Resistor Retrospective Levi D. Smith Knoxville Game Design September 2012 

Objective / Goals ● Teach the player something educational without them knowing they're learning something ● Sell 100 copies, which would equal the creator's club investment (even if it means no payout) = ? = 47 ohms = ? = Resistor circuit diagram symbol (US) 

Screenshots ● Don’t use any mediocre screenshots for AppHub submission ○ You never know which one will be used as thumbnail in Marketplace ○ Each should be compelling and stand on its own ● What not to do: Level Complete Screen ● A majority of the screenshots should show features that not included in the trail ● Realize box art will be scaled down on sites; Ensure that title is still legible and art isn't distorted ● Don't forget to update screenshots after playtest modifications 

Screenshots Good - Shows level not in the trail Okay - Trial Level Good - Shows level not in the trail Bad - Not interesting or relevant to gameplay 

Press Reviews ● 50 pre-paid codes provided for game through AppHub site ● Send as many codes to review sites as possible ○ XBoxIndies and Chaosoft are good sources of review sites ○ Reviews are the most cost effective form of advertisement, especially for an unknown developer ● If a site is not XBLIG specific, specify platform in message ○ They could think it is a Steam code ● Don’t ask for a review; They will write one if they’re interested and have a code ● Some reviewers may ask for a code ○ High probability of getting a review from that site ● Some reviewers don't accept review codes ● Don’t put “please contact me for a code” on your website ● Any review is better than no review (debatable) ● Reviewers are not going to make screenshots of your game ○ Will most likely use the default screenshots from xbox.com ● Most reviewers probably will not visit your game website ○ Do not expect them to know the details about your game 

Press Reviews ● Frequently check Indie game sites for reviews ● Try to listen to all Indie game casts around the time game is released ○ Create link to cast and post time when game is mentioned ● Make reviewer’s job easy on them ○ Press Kit (discussed later) ● Probably want to start with small Indie Review sites ○ "Big Dog" review sites will probably just ignore you ○ Bigger sites may take notice if game is positively reviewed my smaller sites ● Searching Twitter is best way to see reviews for your game (use and “All” search option) ● Copy your giveaway codes to spreadsheet ○ Keep track of who you send each code ○ Note those who do not use their code 

Keeping Track 

Press Review Outcomes ● Reviewer commits to do a review ○ Don’t follow up immediately unless they ask for something ○ Send a thank you message after the review article is published (good or bad) ● Reviewer says maybe ○ Action same as commitment ● Reviewer declines ○ If it is a personalized message, send a response saying that you hope they will consider your future projects ○ If it is a canned message, I wouldn’t respond ○ If they say they aren’t interested in that type of game, respond and suggest that they give the code to a friend ● Reviewer doesn’t respond ○ Do nothing ● Resistor: 24 codes sent, 4 commitments, 1 maybe, 2 passes 

Post Review ● Once review is published ○ Read review, and check for significant inaccuracies ○ Accept criticisms of your game ○ If there is an error which is an obvious mistake, contact the reviewer and let them know ○ Respond to any comments if necessary ○ Save electronic copy of reviews; The site/review may disappear ○ Add review quotes to website / reviews page ● Resistor reviewed by two sites during the launch week: XBox Ramble and Did Not Finish ○ Praise: Unique Gameplay, Level Design ○ Criticism: Music, Voice Sound Effects ● Positive reviews != increased sales 

Pre-release Review ● I don’t know much about this, but it sounds like a good thing to do ● How to distribute a pre-release version? ○ Reviewer probably doesn’t have an AppHub account ○ Send a Windows executable? ○ Review based purely on trailer and screenshots? 

Press Kit ● Send reviewers a press kit if requested ● Make press kit available on game site ● Contents ○ Game description, one paragraph ○ Platform and price ○ Screenshots / graphical assets (choose best, don’t send a dump of image directory) ○ Include box art, title screen/logo ○ About the development team / Bio / Background ● Have Press Kit done before launch ○ You don't want to be working on it during your lunch break 

AppHub Submission ● Always choose “let me decide when to publish” ○ Exception: To patch a game ● If you want someone to playtest/peer review your game, send at least game name (preferably game link) ● Put link to your game in your AppHub signature ● Reviewing other games and having a high review rating helps speed up the review process ● Resistor: Peer review took 12 days 

Sales ● First day only shows a fraction of a day’s sales ● Xboxindies.com shows detailed ranking of sales information over time ○ "Best selling" ranking includes trials? ● Excitement of checking your sales dies off after about a week 

Sales 

Sales 

Sales 

What went wrong? ● Puzzle games are a tough sell ● People judge the game based on graphics ● Math is hard ● No buzz ● Better suited for mobile device 

Launch Date ● Resistor: Launched Labor Day ○ Pro: People off from work ○ Con: People may not be at home ● Could weather be a factor? Rain means more people will be inside ● New Release section gives more visibility ● Resistor stayed on the first “New Release” page from Monday through Friday ● More trial downloads when at top of New Releases ● Not a true representation of those actually looking for your game ● Will downloads stay steady through shopping season or zero out? 

Indie Summer Uprising ● More people coming into Indie games section (maybe) ● Your game may be lost in the shuffle ● Even the featured game is hard to find ○ No top dashboard feature ○ Indie games may be easier to find with new dashboard ● Didn’t realize the pure volume of games that launched with Uprising ● Difficult to get into Uprising itself; You've got to already have a reputation ● Summer game drought: few retail games released, more people in Indies? 

Dream Build Play ● Good for preparing for AppHub submission ○ Requires ■ Game package (CCGAME) ■ Screenshots ■ Trailer ○ Does not Require ■ Evil Checklist Pass ● Title Safe ● Works on any controller port ■ Box Art ■ Peer Reviews ■ Fully completed game 

In Game Advertising ● Pay Wall: Resistor was at end of level 3-1 ○ 21 levels for free ● Probably took multiple 8 minute trials to get that far ● Was it too late? 23% of the game available in trial ● No “buy” option or the main menu or as user quits ● Don’t want to irritate players who don’t like your game ● Resistor: Better selection of trial levels ○ Would have extended development time ○ At most 8 minutes to sell your game to a prospective buyer 

Release Build ● Resistor issues ○ Update AppHub screenshots of graphical changes ○ Fast scrolling through level select screen ○ Level preview on level select screen ○ Saves are slow on some devices ● Issues seen in other games ○ Solo developers, don’t put: created by me, graphics by me, audio by me, story by me, etc ○ Lengthy studio logo screen takes up time players could be trying your game ○ Don't leave FPS counter in production build; Make it an option if you really want to show off how fast your game is running 

Official Game Site ● Press Kit (zip file or page link) ● When a review is released ○ Pick one or two quotes from a review ○ Link to the review article ● Use CMS, you don’t want to be hacking HTML to make changes ○ Wordpress is a nice free solution ○ Host your own ○ Downside: periodic maintenance ■ database backups ■ software upgrades and patches 

Official Game Site 

Web Marketing ● Find your game on GameFAQs and upload screenshots (slow to be approved) ● Make sure trailer video has link to game (marketplace or official) in description ● After committed reviews are complete, create video highlighting review quotes ● Become a daily e-mail checker (at least during the launch period) ● Domain name, is it worth it? ○ Registered resistorgame.com with provider, but only provides masking for non-hosted sites ○ Could have registered domain with Wordpress 

Web Marketing 

Social Media ● Put game name and link to game site in your Twitter description ● Separate Twitter account for game/development studio ○ Fans of the game don’t want to know about your lunch, favorite sports team, political views, etc ○ Be sure to check both "@" tweets and direct messages ● Can just retweet posts from your personal account ● Retweet articles posted by review sites ● Link game Twitter account with Facebook account 

Measuring Success ● Even top 500 XBLIGs have very few sales per day ● Comparison of my games ○ Legend of Tux ■ SourceForge downloads: 446 ■ Period: 2 years 8 months ■ Sales: $0 ○ TetraCity ■ SourceForge downloads: 318 ■ Period: 1 year 7 months ■ Sales: $0 ○ Resistor ■ XBLIG trial downloads: 350 ■ Period: 2 weeks ■ Sales: ? ● 215 sales required to receive payout from Microsoft ○ $150 / 70% cut = 215 (rounded up) ● Sales figures posts on AppHub are probably the highest selling games 

Business ● Business license required after $3,000 in revenue (in my area) ● "Doing Business As" (DBA) filed to sell software not using real name ● LLC ○ Pros ■ Provides protection for personal assets in a case of lawsuit (sometimes) ■ IPs tied to company instead of yourself ○ Cons ■ Filing costs ■ Yearly fee ■ More paperwork when filing taxes each year 

Level Design Easter Eggs Hourglass Airplane Smiley Cat Wizard Paku-Paku Clover Fish Waterfall IOI 

Level Design Easter Eggs Key Penguin Sword Castle Spiral Candle USA Flag Ying Yang Spaceship Alien Go Jackets Chain Candlestick Stickman 8 Hand Foo 

Level Design Easter Eggs Ku (9) Hachi (8) Shichi (7) Roku (6) Go (5) Shi (4) San (3) Ni (2) / 1337 Hyaku (100) Nunchuku Cowboy Hat 42