

Anyways, I don't really have anything more to add. Marketing is literally 100% about manipulating people and convincing them to give their money to you.

If you're so deadset on keeping the current build at 10€ (which is a mistake for the reasons I mentioned), rather than making the current build more expensive, how about going the other direction and putting the previous build, now 1 month old, into the 5€ tier? Personally, I'd prefer to see the current build release maybe 2 weeks later to the 5€ tier, but that's me being greedy as a consumer and wanting more for less. Baby steps.

Edit Sidenote: The fact that nobody has pirated/shared the 26.1 bugfix yet should tell you something as well...the pricing is discouraging to the point that not one person has wanted to be the 'hero' and take that 10€ bullet to save their fellow pirates from the bug.

 

[farukzafer]

i use save editor but game have error corrupt save file pls help for in game money

?

 

[Team Monolith]

?

Unreal engine safes are in binary, I don't think you can just edit numbers. It probably messes things up. So I can't help you with that.
But getting money in the game really isn't that hard. Flying once for Drox gives you $50 and takes like 2-3min. If you buy a Girls favorite gift as often as you can with that you pretty much already got her maxed out... Or just talk and do things with her, then you don't need any money...

 

[ParadigmShift]

Thanks for the nice feedback

Here my thought on your ideas:
1) 'total amount pledged is over X' stuff... I tried asking but it is hard to reach them. But I am sure they have a person dedicated to the development of their webpage and their webpage handels the stuff.

2) we already have in-game credits and a name in the credits tier.

3) "Voting power" Isn't money = power in a vote way more unethical than some cheat codes? Besides that this is also not something nativ Patreon supports and needs to be done via your own website.

4) "early alpha" What you get for 10 already the very lates build we have. Making a build requires setup/time and things being completed so we can't do it all the time, once a month is often already for a small team game dev. So would you suggest that for 10 you get an older version and only for more you get the newest?

5) "Limit amount of patreons and abuse FOMO" well yes I can see this working, but than again I am trying to be mr. nice dev (even if you get another expression because of the cheats) and abusing FOMO sound unethical to me.

Hope I didn't miss anything

I just looked at your itch.io, I hadn't before, and saw you're selling your game for $20 total, but *not* updating it regularly (its already 2 months behind).

But the fact that you're asking for $20 as a single one-time payment on a different platform (with irregular update schedules, seemingly updated when you remember/feel like it), and still asking for 10€ / 13$ a month for the game through patreon is even more unacceptable. Do you honestly expect people to sub for more than 1-2 months? Because they'd be re-purchasing half of the game every month, and even considering that they are getting the current build, the added content each month is not $13 worth. Just one more thing driving people to sub for a single month and then cancel.

I'd give you $20 right now, one-time payment, on itch.io IF the game was updated monthly and not potentially months behind, ie current and all future builds including bugfixes, simultaneously released on Patreon and itch.io. BUT you could get potentially more money from me subbing monthly at $2-3 to get the same product, after a time you'd end up making more from Patreon than you would from me outright purchasing from itch.io. This is the same angle Andrealphus is using. $20 one time, or $2-3 monthly.

Also, after reading on your itch.io, I too am very confused as to why St*am would reject your game from their platform. Seems like there is an ample number of other games with similar adult content, including Andrealphus' game, which I feel includes many of the same kinks, including the 'step-sibling' angle. Even Ill*sion's games on are the St*am platform. I'm skeptical that St*am rejected your game because of its sexual nature, there must be more to it. Getting the game onto St*am, even though they do take a larger % of the revenue, would get you a LOT of exposure. Sales of digital content are a volumes game, not a margins game; you have little to no costs to recoup from the sale of each product.

 

[Team Monolith]

I just looked at your itch.io, I hadn't before, and saw you're selling your game for $20 total, but *not* updating it regularly (its already 2 months behind).

But the fact that you're asking for $20 as a single one-time payment on a different platform (with irregular update schedules, seemingly updated when you remember/feel like it), and still asking for 10€ / 13$ a month for the game through patreon is even more unacceptable. Do you honestly expect people to sub for more than 1-2 months? Because they'd be re-purchasing half of the game every month, and even considering that they are getting the current build, the added content each month is not $13 worth. Just one more thing driving people to sub for a single month and then cancel.

I'd give you $20 right now, one-time payment, on itch.io IF the game was updated monthly and not potentially months behind, ie current and all future builds including bugfixes, simultaneously released on Patreon and itch.io. BUT you could get potentially more money from me subbing monthly at $2-3 to get the same product, after a time you'd end up making more from Patreon than you would from me outright purchasing from itch.io. This is the same angle Andrealphus is using. $20 one time, or $2-3 monthly.

Also, after reading on your itch.io, I too am very confused as to why St*am would reject your game from their platform. Seems like there is an ample number of other games with similar adult content, including Andrealphus' game, which I feel includes many of the same kinks, including the 'step-sibling' angle. Even Ill*sion's games on are the St*am platform. I'm skeptical that St*am rejected your game because of its sexual nature, there must be more to it. Getting the game onto St*am, even though they do take a larger % of the revenue, would get you a LOT of exposure. Sales of digital content are a volumes game, not a margins game; you have little to no costs to recoup from the sale of each product.

Info about the itch version (it does get regular updates but every 3 month)

You must be registered to see the links

About Steam I agree with you, there is no reason they shouldn't allow our game. But also there is nothing we can do about it. Besides taking it to court, but I rather not do that againts multi-billion dollar company... (trust me the fact the game is not steam makes me very sad, I had multiple nightmares because of it... but I am powerless.)

 

[ParadigmShift]

Info about the itch version (it does get regular updates but every 3 month)

You must be registered to see the links

About St*am I agree with you, there is no reason they shouldn't allow our game. But also there is nothing we can do about it. Besides taking it to court, but I rather not do that againts multi-billion dollar company... (trust me the fact the game is not steam makes me very sad, I had multiple nightmares because of it... but I am powerless.)

It's not about fighting them; it's about pressing them for more information on the basis of trying to work with them rather than against, and asking what needs to happen for them to allow it to be published on St*am. There's must be specific addressable concerns. In the end, if they allow it to be published, they'll get their % of the profits either way. Odds are there's some deeper issue like copyright infringement concerns, which I'm surprised they wouldn't disclose in their rejection.

St*am will allow absolute garbage to be published on their platform, and I mean absolute dumpster fire, flaming dog shit, trash. That fact makes me cry as a consumer, as they have zero curation anymore and you have to sift through mountains of the absolute worst indie cash grab garbage to find anything even half decent, and much of it is exactly what it looks like: shameless attempts at suckering people out of a couple bucks. Even if you only sell 100 copies to people that are curious, at $5 a sale, I'm still ~$350 richer than I was before.

Don't get me wrong, everyone has to start somewhere, but some dev's fail to be objective and recognize how much people value their work and want big name game prices for, well just plain bad games that arent worth the few cents of bandwidth they consume. Second lesson of sales is it doesn't matter what you think your product is worth, it matters what the consumer thinks it's worth, and convincing them it's worth as much as you think it's worth. Even if I poured my heart and soul into something, and think it's worth $50 cuz I worked so hard on it, if someone will only give me $20...hate to say it, it's worth $20 to the market. Sentimentality has no marketable value. This is not a hill you want to choose to die on, because you'll lose and still be broke; $20 is better than $0, don't be afraid to haggle though, push for $30.

I mean...they allow a game like Genital Jousting on the platform...and countless others like it. Obviously, the bar is pretty low for what they'll accept. In fact, that you got rejected is almost impressive, but its far more likely due to something logistical or clerical in your submission, rather than the content of the game itself. I can't find anything so far that I would find particularly offensive or violates any laws, other than the obvious parody of a handful of other IPs (R*ck & M*rty, V*caloid, F*nal F*ntasy 7) but that in itself isn't illegal. Basically, as long as it isn't illegal and it's marked for the correct age group, St*am don't give a f-; they get their money either way.