RE: Esenthel on Steam Greenlight
A few years ago, when I was in the 'market' for game engines, I evaluated quite a few of them, started with OpenSource/free ones at first, gave up on them, then tried to find an affordable indie engine. After It felt I explored all the options it came down to basically one engine for me, but I didn't even know about Esenthel at that time, I think not until I stumbled upon some posts from a disgruntled user, just before I decided to buy.
I took a look, but even though it seemed EE offered more, that engine's presentation was just done so much more effectively, because I think that's the sole reason I bought it over EE (and also because I was tired of the whole process and didn't give EE a proper spin).
So how was it different?
- complete online documentation (wiki, api docs, tutorials), which you could view before buying
- active user gallery (prominently displayed, not hidden in a sub menu)
Just so many benefits to having one... people post and browse the website a bit more, which makes it feel more alive (raise of hands - who here wanted to show something but didn't want to create a full blown showcase post, out of whatever reasons?). People experiment and do all kinds of amazing stuff, you want to capitalize on that, your printed feature list is "what this engine is", while the gallery is "what this engine can be" kind of thing. Also, for a potential user wanting to make a specific kind of game, just by browsing the gallery and finding a few people doing that type of thing, will greatly increase his perception that this is the engine for his game.
- clean & professional web design
The sleek web design gave the impression of seriousness and professionalism.
Live chatbox and shoutbox (called status updates, kind of like a tweet) integrated into the website, may seem like a gimmick, but it's quite useful at times and leads to more activity on the site. (People here already expressed some interest, but I guess the core user base is too small for a dedicated irc channel or something like that)
For example there was a rotation of (curated) impressive renders in the pages header, which could be submitted by users also, sort of reinforcing the effects of what I just said above (activity & impressions).
- carefully selected and curated showcase pieces (art & level design by commissioned artist, ie. for splash screens, tech demos, feature videos & tutorials etc..)
Even tutorials and simple new feature demonstrations featured selected assets that worked to give the impression of an AAA game in progress. Overall the engine almost had a theme to it, most everything was done in a HL2/S.T.A.L.K.E.R. aesthetic. There was a tech demo that had assets and level design done by a pro artist, which had a huge impact. I believe this aesthetic was or still is that engines biggest appeal (or conversion factor)
(well Epic has the right idea for their tech demos, works like cryptonite to daydreaming gamedevs)
- face & name presence from developer on forums, tutorials, feature videos, etc.
Knowing someone by his real name, and after seeing him a few times and listening to his voice can help establish a more personal connection, and you feel a bit as if you know that person, which helps a lot in certain business situations.
- more online presence and mention
Good for brand reinforcement and reaching new people. Articles, reviews, mentions etc on other sites all help obviously. What also helps is just posting about new releases on sites like gamedev.net from time to time. Donate EE to a youth center/organization. Hold competitions (best game from the demo version gets you some months of subscription). Attend various gamedev events, at some you can submit for a presentation/lecture/panel, better yet would be to hold a workshop (make a EE game in 1h or something).
You should consider sponsoring a game jam. Highly targeted active advertising, everyone entering is a gamedev, will know about the prize and almost surely check it out. It also gets you decent exposure, not every game in the jam/comp will be seen by visitors but everyone will see/hear about the prize. They also get mentioned on other sites along with what the prize is.
- .. a lot more, this is just from the top of my head and I'm not an expert.
Well, I feel I typed out a whole article, I do apologize for the long read but I think that marketing is what is holding EE back. "If you build great things they shall come" strategy is not working out anymore in this day and age...
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