Alora Fane

A bunch of stuff got in the way this week, but I'm probably ready to start the alpha test phase of Atonal Dreams. Here's what I need to do next week to get to that point.

It was my birthday on the 25th, and I got a COVID-19 vaccine a couple of days after that, which left me with severe side effects for a day or so; ∞ I wrote about that in a personal post ∞. Feels like both of those things disrupted my usual routine, and I didn't get a whole lot done on Atonal Dreams in general.

Atonal Dreams Progress

Thankfully there wasn't all that much left to do anyway before I could call the game ready for alpha testing. I've only done the intro section, and it's very rough around the edges and there are a lot of details that are either missing or in need of attention, but it seems wise to get feedback from at least a handful of players about the general gameplay mechanics before refining anything or building more areas in case I need to make some major changes.

I'm not entirely sure how to go about getting feedback though! With my last game, Memody: Sindrel Song, I ran a beta test through Kartridge, as the platform was suggested to me by someone who was helping me out at the time. This time though, I think I'll run the test through Steam. Having a Steam page for the game will be valuable anyway, since it'll allow people to add it to their wishlists. Allowing people to do that long before the release seems to be important for getting the algorithm to suggest the game to people when it's available.

So the first thing I'll need to do is make a store page for Atonal Dreams on Steam. Honestly I absolutely hate the thought of this since the Steam upload process is so convoluted and time-consuming, and I can see it taking a day or two or more just because of the tedium of it (filling out pages of forms, making a bunch of 'capsule' images, etc, etc)... but I need to do it at some point, I suppose.

I should probably also update ∞ the Atonal Dreams info page ∞. It's not as if anyone really views that, so I won't make it a high priority, but if I've got time then it'd be nice to refresh it with since some things have changed a bit.

I intend to make use of both my Patreon and Discord servers for feedback. For that, I'll need to figure out how to give Discord access and roles to patrons. I've also been putting off deciding on moderators or rules for the discord due to my general aversion to running a community again (the thought of having to deal with drama - and dreading going to sleep every night because of what I might wake up to - again makes me feel sick), but I'll probably need to do something about that... I'm not looking forward to it, honestly. I still feel traumatised by the Fig Hunter stuff from years ago, though I expect a discord wouldn't nearly be as bad.

I have four tiers on my Patreon, with the top tier (Diamond) listed as giving access to beta builds of my games, so I'm hoping some of those people will be willing to play an alpha build and provide feedback. Specific feedback, that is; in the past, some beta testers have provided detailed comments about individual dialogue lines, monster statistics, etc, which is immensely useful, while others have just given a short summary of the experience after they've finished, which is far less useful.

I've been wondering whether to add an in-game way to provide feedback, so that the log would provide context to comments; I think other games' betas have done this? Would this be necessary though, or would just having the Discord be enough?

Once I've got a Steam page and Discord set up, I'll need to figure out how to get alpha build keys to the right people.

These are all things I'm the opposite of excited about for a bunch of reasons, so I can imagine dragging my feet about them. I hope there'll be a lot of benefits to pushing through though.

There are some fairly big gameplay aspects I personally feel very uncertain about, though I think I'll write a post listing those on Patreon. If players feel similarly, I'm completely open to making major gameplay tweaks if they'll make the game more fun to play!

Music Album of the Week

I was actually intending to put up a combined album containing the music I'd composed for Fig Hunter Online and Chamaeleon before abandoning them, but it turned out to be more difficult to adapt the files than I expected (they don't use the standard midi soundfont, but I'm not entirely sure what soundfonts they do use). I'll probably do those next week instead, when I have more time.

Due to both that and generally being distracted and feeling crappy due to the vaccine, I've put up the MARDEK OST this week.

This is the same OST available on Steam - they're the exact same files - and it combines the separate chapter OSTs from my old Bandcamp page too, so it's nothing new. Still, I felt I should include it because it was an enormous part of my composing history so it feels weird not to, plus it was next in the chronological order of albums I want to upload anyway.

Other Games

I've started playing the recently-released Switch RPG Bravely Default II, the third entry (bizarrely) of a series I've played extensively in the past. ∞ I wrote a post about my first impressions last night ∞.

I was looking into Kickstarters during the week, since I keep wondering whether or not to do one. One of my biggest concerns is having to make physical rewards, since my plate is already more than full with all the actual game-making I'm trying to do, and that on top of everything just seems like too much. But would a Kickstarter succeed without them? There must be a reason seemingly everyone includes them. ∞ This r/gamedev thread ∞ got a few replies suggesting that including physical rewards as an indie dev is a stupid idea, at least.

This isn't games-related, but while searching for pose ideas, I came across ∞ this remarkably successful Patreon which is generating its creator over $5k per month ∞. Interesting seeing someone able to monetise their creative efforts in that way, and makes me wonder how much more likely people are to support someone who'll help them achieve something (like the tutorials here) rather than just something they passively consume. HMM.

Also

Can I keep putting off the next stages forever? Maybe I should take another week off!! No, two! Two years off!! That'll help me survive in the world for sure!!!

Bleh... I need to do these undesirable next steps at some point!

7 COMMENTS

LevProtter42~4Y

The patreon stuff always leaves me a bit perplexed.
It's always so chaotic, and it's really hard to see what 'makes' a successful one.
I guess there really isn't a formula, and creative people find creative ways to find their niche.

mount201046~4Y

I actually set up a Discord-Patreon link for someone else a while back, and it was actually rather easy (but I think you need to use the Patreon Pro tier, which I think doesn't cost money but instead takes a bigger cut from your earnings...). Here's an article that guides you through the process: [LINK]

Tobias 1115~4Y

I've actually had that open in a tab for a while! It seems straightforward enough, but I'm dragging my feet about it due to general community/social aversions I have to push through.

I also looked up the pro thing, and found something that says:

"People who started using Patreon before the split — a group Patreon refers to as “founding creators” — will be automatically enrolled in Pro at their old 5 percent rate. They also won’t be affected by a new way of calculating payment processing fees, although they can choose to opt into that system."

My Patreon's years old, so hopefully that's true for me and I'll be able to do this without it costing me anything, but I'll need to look into it more.

Natrythe4th10~4Y

I think a lot of Kickstarters have physical rewards because they’re cheap and mass producible. For any amount of pledges, just order that amount from some crafting company and they make it for you. Digital rewards outside of soundtracks and Beta testing usually involve pledgers getting something inserted into the game, which takes extra work per pledge. You would be forced to put limits on how much each pledge can be taken. You could maybe make a little character creator and have people create their own NPC (or perhaps special humanoid enemy that varies in appearance) for you, but even that takes time to put each one in.

All the same, I agree with the redditors that physical rewards aren’t that great for solo developers. You would need to figure out shipping everything or hire someone to do it for you, both of which hampers the money you would receive from making those pledges. You might have to lower the pledge goal, but it’ll save you a lot of headache. Personally, my house has too much junk as it is; some collectible pin or poster wouldn’t excite me at all.

All the same, I agree with the redditors that physical rewards aren’t that great for solo developers. You would need to figure out shipping everything or hire someone to do it for you, both of which hampers the money you would receive from making those pledges. You might have to lower the pledge goal, but it’ll save you a lot of headache. Personally, my house has too much junk as it is; some collectible pin or poster wouldn’t excite me at all.

Astreon152~4Y

Hey, i was browsing and i noticed this page: [LINK]

Shouldn't this page be updated ? Especially the progression bar ?
It seems to me it should be way past proofing the concept, near the bottom (wherever you place "alpha testing" on there).

Tobias 1115~4Y

I've mentioned that I need to update that in at least one recent blog post somewhere, though it's not a hugely high priority with the other stuff I need to do so I've yet to get around to it.

Astreon152~4Y

Ah, yes, now that you mention it it rings a bell.

I was updating this thinking that if you need some distraction but feel guilty not working on the game, this could be way of working without working ?

I know our context is very different, but whenever i don't feel like working on a core task, i tend to focus on the miscellaneous stuff on the perimeter that'll need to be done at some point anyway.