WHEN'S THE BEST TIME TO SUBMIT YOUR GAME?

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Yeah, yet another topic about marketing from me (I'm sorry!).

I'm interested to hear people's opinions on this, mainly because I'm feeling pretty confident about the current game I'm working on, and I don't want it to just disappear in the shadow of other people's games as soon as it's posted.

I will try to market the game a little bit more than I usually do (I'll probably upload a couple of YT videos showcasing it, showcase the soundtrack, submit the game to Game Jolt and maybe even Steam!). It's a non-commercial game, if any of you are wondering.

To be more specific about my question, I'm talking both about the time of the game's development (if it's in production/completed status, early stages etc.) and how things are looking in the community (are there any famous/big games releasing near my game's release?).

Thanks in advance!
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
TBH I don't think there's a way to control for other games. Just mak gam and mak it as good as you can, and hope people lik it.

I personally don't see a need to release a demo of a noncommercial game, but other people seem to think that's cool, so whatevs. I say release it when it's done and let luck take care of the rest.
For this game I'm making, I'm actually not planning to release a demo at all, mainly because the game will be pretty short (about 30-45 minutes). A demo would ruin the overall experience in this case, IMO.

I'm wondering if I should release the game before it's complete, or not. If I submit the gamepage when it's finished, I might get a stronger start. However, if I submit it a little while before it's done, the game might receive more "hype".

Thanks for taking your time to share your thoughts, Suzy! If a game isn't good, it usually won't do good either. I do however feel that marketing is a vital part of a game's success.
That's a good question. One thing I noticed that seems to work, is a lot of developers will create a page just before a game is ready to launch, to kinda' drum up excitement. You get some earlier subscribers who want to see what'll happen, you'll catch people's eye, and then a little while later, you'll drop the game.

I've got a project I'm about to submit a game page for. I'm going to wait until I'm almost done, then submit it, then wrap up the little bit left before releasing the game.

Reason being, back when I was actively developing Veritas (stuck in developer's hell for a bit, now), I would watch the game page all day. When I put out my first demo, immediately these three or four games would skip right above it, and Veritas would trickle down to the bottom in about an hour. A few days later, I updated a fixed demo and, sure enough, after watching the game page all day, there were three or four games hovering near the top of the list all day, and skipped over it once I released updated. The demo was released, and to the bottom it goes. I couldn't imagine how that would feel if that was my complete game: submitting it and having it immediately fall off the first page. That's got to be a painful feeling.

It almost seems like drumming up excitement seems to be a good route to go. Post the game page, start adding some art, maybe a blog post after a day or two with additional features and tweaks you're making, then drop the big one.
That's a really good point, Gredge. Releasing a finished game and have it immediately drop to the bottom is one of the main things that I'm worried about. I'm very sorry to that about Veritas. I guess it's just something that happens to all of us every now and then.

I'm probably going to submit my game a couple of days (maybe even a week) before the game is finished. That will probably add more interest to the game before it's released, like you said.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, buddy!
Don't fret about the buzz... seriously. >.<;
If you put a download up, there's 12 spots on the front page dedicated to just showing the 12 newest downloads. Unless you time your game for the end of a gammak event (silly!) it'll be there for at least a day or two. Buzz indicates only if there's a lot of interaction on your gamepages (reviews, comments, blogs, downloads, views, etc) so if games jump above yours that just means that they're buzzing atm. There's also 12 games in that section shown so having it jump down 3-4 spots isn't the be-all, end-all. If your game is any good, it'll accrue buzz on it's own over time.

:/

Just focus on making a good game. There are ways to get it noticed - ask the reviewers/LPers/etc of the site to give it a look (there's a thread in this section dedicated to listing those who are happy to do that kind of thing). Advertise over social media sites like tumblr, reddit (there's an RM section and a game dev section there), twitter and facebook.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
luiishu535
When's the best time to submit your game?


Next Tuesday. Oh, no. Wait, it's a leap year, so next Friday.
author=pianotm
luiishu535
When's the best time to submit your game?
Next Tuesday. Oh, no. Wait, it's a leap year, so next Friday.

Lol, nope. Not gonna look at the queue on Tuesday now. Worst time to submit~
I would say don't over-rely on the game page alone to generate hype. If you've put enough effort into the project and really want it to succeed, you should consider bringing it outside of RMN, too. Keeping your game insular and never showing it off elsewhere is going to hurt you more than anything.
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
I'll play your game and post a bunch on your gamepage. Don't worry! :P
Thanks for the helpful replies, everyone! I definitely understand that I'll need to expand the horizon and show off my game more outside of the RM community. I've wanted to release my games on more platforms before, but I'm afraid that Disney might sue me. :3 This time, I thankfully won't have to worry about things like that.

I apologize for asking such silly questions all of the time. I guess my self-esteem is pretty low.

author=InfectionFiles
I'll play your game and post a bunch on your gamepage. Don't worry! :P
Thanks, man! You know I'll do the same for your games. ;)
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=SgtMettool
I would say don't over-rely on the game page alone to generate hype. If you've put enough effort into the project and really want it to succeed, you should consider bringing it outside of RMN, too. Keeping your game insular and never showing it off elsewhere is going to hurt you more than anything.


What if it's a RMN injoke game :V
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
author=Sooz
author=SgtMettool
I would say don't over-rely on the game page alone to generate hype. If you've put enough effort into the project and really want it to succeed, you should consider bringing it outside of RMN, too. Keeping your game insular and never showing it off elsewhere is going to hurt you more than anything.
What if it's a RMN injoke game :V

Then you're already doomed for failure and should just stop.
The game actually features some RMN cameos. Kentona, the town's rebel that lives under a red roof (when pretty much all of the roofs are blue in the town), is one example. Let me know if anyone else wants a cameo. ;)
Sure, why not? Cameos make the world go round.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
Cool! I might have a neat little idea for your cameo. Either way, if I add you as an NPC, would you mind of you used a bit of a ghetto language? Gotta' make the game consistent in theme, ya mean?

@Suzy: :O I thought that was a KoRn song, lol!
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
Nah man that's some delicious 80s funk there!
I have been known to swear and use slang on occasion... all the fucking time. XD
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Sooz
I like this cameo

Oh, good grief, that woman's hair (at 2:06)! Also, what's Geordi doing outside of engineering? Or not riding the Reading Rainbow?
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