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Complete Game Distribution Guide!

Make Money Making Games?

Is it true people are making money by making games independently? Well to some extent Yes it is but there is a lot to do in the middle that makes it harder then what people think.
If you have never made a game before and think you can just spend a few hours learning programming and BAHM you have a game ready to sell well let me be the first to tell you thats not how it happens! First of all it could take months or years before you have mastered a programming language enough to actually make a game with it, granted with Game Maker you can learn GML a lot easier then other programming languages and you “COULD” make decent games with it but you still need to get past that learning curve before you attempt to even start a commercial game. You need commitment, time and effort, I’ve seen a lot of people expect to make one of the best games selling and fail miserably. It’s a good idea to PLAN everything first just open notepad or word and type everything that comes to your head about the game you want to make, the size of the document you produce will depend on you and how big your game is. But just so we are clear there is no set size for a design document so just because someone else that made a game that actually sold made a design doc of 3000 words doesn’t mean yours has to be that big but in saying that you want to write down as much as possible.

Remember the design document doesn’t finish until the game is fully complete and is up to the standards of selling, so don’t be afraid to change the ideas when you think of something to add or replace. Think of the design document as just guide lines, because if you think what you wrote down before you started programming the game is final then you wont let your project grow or expand. Just writing the bases of your design document could take weeks or months. Again expect to spend a lot of time on the project, you might want to consider if you actually have the time to spend on the project before you start it, maybe your job keeps you busy or school work so just keep that in mind.

If you do start to program your game, depending on the game size it could be a good idea to comment as much as possible so if you or someone else looks back at it later they know how it works and don’t have to spend hours decrypting your coding. Prepare to be frustrated with “snags”. What I mean by snags is something is not working how it should or you dont know how to code something so you might want to get help, a good place for this is forums. I know for Game Maker there is forums with people willing to help as long as you supply enough information at http://www.gmc.yoyogames.com. Making sellable games with a 1 man team is hard ( or 1 women team ) so try and gather a team that consists of spriters, music composers, programmers and beta testers ( I’ am sure there are other jobs you could have people do in your team but they are just a few ) You might be able to code your game but can you make the music and sprites that is needed? Music and Sprites are just as important as coding its self don’t think they are not important, I know I wouldn’t play a game with bad sprites or music ( within reason ) so try and keep that in mind. Now once you have gotten your game to a satisfactory level, make sure everything is running smoothly ask some people to play your game and test it ( Beta testers ) they will tell you anything that needs improving on or doesn’t work or hey if it works great! Before your at the level of selling your game make sure your graphics are as good as possible and the music is easy to listen to but suits the game, even if you have to pay someone to make the sprites/music good enough to sell as long as your committed to the game and don’t drop the project and waste the money then it could be a good idea, keep in mind that you have to spend money before you can make it. Something I nearly forgot to mention if someone makes sprites/music for you or anything make sure you have there permission to use it in your commercial game, they might ask for a cut or just credit depending on the person. But just to be safe get there written permission so you have “proof” even if its just an email ( Make sure the email explains everything and is clear just in case if this matter ever came up in court )

If you think your game is good enough to sell then there is still the problem of getting people aware of your game, its not as easy as 1,2,3 SOLD OUT!. It takes time and effort to get an audience. Think to your self are you going to sell this game locally or through the internet or why not both? Try as many methods as possible and find which one works for you. Just be careful of scams, but that shouldn’t stop you from releasing your game to the public. No matter what precautions you take someone will always find a way to “pirate” your game ( your game has to be worth the time they have to spend to pirate it otherwise they wont bother ) so don’t think everyone that pirates games is out to get you. Again you cant stop them from doing it but you can make it so every man and his dog cant do this. To get your game known by people you will need to advertise! Its a good idea to get a website ( buy a domain and hosting ) or if you don’t have the funds then just use a free one for the time being, it just makes it a lot easier for you to tell people where they can purchase your game and so if you ever sell a copy of your game the buyer can refer his friends to your website where they can also buy it. Just because a form of advertising worked for someone else doesn’t mean its going to work for you keep that in mind. if your going to sell your game through the internet then places like youtube could help you get customers, you may be thinking but if I made a video about my game no one will find the video because they would have to be looking for my game. Well what you can do is make videos on popular topics and at the end of your video advertise your website also on your youtube channel have a link to your website in your channel info, before you make a video or advertise on a site think of the viewers you will get? Do they play games? Would they want to purchase your game? Think of the quality of your views, 100 pro swimmers that have never played a game in there life isn’t as good as 50 game lovers that like to play your game genre. If you decide to sell your game locally then you could try going door knocking and asking them politely if they would like to purchase your game ( you would need to get hard copy’s of your game and make it look some what professional ) or you could ask shops if they would like to stock your game, you would want to take a copy so they could play it and decide wether or not they would like to stock it. Try asking as many shops as possible even if they are not “game” retailers, maybe you could ask shops if they ever do those promotions you see “Buy this and get this free” your game could be the item they get for free. You may be thinking but hey! I might not get a profit from that, well my answer to that is you have to get your game known before you can expect to make money ( again you have to spend money to make money ) thats why its a good idea to have a website, something for the user to refer to and tell there friends about. WOM ( word of mouth ) is a very powerful tool, but you cant rely on just WOM. I have only told you a few methods there are a lot more you could try but just so we are clear the methods I have told you may not work for you, there are variables you have to keep in mind for example if you live in a small town and you went door knocking there might not be that many people interested in playing games as apposed to someone who lives in a massive city with heaps of game lovers. So think before you act!

Written By Cody james

of MadHound.net

Article Source: http://www.yummyarticles.com