Here are two new maps for Tomb Explorer, both are fairly small: Hammergate and Leaga Cave.
Also a small update to to the game and editor which introduces Boulders, which can only be removed with explosives/dynamite, and which fixes some small password-related bugs in the editor. So be sure to download the latest versions of Tomb Explorer and Tomb Editor.
Dec 25 2008, 4:35 pm
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Calus CoRPS
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The update sounds good, I am happy to see you are still working on this game. Hopefully this community will produce more maps.
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I'd be happier to work on it if I thought more people cared. I've been endeavoring to write up some docs for the editor, but its really hard to scrounge up the motivation to work on things when there's hardly any feedback.
Actually I would love to hold some map making competitions, but right now I have two obstacles that prevent me from doing that. First of all, I don't have any finished documentation on how to use the map editor properly. I think writing up the documentation is probably more difficult than programming the editor was. Second, I don't have anything to offer to the winners. It would be cool if I had some way of submitting high scores online somehow, but we're still working on that... What would really be nice right now is if people could let me know what this game needs or what it lacks, because I'd like to have more people working on maps, but I'm not sure what's holding them back. | |
Foomer wrote:
I'd be happier to work on it if I thought more people cared. I've been endeavoring to write up some docs for the editor, but its really hard to scrounge up the motivation to work on things when there's hardly any feedback. You and I know people are playing your game. It is just they do not care enough to give you any feedback. Or perhaps, they think the game is fine the way it is, so what is the point in giving you pointless feedback? As you state below, you do not have any documentation. I am not sure how hard it is to create a map with Tomb Editor, seeing as the past has shown me that I should stay away from map creation. But the Editor could be turning people away from creating maps. Of course as I previously said in a past post, your game is not well known on BYOND. Creating blog and forum post do not seem to help anyone (within the BYOND community) with the advertising of their game. You are not getting the groups of people who tend to ignore such great place. This is why your game needs to spread by the word of mouth. Perhaps you should join chat rooms, games, and other BYOND forums trying to promote your game. And of course, advertise off of BYOND. Perhaps there are some indie game forums that would accept such projects made with BYOND. Actually I would love to hold some map making competitions, but right now I have two obstacles that prevent me from doing that. First of all, I don't have any finished documentation on how to use the map editor properly. I think writing up the documentation is probably more difficult than programming the editor was. Second, I don't have anything to offer to the winners. In previous BYOND contest, the contest holder asked for additional donations to give out to the winners and they usually receive a small sum of money. Though, this method will not be any good especially if you want to give out a decent prize to the top 3 or so map creators. Although money is not everything, maybe try giving the winners a special feature in your game. Possibly, extra map objects would be a neat prize. It would be cool if I had some way of submitting high scores online somehow, but we're still working on that... Basically, they see the lack of an active community so why bother creating a map? | |
The only way I can gage whether people are playing or not is by how many downloads these new levels get.
I'm looking around trying to find some good game/download sites that would be willing to list my game, but I haven't succeeded in finding any yet. As for contests, well, I'll ditch the idea of competing for money. I don't want to deal with money and I know of a ton of contests where people participate for fun and bragging rights, so I don't see why money needs to be a factor here. But as you stated, it puts me in an awkward position trying to get people to make maps if no one is willing to make maps because no one else is making maps... How are you supposed to fix that? I'd make more maps myself, but I get map burnout in a hurry. I'd really like to know if the editor is a turn-off for people, but if it is, I don't know what parts, aside from the lack of documentation which I'm slowly working on. | |
I use to have a list of websites that could possibly accept your game, but apparently I must have deleted it. I still remember only a few sites I had on it.
The IndieGamer forum is a place I frequently visit. I believe this would be a great place to start getting your game noticed. They also list several portals in which you could submit your game to. I also regularly visit the GameDev forums, I believe if you post an announcement there about your game, it could be well received. TIGSource forums will also be a nice place to post an announcement about your game. Nearly every game will be replied to, which is great! http://zone.msn.com/en/microsoftcasualgames/submit.htm Now this would be great if you could get your game accepted by them. Though, I highly doubt they would accept a game created with BYOND. http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/ The same would go with the most popular game distributor, Steam. If you could somehow get your game on that, everything should go perfect from there. IndieGame Showcase would be immense exposure for your game, especially if it is ranked high. What I usually do is go to some of the forums I listed above and view their distribution threads. Usually, I get great information from those areas which could help me with future distribution of my game. Basically, try getting your game noticed from small indie game sites, as it gains more popularity you will be able to submit the game to the bigger more popular sites. Also, try getting your game reviewed and perhaps getting interviewed by someone. I am not sure if the following would work out good for your type of game, but maybe you should try making youtube videos of the gameplay and the map editor. If the game looks neat, people will flock to it. | |