Does keeping a project secret build hype?

Business and Project Management Discussions
#1

I’m working on a project. A serious project. Better than project raft and most likely free until the final version.(if I see fitting)

Anyways I’m working on it with a friend, which honestly I’m contemplating on if it’s worth it. Anyways he says we should keep the game secret until we have it close to completion for he says it will build hype.

I on the other hand want to make my first Devlog of the process and get suggestions and feedback. (It’s what keeps me inspired to keep working on the game)

So what should I do?

1. Should I listen to him and risk getting bored?
2. Should I make the Devlog anyways and risk losing my graphics artist? (We’d still be friends though)
3. Or Should I just take the project (Which was my idea from the start) and use my own assets and do what ever I want?

Edit:
Now that I think about it I won’t be selling this game. I will however upload it to GameJolt. Honestly, I’m sick of divying out cash. If I’m selling a game im selling it solo. Plus I’m taking everyone’s advice and putting learning first. ^.^

#2

i think it would be good to collect fans as the project progresses. but make development updates exciting once a week or every 2 week things with some screenshots or videos. if you just wait untill its finished to tell people about it, youve lost the opportunity of a pre-release buildup. if your project looks good enough, people will keep checking in on it for months to see if its finished.

#3

Cold hard truth:

Chances are your game will barely be noticed.
Unless your some super-famous person already, nobody will care whether you show your progress now or later.

Don’t kid yourself and think that people are going to care for your effort, and just make the game.
On the other hand, don’t be discouraged. Keep working at it, and if you produce quality work, people may stick around to see what you make next.

Tell that to your friend, and things should be fine.

#4

Yup.
Worry about marketing later, focus on making your game now. With only ideas, and not a solid game, even a lot of money won’t build hype.

#5

I’d like to think of it as fishing.

If you drop a big scary object into the water and move it around too much, nothing is going to bite. All the fish will avoid it.

However, if you have a carefully made lure, but you don’t put it in the water, it’s not going to work either.

#6

Nice try, Gabe.

On the off chance that you aren’t a gaming legend, I need to ask: why would I get excited about a game I have never heard of? Unless this is a sequel, I cannot understand what you are asking.

But in general, remember that if YOU feel this person is halting progress, nullify his opinion on the matter, because you alone control the project (unless everyone is the issue, of course. Then you might want to double check).

Good luck (I think I am hyped!),
-wes :slight_smile:

#7

This is basically what I am doing. Thats why I have started live streaming, posting screenshots, and making dev videos.

to the OP:
You don’t want to focus all your time on marketing, most of your time should be spent working on your project, not hyping it up. But, it’s still good to try to get a small following as you go, best way to get a small flow of followers is to release everything you can within reason, as you get it, just don’t focus on it. You’ve seen my thread, I would use that as an example of how to generate a small amount of hype.

You won’t pickup many people, but it’s better to catch a few hundred followers than zero, just don’t spend all your time trying to hype. Wait until the game is basically a playable product, then hit the marketing machine hard. Buy a domain, build a website, setup a forum (Real stuff, not the freebie crap! Actually pay for what you need and learn how to use it!) and then pay your fees for Steam Greenlight, put it on Desura, everything. Do it all at once, fast and hard. But DON’T do it until you’re at least 80% done with the core game play and you feel you have a product that people will want. :wink:

If you try to hype too early, you run the risk of being treated like Vaporware, you’ll end up with a ton of people who come and go. They’ll see your game, think to themselves “I’ll check back in 4 months when it’s closer to done” and simply forget about you. But if you start pushing it hard, those same people will see your work (for the first time) later down the road, and when they realize the game will be launched in a few weeks there’s a much better chance you can keep them.

#8

Ray… ur kinda the reason i wanted to make a devlog lol i saw yours and i just loved it. I saw all your positive feedback and I want to try to grab a little piece of the action haha.

#9

hah, Well my advice if you want to follow my methodology:

  • Early in development, post screenshots, little bits and pieces of what you have. There’s a small faction of gamers (Mostly us dev types really) who just enjoy watching the puzzle come together. So every time you make a landmark addition, post a few shots in your thread(s) about it.
  • Write a game mechanics outline, with the information that you currently are willing to share. Don’t hide information, but don’t share anything you’re on the fence about and have not made a concrete design decision on. For example, that’s why I have not discussed my combat system. The system I have in my head I’m honestly not sure will be “fun”. So I’d rather wait until I start on it before I really explain how it works.
  • Answer everyone’s questions the best you can. Keep an open mind, and carefully study people’s replies to look for red flags in your designs that may need changed.
  • Be willing to listen to all feedback (Sounds like you’re good at this so you shouldnt have a problem)
  • Eventually once you reach a point the engine is polished enough to make a few minor tech demos, go for it and post them on youtube. Don’t bother advertising them too much, just post a link to them in your thread.
  • Remember, marketing is your lowest priority, you just want to make sure you have something to show every few days though or people will start forgetting about you.

After the heavy dev phase is over though, and you feel the game is worth playing (even if it isn’t complete), that’s when you do what I said in my other post and really change gears and focus on marketing. If you’re really, really serious and you feel like you have a product that could make it, don’t be afraid to spend money to setup a website or pay the required fees for places like Steam. :wink:

EDIT: Also forgot to mention, keep it casual-professional! What I mean by that, is you don’t have to be a hard-ass by-the-book professional 24/7. But try to make sure all your posts are well written, to the point, and not pointlessly silly. That’s really not too important right now, but later down the road you want people to take you seriously.

#10

The following places are good to go for getting your game out amongst other indies, if of course you have something worthwhile to show:

/r/gamedev (Feedback Friday and Screenshot Saturday are a good place to get started)
TIGSource Forums
IndieDB

#11

Yup, I did that a long while back, in the days that I cared about hyping a project.

Now I just care about getting enough games done to the point where I’m worth hyping over.

A few average-quality games in your portfolio is better than no games in your portfolio, and I have yet to change that.

  • Jev
#12

Hi

In my humble opinion, trying to “build” hype is silly, it doesn’t work, I think it’s true in other domains too, not only for video games. The creation of a game can take a very long time; if you’re really mainly looking for quick and easy hype, do something else. Sometimes, you can get some hype unintentionally or you can get no hype when you focus on it, on the communication rather than on creating great content(s). Try to get something worth being showcased first.

#13

There is a huge difference between “hype” and “visibility” as well.

If your company is well known for making games, then just merely mentioning that you are making a sequel to a popular game will generate “hype”. “Hype” is the ability for the game to market itself in my view. It spreads by word of mouth, outside links, etc. Pretty soon, a large population will know about your game. This also works if you are making a spiritual clone of a popular franchise of the past, and you are less well known.

However, the big problem with this is that if you are not a big company, you are lacking “visibility”. People do not know who you are, so they do not care about the things that you make. You can’t generate “hype” from this. Using myself as an example, if I said…

“I am creating a spiritual Minecraft sequel.”

No one would care much.

“Has this guy ever made a Open World game in the past? Was it any good? Who is this guy?”

People have to know who you are in order for “hype” to generate. If Notch said he was making a Minecraft sequel, people know who he is and what he is capable of. It is something he can most likely do. However, we’d probably not trust Notch with a sequel to Street Fighter, because he hasn’t shown much push in that area.

What young developers should be looking for is “visibility”. You want people to notice that your game exists by posting it on various sites. Even if the reviews are good or bad, you just want people to be playing your game. Publicity is publicity… regardless of how it is given. The more eyes you have on your game, the more people will notice you when something else is coming out.

In other news…

“.GEARS just announced that he is making a sequel to Flappy Birds…”