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After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

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Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#241

Post by aschearer »

wardedVibe wrote: post #224
aschearer wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trying to release a game with "ugly" or "unremarkable" artwork is playing on hard mode. Be ugly in a "visually stunning" way that's original. E.g. Cruelty Squad. I know there are counterexamples. Many of them are just plain lucky, like Flappy Birds. This very article is about a game that kneecapped its sales for decades on account of being ugly.

I mean... df literally wasn't for sale until recently. They only monetized because American healthcare is bananas (its mentioned in this article and discussed more fully earlier https://www.pcgamer.com/if-dwarf-fortress-sells-millions-on-... ). Otherwise it sounds like they would've been content with the ongoing patreon funding they had. It was quite popular before the graphics version.

It's true, Tarn and Zach are very committed to their art. It's really impressive and inspirational, truly, and I'm happy for their success -- both critical and financial.

Personally, I'm willing to make sacrifices to make games, but I'm not willing to go as far as them.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#243

Post by todfox »

aschearer wrote: post #236
todfox wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After four years working on my retro game nearly full time, and several launches, I still don't understand marketing enough to understand what to do differently. A lot of the advice out there is something like: "create a community" or "go join several communities" or "get to know other indie devs on Twitter". To me, this simply feels fake. I don't really participate in any online communities. I spend enough time in f…

Assuming the game is "Hazmat Hijinks: Total Meltdown" on Steam. Here's some tough love: The video takes way too long to get to gameplay. Screenshots do a poor job explaining what the mechanic is. I've read the capsule image, watched some of the trailer, looked at several of the screenshots and still can't tell you what the gameplay loop is. Sort of a top down puzzle thing? With a "match the color" mechanic? The art i…

Thanks for your feedback. I agree it needs visual improvements. I chose not to spend money on an artist -- just had too much in the project already. The trailer should have been done by a 3rd party. I don't grasp what is going to appeal to someone anyway.

You know what? I won't make any more. I think I'm done.

I'm not interested in learning what people like or adjusting to what's popular. Why on earth would I go through this again? Nothing I am interested in working on is ever going to be profitable. Simple as that.

This has nothing to do with your comment. I've had it with programming, I've had it with tech, I've had it with people. I will just scrape by doing the bare minimum to survive as a freelancer.

I wish I could throw my computer into a river.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#244

Post by aschearer »

todfox wrote: post #243
aschearer wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming the game is "Hazmat Hijinks: Total Meltdown" on Steam. Here's some tough love: The video takes way too long to get to gameplay. Screenshots do a poor job explaining what the mechanic is. I've read the capsule image, watched some of the trailer, looked at several of the screenshots and still can't tell you what the gameplay loop is. Sort of a top down puzzle thing? With a "match the color" mechanic? The art i…

Thanks for your feedback. I agree it needs visual improvements. I chose not to spend money on an artist -- just had too much in the project already. The trailer should have been done by a 3rd party. I don't grasp what is going to appeal to someone anyway. You know what? I won't make any more. I think I'm done. I'm not interested in learning what people like or adjusting to what's popular. Why on earth would I go thro…

Isn't being an artist great? Hang in there.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#245

Post by eloff »

todfox wrote: post #243
aschearer wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming the game is "Hazmat Hijinks: Total Meltdown" on Steam. Here's some tough love: The video takes way too long to get to gameplay. Screenshots do a poor job explaining what the mechanic is. I've read the capsule image, watched some of the trailer, looked at several of the screenshots and still can't tell you what the gameplay loop is. Sort of a top down puzzle thing? With a "match the color" mechanic? The art i…

Thanks for your feedback. I agree it needs visual improvements. I chose not to spend money on an artist -- just had too much in the project already. The trailer should have been done by a 3rd party. I don't grasp what is going to appeal to someone anyway. You know what? I won't make any more. I think I'm done. I'm not interested in learning what people like or adjusting to what's popular. Why on earth would I go thro…

Just going out on a limb here, but that's burnout. Take a break. Do things off the computer. Programming will call you back when you're ready. Or you'll find something new. Either way, take that break.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#246

Post by schemescape »

todfox wrote: post #200
dabeeeenster wrote: post #76

So this happened to a guy that worked for me. Loved video games, super talented front end dev. Made a horror game in Unity at evenings and weekends with his best friend. Launched it on Steam. Very low sales. But he learnt a huge amount about marketing and game design based on player feedback. Designed a second game, put all the marketing learnings into it, 48 hours after launch the biggest streamer on twitch was stre…

After four years working on my retro game nearly full time, and several launches, I still don't understand marketing enough to understand what to do differently. A lot of the advice out there is something like: "create a community" or "go join several communities" or "get to know other indie devs on Twitter". To me, this simply feels fake. I don't really participate in any online communities. I spend enough time in f…

I don’t have any advice, but I will say the art in the screenshots didn’t grab my attention.

For what it’s worth, I had a similar experience. I launched a game on itch.io for fun, and got a ton of positive feedback (including “I love this game!” And “I can’t believe this is free!”), but when I launched on Steam (also for free, but now with music people said they liked and new features), it bombed.

The cherry on top was when I posted a Show HN here (it’s a zachlike programming game, using an esolang—-right up HN’s alley), and didn’t get a single upvote. I’ll admit: that hurt.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#247

Post by erik_seaberg »

jujube3 wrote: post #22
TrevorJ wrote: post #2

They are definitely in 'set for life if we make wise choices' territory. In another month I'm betting they will be in 'set for life even if we make foolish choices' territory. I'm really happy for them. They really stayed true to their passion and I'm happy to see them rewarded for this.

> They are definitely in 'set for life if we make wise choices' territory Sure it seems that way now, but what happens when a volcano appears under their house and it floods with lava? Or they go to war with the elves?

Stories have shown them living above ground, hopefully now they can afford a properly dwarfy fort down in a stone layer.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#249

Post by mardifoufs »

jedberg wrote: post #118
decremental wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's some stuff I found. > In 2017, he voiced his support for Gamergate, an alt-right and sexist movement that largely targeted women, LGBTQ, and other minority groups in the industry. At the time, he referred to feminism as a “social disease,” claiming on Twitter that feminists were “overtly sexist against men.” At one point, Persson said that anyone who opposed “heterosexual pride day” should be “shot” and also t…

> In other words he's just a normal person who holds views everyone in the world held until 5 minutes ago. You're either being disingenuous or live in a very small information bubble, because the majority of the world never held those opinions in the entire history of the planet.

Do you seriously believe that? Your comment is incredible euro/western centric. Wildly so, too. Especially w.r.t LGBTQ rights. (Not saying I agree with notch, just completely disagree with your point about the majority).

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#250

Post by factsarelolz »

atomicnumber3 wrote: post #237
spacephysics wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree there is a problem with high healthcare costs, and food costs especially now. However what we saw with covid stimulus and unemployment wasn’t the “everyone’s now an artist” outcome that is suggested with UBI. We definitely saw creatives able to express and build their visions into the world, thanks to the money and additional time. But we also saw, and still have ongoing, many people who choose not to work [0…

Covid was not a great experiment. The stimulus checks were 6+ months apart each and would barely pay rent for the month in which they arrived for anyone not living in a shoebox. And UE has a lot of stipulations about you spending all your time trying to get a new job.

> UE has a lot of stipulations

Absolutely no auditing was being done. Some states require you reach out to or inquire about at least 2 jobs per week, nothing close to "all of your time" YMMV I suppose.

>U.S. watchdog estimates $45.6 billion in pandemic unemployment fraud

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/22/unemploym...

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