Feedback Request: Dope Trail Beta Released

[DopeTrail]

Hey,

It's been a while and now my friend and I have released "Dope Trail". It's based on the gameplay of Oregon Trail.

We appreciate all the feedback and suggestions you can offer us.

Download the game here...
http://www.dopetrail.com/dopetrail_beta.exe

Thanks,
Dope Trail

[Nemesis]

$99, no demo? you're kidding right?

[gmcbay]

I'm guessing he took a few too many hits from the bong before he set a price.

[BongPig]

It didnt stop me keep our prices down! ;)

[Byte me]

Question: Why is the game very expensive? Most games are under $20.

Answer: Do you know how much real crack sells on the street? One kilo can cost thousands of dollars. This game is over 2000 KILObytes. For over 2000 kilobytes, we are only asking for 99.95. This is the greatest deal of all time.

Is he selling games or crack? :confused:
Is he selling crack or smoking it? :D

[Byte me]

The "about us" page:
Dope Trail Productions specializes in high-quality Dope-ware for people looking to replace their physical drug habit with a digital one.
WTF?? :confused:

[princec]

Much work needed here all round I think. Website needs to have tons more meaningful information on it. Price is outrageously steep. Didn't even bother downloading the demo because the rest of the site put me off rather than encouraged me to try it out.

Cas :)

[z3lda]

I guess in business you learned to never compete on price :rolleyes: . Need to explain more on why it's worth $99.

Also how about some screenshots.

[DopeTrail]

I guess in business you learned to never compete on price :rolleyes: . Need to explain more on why it's worth $99.

Also how about some screenshots.

Hey,

Thanks for all the feedback guys. We do plan on selling it for 9.95. But until we get feedback, we don't want people to buy it (hence the steep price). Our goal involved releasing the game before a certain date -- so we let the website slide a bit.

In any case, we have put screenshots on the site.
You can check them out here...
http://www.dopetrail.com/Screenshots/screen2.jpg
http://www.dopetrail.com/Screenshots/screen3.jpg
http://www.dopetrail.com/Screenshots/screen4.jpg
http://www.dopetrail.com/Screenshots/screen5.jpg
http://www.dopetrail.com/Screenshots/screen7.jpg

If you want descriptions for each of the screenshots -- visit the updated website.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Later,
DopeTrail

[GameStudioD]

I will try to avoid ripping on your game and website because that will not help you make better games.

This is basically a text game with a gui slapped on top. I dont really see too many of these types of games for sale. Although, there are some freeware ones out there and I played many on my TI-86 calculator in high school. In those areas, the text based games are somewhat 'popular'. It may be good to try and sell these games to see what happens.

As far as the game goes, it looks very amateurish. Things need to be cleaned up a little. On the details screen, you can see anti-alias artifacts around the letters. The back ground doesnt line up with the foreground buttons. The textbox is the most important thing. You should animate (scroll) the text or something, because the main focal point of your game.

As for your website, you need to provide more info on the game and your company. A customer must trust you with their credit card #, so you need to appear professional. There are places where you can be funny (game description) and there's places where its inapropriate (every where else). Saying 25% of profits is going to children is silly, I didnt believe it. Or how there are discounts for drug cartels, again very silly and inappropriate.

Keep on working on everything, it will be worth it. Good luck with your game.

[Sirrus]

Oi...
:rolleyes:


-Alex
www.dopefarmer.com
www.weaponstudios.com

[DopeTrail]

GameStudioD...

Thanks for the feedback. We have fixed the anti-aliasing. We have also revised the website.

As for special effects, we'll hold off on them now. We have another feature we want to implement before we start adding bells and whistles.

As for the text-style of the game...yes. It is simple and that is a concern of ours. At the same time, we want something that's very casual. We have included the black jack game and the hunting game to add some action.

Our dev team has had discussions over the text-based game vs. an action game and are divided. I want to make it a side-scroller where you encounter things as you travel towards LA. We may switch to that depending on sales.



Take care,
DopeTrail

[grimreaper]

If you just spent some time on making the game + site polished you'd be on to a winner.

I admire you for having the courage to go against the grain and not setting a low price $99 is slightly too steep though. How about pricing it the same as Doom3... :D

grimreaper

[Josh]

Well, Im sure it will sell SOME Copies, but probally not very many...Unless you advertise it alot.

[Sirrus]

I think you guys are missing the point that his game is not for sale *for real* for $99...
That was a random price point he put up to (I assume) test the payment system without having anyone think of buying, considering the game isn't finished.

Alex

[GBGames]

GameStudioD...
As for the text-style of the game...yes. It is simple and that is a concern of ours. At the same time, we want something that's very casual. We have included the black jack game and the hunting game to add some action.

Our dev team has had discussions over the text-based game vs. an action game and are divided. I want to make it a side-scroller where you encounter things as you travel towards LA. We may switch to that depending on sales.


I remember seeing a screenshot or two of the game in development, probably at an Indie meetup in Streets of Woodfield near Chicago.

What I said at the time was that the game would probably be popular with people who remember playing Oregon Trail when they were younger. If the gameplay isn't the same though, then my statement doesn't stand.

[gmcbay]

He should have handled the $99 dollar thing differently because you never get a second chance at a first impression and given the nature of the Internet, some potential customers are bound to make their way to the site even if he doesn't advertise it yet.

And once they see the game screenshots in the same window with the $99 price tag, it is going to be difficult or impossible to lodge the "bad value" idea they've formed about the game out of their head later, even if the price gets lowered.

[DopeTrail]

He should have handled the $99 dollar thing differently because you never get a second chance at a first impression and given the nature of the Internet, some potential customers are bound to make their way to the site even if he doesn't advertise it yet.

And once they see the game screenshots in the same window with the $99 price tag, it is going to be difficult or impossible to lodge the "bad value" idea they've formed about the game out of their head later, even if the price gets lowered.

Hey,

The best ideas comes from crazy propositions. Thinking about this 99 dollar thing , I ask myself..."How can I get a customer to fork over $99 for a game". It leads to more possibilities. For example, offering some huge gift pack full of "hemp clothing" and this game may be able to command that price.

In my opinion, if one thinks creatively -- one can get $99 for a game.

Later,
Dope Trail

[Sunshine]

Note: We offer discounts to drug cartels looking for a computer simulator to train their drug runners. We guarantee that this game accurately simulates the challenges associated with smuggling drugs from South America to the USA.
:rolleyes:

And then he rates wacky tabackie in Kilo's?!

Anyway I thought it was funny, till I loaded it and it crashed over and over again, and the interface sucks like a clogged bong.

Graphics C
Engine F
Sound F
Kilo Reference F-
Plot A+


See me after class Pot-Head!
The Re-makes are supposed to be better than the original, and considering you chose Oregon Trail?! :rolleyes:

[whisperstorm]

I have to agree with gmcbay - you are only going to get someone to come by your site once, if you are lucky, and then you'll be darned lucky if they even download a demo to try out. Instead of having a really high price, why not just say "still in development". Dont make potential customers your guinea pigs.

[Sirrus]

I don't think the site has made enough first impressions that it will honestly matter at this point.

I think the main thing that should be done is like others suggest, make the game Oregon Trail (to a T) and more

I would want it to play the same, with the same features, then have that extended.

Alex
dopefarmer.com
weaponstudios.com

[Chris00]

Hey,
... one can get $99 for a game.


Not from me :D

[DopeTrail]

I don't think the site has made enough first impressions that it will honestly matter at this point.

I think the main thing that should be done is like others suggest, make the game Oregon Trail (to a T) and more

I would want it to play the same, with the same features, then have that extended.

Alex
dopefarmer.com
weaponstudios.com

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the feedback. Yes, the game is not perfect now, but we work better when we get feedback and can prioritize our activities. The game is getting better and better each day.

Give us 3 weeks and see what happens. As for the simple interface -- that's what we want. For a resource management game, simplicity is a good idea.

We still haven't barred the making the game into a 2D side scroller...but for now, we'll work on improving what we have.

Later,
Dope Trail