1st game almost complete but what now?

[Dyno Kid]

Hi guys,

I have been scouting around the forums for a month or 2 learning about various sides to business.

I am around a month away from completing my 1st game Dyno Kid but have no clue where to go next.

I have contacted several sites, shockwave, big fish etc and have had some very positive feedback from the demo i gave them so things look good there.

With a very limited budget I can't afford a website and dont think I will have time to run it after reading up on the subject.

When submitting a game to the portals how much work other than the full game and a demo will i have to do?

Do they wrap in there own magic for download etc and fees or is there anything else i should know?

Cheers,

Darren.

[svero]

Generally for portals you just supply them the full version of the game. The DRM is handled by the portal with a wrapper in most cases. The only work you should have to do aside from that, is modifying the game slightly for each portal to include their logo somewhere.

[svero]

I guess I should also mention that very ocassionally portals ask for modifications to the game, but that depends on the game.

[sillytuna]

Good to see you here on the forum - you'll get lots of good advice here. I was wondering when I'd see you :)

As regards your game - if you sign with someone like reflexive or big fish then let them handle it and don't worry about the rest. In your situation, that's probably best. They would also give you game feedback.

In order to sell if from your own site it shouldn't take much time to set up, and the guys above can handle hosting and the software wrapper.

[Dyno Kid]

Thanks guys,

I will look into the website a little more.

Could anyone show me a couple of links with prices so i can have a look at what they can do?

Darren.

[LilGames]

With a very limited budget I can't afford a website and dont think I will have time to run it after reading up on the subject.

"run it"? You build a site, put it up and that's it. I don't know what's there to "run". I own dozens of sites and rarely need to touch any of them.

Really, if you're serious about selling your game, you have to realize that completing the game is only half the battle. You have to MARKET the game too, and that includes putting up a website to promote and support the game.

[terin]

My book will help with that whole marketing thing :) www.indiegameguide.com

But any specific questions you post will be answered, debated, dragged into the street, shot, dragged into a back alley, pummelled, knifed, shived, gutted quartered, dragged back to the place it started, and buried beneath the future construction site of a giganic web portal.

-Joe

[Greig Hamilton]

To setup a website is not very expensive.

A domain name will cost you around $10US. Webhosting from http://www.webstrikesolutions.com/ will cost nothing for the first 12months and then $80US a year.

So for $10 you get to try out a website. Once you've got the website created there really isn't that much work to do, just update it with news and any new games you release etc.

If after a year it's been a complete failure then don't renew the webhosting or domain name.

Greig

[Polycount Productions]

Thanks guys,

I will look into the website a little more.

Could anyone show me a couple of links with prices so i can have a look at what they can do?

Darren.
http://www.webhostingtalk.com
search for "review", and you'll find plenty of options.

Check out also:
http://softwaremarketingresources.com/