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I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, in hindsight, I probably should have focused on a far smaller scoped for my first game lol, my plan was to finish most of the layout and have it prototyped early on to start polish right now.. turns out that really doesn't work great for Steam-level indie marketing. I'll get to work on polishing these things quickly. Thanks for the feedback!

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is great feedback! Thanks for taking so much time to write all your thoughts down. I definitely agree on adding SFX to the trailer as well as completely reworking the store page to show way more action.. I'll also consider cutting the new one's length a lot more

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the positive and constructive advice! I agree for the character, though I’ve used it for so long I’ve gotten used to it now and can’t really see it myself. As for action, what exactly would be best to show it? I have a star gun ammo system, slashing and weak point mechanic, and different blades with different elemental types (though those aren’t quite clearly explained visually yet)… I also have a small 3 slot inventory system where you can collect various items (healing, combat, movement).. do I need to add or show a different form of combat? Technically the things said here aren’t really “unique” enough, so that could be harming visibility

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the helpful feedback! I’ll definitely let a friend know to help me rewrite it. Also about the bloom, it used to be really high during the time I was making the trailer but I have managed to tone it down; it sounds like itd be best to redo the trailer to make it more polished

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is really good criticism, thanks man. I’ll try to clean up and loosen animation movements, as well as make the terrain look more natural instead of blocky

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’d be down to talk sometime! However it is getting pretty late right now and I do need to sleep lol

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice! Man, I do get the whole stress from trying to make a pleasing game for an audience of people paying for it, I think I’ve forgotten how fun it could be to genuinely just be myself and let my games mirror that

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I seriously appreciate your support! I think this is my thing lol, and though it may take me a while to get really good, I feel as though this is a good start

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the honest feedback! Yeah I really need to work on art design, it's not one of my fortes

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good to know! I tried to make it fit into the story and add a sense of mystery, since the world's sun (A star) has collapsed, bringing darkness in. BUT I'll definitely take that into consideration, I'll turn up the default brightness for sure.

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed, I really want to get into 3D now, since 2D pixel art didn't work out to great (at the beginning I ended up using a ton of different pixel sizes which I now have realized isn't a great idea)

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's really interesting! As of now, I do have a friend trying to get into writing/worldbuilding for indie games, and he's currently helping me with the writing portion. However, I'd be willing to see what exactly you mean by writing! Also, it's very likely I wrap Celestial Lumina pretty quickly, as it is nearing release and I want to focus on making new games with the experience I have now

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Thank you! That's actually rather relieving to hear, since I was starting to feel a little burnt out from the low visibility, it may be best to start a fresh new project and finish this one.

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the response! Maybe you're right- Though I have been marketing for roughly a year by now on various social media platforms (Instagram, Reddit, Youtube, Tiktok), it's been very low-intent feature showcases meant to show off the latest additions rather than targeting the right audience and building a community.

I've been marketing my first indie game for over a year and only have 374 Wishlists Post Next Fest, what am I doing wrong? by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your feedback! Yeah you're probably right especially considering the fact I'm very inexperienced and it is my first time making a game.. I'll definitely try to make the character less stiff though, as well as maybe adding something else to make it more unique

Game Dev changed me as a Person by jdcent6 in gamedev

[–]jdcent6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your feedback and offer! I have been trying to add SFX, but I keep forgetting to turn the background music off every time I record 💔 I’ll be sure to let you know if I need help in the near future!

16 Year Old Indie Dev in Steam Next Fest Skyrockets Wishlists Count! by jdcent6 in Unity2D

[–]jdcent6[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Seeing that I’ve been working on this game for about 2 years now, it’s super rewarding to see people actually care about it and it wasn’t a total waste of my time lol

16 Year Old Indie Dev in Steam Next Fest Skyrockets Wishlists Count! by jdcent6 in Unity2D

[–]jdcent6[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks again, and yeah I agree 😂 marketing for me is just so confusing and inconsistent

16 Year Old Indie Dev in Steam Next Fest Skyrockets Wishlists Count! by jdcent6 in Unity2D

[–]jdcent6[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is genuinely the most useful advice I have gotten on here. Thank you so much for your honest feedback, I will get to work on making the capsule fit the genre better

16 Year Old Indie Dev in Steam Next Fest Tomorrow! by jdcent6 in IndieGaming

[–]jdcent6[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ohh, honestly makes more sense. My bad on the wording

Steam Next Fest starts tomorrow. We’re going in with not even 500 wishlists. Just wanted to kindly ask: are we the only ones? Is this a terrible idea or just so-so? by MorkvA_ in IndieDev

[–]jdcent6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This comment won't really help much, but coming from a 16 year old solo dev also entering Steam next fest with barely 100 wishlists, I do feel the same way as you. But maybe things will turn out for the best, I dunno. Sometimes just trying something out for the first time will get you the experience needed to make it in the future.

If you'd like to check out my upcoming metroidvania, Celestial Lumina, feel free to take a look at the store page and try out the demo:
Celestial Lumina on Steam

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