BoilerZerker (WIP)

[tsturzl]

I've been working on a game called BoilerZerker, used to be named Plazma till we changed art work to steampunk.

The objective of the game is to play against your friends(only 2 player atm, will be 4) and try to push them off the map into a spike pit. You're armed with a steam cannon and bumpers to ram your opponents, and you can obtain randomly spawning special weapons like a wrecking ball, and powerups that increase your thrust, and nerfs that decrease your opponents friction making them easier to push around. There will be many more special weapons and powerups, but that's still in planning.

So far what I have implemented is the core game play, graphics, game states, and networking. I'm hoping to use Facebook's API to allow players to invite eachother into games via there facebook ID, rather than a less user-friendly IP swap.

Here's a little video demo of what we have thus far(video was speed up to make the file smaller):


The graphics aren't done yet, especially for the menu interface. There's also a robot editor that I didn't show in the video that allows you to customize your player.

Forgive my poorly made video, I'm not really a cutting room expert.

PS: sorry no .love. This game is not opensource. Please don't ask for the .love, if you'd like to know how I did something, PM me and I'll give you a modified snipplet.

[Tesselode]

You know, people can still get to the source if you make a binary. Most people will never know how, though.

[tsturzl]

You know, people can still get to the source if you make a binary. Most people will never know how, though.

I realize this, however I suppose I just trust people not to. I plan on releasing it as opensource once I no longer can maintain it, however I'm going to try and sell copies, and I don't like the whole "Free but not Free" idea, I think if somethings opensource it should just be free of charge also or it ruins the concept.

[Robin]

I don't like the whole "Free but not Free" idea, I think if somethings opensource it should just be free of charge also or it ruins the concept.

I disagree. You can raise a lot of goodwill by releasing your games as Free Software or open source, even if they are not free.

[coffee]

Good luck for the project. Nice to see steampunk games.

[nevon]

On the subject of open source. Just because you make the source available to study, that doesn't mean the game itself is open source. You could print it out and give away copies in the street, and it'd still be closed source unless you explicitly gave it an open source license.

[Ellohir]

Nice work, I understand that you want to make profit from it.

I disagree. You can raise a lot of goodwill by releasing your games as Free Software or open source, even if they are not free.

Like Doom 3! Yeah! All code is now free, you only have to get new models and textures and sound and such and compile and you have the game free! Still, I understand that people prefer to buy it xD

[josefnpat]

I did a quick search on your username for original posts, and what I was surprised to see is that this is your first game submitted with love2d. This does not imply this is your first game, but from what I can tell, you have not started a studio or a LLC.

From the articles I've read, it's important to gain prominence in the game community before you attempt to sell your games, otherwise there's a good chance you won't make a dime and the game will flop. If you're paying for art, you might consider selling DLC, or making a donate button, or running at a loss, and attempting to make money in the next games.

[ivan]

I was surprised to see is that this is your first game submitted with love2d. This does not imply this is your first game, but from what I can tell, you have not started a studio or a LLC.

You don't need to register an LLC, in theory you can sell games even as a sole proprietor.
Depends on where you're from too, outside the US the laws might differ.

From the articles I've read, it's important to gain prominence in the game community before you attempt to sell your games, otherwise there's a good chance you won't make a dime and the game will flop. If you're paying for art, you might consider selling DLC, or making a donate button, or running at a loss, and attempting to make money in the next games.

Yep, 99% of all indie games are basically flops.
The thing is, you're not going to establish a big fanbase unless you have a 'hit' game (doesn't have to be free).
I say, yes, go for it. Even if your game flops you'll learn a lot.

[tsturzl]

I did a quick search on your username for original posts, and what I was surprised to see is that this is your first game submitted with love2d. This does not imply this is your first game, but from what I can tell, you have not started a studio or a LLC.

From the articles I've read, it's important to gain prominence in the game community before you attempt to sell your games, otherwise there's a good chance you won't make a dime and the game will flop. If you're paying for art, you might consider selling DLC, or making a donate button, or running at a loss, and attempting to make money in the next games.

This isn't my first game, but I do admit I have barely any fan base. The donate button is a good idea, I was thinking that maybe have features you can buy. I'd go with the typical indie marketing scheme where you try and sell fan gear or what not, however again I don't have a fan base.

I'm not paying for art, I have an artist who contributes a great deal to the game play and he understands game logic and development. The thing is his art work DOES have a fan base, he works for a pen-and-paper game company in Milwaukee, he runs a well known art blog, and he is a free-lance artist on the side. I'm hoping to gain some fan base off of his existing audience. And no I don't have an LLC, so I guess regular marketing schemes wouldn't work well. We aren't a company, we're just 2 guys who want to make games, and we both could use a little cash.

I'll admit, yes opensource really does draw in a crowd and a lot of support, however my beliefs are that if you sell open source software then its not "open" because you have to pay for it still to see the source.

I guess I'll be rethinking my release plans, and consider your suggestions. However I'd still like to make some money off of this, perhaps release the source and accept donations, or maybe release tid-bits of source for educational use and sell the game as a whole.

Also another idea I had was to release the Multiplayer only version, which was the only version I originally intended to have, and sell a puzzle game version for very cheap. I'd then release the free(multiplayer only) version as open source, and to "buy" the puzzle version all you'd need to do is donate any sum you'd like, thus kind of taking from the Humble Bundle concept. How about that?