If you've ever tried to get attention in the gaming world, you know how well-neigh impossible it is. There are literally tens of thousands of game developers of every budget category, from the smallest single-person outfits to kings like Blizzard and CCP. Even getting someone to review your game can sometimes be a lost cause.
With that as a backdrop, Alter Aeon this weekend got a spontaneous review on the GamingHUD web site. This is a pretty big website that reviews a lot of mainstream games. For AA to even be seen by fish of this size is pretty amazing.
The review also isn't some slapdash piece of filler material. The reviewer spent a lot of time on the game and even emailed me for additional information. The final article came out very positive and very long.
The link is:
Alter Aeon MUD - A World of Infinite Possibilities
Feel free to check it out and maybe drop a thank you to the author for their hard work.
Showing posts with label web. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Friday, April 16, 2010
Myspace
Today, I did the unthinkable: I constructed a myspace page. I suppose technically, I had already done that with my personal page last year; but in reality it was simply the bare minimum login and I had done nothing at all to it since it was created.
I really have to hand it to the myspace developers; they've created one of the single most dysfunctional, hard to use, and unconfigurable interfaces I've ever seen that still happens to mostly work. It reminds me a lot of Gimp.
Actually, Gimp is worse. But not by much.
At any rate, if you still have a MySpace account, feel free to add us! Our myspace URL is:
http://www.myspace.com/alter_aeon
I really have to hand it to the myspace developers; they've created one of the single most dysfunctional, hard to use, and unconfigurable interfaces I've ever seen that still happens to mostly work. It reminds me a lot of Gimp.
Actually, Gimp is worse. But not by much.
At any rate, if you still have a MySpace account, feel free to add us! Our myspace URL is:
http://www.myspace.com/alter_aeon
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Web Page Updates
Yesterday, I spent far too much time working on changes to the Alter Aeon web site. I spent some time hacking down the menu so that there were fewer items that are better organized; I also managed to switch over the layout to a more standard looking block based design. Along with this came a number of other minor updates and improvements.
It never ceases to amaze me that you can work on a web site, get to the point where you've done the best you can, then come back a month later and improve it even more. For me, it's like my creativity is tapped out - I have to take a break to let new ideas percolate in. I think part of it might also be that I have to get used to a new design or layout before I can compare it against something else.
Regardless, of the half dozen or so people I asked, their opinions were an almost universal 'much better' for the new version. Here's to hoping that this 'much better' translates into a higher conversion into newbies!
For a look at the new layout, here's a link to the Alter Aeon Web Site.
It never ceases to amaze me that you can work on a web site, get to the point where you've done the best you can, then come back a month later and improve it even more. For me, it's like my creativity is tapped out - I have to take a break to let new ideas percolate in. I think part of it might also be that I have to get used to a new design or layout before I can compare it against something else.
Regardless, of the half dozen or so people I asked, their opinions were an almost universal 'much better' for the new version. Here's to hoping that this 'much better' translates into a higher conversion into newbies!
For a look at the new layout, here's a link to the Alter Aeon Web Site.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Where do we go?
I've been doing some serious thinking about the game, the market, and the business model I'm trying to work with. I still think the business model is sound; I've been able to pay most expenses and use the remainder for (admittedly ineffective) advertising for years. This year will be different, as I'm dumping some of my personal money into it, but even so the numbers have risen and will compensate somewhat for that increased outflow.
The biggest problem I see with regard to expansion right now is, unfortunately, market based. If you go out to any gaming news site, it's not just that there's a handful of games being advertised - it's that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of games being advertised. It's reached the point where you're lucky if you can even find a WoW ad amidst the piles of other crap.
The gaming market right now is, as near as I can tell, in the middle of a huge investment bubble. Hundreds of companies have come on line with venture or public funding to be the next 'WoW killer'. These startup companies are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into advertising for a limited number of players; several new cookie-cutter MMOs come out every week.
On the plus side, most of these will fail. As with all bubbles, this one will collapse, and most games will go under. There's simply not enough players right now, and once you've seen one cookie cutter game, you've seen them all. In some ways, being a text based game protects us, as we have a limited niche that isn't facing ridiculous competition.
So what do we do about it? In the immediate short term, scale back plans of massive growth, and wait for the bubble to pop. But we can't just rest on our laurels either; we should be doing something. What best to do?
Make the game the best game it can be, that's what. Most of the games that will fail, will fail precisely because they -are- cookie cutter games. Do you not think that the players on WoW would pay $5 more for a game that was $5 better than WoW? The reason that they don't is because there aren't any games $5 better than WoW.
I currently have two projects in various stages to this end. The first is the ongoing upgrade to the client, which is coming along slowly but steadily; I probably won't have a new release this weekend, but should have one soon. I think with that release I'll start looking for a graphic designer or other artistic input to make the interface pretty.
The other project is only in the planning stages: add more classes to the game. I get a lot of comments from newer players that the limited class selection looks strange and seems thin compared to other games. It also has issues (which some players call features), such as limited room for long term expansion, high level characters all being the same or very similar, a small number of high-end playing styles, and what I would consider bogus skill groupings.
I think I have a rough model of how to do class expansions now, but it will probably be several weeks before we have enough detail fleshed out to really start implementing it.
The biggest problem I see with regard to expansion right now is, unfortunately, market based. If you go out to any gaming news site, it's not just that there's a handful of games being advertised - it's that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of games being advertised. It's reached the point where you're lucky if you can even find a WoW ad amidst the piles of other crap.
The gaming market right now is, as near as I can tell, in the middle of a huge investment bubble. Hundreds of companies have come on line with venture or public funding to be the next 'WoW killer'. These startup companies are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into advertising for a limited number of players; several new cookie-cutter MMOs come out every week.
On the plus side, most of these will fail. As with all bubbles, this one will collapse, and most games will go under. There's simply not enough players right now, and once you've seen one cookie cutter game, you've seen them all. In some ways, being a text based game protects us, as we have a limited niche that isn't facing ridiculous competition.
So what do we do about it? In the immediate short term, scale back plans of massive growth, and wait for the bubble to pop. But we can't just rest on our laurels either; we should be doing something. What best to do?
Make the game the best game it can be, that's what. Most of the games that will fail, will fail precisely because they -are- cookie cutter games. Do you not think that the players on WoW would pay $5 more for a game that was $5 better than WoW? The reason that they don't is because there aren't any games $5 better than WoW.
I currently have two projects in various stages to this end. The first is the ongoing upgrade to the client, which is coming along slowly but steadily; I probably won't have a new release this weekend, but should have one soon. I think with that release I'll start looking for a graphic designer or other artistic input to make the interface pretty.
The other project is only in the planning stages: add more classes to the game. I get a lot of comments from newer players that the limited class selection looks strange and seems thin compared to other games. It also has issues (which some players call features), such as limited room for long term expansion, high level characters all being the same or very similar, a small number of high-end playing styles, and what I would consider bogus skill groupings.
I think I have a rough model of how to do class expansions now, but it will probably be several weeks before we have enough detail fleshed out to really start implementing it.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Web pages
I've just completed the first pass of an all-CSS layout for the official Alter Aeon MUD site. To retheme the site, it should be as simple as picking new colors, and generating two header images for the image banner across the top. At least that's the hope.
One of the reasons for doing this is the possibility that the dark, ominous colors are driving people off. I've heard more than a few comments to the effect that the current color scheme is 'off-putting' and/or looks evil. (It does after have demon horns in it.)
I've certainly noticed this in RL in terms of dress. When wearing my usual fare of all black, people are much, much less likely to approach me than if I'm wearing blue jeans and a light shirt. If web page viewers are even remotely similar, a difference of 2:1 wouldn't be impossible.
With all this in mind, I'm perfectly willing to try some lighter color schemes and see if it helps. Perhaps a nice light blue ice theme to begin with.
I should probably think a little harder about the image backgrounds. It should be possible to do image under- and overlays to perhaps pretty things up a bit.
FYI, this is all hand-written CSS, with the pages generated using GNU M4. Take a look at the source time time if you're bored.
One of the reasons for doing this is the possibility that the dark, ominous colors are driving people off. I've heard more than a few comments to the effect that the current color scheme is 'off-putting' and/or looks evil. (It does after have demon horns in it.)
I've certainly noticed this in RL in terms of dress. When wearing my usual fare of all black, people are much, much less likely to approach me than if I'm wearing blue jeans and a light shirt. If web page viewers are even remotely similar, a difference of 2:1 wouldn't be impossible.
With all this in mind, I'm perfectly willing to try some lighter color schemes and see if it helps. Perhaps a nice light blue ice theme to begin with.
I should probably think a little harder about the image backgrounds. It should be possible to do image under- and overlays to perhaps pretty things up a bit.
FYI, this is all hand-written CSS, with the pages generated using GNU M4. Take a look at the source time time if you're bored.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)