Game Design, Programming and running a one-man games business…

Category: business

Gratuitous DLC Experiment

Posted on September 13, 2010

Ok, first things first, let me announce the release of a new race for Gratuitous Space Battles. They are called the nomads, and you can see more info here, and watch a video of them here (or below). And you can even go buy the new DLC here.

The idea for the nomads are a sort of retro-future race, suggesting a species that has been around a loooong time. They are travellers, and fighting purely for sport. They don’t come with any new technology or weapon types, but they do have a few extra tweaked ship modules. Also, there are not new singleplayer missions, this is just a race for you to use in existing scenarios, or in challenges.

Here is an embedded video showing off the new ships:

Now comes the slightl wacky bit. I’m selling this DLC for $5.99, just like all the previous races were, and there is no change there. If you are a long time GSB plauyer and just want the new race, then go buy it, it’s $5.99. That gets you the standard version of the DLC. There is also a ‘discount’ version of the DLC. The difference between the two is that one is $5.99 and one is $2.99. That’s it.

Obviously the standard one costs more, and I get more money as the developer. The discount one costs you less, and I get less. There will be updated stats on the page here showing who bought what.

It’s entirely up to you, which one you buy. You decide. I would obviously prefer you bought the standard one. Nobody will ever know what version you bought, the files are identical. This is a bit of a sudden manic experiment to see what happens. If you genuinely have very very little money and would have waited months hoping for a bundle or a sale, then you could make an argument you could get the discount one. If you frankly, *do* have the money to spare and would buy it anyway if there was only the $5.99 option, I’m asking you to do that.

This might make me look really stupid, but I’m prepared to risk it. I like trying new stuff in business. I think it will be interesting either way. Also, the DLC is more about promoting the game and making a bigger range of ships, so there is more variety. None of these expansions are really aiming to make money, the core game does that. ( I hope!)

Anyway, it should be interesting. If you find the time to tweet, facebook like, link to, blog or otherwise promote this experiment, I’d appreciate it. It could be interesting.

Cheers,

The current positech plan (posiplan?)

Posted on September 8, 2010

I see no harm in making my immediate future plans public.

In no specific order this is what I have coming up:

1) Release of the 1.47 patch to all partners (valve etc). I did this this morning.
2) Release of the new Race (The Nomads) On my site, in a slightly strange way (details to follow) then on the partner sites when I know it works ok. Teasing screen:

3) Talk to Steam and other partners about selling the Mac copy of GSB.
4) Pre-order / beta access and eventual release of the GSB campaign game.
5) Game IV.

This should last me a good few months. Hopefully the money lasts a good few months too. Ha!

In amongst all this, I’ll be taking the first holiday (only a week) since I moved house, and it will be my Birthday. I also have a visit from a  structural engineer today to tell me if my roof can hold up solar panels or not. I will be mr sad face if he says it cannot.

Nobody wants my money

Posted on September 3, 2010

I’m interested in two new games, that I might like. Patrician IV and Starcraft 2. Neither game has demos. If they do, they don’t want me to find them. So I spent the money on an Iain M Banks novel and some archery target pins instead.

It’s like these companies owners are scared customers might find out what their product is actually like.

I’m not. Try some free demos. if you don’t like them, you won’t like my games. It’s easy:

http://www.positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/demo.html

http://www.positech.co.uk/democracy2/demo.html

http://www.positech.co.uk/kudos2/demo.html

valves big surprises

Posted on September 2, 2010

People keep mentioning the UK PC Gamer article on Valve, where they say they have 3 big surprises coming up in the next year or so which will really freak people out.

It amazes me how mediocre peoples guesses have been, as to what the surprises will be. Some suggested Left For Dead 3 or Half Life 3. That would surprise you? Really? You think that is radical thinking outside the box? c’mon.

Here are some things valve could do, that really are surprises.

1) They could convert steam to a subscription model. All current steam games free, to all subscribers. Subscription is $20 a month, a revenue split is worked out with the developers.

2) They could launch a TV or Movie based venture.  Maybe an online streamed TV station based on gaming. They aim to become the #1 global media source for games news.

3) They could strike a deal where steam is integrated into the service pack for windows 7. Steam becomes the new games explorer, installed on every windows PC.

If I was Gabe, I’d be considering all those options, and lots more. Decisions such as ‘what game to make next’ are pretty small fry in terms of the big strategic picture in which valve are now a big part. They took all their Half Life 1 money and spent it to make steam. I expect them to take all the steam money to do another big thing. I’d still like to be surprised though*

*although anything that reduces the open nature of the PC platform would not be a pleasant surprise, for small little indies like me.

It’s good to have big, long term, strategic goals. If positech ever makes £10 million, I’m going to build a BIG wind turbine somewhere.

Online buying and rational decisions

Posted on August 30, 2010

I went to buy something online today, for about £90. I did a google search and found the cheapest one, and went to the shopping basket to buy…. and then hit a warning saying that the security certificate was issued by an unknown company.

I then stopped. The site didn’t look dodgy, it was still an https connection, it was a boat chandlery store (I was buying an ecofan), it wasn’t selling viagra or heroin. I suspect it was fine, and safe, and the certificate thingy just expired or somesuch.

In the end, I paid an extra £5, and bought it on ebay. I therefore can state, that in my mind, a warning-free buy page from a vendor I have already purchased from, is worth at least £5 to me. (or is it 5% of the purchase?)

We all make decisions like this a lot, and I find the process to be fascinating. I often catch myself making irrational purchasing decisions. Here’s a famous example of what people do:

You go to buy a TV for £200. Just before you hand over your money, someone tells you the same TV is £195 in a store thats a 2 minute drive away. Do you drive to the other store? Most people say no.

You go to buy a book for £6. Just before you hand over your money, someone tells you the book is only £1 in a store thats a 2 minute drive away. Do you drive to the other store? Most people say yes.

Which is bullshit. It’s either worth £5 to you to drive for 2 minutes or it isn’t. This makes no rational economic sense.

We are easily tricked into spending money on stuff that makes no sense. The phrase 90% OFF! will trigger a completely irrational number of sales. The phrase “90% OFF ONLY TODAY!” sells even more. Logically, we should not give a damn what the original price is, or what it will be tomorrow. We should just look at what the product is, and what it is worth to us. But almost all the time, we are manipulated into making irrational purchase decisions.

The worst, most emotional, most irrational purchasing decision I made, was to buy a high spec sony vaio metallic finish laptop which I’m typing this on. It is an overpriced, over-heating and over-specced luxury toy that cost me too much money. I bought it out of pure lust, totally irrationally, about 2 years ago. What’s the most irrational purchase you have made?