Questions regarding posting self made content

[YumamiSoft]

Hey all!

So, here's the deal. We're two game devs who've recently jumped into the deep end of adult game development. We've both got about 8 years of industry experience with released games behind us, though given the nature of our content we want to keep a bit on the down low.

We've wrapped up our first game and are now just twiddling our thumbs waiting for the green light from DLSite's approval squad.

We thought it'd be cool to make a post of our game here when it hits the shelves, partly to spread the word but mostly to get some honest feedback. We know piracy is inevitable, so we're also planning to make a "pirate build" that's almost identical to the paid version. The only difference? It'll give a shout-out to our Patreon page when you exit the game.

Truth be told, we're a bit out of our element here. Game devving? Sure thing. But marketing and self-promotion? That's uncharted territory. We've both always been lurkers.

My fear is that we'll come off as faceless advertisers when we really intend to build a community to make a proper living from developing games.

So, what do you guys think? Any and all opinions are welcome. Really. We're all ears.

 

[bindr]

You're very much welcome to open up a thread showcasing your game to us here on F95 Zone + explaining your monetization model. What most people here are used to is a trickle-down Patreon approach where everyone gets older releases while new and exclusive stuff is on Patreon. And a trusting community naturally evolves in such an environment because everyone can see what you're doing and what is already working/available, plus a bit of direct back and forth.

I would also definitely advise making, at least, some sort of a demo that people can run and try out for a a bit, giving you both feedback and potential customers.

 

[YumamiSoft]

Hey, thanks for your response!

I've seen others use the trickle-down Patreon approach, however for this particular game that we're about to release we've decided to just to for a one time payment, all future updates included. Those updates will however simply be bugfixes rather than content updates.

However going forward after this, we're definitely looking more and more into the trickle-down model with regular devlogs and community interactions precisely for the reasons you've stated. Although we haven't decided upon anything yet, it would be nice to use the release of this game as a good kickstart for a community. That is, presuming everyone doesn't hate it!

Demos will certainly be available as well on both DLSite and Itch. Both of them will however be censored. Not really as an incentive to drive in customers, but moreso because we were a bit worried DLSite might take an issue to an uncensored version being publicly and easily available.

Where would be the correct place for us to post about this game? Simply under https://f95zone.to/forums/games.2/?

Again, thank you so much for your welcoming response

 

[averagehtmlenjoyer]

Hey, thanks for your response!

I've seen others use the trickle-down Patreon approach, however for this particular game that we're about to release we've decided to just to for a one time payment, all future updates included. Those updates will however simply be bugfixes rather than content updates.

However going forward after this, we're definitely looking more and more into the trickle-down model with regular devlogs and community interactions precisely for the reasons you've stated. Although we haven't decided upon anything yet, it would be nice to use the release of this game as a good kickstart for a community. That is, presuming everyone doesn't hate it!

Demos will certainly be available as well on both DLSite and Itch. Both of them will however be censored. Not really as an incentive to drive in customers, but moreso because we were a bit worried DLSite might take an issue to an uncensored version being publicly and easily available.

Where would be the correct place for us to post about this game? Simply under https://f95zone.to/forums/games.2/?

Again, thank you so much for your welcoming response

There's a guide on how to post a new game here https://f95zone.to/threads/how-to-post-a-new-game.159990/

Your game will already need to be available for the game to be put on here, if not you can make a development thread if you want. After you made the request it will take around a day for a moderator to take a look at it and if good move it to the games section and it will get promoted on the latest updates page

 

[YumamiSoft]

Perfect, I'll have a read!

 

[AlexFenec]

We thought it'd be cool to make a post of our game here when it hits the shelves, partly to spread the word but mostly to get some honest feedback.

we've decided to just to for a one time payment, all future updates included

On the self-marketting side, I'm not sure how effective it will be if you post a completed game here.
The game will be on the first page of the latest updates once, then it will be drowned in other new releases/updates.

You can make a signature with a link to your game and use it, it will give you a bit of publicity when you are active on the forums.
If you can make a signature(s) available for fans that like your game, they might help you bring more eyes to your project.

For the game thread creation, I suggest trying to make the Tags list between 12 and 30 items long, based on the reaction I get when I scan trough the game previews. Less than 12 gives the impression that the game has little content, more than 30 gives the impression that the game has barely any content for each of them.
That might be just me though.

 

[YumamiSoft]

On the self-marketting side, I'm not sure how effective it will be if you post a completed game here.
The game will be on the first page of the latest updates once, then it will be drowned in other new releases/updates.

I was hoping the thread would stay somewhat relevant if people were discussing the game, or if we update the game. Would this not be the case?

You can make a signature with a link to your game and use it, it will give you a bit of publicity when you are active on the forums.

I suggest trying to make the Tags list between 12 and 30 items long

Awesome tips, I'll be sure to do that!

Thanks!

 

[osanaiko]

Each time you update the game and post the new downloads in your thread OP then you can report to mods with a request it get pushed to the top of latest releases again. However, it needs to be a genuine update with new content (not a minor change or simple bugfix) and there is a 2 week cooldown between bumps.

The game thread itself will remain available in the Games section, but it will not be as visible there. You can draw attention to it by doing things like including a link in your signature and then posting comments / participating in other threads. You can also do a "development thread" for your next game, and regular posts there will bring some attention to your previous work.

EDIT: averagehtmlenjoyer and AlexFenec both posted basically this same stuff. doh!