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Is it a commercial game? Because if it is, you can't afford to be "not great at social media"

Yep, that's the plan. And yes, social media is of course very important if I want people to find my game. If I throw stuff to the internet, without having an existing fan base, no one will ever find it. If I should get the perfect publisher, that would make the marketing easier on my part.

The best way to promote stuff, in my opinion, is to get other people to say good things about it. Preferably people who have a large audience. But I will definetely consider joining Twitter, when the time comes. Currently I've used all of my brain capacity to finish the game, and I don't want to disturb that process!

IOAWN4T has over 15k, it was crazy seeing the number go up and up and up and wondering when it would stop!

Wow! I played IOAWN4T (catchy abbreviation!) and really liked it. It's amazing how many sprites have been crammed into a relatively short game. I guess the amazing visuals require a lot of material!

Really happy to know that the finish line is getting closer This is literally the only Lovecraft-based/inspired game that has caught my interest in a very, very long time and I'm dying to get my hands on it.

Very nice to hear that!  Currently working on the last missing "scenario", after that some polishing, gameplay balancing, bug fixing and sound work.

Wouldn't twitter be a better option? I thought Facebook was pretty much dead, and twitter is where it's "at" for indie game development right now (well, TikTok too, but that one's for the younger 'uns mostly ).

Probably! I'm not great at social media, and actually just recently signed up to Facebook to do a bit of promoting, I didn't even have a personal account before that. So at this rate I'll probably join Twitter when it's starting to die down.

That's amazing!  I just passed the 1,000 mark so imagining ten times that number is astonishing to me as I can't imagine what that feels like since a thousand was a lot of work!  Really looking forward to this.

It sure is a very nice looking number in the editor! But I've been working on the game from 2016, so it all just slowly adds up. Also some special effects use a lot of frames, so it's not all character animation. Keep at it!

Yo this looks awesome!

Thanks! 

Also, there's now 10.000 sprites in the game! 

This looks really amazing, can't wait to try it. Any tentative release date/window?

Hey thanks, nice to hear that! I'm hoping that the game could be released at the end of the year, but I can't say nothing concrete yet. Of course, when I can, I will let everybody know it! 

Sweet! Nice trailer 

Thanks! There will be a longer trailer at some point, this is just to get the wheels slowly rolling.

That's some of the scariest music I've heard! 

Yes, Troy Sterling Nies who is composing the music is a star! He is a frequent collaborator with the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society and composed the music for "Call of Cthulhu" and "The Whisperer in Darkness" feature films for example. I'm really lucky to have him onboard!

Dreams in the Witch House has now a Teaser Trailer!

https://youtu.be/Z889XCE-Zq0

And a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thewitchhousegame

Go and like, follow, comment, subscribe, donate, worship etc!

With the latest news that development is going to speed up - good luck on the final hurdles. I've been following this game for a while now, super excited about this one!! Best of luck!

Thanks! Yep, now I've been able to work on the game full-time. Currently I'm doing a bit of promotion (finally), I hope you will see the results soon!

I've been waiting for this game sincer your first post (2017 wow!). I'm curious about the mechanics and I'm in love with the visuals. Good luck and best wishes for the final stretch of the development!

Very nice to hear that, thanks for the support! Yes, the first post might have been in 2017, but I started making the game at least a year before, maybe two! I defend myself by saying that I've done other stuff too, and in some years it wasn't possible for me to work on the game so much. And at first I knew nothing about coding...

This game is looking outstanding! I'll be keeping any eye on your progress.
It's reminding me a little like Dark Seed, but I think that game was also based on Lovecraft.

Keep going! 

Thanks, nice to hear that! I guess there is some similarity, in both games there's a building at the heart of the story. And an ordinary person who get sucked into cosmic horror.

The title screen looks really, really good.  Creepy, but not TOO creepy.

Thanks, I'm quite happy with that pic too, it kind of sets the mood and tone for the game nicely.

I'm glad you'll have more time coming up to devote to the game so we'll finally be able to play it soon(ish?)...I'm guessing your "early 2021" date no longer applies!   

Oops, I forgot that I gave that deadline, need to fix it! So let's now say the game will be ready this year. 

Anywho, I know you've said you can die mid-game or at technically any point if you're not keeping your character's needs met, but assuming you get to the end-end without dying, how long would you estimate that the gameplay is?  I like that you have plenty of "time/days" to complete what you need to, and that you have the ability to pause the game (something I'd definitely require!).  I can't wait to see more as you near the end of development!

The gameplay duration varies depending on players actions, but it's surprisingly high. When I'm testing the game and breeze through it, skipping dialog etc, it will take me a couple of days. So I'd say the duration is around 10-20 hours, which is a lot more than I thought it would be, when starting the project. On the other hand, if you just sleep, rest and skip everything, you could probably do it in a few hours!

Thanks for the guerilla marketing, Mandle! Those were some nice words.

So a quick comment on the progress while we're here! I haven't posted anything in ages, but the game has progressed slowly, but steadily all the time. And now with Mandle's fixes, it's much more pleasent experience when the irritating typos and awkward grammar errors have been ironed out. My current work will end in a couple of weeks, and after that I can commit myself to the game full-time. So hopefully this will be the beginning of the big push, that will complete the game.

Also, here's a new promo pic!

I'll say super wow graphics!

If you ever need some play or beta testers, I'll more than glad to help out. I done few of them on free and commercial ags games

Hey, thanks! When the game is a bit further, I probably need more "fresh" testers. I'll try to keep you in mind!

Currently I have some other work, so the progress is a bit slower than in the last few months. The good thing is that the game progressed at super-speed during those last months!

This thread finally pushed me to register here to say two things:

1. I really enjoy the WIP stuff you are posting - it is really helpful to me.
2. There is not enough content about witches in the world.

All in all, good job so far. Will cheer on from afar. 

Thanks! Really nice to hear you are enjoying the WIP stuff, and I'm glad you find it helpful!

Maybe an option to have a bit of a pause before the text box pops up?

I think I'll make the fade a bit slower, and maybe add a very short pause. A suitable sound effect may also help, so that the pause feels justified.

I was never quite sure when the game action was paused when I was testing, and the passage of time is quite vital in the game. If I went away to do something I would always superstitiously save the game and then reload when I came back to make sure no time had passed.

You could include a PAUSE feature in the game and, while it is paused, show this beautiful screen with the above mentioned "CLICK TO RETURN TO GAME" message unobtrusively at the bottom.

Yes, time management is important in the game, and a pause feature is a must have. Infact, there is already one (activated by pressing spacebar), but there's no indicators or hints of it yet. Opening the menu also pauses the game. I'll think about the pause-background suggestion!

Yeah, don't put the textbox in the middle of it. That's too much of a shame. Maybe put the text along the top or bottom of the screen?

Luckily some of the events and actions, like going to the coffee shop don't take so much space. Also, I might use the picture somewhere else too, now that I have it. It's a positive problem, much worse would be if I had to hide an ugly background with a big text box! 

Beautiful background!

If the screen will be covered by a textbox, at least make it a beautiful textbox, not an ugly one 

Thanks, I try!

Indeed. That's a gorgeous piece of artwork. I can't stress that enough. 

Thank you. I'm happy how it turned out be too, although it took a over week to finish it (including the evening and night versions). The bad thing is that when I look at some of the early art, it pales in comparison. But fixing old art to match newer stuff is a doomed cycle, and I don't want to go there, at least yet!

Oh, I have been very excited for this one.  I’m sure it’s difficult to decide where/how/if to make it commercial, but I can tell you that I for one, would buy it no matter where you sell or or for what price.  It looks AMAZING.  Keep up the great work!!

Hey, thanks! Very nice to hear that! 

Here's something brand new, straight from the Photoshop:



I finally took the task of replacing some of the placeholder graphics (which I already had accustomed to). This shot is the general city graphic that shows in certain city events. Big part of it will be blocked by an ugly text box, so I decided to share the whole thing here. 

Now, back to drawing the evening and night versions.

As a tester, and after many playthroughs, I just finally achieved what I'm guessing is one of the "best" endings.

SO satisfying to get that, but, this is Lovecraft, so I'm happy that it didn't let me rest completely at ease.

Yes, the occult threat can be postponed, but never won completely. Enjoy your victory while it lasts! 

this animation is looking so beautiful, can't wait to play that game!

Thanks! Yes, the alchemy / chemistry animations work well as a GIFs. 

Very impressed at the idea that you are making an "open world" game! Coupled with the survivalist element, this is very innovative! Glad to see a game is coming that is actually different from the usual ones!

Hey thanks, I like it too! 

I think the short story fits well into an open world game. But I can see why people don't do these kinds of game more often, it's a horrible amount of work! And if you change one thing, it's probably going to break ten other things. Still, doing something a bit different is a big motivator for me.

I think the game looks marvelous <3, would definitely buy it!

Hey, thanks! Great to hear that from an acclaimed AGSer!