Wow, opening a company wherever the author is is fucking expensive. Over here(UK) you can do it online in about 15 minutes and it will cost you about ~$20 for the registration fee and that's it, you don't have to do anything else.
“I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
181–190 of 346 posts
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, it's the kind of thing I might have been interested in 20 years ago. Now I looked at it as a result of this thread and thought "that's cool!". But do I want to play it in competition with so many other things I could play? Not really. Sorry :( I'm sure it's very well done and I might enjoy it, but there is no reason to move it to the top of my large to-do list...
> Yeah, it's the kind of thing I might have been interested in 20 years ago. Now I looked at it as a result of this thread and thought "that's cool!". That also means you're now 20 years older, and perhaps not in the target demographics for games in general.
This is probably true. I don't have so much time or interest any more, but I am in a position to just buy a game without thinking of the cost now if it interests me at all whereas I was not 20 years ago.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
That highly depends on which city you are in Romania. If you're in one of the bigger cities (Bucharest, Cluj, Iasi or Oradea) then it's going to be ok. If not, then you're screwed, unless you can work remote. At least, that has been my experience. There's also the thing that the average developer salaries are surprisingly low. They are well above the national average, but it's only the top 1-5% who really pulls in th…
I was in Cluj last year and was surprised to see an ad in the street saying "Are you a coder? Living in Floresti (a neigbothood)? Come send us a resume!". Salaries are low compared to the rest of Europe (and the US). But it sounds easy to get a tech job there.
I was not arguing that it's not easy to find a job. I was arguing that its hard to find a well paying job.
See my comment down here, 80% of the companies offering jobs are outsourcing companies, which are not the greatest to work for IMHO. Or did you have a different experience? I worked for one for about 6 months and left. I've seen people around me with similar experiences. But those are just my anecdotal experiences.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#184I bought a copy.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#185His sense of what games are "cool" wasn't in tune with the public. That's the cardinal sin. Pixel art dungeon crawlers aren't cool. It's as if he was a musician and decided to release a glam metal album today. Low budget, poor marketing, uncooperative bureaucracy - nah dude, none of that matters, you're just too in love with glam metal and people aren't buying glam metal.
The pixel art thing is quite trendy if the game is also good. Good Night Knight has been getting a lot of hype recently: http://knightdev.tumblr.com/
That game looks like it has some character, unlike the OP's game.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
US has similar contacts actually.
examples?
It's an old link, but here's Apple enforcing that against a developer who developed an app in their spare time, and Apple wanting to take ownership of the app & source code:
https://web.archive.org/web/20060316084454/http://www.thinks...
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#187The main advice should be: not another pixel art game. Please. We have enough of these. Folks let's move on from the 1970s. Also this is getting tired seeing honest, hard-working, self-motivated talented individuals push themselves into the same tried and tested crappy old corner of 'indie pixel art games'. It's quite difficult to see anything innovative or even remotely enjoyable from this genre anymore. It's not Ro…
There are pixel art games and there are pixel art games.
Look up "The Last Night".
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#188The country he mentions is Romania. Well, bureaucracy is high, but like other said, no need to setup a company in advance. But, he saved anyway way to little money ( I found strange that he is counting in USD, since euro is de facto currency, besides the RON ) to be able to sustain him and an apartment. Lessons learn: don't quit your job until you have some sale volume. However, since he's in Romania, he will get a j…
I use USD when talking about "money things" on the Internet as well. Translates better to others, even those who don't use USD. Since you can see USD prices on every HW release, software, etc... most people have general idea of its value.
Life costs are quite different in Romania though.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#189Reading this post saddens me, I think if he linked to a profile of his skillset and provided a way to contact him in the article he could easily land a few consulting gigs until he can stand on his feet again.
We have a group of strong developers here and many of us are looking for personal, i.e. I need people both to hire permanently but could also use a consultant with matching skillset for shorter term to back me up in some projects, and since I'm thinking it I bet there's dozens of others reading the article thinking the same thing.
Consulting is a solid way to earn a living while building up your product portfolio and it's a great way to stay independent while still having a more reliable income for basic needs.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. That is the default for the US (see [1]) but I believe it's unenforceable in the EU. [1] https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-pr...
Nice link. I like Joel's writing. Haven't kept track of it in a while. The last para really rubbed me the wrong way ("sleeping with boss"). Most likely it was in jest but we need to have a zero tolerance to this kind of crap now (men and women).
Wait... you're offended by a non-gendered joke about the fact that interpersonal relationships in an office environment can impact the enforcement of contracts against you?
Do you just look for things to be offended by, or is there a particular reason?