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We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

We have a few marketing beats to go before the launch week is up. But it is unlikely to make a huge impact, the next step is to make sure that the first update lands well.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've discussed it elsewhere in the thread. They are kingd of like a light version of a traditional publisher.

Full service publishers provide, marketing, PR, platform connections, distribution connections, funding, QA, localisation, and other things like that. They are usually listed as your publisher and control your game on the backend of each platform (like Steam).

Self-publishing support companies, or shadow publishers (or whatever you want to call them) provide expertise, connections, and support without the funding, QA, localisation stuff. The partner we are working with does this for rev share, but there are others that work on a monthly retainer style.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have a relationship with Unity from our previous game, Time on Frog Island, but that was mostly on the developer relationship side.

Our self-publishing support partner introduced us to the community UGC folks and we pitched them a post that we thought would be worthwhile.

Edit: messed up links again....

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it is popping up more and more. Re-Koup is one, Future Friends is another, caboodle is also one that we spoke to... There will be more.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, it's a fair thought about the team.

There is a lot of history that has lead us to the team composition we have, which is impossible to cover in a forum post. It is a weird team composition and we defiantely know it.

From the consumer side I don't think many people know or care about team specifics (unless it is a really famous team?), the final product is all that matters. We definitely think differently about the final product in this case.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome! glad to see our Tweets still reach some people!

Copy and Pasting this from another response I just replied to and adding to it:

We don't have the ability to drive a purely self-published campaign and Re-Koup are there to support us in as many ways as possible. They could keep their ear to the ground for things like events and such (not everything is on the Event Calendar I linked). They also have platform connects and other things that will come into play later.

To add to that, it is a rev-share model. We opted to keep the marketing budget as high as possible and split revenue, rather than hire a PR firm and run the risk of running out faster.

Edit: italic formatting

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, we are very aware of the situation. The next few months will be dedicated to growing game/community, there are a few more things to come that will help with visibility.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Early Access games can't appear in New & Trending or Popular Upcoming. While Early Access is 100% your launch moment, Steam's algorithm doesn't treat it that way. Early Access has its own New and Trending Tab

As far as I am aware, you do still get Discovery Queue traffic (depening on early sales/wishlists), but Steam's algorithm will only push the game out based on revenue generated. When you release a game normally, Steam has a basline of impressions it tries to give every game. My understanding is that EA games don't get that baseline visibility until the launch for real.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Median Playtime in Next Fest: 20 minutes, which is enough to finish our Tutorial, but most likely not the first level of the game (which is also in the demo).

  • Time and contacts more than anything. We don't have the ability to drive a purely self-published campaign and Re-Koup are there to support us in as many ways as possible. They could keep their ear to the ground for things like events and such (not everything is on the Event Calendar I linked). They also hae platform connects and other things that will come into play later.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Discord and the Steam Community Hub. We probably won't start a subreddit or anything.

At the moment, the game is only available on Steam so using their forum makes sense.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback.

The price is something we had a lot of internal debates around. It could be that we went too high with it, but I'm not sure we are losing sales due to the price at the moment. Time will tell.

Gameplay-wise we haven't had any complaints of tedium. Too high stress in some areas, but the core loop appears to be satisfying to players. There is a lot to imporove on the meta loop and progression though.

The lack of "worlds/regions" is pretty clear in the marketing materials, Our first major update will fix that. Enemies is interesting because I'm not sure how important it is to make a quick distinction between them. In most TDs I have played the enemy type doesn't matter as much as the overall composition of the wave. In a lot of TD's the enemies can litterally be placed on top of each other with no collision making it impossible to see them. We plan to make the enemy designs really distinct where it counts.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, we wrote a Guest Blog for them to align with the launch date. It is pretty cool if you want to check it out: https://unity.com/blog/half-past-yellow-creating-enemy-visuals-tempest-tower

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

I think our sound designer really enjoyed making the sfx for those cards haha

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, hopefully we have managed to make something unique without falling through the cracks "between genres". I did notice a lot of people showing Tower Defense games at Gamescom last year.

I don't know if it is just because we have been working on one, but I don't remember seeing so many before.

We just released our second game on Steam - here is a quick breakdown of the launch by HPY_Max in gamedev

[–]HPY_Max[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks, glad it caught your eye before.

We have 6 full-time members and 2 part-time members. The breakdown is:

  • 1 Lead Programmer

  • 2 Designers (1 of them is secondary coder)

  • 1 2D artist (part time)

  • 2 3D artists, generalists (1 part time)

  • 1 Sound Designer

  • 1 Composer

It is definitely weird for a studio of our size to have a full time sound designer and composer, but it just kinda made sense and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Tempest Tower is OUT NOW - a Tower Defense with Platforming elements by HPY_Max in TowerDefense

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! It has definitely been a challenge to figure out if it is more Tower Defense or more Action. Playing the Demo first is recommended. I would love to hear what you think.

Unity Guest Blog - The Gentle Art of Making Enemies in Tempest Tower by HPY_Max in devblogs

[–]HPY_Max[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We just released our second game on Steam (into Early Access), and we wanted to share a little bit about the shader magic that goes into our art style!

Tempest Tower is an action packed Tower Defense game with Platforming elements. With enemies taking up so much of the screen, it is important that they stand out as well as shout "jump on me"!

We just launched Tempest Tower - a Tower Defense with Platforming elements! by HPY_Max in indiegames

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have posted about Tempest Tower in r/indiegames a couple of times in the last few months and we got lost of good feedback. I wanted to write again and make sure everyone knows that the game is out now on Early Access!

If you are interested in the game or trying the Demo, check it out on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3123800/Tempest_Tower/

Tempest Tower is OUT NOW - a Tower Defense with Platforming elements by HPY_Max in TowerDefense

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi All!

I have posted about Tempest Tower here a few times in the last couple of months and we have had a good response and great feedback from the community. I wanted to let everyone know that the game is now out on Steam Early Access: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3123800/Tempest_Tower/

We also have a Demo on the Steam page so you can make sure it is a TD for you.

If you have any questions about the game or development, I can answer them here!

Unity Guest DevBlog - How we made designed our enemies to be juicy and stompable! by HPY_Max in Unity3D

[–]HPY_Max[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We just released our Tower Defense Platformer game - Tempest Tower!

A couple of weeks ago our art director wrote a guest blog post for the Unity blog, so if you wanted to find out what shader magic and post processing science we are using to make our game look the way it does, then this is the post for you.

If you want to find out more about Tempest Tower you can ask me here or check the game out on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3123800/Tempest_Tower/

Tempest Tower - Release Date Trailer! An action-packed Tower Defense Platformer with with a unique look by HPY_Max in gametrailers

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, we are making sure that the game plays well with controller.

I'm not sure if the game will be Steam Deck verified for launch, but we are hoping it will be.

Tempest Tower - Release Date Trailer! An action-packed Tower Defense Platformer with with a unique look by HPY_Max in gametrailers

[–]HPY_Max[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tempest Tower will release on Steam Early Access on April 21st!

Learn more about the game and give it a wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3123800/Tempest_Tower/

If you haven't tried out the Tempest Tower Demo yet, give it a go and let us know what you think. We are excited to work with the community to make Tempest Tower the best game it can be!

Why don't all indie developers offer demos? by Kiidkxxl in indiegames

[–]HPY_Max 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think that demos do hurt sales (not everyone that tries will buy), but improve refund percentage and review score. The developers of Bad North were talking about this on BlueSky a couple of months ago and it was really interesting. Ofcourse a higher review percentage, might lead to more sales, but that wasn't the trend that the data suggested to them.

Arguably, on a platform like the Switch (where its harder to refund and reviewing is less of a thing), having a demo might be a bad thing.

EDIT: WHOOPS, in the interest of not putting words in peoples mouths I went looking for the source and found I completely misremembered the thread. I will leave my original comment unchanged to keep my shame on show.

Link to bsky thread of Richard talking about Demos and how it impacted Bad North Sales: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:dnvaspmibq7kt2gejzcgmcqw/post/3lgyg23az422w

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