VentureTheVoid.com

[shaeffer007]

Well, Calvin, you got at least one hit from tDWTF.

[PsySal]

Alas, it turns out I really did get a lot of hits (Analytics just hadn't reported it yet). I got close to 3000 visitors, wow! Hehehe... I think the server was down for most of those hits, which is... well, fairly disappointing! But even with those 3000 visitors I got only about 100 new players. Normally I get a new player or signup about every other day, whether or not the game is up.

Here's the thing, for anybody who digs deep enough to read this. I think VtV is an immense technical feat. I think if you can get into it, then it's really fun-- if it's your kinda thing (and it is, for a lot of people.) Definitely, the people who bought the game seem quite happy with it, even though it's far from perfect. I haven't had really any major complaints, mostly just requests for features.

It's not that I didn't advertise or promote the game properly. Or, it's not *just* that. The problem is that I didn't have a good sense for usability or gameplay flow. I basically designed the game in trial and error mode, looking at it too much from a technical standpoint, and in the end I wasn't able to put myself into the player's role well enough to create a truly great game. That's the lesson that I've learned from VtV.

Now, The Real Texas, on the other hand... I think it'll be a totally different story. I do expect to have a lot of success with my next game. So there you have it! Forum post-mortem.

[TripWire]

Hi Calvin, I'm from TDWTF too, I signed up yesterday and tried it for 18 minutes so far according to the profile stats heh. I am definitely impressed so far!

I'm a big fan of text adventures and any game that lets your imagination do more work than your eyes, the addition of 3D flight is very cool too! As you mentioned though with respect to the usability, why do I need to select a pink square every time I want to click what essentially looks like (and should act like) a button? Of the (so far) short time I've spent playing the game, I felt like I was already spending far too much time just dealing with the pink square clicking thing, what should have been instantaneous took 1 second because I had to first select the item then click the square.

Also, I signed up before you increased the demo period to 40 hours, does it (or can it) apply to me too?

[PsySal]

Hah, yeah the pink button thing is true. I can't even remember why, the way I designed the UI was very painful to program. I think I spent months and months wrangling UIs that I could have avoided if I had just organized it a bit differently. In fact when I started The Real Texas (the game I'm working on now) it was started as an experiment in making easier-to-program UIs.

The extension will apply to you, yep. I reset everybody's trial account to 40 hours. =) Enjoy!

[TripWire]

Thanks! Uh.. will you be fixing the UI issue in VtV? I noticed that the latest version is rather old..

[PsySal]

I probably won't be doing any more updates to VtV, as I'm well into my next project (a game called The Real Texas). At some point I just gotta let it be as it is, even if it's far from perfect, and move on. However, I'm still going to keep things up and running, and this recent burst of traffic has been quite nice to have!

[TripWire]

Damn. Any chance you might release the sources eventually, or let another developer have a crack at maintaining it?

I've been looking for a cross-platform project to learn how to write better cross-platform code (I'm a C++ and Linux convert from a Windows world looking to bridge the gap.). I've bought plenty of books on the matter (I'm self-taught) but I'd like experience with a pre-existing project. . Also note: I'm not asking for a share of the money, just experience.