Defenders Quest [1 and 2]

[Silent_Buddha]

So, one of my all time favorite games Defenders Quest (RPG like Tower Defense) had a crowd funding effort for the sequel many years ago. But it's taking a long time to get out.

The developer releases many interesting blog posts related to the indie development scene and recently put up a blog post about why DF2 is taking so long (short version, DF1 still pays the bills and needs constant attention).

http://www.fortressofdoors.com/how-the-sausage-gets-made-aka-where-the-is-dqii/

Anyway, there's a lot of interesting information in there.

• The Chinese market is huge for indie developers.
• Due to Steam being more open, it means it also potentially generates less income for indie developers. IE - drowning in a sea of releases makes your game far less discoverable.
• Console development is hard. But not for obvious reasons. It's hard because certification is much harder than actually getting your game to run.
• Taking pre-orders (crowd funding basically) was a mistake. It starts a clock ticking that hangs over your head. For reasons, projects often don't conform to setting even semi-nebulous release dates ahead of time.

I've enjoyed reading many of his blog posts as much as I've enjoyed playing his game (Defender's Quest). It gives a rare insight into a successful indie developer and what it takes to remain relevant (a bit of luck, a bit of timing, and of course putting out and maintaining a good product).

Regards,
SB

 

[Cyan]

So, one of my all time favorite games Defenders Quest (RPG like Tower Defense) had a crowd funding effort for the sequel many years ago. But it's taking a long time to get out.

The developer releases many interesting blog posts related to the indie development scene and recently put up a blog post about why DF2 is taking so long (short version, DF1 still pays the bills and needs constant attention).

http://www.fortressofdoors.com/how-the-sausage-gets-made-aka-where-the-is-dqii/

Anyway, there's a lot of interesting information in there.

• The Chinese market is huge for indie developers.
• Due to Steam being more open, it means it also potentially generates less income for indie developers. IE - drowning in a sea of releases makes your game far less discoverable.
• Console development is hard. But not for obvious reasons. It's hard because certification is much harder than actually getting your game to run.
• Taking pre-orders (crowd funding basically) was a mistake. It starts a clock ticking that hangs over your head. For reasons, projects often don't conform to setting even semi-nebulous release dates ahead of time.

I've enjoyed reading many of his blog posts as much as I've enjoyed playing his game (Defender's Quest). It gives a rare insight into a successful indie developer and what it takes to remain relevant (a bit of luck, a bit of timing, and of course putting out and maintaining a good product).

Regards,
SB

tower defense is one of my favourite genres. I looked into the game and it is 15$, a bit too much for me 'cos I am not sure if I am going to like it, although I see there is a demo.

He mentions Steam, then consoles, but he never talks about GoG for instance. I purchased my copy of Cuphead there... As for the programming tools he uses, I am not familiar with any of them. I recently tried something new like OpenTK but none of those tools he talks about and are multiplatform.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

tower defense is one of my favourite genres. I looked into the game and it is 15$, a bit too much for me 'cos I am not sure if I am going to like it, although I see there is a demo.

He mentions Steam, then consoles, but he never talks about GoG for instance. I purchased my copy of Cuphead there... As for the programming tools he uses, I am not familiar with any of them. I recently tried something new like OpenTK but none of those tools he talks about and are multiplatform.

Just throw in on a Steam wish list (not sure if other outlets have something similar). It goes on sale somewhat regularly with the major Steam sales. If you like Tower defense you won't regret it. There's a reason that the Steam reviews are so glowing for it from almost all users who have played it.

Regards,
SB