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Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

playadrift.com

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Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#301

Post by honzzz »

lambda wrote: post #262
ruswick wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, that analogy is true: purportedly, doping is really pervasive in pro-cycling and is basically necessitated to be anywhere near competitive. The same is true of the app store. It's not optimal, but it's the status quo that tens of thousands of developers face: you can't win if you don't employ dubious means.

By the way, pro cycling had pretty much managed to kick its doping habit. You've seen all of the scandals over the past few years because they got more serious about cracking down on it, and once a few of the top pros were caught, they pointed the finger at the others. I think that most people believe that the last few Tours have been clean.

>> I think that most people believe that the last few Tours have been clean.

I used to race (although not on very high level), I know the environment and I would bet my balls that last few Tours have NOT been clean.

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#302

Post by queasyroberto »

as associate producer on 65 iOS games w/ $12M in revenue to date...

you guys made a nice game, but it's very fringe, and it's not even super striking like swords and sworcery, which, btw, was not a big financial success.

i learned the hard way by working on ~20 super fringe games that failed hard (less than $5k total revenue) during the early days of the app store. these are the games where the artists went wild and really had themselves a time and were super pleased with themselves... not a formula for success.

your art is fringe, your gameplay is fringe.

try finding something else not so fringe that you guys STILL love, and make another game, and then another...

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#303

Post by powatom »

VonGuard wrote: post #173
phil wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is toxic advice and putting it out there makes the ecosystem worse. Giving it anonymously but backing it by appealing to your authority as an IGF judge, etc is bullshit. (And that's true regardless of whether it's effective -- it clearly is, though I think mostly in the short term). Edit: Since I'm being fairly negative here, I want to add that VonGuard's comments on gameplay and adding unique elements seem well…

OK, fair enough. I am not giving the cheating advice as an IGF judge. The advice for improving gameplay, and my compliments on the quality were as an IGF judge. My comments on the app store are strictly from the cynical perspective of seeing what works. It has to be said. If you go in not knowing the table stakes, yer at a disadvantage. This is just like search engine optimization: fluid, ever changing, highly compet…

I can't help but disagree with your approach in principle. I acknowledge that your advice may be sound, and you may well have done the research necessary to arrive at your opinions - but the fact remains that you are giving people incredibly cynical advice without risking using your own credibility to back it up.

Your advice sounds cynical because it is. People don't want to cheat to win - and you're telling them that they have to. Well, who are you to say that? Why should people listen to you? You may be an IGF judge, but that doesn't mean you've ever sold a game (well scratch that, I actually don't know the qualifications required to become an IGF judge, but you catch my drift).

I say this not to be critical of you personally - but if you're saying 'you need to cheat', and then brandishing your status as a judge in a relevant body, then people are going to listen to you. If you're wrong, you've given people bad advice - and this means that you should lose credibility. If you're right, then you'll gain credibility. Simply 'opting out' of the credibility problem makes it very easy for supposedly credible people to give bad advice - which doesn't help anyone in the long run - and in fact can damage a lot of people's businesses and livelihoods.

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#305

Post by tatsuke95 »

powatom wrote: post #303
VonGuard wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, fair enough. I am not giving the cheating advice as an IGF judge. The advice for improving gameplay, and my compliments on the quality were as an IGF judge. My comments on the app store are strictly from the cynical perspective of seeing what works. It has to be said. If you go in not knowing the table stakes, yer at a disadvantage. This is just like search engine optimization: fluid, ever changing, highly compet…

I can't help but disagree with your approach in principle. I acknowledge that your advice may be sound, and you may well have done the research necessary to arrive at your opinions - but the fact remains that you are giving people incredibly cynical advice without risking using your own credibility to back it up. Your advice sounds cynical because it is. People don't want to cheat to win - and you're telling them tha…

>"People don't want to cheat to win - and you're telling them that they have to. Well, who are you to say that? Why should people listen to you?"

It's advice, you can take it or leave it.

You're more than welcome to be the guy/team who says, "we're going to do this the right way!". But so do a lot of other indie gaming teams, and they go under. I lived in the social gaming space for a while (Facebook). The biggest discouragement is that the quality of games made little difference to getting noticed and making money. I am no longer in the space.

You can do it the "honorable" way, and that's great, and may work. If you want to make a business of the business, you have to get your hands dirty. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#306

Post by tatsuke95 »

i_cannot_hack wrote: post #163
huhtenberg wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you stand by it, why not attach your real name to it? Seriously? You don't understand why not?

Since it is obvious he does not – and you give the impression of possessing some kind of explanation – why not directly explain your view of it to him instead of asking snarky questions that you already know the answer to? It is a much more meaningful way to advance the discussion.

>"why not directly explain your view"

It's very simple, which I suppose is way the parent asked the question: I don't want to attach my name to anything I do on the internet, really.

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#307

Post by tatsuke95 »

Trufa wrote: post #265
VonGuard wrote: post #130

Hey guys, thought I'd throw in my 2-cents as an Independent Games Festival judge, and as press. First of all, your presentation is terrific. Great art and sound. Top notch, feels like it came from a very talented team. With this game on your resume, you've got a great future ahead of yourselves. Now, the bad part: from a gameplay perspective, your game is not unique enough to win out on its own merits in any app stor…

Why is the most up-voted comment here is one that suggests cheating?

Reality.

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#308

Post by kanamekun »

I've been playing your game for a day, and really enjoyed it. I found it really gave my brain a workout.

That gave me a thought around branding. The name ("Adrift") and the tagline ("A puzzle game in worlds of whimsy") both feel whimsical and fun - which is great for a game. But I wonder if focusing the branding around "brain training" might help expand your target market.

Most games are fun time-wasters, and tend to appeal to people who want to have fun and/or kill time. This game has a considerably wider appeal: it can help people exercise their brains, especially older people who want to keep their minds active. This is why a lot of people do Sudoku and crossword puzzles: http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/24/use-it-or-lose-it-keep...

I had a brain injury a decade or so ago, and the doctors told me to do certain puzzles to keep my brain active. It gave my brain a workout, and I was reminded of that feeling when I played your game.

One way to expand the target market might be to eventually do an expansion set called "Adrift: Brain Island" or something? You could target PR to the demos that brain workouts could appeal to.

Good luck!!

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#309

Post by powatom »

tatsuke95 wrote: post #305
powatom wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't help but disagree with your approach in principle. I acknowledge that your advice may be sound, and you may well have done the research necessary to arrive at your opinions - but the fact remains that you are giving people incredibly cynical advice without risking using your own credibility to back it up. Your advice sounds cynical because it is. People don't want to cheat to win - and you're telling them tha…

> "People don't want to cheat to win - and you're telling them that they have to. Well, who are you to say that? Why should people listen to you?" It's advice, you can take it or leave it. You're more than welcome to be the guy/team who says, "we're going to do this the right way!". But so do a lot of other indie gaming teams, and they go under. I lived in the social gaming space for a while (Facebook). The biggest d…

But this is the point - it's fine to say these things if you're not going to put your own credibility on the line and say 'this is me, these are my credentials, this is the reality'. I'm not denying that the game is skewed, that you can only compete if you cheat. All I'm saying is that if you're claiming some kind of expertise in this area, then you should attach your name to your words. Otherwise you're just a cynic and you're making the world a worse place by propagating the idea that you can only succeed if you cheat. It's not healthy, and it stops people even looking at ways of making it easier for the little guy to compete.
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