1.What is the most difficult part of the development for Dream Engines: Nomad Cities and how do you overcome it? There are a lot of difficulties, but if I had to point at one – it would be the uncertainty – not knowing whether all your years of hard work will actually pan out and be a success, or at least cover your costs. There is no sure way to overcome it, other than just carrying on, but there are ways to reduce the risk. Participating in events, showing your game off when possible, seeing how the market reacts to it, playtesting and seeing player reactions – all those can help you get a better picture of whether you are working on something that has a decent chance at success or not.
2. How did you decide that Dream Engines: Nomad Cities is ready for early access? Playtesting is the key word here. First, we playtested with friends and at local gatherings, and of course, I internal playtesting non-stop. Then, when I felt we were in a good place, we started a paid-alpha program. People could purchase the game when it was still in alpha, outside of Steam, and that gave us several hundred very dedicated testers that were invested in the game and provided very valuable feedback and insights. I also sent alpha access to a couple of content creators and watched them play online for even more insights. Then, after some time in alpha, several builds and lots of feedback, I decided it was time to leave our pond and head out to the big ocean – Early Access on Steam & Epic. Of course it’s still not finished and some of the feedback was negative (as well as some of the reviews), so we still have our work cut out for us.
3. How did you promote Dream Engines: Nomad Cities before release? In any way possible. I started with the game announcement and a press release, that we were lucky enough to have it catch the attention of a few larger publications, and got articles for that announcement trailer on Destructoid, PCGamer and RPS. I applied to every event that I could, many of them were online in 2020-2021, so we were featured in quite a few of them, some of which also had featuring on Steam which helped drive wishlists. Steam’s own festivals were important too. Last, but definitely not least, a lot of cross promotion to the hundreds of thousands of players that bought our previous title – Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation.
4. How did you fund budget for Dream Engines: Nomad Cities or overcome any budget difficulties during development? Dream Engines was funded using my own savings as the founder as the company, and some of it was covered through profits from our previous game. The development time was long (more than 3 years until EA), so it was not easy, but by keeping the team small and keeping expenses in check, it is possible.
5. What are your main deciding factors when choosing language for localization of Dream Engines: Nomad Cities? Mainly – experience. Since this is our second title, we already know which languages helped increase our audience, and which didn’t have much of an impact. Additionally, we consulted with several fellow indies regarding other languages that we had no experience with. In the end, we have to decide whether the extra costs and extra work will generate enough new players and income to cover the expenses. As always with independent developers, it’s not only about what you want to do, it’s also about prioritizing which of all those things that you want to do you can afford to do, be it using your time or your money. It’s impossible to do it all, there is simply too much and resources are too limited.
6. Do you have any advice for other indie game creators? I always advise indies to find a combination between their passion – the game that they want to make and play – with proper business considerations. Make sure that the game you are making, and this starts from the game’s concept but also continues throughout the production, is both something you enjoy making, and you can keep yourselves motivated, and also something that is backed by a proper business plan and market analysis. Try to think in advance – how will I sell this game? What will the trailer look like? What will my short description be? Are they interesting enough to stand out from the avalanche of indie games that are hitting Steam? How will I sell it to the press and content creators? Will they take interest in it over other games? All these questions need to be answered before you even start prototyping, because if you can’t answer them now, you will be unlikely to answer them later, and then after spending years on a project, you may find yourselves unable to sell it.
One more piece of advice – start small. Don’t start with a project that will take years before it can hit the market. Most games, unfortunatley, fail badly. Make sure that if your game fails like most do, you will be able to carry on to the next one. The more you do it, the more you learn, and the higher are the chances of succeeding. Don’t spend all you have on your first, think long-term.
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