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10 Tips 'n Tricks for Developers
By Arch and 1 collaborators
A guide that tells all the basic tips and tricks for Developers!



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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𝑇𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴 '𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝐸𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺!
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Created by
Arch
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Delite
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Category: Modding or Configuration
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
19 Nov, 2016 @ 8:09am
24 Nov, 2016 @ 8:59am
589 Unique Visitors
41 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
↪ TIP 1ㅤㅤㅤOrginality 
↪ TIP 2ㅤㅤㅤThe Community 
↪ TIP 3ㅤㅤㅤCopying Assets 
↪ TIP 4ㅤㅤㅤGreenlight 
↪ TIP 5ㅤㅤㅤAttention 
↪ TIP 6ㅤㅤㅤStore page 
↪ TIP 7ㅤㅤㅤReviews 
↪ TIP 8ㅤㅤㅤSales 
↪ TIP 9ㅤㅤㅤHate 
↪ TIP 10 ㅤ ㅤAdditions 
Afterword 
Comments
↪ TIP 1ㅤㅤㅤOrginality
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Dare to be original! 」

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Popular games are original. Think about all these big developer studios like Rockstar, Bethesda and even Valve. They started with a game that has a new, original idea or plot.

No, im not saying it's easy to be original. As example, let's take Bethesda. They started creating games a long time ago. They were lucky to be (one of) the first developers that made a First Person shooter game. After that they came with the Skyrim series, what also was a huge success because of the popular new original idea for an open world middle ages themed game.


ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ○ Be original with your idea. Don't make another First Person Shooter game.
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↪ TIP 2ㅤㅤㅤThe Community
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Think with the community」


The community is YOUR game. Be active with them, ask them what they think about your idea, or possible update. Their feedback will be the most important thing you can get. Most of their feedback also helps you improve your game.

Make sure you show that you're happy with the feedback. Thank them by commenting below, or include the names of the people who gave usefull feedback and thank them there. This will stimulate the people to help you and will raise your popularity as developer! Sometimes no-one will reply, this is most likely because of the lack of promotion your game has. For more info about promoting, check TIP 5.



ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤ○ The community is the most important part of your game. They can make, or break your game!
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↪ TIP 3ㅤㅤㅤCopying Assets
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ 「Don't copy assets/elements」


The biggest thing that is getting hated is copied assets and elements of other games/basic packs. I'm not saying you aren't allowed to use them, but just to atleast try to hide if you're using them. Try to reskin the assets and elements. Copied items are receiving alot of hates these days.

Also never 'asset flip' items. Asset flippers are 'developers' who buy a game in for example the Unity store. They just convert the files to an .exe and throw it on Greenlight and hope to get Greenlit. Check out TIP 4 for more information about Greenlight and getting Greenlit.



ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ○ Never asset flip or steam assets. Your game will recieve a lot of hate if you are caught.
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↪ TIP 4ㅤㅤㅤGreenlight
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Greenlight: The Last Judgement of the Community」


Before entering the Steam store are you required to 'beat' the last the challenge. Greenlight. The Greenlight Program is created to avoid getting bad, asset flipped, or even copied games into the store. The Greenlight stadium can also be difficult stadium for some developers since the Community decides if you get Greenlit (Accepted) or not. Keep in mind you're required to pay a 100$ fee to get on Greenlight. A huge tip is to make atleast 1 cinemetic video and 1 gameplay video. Also add a couple pictures. Focus on getting 'Yes' votes, not favorites or visits.

This is another reason why you need to be active with the Community. When you gain enough followers/fans can you also ask them to check out the game on Greenlight. Keep in mind it's all about 'Yes' and 'No' votes. Be aware for bad Greenlight Promotors. There are people trying to get money by promoting your Greenlight game in their Steam Group or even Website. Forcing or Rewarding people to vote is highly illegal and will end most of the time in an instant declined Greenlight submission. There are also real Greenlight Promotors around, but still be carefull. People do wrong things for money.



ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ○ Greenlight is a big new experience for new Developers. Make sure you enter
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ prepared and follow the rules strictly. Try to gain more attention by using
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤsocial media/Greenlight promotors, but watch out who you ask to help.
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↪ TIP 5ㅤㅤㅤAttention
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Getting attention」


Attention, or also called 'marketing' is an important part of the game team. Again, the Community is important, so you need to come up with some kind of way to gain interest from the Community for your game. There are alot ways to gain attention but in my opinion are the best ways to get attention is by making a giveaway (together with someone), pay YouTubers to make a cool video about it or make some kind of deal with other developers to support eachother.

Gaining attention costs most of the time money. If you released a game and it became popular and successfull are you capable of making promotion with your old game for your new game. The possibilities are endless!



ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ○ Getting attention is one of the most important tasks aside from making the game
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↪ TIP 6ㅤㅤㅤStore page
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Steam store page」


Just like the Greenlight page is it important to make the Store page of the game interesting. You can do this by adding GIF's, pictures or even try to use some text art.

Make sure you have around 2 videos on the store page. 1 cinematic and an actual gameplay video. Also don't forget to add some pictures of ingame footage. Try to make your update announcements nice too.



ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ○ Good looking Store pages gain more attention than bad, quickly made ones.
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↪ TIP 7ㅤㅤㅤReviews
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Reviewers and reviews」


People write reviews to let people know how they think about the game. They can rate it positive or negative. All the positive and negative ratings are used to make 1 big rating that is going to be shown on the store page. Alot of people are willing to write a review for a Steam key. Be aware, reviews writtin by people who got the game by a game code are NOT counter for the overall store rating!. Only give steam codes for reviewers if the reviewers have a website, or if the reviewer is an important person. Important persons are most of the time not between the level 0 - 30. Be aware.

Learn from the reviews. Reviews most of the time contain usefull tips for your game. Thank the reviewer in the comments of the review to let them know you care about the opinion of reviewers. This is both to increase your popularity among the Community and it triggers people to also write a review about your game.


ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ○ Reviews are good for both your game and the Steam store page.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ○ Reviews writtin be people who obtained the game by a steam code are
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ NOT being count for the overall store rating!
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↪ TIP 8ㅤㅤㅤSales
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Sales」


Creating sales is a nice way to gain more attention. Make sure you don't make a too big or too small sale. I recommend around 40/50% sale. Also always join the Summer/Halloween/Winter sales!

You can also do a bigger sale, for example a 70% off. This will get more units sold, but won't make much overtime. Consider making a sale when your game is launched on the store page. Limit the sale to 20-10%, not more!


ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ○ Creating sales is a good way to gain more untis sold
↪ TIP 9ㅤㅤㅤHate
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Haters and blackmailers」


Haters are everywhere in the Community. You just have to know how to deal with them. Most of the you just have to ignore them. Paying them attention just shows makes it even worse. If they keep continueing or maybe even blackmail you could you always report them for harassment on their profile page.

Of course it's your choice how you deal with it. Just a huge tip is ignoring them. Getting into a conflict makes it alot more worse over time. Confilcting them is the most of the time not helpful and they will just continue hate or troll.


ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ○ Ignore haters. Only conflict people who give building critism.
↪ TIP 10 ㅤ ㅤAdditions
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ「Badges, Emoticons, Cards, Achievements and Backgrounds」


Aside from making the game can you also make badges, emoticons, cards, achievements and even steam backgrounds for on a profile of a Steam user. I highly recommend you creating them for your game. Achievements are good way to get Achievements Hunters to buy the game, and emoticons, cards and backgrounds can be sold/bought on the market. And when one is sold you get 10% of the price the seller it sells for.

Don't ship too much at the game launch. Keep adding additional features that will help you continue gaining attention from the community even after they have completed your game.


ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ CONCLUSION █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ○ Adding badges, emoticons, cards, achievements and background
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ increase the popularity and the interest of the community in the game.
Afterword


Please like, favorite and share the guide if you liked it!


Thanks for reading, I hope it answered the questions you had.

Written by Archmeton. Add me if you have a question or suggestion!

20 Comments
< >
Arch  [author] 25 Apr, 2017 @ 11:07am 
Thank you!
Bookworm 25 Apr, 2017 @ 7:21am 
All developers should check this out. :D
Arch  [author] 14 Mar, 2017 @ 9:01am 
That's the spirit! :)
Bookworm 14 Mar, 2017 @ 8:56am 
I understand, I change my viewpoints sometimes and I've viewed it from both ways and I think we should try to make it our own even if we are doing a FPS, so Yes! Be original. And I think we should go with our instincts too. :D
Arch  [author] 14 Mar, 2017 @ 8:36am 
Thank you Josh.

It's just a tip that there are already alot FPS games on the market. Try to be original! :)
Bookworm 14 Mar, 2017 @ 7:42am 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with FPSs from a developer's point of view, They can make any game they want, Although I am an RPG person, If you want to make a FPS, go for it! Do what you want, And don't ignore haters, Listen to what they say because *sometimes* they have valid points, So if they say something that doesnt matter, THEN IGNORE THEM, but if it is a legitimate bug or mechanic flaw, Just don't respond directly to them, Just work harder on the game and take a little bit more time on that aspect.
(Other than that, This guide is good.)
Ramy 22 Nov, 2016 @ 1:27pm 
Nice guide :)
Arch  [author] 22 Nov, 2016 @ 11:40am 
Hi everyone!

Thanks to @Hibachi for HIS tips 'n tricks! I will update the whole guide this Friday!

Thanks for your support!
DeltaDude 22 Nov, 2016 @ 11:29am 
Surprisingly accurate guide here in many respects. I would read Hibachi's suggestions for improvements here.
Michel Baie 22 Nov, 2016 @ 8:20am 
(1/4)
Some tips to add regarding "haters" : how to avoid (most of) them in the first place.
There's a bunch of errors a LOT of beginners do, which are guaranteed to bring in the bad comments :

- Don't post your first games here. Have something ressembling a professional project to show.
Being indie doesn't mean you can post amateurish stuff. Keep your little learning projects to yourself and your friends, and once you think you're ready to show stuff, try your hand on itch.io, or Newgrounds (Flash or HTML 5 games only) for your first attempts.
You'll find a community that's more open to your game.

- Description : post informative stuff.
But keep those OUT:
- The controls (this isn't a game manual)
- Basic features like the possibility to save (because that's expected)
- Game modes that aren't game modes (like "option mode"...)
And proofread your game description.