VN Ren'Py Steps of Debauchery - marketing issues

[Fooxied]

Hello fellow degens!

I've been working on my game for over a year now - at first mostly on my own, for the past few months in a team of 4. During this time I think I've encountered all the turbulence that developers experience along the way, we've met all of them, but I know there's still one very important one ahead.

In a month's time we plan to release the first episode of our game - a sandbox/free roam game, with a decently done interface, impeccable renders and a remarkable storyline. We have more than 3,000 renders, a lot of animations, more than 40k script words. I think this is a really solid portion as a first release.

The last element I haven't dealt with yet is the marketing of the game. And this is where my questions and doubts arise. I've been lurking the forums for a while now, and I know that quite a few well-made games face the problem of poor marketing, so that quite a few people don't get into a game at all, causing them to be abandoned.

I am wondering about the possibilities of promoting and adversizing the game - free, requiring time and paid. I would appreciate any tips. Also, If you would be willing to support us in all this and be the 5th person in the team, we would also be happy to consider this option.

 

[Marcypawn]

I don't have much experience in marketing myself, but this post by TranscendentThots
might have some helpful stuff

 

[Fooxied]

I came across this article as I was looking for some information. I agree with most of it, but I would need information on what it looks like from the practical side as well. Namely, is there a paid option to buy advertising on F95zone? Why do some games appear on the main page and also in the most popular ones? What are the possibilities for advertising on Reddit besides posting? If they are paid, how much do such treatments cost, etc.? Btw, thank you for posting this, as it will certainly be useful to some extent.

 

[AMUR48]

I came across this article as I was looking for some information. I agree with most of it, but I would need information on what it looks like from the practical side as well. Namely, is there a paid option to buy advertising on F95zone? Why do some games appear on the main page and also in the most popular ones? What are the possibilities for advertising on Reddit besides posting? If they are paid, how much do such treatments cost, etc.? Btw, thank you for posting this, as it will certainly be useful to some extent.

I know the answer to one of the questions, games for which users voted appear on the main screen so that they appear there, I read about it somewhere

 

[Fooxied]

I have the impression that for a long time the same games are displayed and once in a while they change.

 

[AMUR48]

I have the impression that for a long time the same games are displayed and once in a while they change.

yes, I agree that they don’t change for a long time, but I remember there were other games that are not there now, maybe after a certain time there will be voting again and they will change, or maybe they will change one game at a time, I don’t know

 

[Saint Blackmoor]

You could post a preview/trailer on Youtube, Twitter, and on Imgur.
PM me about that 5th team member spot.

experienced-proofreader

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

Marketing of your game should start around 2nd/3rd month of development, but I guess I follow more of a Gavin Belson strategy when it comes to marketing. The moment I have anything, I announce it, and get feedback.

Having a team of 4 people for adult title is pretty impressive, especially if you can get everyone to work in 3D software, that would save so much time!

Going back to marketing, this is a good article:

You must be registered to see the links

The best place to market is... drumroll... F95! The best locations are: Image Thread in Art, Game Dev Journal in Projects, and obviously, having a game posted here and making sure the moment it is posted you maximize the traffic of people going there.

Then, there is your basic stuff. If you want to have time in a day still, select 3 core platforms to spread the word about your game. Twitter is kinda dead without Blue Checkmark, so DeviantArt / smth else, really depends on what you are looking for.

 

[Wildman Dev]

Your concerns are very fitting in my case, Fooxied. As someone with >12k renders in their game, I probably miffed the marketing of it when it first released.

Others have already given great advice, so let me tell you this (and I think it's more important than initial release marketing advice): Having a huge initial release is a great idea, but make sure your updates don't take too long. If there was one thing that matters above all else, it's probably that.

Sizable, quality releases seem intelligent on the surface, and in some ways they are, but releasing 700 render updates in 45 days will almost always beat 1400 render updates in 90.

Trust me, lol.

 

[Fooxied]

You could post a preview/trailer on Youtube, Twitter, and on Imgur.
PM me about that 5th team member spot.

experienced-proofreader

You must be registered to see the links

In the main I am looking for a marketing person, but anyone willing to support the project is welcome - my discord is: fooxied,if you want to talk

Marketing of your game should start around 2nd/3rd month of development, but I guess I follow more of a Gavin Belson strategy when it comes to marketing. The moment I have anything, I announce it, and get feedback.

Having a team of 4 people for adult title is pretty impressive, especially if you can get everyone to work in 3D software, that would save so much time!

Going back to marketing, this is a good article:

You must be registered to see the links

The best place to market is... drumroll... F95! The best locations are: Image Thread in Art, Game Dev Journal in Projects, and obviously, having a game posted here and making sure the moment it is posted you maximize the traffic of people going there.

Then, there is your basic stuff. If you want to have time in a day still, select 3 core platforms to spread the word about your game. Twitter is kinda dead without Blue Checkmark, so DeviantArt / smth else, really depends on what you are looking for.

Marketing in the 2-3 month period is very tempting, but we have put up a sizable first release and invested a lot of funds, so we would like to start it as soon as possible. The article, on the other hand, is very interesting and we will definitely get something valuable out of it, thanks! As for the 4 people, unfortunately I do the rendering myself. The game is based on a sandbox, so besides me there is a writer/proofreader, a programmer and a graphic designer for the whole UX/UI. In the future we will definitely hire more people, but as I mentioned before, we have to reckon with funds

 

[Fooxied]

Your concerns are very fitting in my case, Fooxied. As someone with >12k renders in their game, I probably miffed the marketing of it when it first released.

Others have already given great advice, so let me tell you this (and I think it's more important than initial release marketing advice): Having a huge initial release is a great idea, but make sure your updates don't take too long. If there was one thing that matters above all else, it's probably that.

Sizable, quality releases seem intelligent on the surface, and in some ways they are, but releasing 700 render updates in 45 days will almost always beat 1400 render updates in 90.

Trust me, lol.

I see that your game has already achieved success, so practical opinion is always the most important I was just wondering about this approach to the matter, because more frequent updates make the game display more often on the forum. This changes my approach a bit, because we actually planned to do bigger updates every 2-3 months.

 

[MissFortune]

Having a team of 4 people for adult title is pretty impressive, especially if you can get everyone to work in 3D software, that would save so much time!

It's not likely to last long. Just go look at the Yihman/SinAppeal beef, and that was just between two people. Teams in a space like this largely never work for a variety of different reason. From laziness to differences of opinion. And having 4/5 people on a team just doubles those possibilities. And the bigger problem with 4 people rendering is that nobody's going to have the same rendering style, unless the team's leader is basically use them as a pseudo render farm. It's just kind of an unfortunate reality of working in teams, they're usually destined to fall apart. Hired guns are always going to be better than teams. As they're working by a contractual demand and have a motivation to work.

The LP link on marketing is a good start, but a dev's social media should absolutely not be empty a month prior to release. Teaser renders/animations, update posts, retweets from other devs you're friends with, etc. Get some activity going. Something's better than nothing.

But stuff like "impeccable renders", "remarkable storyline", "a lot of animations" (despite using nothing but AniMate/of the sort in their trailer). What does that mean? By impeccable, I think the top tier of Daz renderings. Summer's Gone/Where It All Began, CoBD, Acquainted, Race of Life, etc. Are these renders on that level? Based on the trailer and image posted here, they look good. Definitely a few ticks above average, but not Ocean or Philly. Putting your renders on that level and advertising them as such isn't the best idea. Because, while good, what I've seen doesn't hang with the aforementioned. Stuff like that just makes it seem like a bunch of hot air, and a recipe for failure.

 

[Wildman Dev]

...Damn MissFortune!

 

[Fooxied]

Every point of view and criticism is welcome, but this skepticism is totally unnecessary. It was just a few epithets to color the thread, not to emphasize that someone is amazing.

Also the people I work with won't suddenly reconsider, because they are not internally involved in the project, but employed and their work is paid for. As I mentioned earlier, these are people unrelated to rendering, but overall game. I'm not offended, but unnecessarily undermining someone's ambitions is.... unnecessary

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

It's not likely to last long. Just go look at the Yihman/SinAppeal beef, and that was just between two people. Teams in a space like this largely never work for a variety of different reason.

There is some pretty good research on how volunteer teams last an average of 4 months after doing a solid amount of brainwashing at the start (motivating to work on the project/idea). Having a good leader with a community that can perform small tasks occasionally can still be beneficial, but yes, it eventually falls apart. Contracting helps, but even when you have strict legal terms, etc. - it's still kinda a coin toss with people. People complain that it is difficult to get into sfw gaming industry, when the same people lose all motivation after a couple of months.. Don't know if it's a good comparable to adult gaming, but I don't see why not, since here you have anonymity.

Tldr, no one is invested in your game as much as you are... unless you are developing Cyberpunk or Witcher or smth along those lines.

Fooxied quick tip - you might wanna disable scrolling on the website

 

[Fooxied]

Oh yeah, haha. That's wise idea

 

[GogolBordello]

Hello fellow degens!

I've been working on my game for over a year now - at first mostly on my own, for the past few months in a team of 4. During this time I think I've encountered all the turbulence that developers experience along the way, we've met all of them, but I know there's still one very important one ahead.

In a month's time we plan to release the first episode of our game - a sandbox/free roam game, with a decently done interface, impeccable renders and a remarkable storyline. We have more than 3,000 renders, a lot of animations, more than 40k script words. I think this is a really solid portion as a first release.

The last element I haven't dealt with yet is the marketing of the game. And this is where my questions and doubts arise. I've been lurking the forums for a while now, and I know that quite a few well-made games face the problem of poor marketing, so that quite a few people don't get into a game at all, causing them to be abandoned.

I am wondering about the possibilities of promoting and adversizing the game - free, requiring time and paid. I would appreciate any tips. Also, If you would be willing to support us in all this and be the 5th person in the team, we would also be happy to consider this option.

View attachment 2757617

Sorry but i just played the game tonight and i LOVE it. Is this photo a marketing tool, because i haven't seen it while playing. Im considering supporting the game, after i will learn a bit more.

 

[Fooxied]

Sorry but i just played the game tonight and i LOVE it. Is this photo a marketing tool, because i haven't seen it while playing. Im considering supporting the game, after i will learn a bit more.

This is a collectible photo available to view in the game. All wallpapers and other additional renders that I prepared and did not find in the game are available in one place from the "Devoted" tier on my patreon

 

[anne O'nymous]

I know the answer to one of the questions, games for which users voted appear on the main screen so that they appear there, I read about it somewhere

A bit late, but this is incorrect.

The featured games are the result of a vote, but only involving the staff members and moderators. And the list is usually updated three/four times by year.

 

[Fooxied]

That's right, I received the information about it and you are right. Currently, however, it is a dead list, because they are preparing for changes in the functioning of the forum.