Slime Jam 2000

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Seriously?

A topic by anttihaavikko created Aug 22, 2017 Views: 407 Replies: 8

Viewing posts 1 to 6

anttihaavikkoSubmitted7 years ago (1 edit) (-1)

Well over half of the games here only include a windows version. Do you not want your games to be played by as many people as possible?

Based on my previous games, over 90% of players go for the web version. Probably a convenience thing not having to hassle with any downloads etc and I do understand that building for web is not always an option due to performance issues etc. And the rest that actually download a version are pretty much split 75% windows, 15% mac and 10% linux.

So all in all, you're missing out on getting potential players by only doing a windows version. Well, guess I only need to play and rate four games this jam...

Semicolon42Submitted7 years ago(+2)

Some engines require paid upgrades to release web-playable versions. It's also quite a bit of work to get it setup as playable in web and test it. With a fair number of newer game makers, I understand why there are so many windows specific download-only entries.

But seriously, that is some great advice. Making your game conveniently playable will get a lot more people to play it.

EditDotEXESubmitted7 years ago

Does the Bitsy begin thing, work on all platforms? Because if it does I'll fix what it shows for supported OS's.

anttihaavikkoSubmitted7 years ago (1 edit)

I have no idea what that even is but if it has something to do with your game then yes, it does work. It seems to be a web build and the major browsers are pretty much identical on all platforms.

edit: Also, you can mark the file as "playable on web" on itch.io and it will allow users to play it right there in the game page instead of needing to download the html file first.

EditDotEXESubmitted7 years ago

Thanks.

andysonic1Submitted7 years ago(+2)

I'm not sure how you didn't realize how insulting your post is. This is a weekend game jam for developers, both new and veteran, to come together and not only develop their skills but also have a good time while doing so. I can't imagine many, if anyone, went into this with the idea that they would be attempting to market their project to the widest audience possible. I'm unsure of the statistics for how many developers go on to complete their game jam projects to full fledged games, but I'd guess that it is tiny. My own team went into this looking to work on our skills as a team and in our individual fields, not to create a full experience but to showcase something. We succeeded.

Your game is very impressive for a solo project. It could even be a mobile game on an app store with a little more polish. If your goal was to create a full product than I would say you got damn near close to it. You're good at what you do, but I feel you need to take a step back.

If game jam's required submitters to cater to a full list of browsers or operating systems than there wouldn't be game jams. If that's your personal goal than you should go for it, but your post just puts down anyone who either didn't have the time or resources to do what you did. Look at the other submissions and maybe seriously think about making a jump upwards or joining a team before calling out other developers for not meeting your expectations.

anttihaavikkoSubmitted7 years ago (3 edits) (+1)

I wasn't trying to be insulting at all. Just bummed that as a mac user I can only play handful of the games.

Of course you're not supposed to make a full fledged games and market them to the widest audience possible. But the smaller the player base, the more important every single player is. If your game had three players, wouldn't you want a fourth one to give it a go? The fourth potential one is a mac/linux user...

So I'm just trying to say:

If you're using an engine where it is easy to build to other platforms as well, please do so.
If you can't test those builds, just add them anyway and mention it in the description or filename, no one will be mad about it.

karpopperSubmitted7 years ago (1 edit) (+2)

I make games in java which is suppose to work on every os, but i don't have a mac so i cant make sure that they work on them. I only put windows because that's the only os i know for sure it works on. If you only use mac, a lot of games for windows only may still work.

anttihaavikkoSubmitted7 years ago(+1)

Oh yes, haven't ever had any issues running games made with java so those should be fine. Will test/play your game soon then...