Congratulations Dave Gilbert!

Nostradamus · Tue 26/12/2006 04:34:56

Yeah they didn't look hard enough at Stone that's right. But maybe it's jst they expected to see the traditional long beard and huge yarmulka\hat. Though the other Rabbi in the game has the long beard.

MillsJROSS · Tue 26/12/2006 05:19:45

Perhaps this is a bit nosey, but I would be interested to hear how well your games are doing for you economically. How many of Shiva's have been sold, as well as the Blackwell game. Is this a full time thing now, or just a hobby that earns a little keep? I'm interested because what you are doing now is a dream for many of us, and it would be nice to see how well it works.

I will be buying both games as soon as I graduate and aren't dependant on my parents. So you can count at least 20 dollars from me this upcomming summer.

-MillsJROSS

Gregjazz · Tue 26/12/2006 09:01:08

Quote from: MillsJROSS on Tue 26/12/2006 05:19:45
Perhaps this is a bit nosey, but I would be interested to hear how well your games are doing for you economically. How many of Shiva's have been sold, as well as the Blackwell game.

I just want to speak out for a fellow game developer... releasing figures like that has an effect on sales, it's not something that should be publically announced. Maybe by PM, but not here. I hope you understand, I'm not trying to be rude.

MillsJROSS · Tue 26/12/2006 17:25:43

I do understand that...which is why I thought the question was nosey. That said I don't necessarily agree that the release of those figures necessarily hurts the sale of games. But I don't really want to argue that point, because I don't have anything other than my personal thoughts to guide me to that decision, and I know regardless of figures, I'll be buying Dave's games.

However, if this is working out well for Dave, it would be not only nice to hear about it, but I know it would help me weigh the options of doing the same thing myself in the future.

-MillsJROSS

m0ds · Tue 26/12/2006 17:44:10

I can't speak for the commercial brothers but if FoY was sold for $4.99 we'd have Â£102,138.00 if just over three quarters of those who downloaded the demo "bought" the game. Of course, the game will NOT be for sale, but we often do this with film projects in college. Even though you do it for next to nothing, we have a chart that helps you work it out how much it would cost if it was a "real" production. I worked out my Judgement Day music video would have probably cost Â£8000 to make profesionally. Interesting. I too would like to know how the commercial AGS games are doing, and I'm not a big fan of the secretive attitude over these kind of issues, seen as we all started out here together - but each to their own. It is pretty nosey, but it is information I think the most of us who are trying to do this amatuer thing at a professional level, are still very interested in. Not in a rude or competitive sense, but it would be good to see who leads the way, ie. did Fatman sell more than Blackwell? Did Blackwell sell more than Super Jazz? Etc. If we were all able to see the figures, or a rough version of these figures, or even just an "example" which has some truth in it, those developing or wanting to develop commercial adventure games could see really what is and what isn't working. Aswell as developers, artists etc - you guys are first hand market researchers, and as this ISN'T meant to be a competitive community, it would be nice to have access to it. Anyway, that's future stuff.

Snarky · Tue 26/12/2006 20:50:26

I have no hard information, but I think you'll find, m0ds, that the distinction between "free" and even a very low price is a wide chasm indeed. Rather than 3/4, I would be thinking 1/100, if that. (And, of course, Indy is an established title known from movies and games.)

Based on comments about other commercial AGS games, I believe we're talking numbers in the dozens (if you're unlucky) or hundreds (if more fortunate), hardly ever thousands.

Gregjazz · Tue 26/12/2006 21:06:54

Yes, the commonly-used estimate of sales is 1% of the downloads of your demo will result in a purchase. And then, as Snarky says, we're dealing with the limited market of those into retro point-and-click games...

SSH · Tue 26/12/2006 22:19:10

Not to mention the 100% plus legal fees when George sues you for all you've got, m0ds....

gypsysnail · Tue 26/12/2006 23:09:39

I too would like to know the figures too

I have an unbalanced view of how my game might sell, would it be successful, etc but it is very early days yet. And I could do with advice on the best way to distribute, how I would without getting rejected, and so on. I feel Dave's Blackwell game is worth a good buy and I have enjoyed playing it

. So anyway, if sales figures cant be posted here, could Dave PM me? Anyway thanks, its great to know we all here have each others support in our game endeavours

Disco · Wed 27/12/2006 05:16:52

Come on people, Super Jazz Man was just released on the 21st, and Blackwell Legacy two days later. Do you really think half a week's worth of sales are going to tell you anything about how well the games are selling? Especially since we are just coming off the holiday season where perhaps the majority of people couldn't buy the games because they were buying gifts or hosting fabulous parties?

Where I come from, asking someone how much money they make is rude, and is usually met with a very vague answer like "Well...I am able to take care of myself and my family", with a hint of annoyance in their voice. Even if you ask for how many sales there were, you could still figure out; "If Tim sold 900 downloads of his game, which he sold for $11, he would have $9,900 \o/ yay!!1". Anyway you look at it, it's a personal question, and unless you are very good friends with the developer and they feel comfortable telling you things like their passwords or lock combinations, or when the last time they went to the bathroom was, I'd say you're out of luck , and best off trying to sell a game commercially yourself.

MillsJROSS · Wed 27/12/2006 06:20:44

I don't understand why there's really a discussion here. If you think what I asked is rude, fine, I don't pretend it isn't rude, but regardless, the question remains in the air, and the only one who can really say whether it's personal to them or not is Dave. If he doesn't want to answer it, I completely understand.

However, this is a community of amatuer/independant adventure game developers. While the stress of AGS isn't commercial, there are still many people in this community considering this route. While different games will surely yield different dollars, it would be nice to see how well, or even unwell, this venture is, because, hopefully, other's can see what was either done right or wrong, or just plain evaluate how well the independant adventure game market is.

Game companies usually release some data as to how well their games have sold. I really don't see how this will hurt Dave. Obviously, Blackwell has just been released, but Shivah's been around for a while.

I think the answer to this would especially affect me, as I'll be out of college in a few months, and I'm right at the place in my life where I'm either considering doing this as a hobby or an actual job, and I know these figures would surely have an impact on my decision later in life. Creating games has been a dream of mine, and I'm sure many others, for a looong time. However, I'll have a degree in Computer Science, and probably will be able to find a stable programming job, and be content in life. So I'm at a crossroads in my life where I'm not sure whether I want to go with stability or independant adventure game development. So I apologize for being rude, but I'll take rudeness over being uninformed anyday.

-MillsJROSS

Dave Gilbert · Fri 29/12/2006 03:24:43

This isn't the first time these questions have been asked.

I don't mind the question, and I've decided to answer in general terms. I had typed up a wicked long post, but instead decided to make a blog entry out of it: http://www.davelgil.com.

Nostradamus · Sun 31/12/2006 09:06:00

Here is the image of the article Dave, left click the thumbnail to view full size:

voh · Sun 31/12/2006 12:13:46

Could that image be placed behind a link? It's making the thread well unreadable

vict0r · Sun 31/12/2006 12:19:40

Yeah... Please?

Nostradamus · Sun 31/12/2006 15:03:52

Done for the guys with the size problems...

Now can you please remove these irrelevant tounge out smilies too? What do those have to do with what you posted?..

vict0r · Sun 31/12/2006 15:07:52

It is the sarcastic tounge smiley! Is describes the confusion we feel when we try to understand your logic when posting huge pictures!

Disco · Sun 31/12/2006 16:00:26

It looks like that newspaper had a mole at Brittens :o

Sam. · Sun 31/12/2006 16:30:58

It looks like that newspaper forgot to learn english. Oh dear.

Nostradamus · Sun 31/12/2006 17:30:52

Victor the tounge out face does not mean sarcasm, when you do it means to mock\taunt the one you're speaking with. That's why I hate it this much - cos so many people on the internet have this false concept of what it means.

Zooty who said it wanted to speak English in the first place?

Oh and the picture is this size and quality so that it would actually be readable for those who understand the language.