UFO:Alien Invasion
General => Discussion => Topic started by: Majki-Fajki on May 07, 2012, 12:16:32 pm
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Well, I have returned to UFO AI after version 2.4 was released. Game is amazing. I asked geever on IRC, what slows down development. He said to me, developers lack of modelers and animators. So I have idea - why not promote UFOAI?
Always some % of players are the "Skilled" ones. So more players, bigger chances for new developers.
Why not to create Facebook page for game? Believe me, ppl who are not "in" opensource don't follow news from linux-alike websites. You could reach to a completely new type of players using modern communications media. And creating and managing FB page is not a rocket science :D
You could create stuff in climax of real alien invasion of earth, make it more event-alike, more real, more viral. You could create miracles with things you have already achieved and worked so hard.
In USA very popular is twitter - why not use it? Why no Youtube channel with gameplay or something?
Why not new website, more not-nerd friendly? I mean less reading, more fancy-shmanzy stuff - like Warsow has for example: http://www.warsow.net/ It's 10000x times more appealing to someone who doesn't know the game then complicated, proper, professional one about coding project.
Ofc, I'm not dissing here devs work nor saying you guys should do what you are told by some guy on the Internet - but just think - don't you think you have far more than required to start promoting your game?
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I'm pretty sure most 'non-nerds' wouldn't pay the game more attention than required for an offhanded scoff.
At least the ones with a modicum of use, anyway.
Other than that, I'm not even gonna comment on the sentiment.
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I think he's just saying that there are a lot of gamers out there who don't know of ufo:ai, because they don't find new games from linux articles or the like. And I think he's absolutely correct in that.
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And for example daily more ppl post pics with cats on their FB pages than use Linux. Think about it :)
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UFO: AI needs more promotion. Especially ammong modding communities.
I already spread the wrod around some modding forums I frequent, but more needs to be done. Everyone should try to get more modeleds, modders and programers into it. Drum up some more functional support.
Having extra players is nice, but it hardly helps making the game faster.
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I had the FB Page idea some days ago too. Were also featured on the headlines of IndieDB since today but we havnt got many additional DLs yet. Anyway i think TrashMan is right.
@Majki-Fajki
Nice Gentleman Avatar - was also my fav char. :D
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Well, I'm talking about "going out" with UFO:AI. This game is too good for not showing it to the rest of world. Devs could create FB page and give admins rights to someone from community for example.
Anyone from UFO community works in some media interactive industry? :)
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I could talk to someone who did web design for mtv, don't hold your breath about that one though.
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That's the spirit!
C'mon guys, check your phonebook in yours smart-phones and build a team together!
Operation: OverSpam!
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Operation - Bigger Team Build.
Let's get more contributors!
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First of all, inform world you look for one :) Make a climatic banner at the top of webpage
Phalanx needs you! Became developer! You wont get a penny for that, but skills you learn..."
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"skills you learn, that you can use at other projects for which you won't get paid either"
...okay, maybe better to leave that one out ;)
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Guys, have some child attitude here! Some faith!
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Well i joined with skills and got ... nothing? :D
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When you grow up, you will make use of those skills :P
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well,
I was a map and feature maker for the (rather dated) game Total Annihilation, but I can't spare the time. The ex TA community might be interesting to approach though as some of the guys were highly skilled, and TA was an RTS too - I'm guessing some of them, like me played UFO too. I'll drop them a line.
How about this for an idea? Put UFO:AI on kickstarter. Put a closing bid of something trivial, $100 or something -- that should get you some attention.
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Well i joined with skills and got ... nothing? :D
Well, you got an additional line below the postcount. :)
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We must do mhoar. MHOAR.
Banners.
Enticements.
Something..
I have worked on both indie games and huge mods before. I'm well aware just how time-consuming and difficult it is.
So the more help we can drum up, the better.
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Currently UFO:AI is top-secret project from the ordinary man's with Internet point of view.
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Currently UFO:AI is top-secret project from the ordinary man's with Internet point of view.
disagree. or rather depends what "ordinary man" means for you...
-geever
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Yeah, actually we are relatively well known afaik.
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Not enough.
If there is the lack of programer, animators and other contributors/devs, then obviously the need for help wasn't advertised enough.
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That's probably because pretty much everyone and their dog seems to be making their own X-com remake.
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That's probably because pretty much everyone and their dog seems to be making their own X-com remake.
Haha yeah, thats true. But we were the first. :P
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Being "well known" doesn't translate into people knowing how good it is.
I knew of UFO AI long before I decided to give it a spin. I was so sick of UFO remakes that petered out halfway, and I had so many better things to do (or so I thought)...
I dare say the same is true for many jaded UFO fans waiting for the next "reimagination" (Firaxis)... UFO AI? What's that? Why should I try it?
It didn't help that the first few installs crashed on my MBP (except in bootcamp) and 2.3x dev had mysterious crashes to desktop on a fairly frequent basis - I junked it the first time it happened, and came back several months later to try another build.
The guys on ta universe don't seem to know about UFO AI.
The guys here http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/2271 seem to remember X com, but don't mention UFO AI.
It might be worth your while to get out there into forums and make yourselves known. I think the latest 2.4 stable release is a fairly stable, very polished platform for showcasing what you guys have done, and can do, and will attract more people to help since it's clearly more than one of the "fall-by-the-wayside" remakes.
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http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42718&highlight=ufo
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For example look how GNOME invites to work:
http://www.gnome.org/get-involved/
It's very sleek, readable, end-user oriented way to communicate "we need developers!"
And they remember about ordinary ppl too
http://www.facebook.com/GNOMEDesktop
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well it looks like they have someone who understands design on their team. One of the fundamental tenets is empathy with the user, and not alienating them from the Maker - ie make your product for the user, not yourself. (Pun intended.)
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It would be so cool to have on the Internet fake-website about invasion of aliens on Earth with news, warnings and instructions :)
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Promiting among the relic forums might be a good idea. They mod Dawn of War, so they're good with animating and modeling.
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website about invasion of aliens on Earth with news, warnings and instructions :)
I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of such websites already ;)
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I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of such websites already
I was talking about possible way of talking about game and promoting.
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oh, I totally didn't get that ::)
It's not a bad idea at all.
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Whole game has great storyline and atmosphere. PERFECT narration for promotion.
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Whole game has great storyline and atmosphere. PERFECT narration for promotion.
That was irony, iam right? :D
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actually no... I kinda like the storyline (yeah I know I dissed it not so long ago) now that it's unfolded more and I kinda get it.
I had no idea the plot would keep unfolding beyond my ability to wipe out the alien base (I guess I progressed too quickly?)
I really like the bit about engaging mind-controlled humans... but I just wish there had actually been a battle (assuming it hasn't been made yet) -- do you guys need help with the map / mission for that?
I agree with trashman (I think) that the idea of a virus is silly. While the ufopaedia reads that it is a large multicellular organism that replicates like a virus... this doesn't actually make sense. It just sounds cool.
Viruses replicate by hijacking host cells. And they do this by being really small and injecting their DNA into the host cell, resulting in the host cell making new viral components and assembling tons of new viruses, and then exploding. (well.. in layspeak. Virology 101)
If the alien cells are large and multicellular... how do the host cells make even 1 before lysing? much less hundreds of them? I'm guessing replicating like a bacterium (mitosis) would work just as well to overwhelm the host...
anyway back to the topic at hand -- yes it would be good to promote on sites where people are actively modding and have ability as well as quality. How good are the modding / mapping tools for UFO AI?
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Person, who like making stuff in Photoshop may not be aware of fact, that certain kind of ppl make free video games. May not be aware, that they have skills to make skin for model or texture. They need information, that skills in photshop can be useful in video game. And they need to be explained that.
You can't make an assumption, that everyone is familiar with game developing process, vocabulary, and so on. That's why I have brought an example above, GNOME.
http://www.gnome.org/get-involved/
Moreover, remember, that popularity of project is a factor for modeler/animator/mapper/translator. If guy who can make cool things in Max sees that game has players database=30 ppl, he will skip it.
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Just an idea, but PCGamer regularly has articles on it about older/smaller games and even open source at times. I think UFO:AI is an excellent game and meets the criteria of a full fledged game that they might be interested in promoting to other gamers. Don't sell gamers short. There are plenty of eye-candy wannabee's out there, but old-school is alive and well. The Kickstarter projects are starting to prove that. People are getting tired of the same'ol shooter stuff from every developer out there.
Maybe a letter to them might open a door for larger exposure?
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One more idea. I regularly watch HappyPenguin.com (Linux game tome) and LinuxGames.com, but I haven't seen a recent posting of UFO:AI on either. Two sites I think you should regularly update with info. Might catch a few eyes there as well.
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well perhaps we can help the admins here along -- do you know how they could go about submitting to the review sites? Perhaps if they're ok with it we could make the submissions. I appreciate how busy they are with the coding end of it.
Hows this for an idea? UFO AI could do with a "publicity" department -- a production team for a computer game isn't just the coders after all... it involves a team of people with different skillsets working together.
Perhaps the founders could select a team to form the PR side of things, and go about promoting it (rather than rely on brownian motion to allow info to diffuse laterally)
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well perhaps we can help the admins here along -- do you know how they could go about submitting to the review sites? Perhaps if they're ok with it we could make the submissions. I appreciate how busy they are with the coding end of it.
Hows this for an idea? UFO AI could do with a "publicity" department -- a production team for a computer game isn't just the coders after all... it involves a team of people with different skillsets working together.
Perhaps the founders could select a team to form the PR side of things, and go about promoting it (rather than rely on brownian motion to allow info to diffuse laterally)
No special permission is needed. Please, go out and tell websites we exist. Thanks.
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I'll ask AngryJoe to mention us. He's a cool guy and loves X-Com
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Might it be worth talking to the Wing Commander Saga (http://wcsaga.com) team to see what they did to attract attention to the Darkest Dawn release which was subject to several written reviews (http://wcsaga.com/news-archive-2012/accolades-pour-in-for-darkest-dawn.html) and YouTube reviews including a preview play by Rurikhan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iftgx7MnEHQ) which all helped drum up a lot of interest in the release
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Check this
http://wolffoss.deviantart.com/art/Blue-print-walker-214390906
Wolfoss (and dozens of other artists from DA) should already have been spammed by you.
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If you want to promote the game, write some emails demanding tests to your favorite blog-sites and add comments about this game to every video about the XCOM universe (including Firaxis ones)...
You could start here: http://ufoai.org/forum/index.php/topic,6647.msg52314.html#msg52314
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I had something more big, mature, organized and planned in mind but I guess this thread was pointless from the start.
GL.
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well perhaps if you articulate it I can help you do it. And if we start others might join?
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Guys :)
I have already given idea.
Facebook
Twitter
ordinary user-oriented website with clear and easy to understand info what does it mean to "contribute"
More players, more chances for developers, better and faster development
Perhaps one user can join dev team and manage all those things.
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well they suggested we go forth and multiply (knowledge)
so let's just do it?
I can create a facebook page.
I only have free web hosting, so the sites I can create will either be wordpress or blogger which are non ideal.
what do you feel is wrong with the contribute section at present?
Can you do the twitter feed?
and yes, waving our arms around and jumping up and down on the UFO sites might help too :p
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I believe that official promotion should be driven by devs. Non necessarily coders or mappers, but by ppl who are officially "in" UFO.
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Kickstarter :P
;D ;D ;D
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I believe that official promotion should be driven by devs. Non necessarily coders or mappers, but by ppl who are officially "in" UFO.
Well if someone wants to be the promo guy - i think the position is open. Most of the devs dont have the time to do also the promotion stuff - so someone whos doin all that things would be nice.
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Guys - you are able to create AWESOME game. You won't even meet each other in real life, yet you create very complex things. So you are able to organize yourself. Think :)
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Guys - you are able to create AWESOME game. You won't even meet each other in real life, yet you create very complex things. So you are able to organize yourself. Think :)
So you are just the great advisor. I see.
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and you are the crotchety old grumpus. :)
Majki - I vote we just do it. If Crystan can give us his blessing to be honorary ambassadors that's good enough for me. Someday in the distant future when radiant works on my macbook pro I might turn map maker... but for now, well it doesn't take much of my time to plug the game or set up a facebook account. Wanna join me? you seem to have some good ideas. We could discuss this further and come up with something concrete. I can't do this on my own - and probably neither can you - due to crazy commitments right now -- but we can probably swing something working together. The more the merrier.
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Well, to make marketing for this game we need:
plan
platforms (FB? Twitter?)
scheadule
assigment by dev team (let them for example create FB page and give for example you admin's rights to keep FB page in UFO devs ownership still)
artwork
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http://www.facebook.com/ufoai
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Good start. UFO is on FB, just like Lady Gaga.
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http://www.facebook.com/ufoai
A terrible day - UFO:AI is on Failbook. ;)
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A terrible day - UFO:AI is on Failbook.
Love it or hate it - FB has 600 000 000 active users and growing. It's very important communication channel.
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don't hate it - like it!
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I am looking to set myself up as a home tutor, and in my last meeting my business mentor placed it slightly higher on the importance list than my own website because of the potential to word of mouth, 6 degrees of separation and all that.
You might hate it but it is still an important marketing tool.
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Next:
Twitter
YouTube Chanel (would be nice to post some tutoral videos there)