Explicit naked sales figures

[princec]

Sales figures give encouragement to those starting out. I know that I'm encouraged to see people with more sales than days in the month, because I'd like to be that way one day. So it brings a cheer to my day to know for sure that other people are hitting the targets that I set myself.

Cas

[dan]

Hello there! Just saw now that finally some indie is making CRPG
I've decided to make one anyway, no matter how others will do, simply because I love those kind of games very much!

But I hope that you'll remain very quiet

Well, we made one before called RuneSword II (ver. I was freeware). The scope of RS was waaaay too broad. We did finish it, and we're proud of it, but our resources were spread way the hell too thin for a traditional CRPG, let alone one that was also a construction set. A huge scope forces compromises.

And needless to say, releasing a freeware version with a very similar look was just sheer idiocy on our part. Our publisher pricing RSII at $45 made us winners of the Homer Simpson trifecta. It's a wonder we sold as many as we did.

But I digress.

Our new baby has been designed with a much tighter scope with the emphasis on speed, humor, and tasty production values. It may not be a CRPG to the purists, but it will be fun. I think it's a good sign when you're deep into development and you're not sick of your own game....

So anyway, my advice on RPG's is to really think long and hard about scope and content with an eye toward reducing them as much as possible. Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb does a nice job with his games because he doesn't worry about eye candy, his engine makes Mac/PC ports a snap, and he concentrates on the adventure story -- his strength. He's built a nice following because he's found a niche. We're trying for an entirely different niche, but the point remains... find... a... NICHE.

There are so many indies who attempt CRPG's and fail miserably that it's almost a joke. In almost every case, they're trying to make a 5 developer, 10 artist game with 2 people. At the most extreme, I've seen a couple kids thinking they can make the next Morrowind.

[Jack Norton]

Well surely CRPG are hard to make.
But I'll attempt to make one on my own
I'll use an artist for some graphics (she already made some nice portraits, Baldur's Gate style). The game will be probably like Dungeon Master.
My extimate release date is december 2004 but probably will slide to jan-feb 2005 ... I have to finish another game first

[Chris Evans]

Obviously these sales figures don't give the entire picture, since I'm sure the majority of peple here have other deals with budget retailers and onlne publishers.

But it's nice to know how well some Indies are doing self-publishing through their websites.

[Jack Norton]

Hmm what makes you think that "MAJORITY" of people use publishers or has retail deals (even more difficult)?
I had only a deal with BFG for my puzzle game Spin Around and nothing more for example

[Chris Evans]

Maybe "majority" is too strong a word. But I see a lot of Indie games around here on various online portals. I also hear many of them getting approached by small budget retail publishers. I'm not saying they're all rich from it, but a portion of sales come from other avenues aside from their website.

My point was, the sales figures posted aren't necessarily an indicator of how successful the company is (although it could be), but it gives a good idea how well they self-publish through their website.

It's interesting to hear how well GL Golf is doing considering it is only a Mac release. It's encouraging to me since I'm also having a Mac release and will be promoting it extensively within the Mac community.

[Mirage]

My sales in July:

AirHockey 3D: 20 @ $14.95

As I see it's not so bad as I thought