Thoughts on entering the Independent Games Festival

[Jabberwocky]

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual competition for indie games. There's a lot of competitions like this, but the IGF is the biggest one. I'm considering (re)entering Salvation Prophecy in it. But I'm not sure yet - I'm weighing the pros and cons.

I entered Salvation Prophecy in the IGF once already, a few years ago. Yes, I've been working on the game for over 4 years now. That was much nearer the beginning of the project. That time through, Salvation Prophecy wasn't nominated for any awards at all.

On one hand, this could mean that Salvation Prophecy just isn't the kind of game that does well at the IGF. It's a lot different than games which have won in the past, nifty games like Crayon Physics Deluxe, World of Goo, Blueberry Garden, Aquaria, and Minecraft. Those are all very unusual, unique, quirky games that all feel really "indie". Salvation Prophecy has a more traditional, "mainstream" feel to it. I suspect this doesn't jive well with the judges, which I can totally respect - they're trying to recognize non-mainstream games.

Plus, Salvation Prophecy is a pretty complicated game, especially compared to other indie games. There's no way you could play Salvation Prophecy for like 20 minutes and have any real feel for it. You don't even get a space ship until about an hour into the game. But the IGF judges need to judge hundreds of games. So realistically, they can only play each one for minutes, not hours.

On the other hand, the game really sucked back then, compared to what it is today. Really, I shouldn't have entered it back then. It was way too unfinished. So I guess it might have a better chance this time around.

The big reason for entering is publicity. If Salvation Prophecy won, or even was nominated, there would be a lot of people who would check out the website, and maybe buy it when it is released. This kind of publicity is really important, especially for indies like me who don't have money to spend on marketing the game.

So why not enter it? Well, it's kind of a drag to lose I guess. If your game isn't nominated at all, it's tough not to take it a bit personally. Quitting your job, starting a company, and making an independent game is a crazy, stressful experience. Jumping on emotional roller-coasters like the IGF doesn't help, especially when you think the odds might be stacked against you.

Anyway, I need to decide soon. The submission deadline is Oct 17th.

[DJ Die]

Nobody can decide for you but if you decide to enter the contest is there any way we can support you?

[401K]

Hello there !
I just found this project by browsing the Colony Wars article on Gamasutra and seems very interesting ! I like this kind of games and i follow the Vegas Strike project too if you know...
About me, i'm a french student and I've just obtained my master degree in Programming and Sound Design.
I'm posting here because my team will present a game to the IGF contest this year. It's another kind of game about a lost spirit trying to reach his "heaven" in a platformer/puzzle game style with the french "fleur bleue" touch i think

So i really encourage you to post your game too. Looks amazing for the work of only one people and just external artists. I know as you that it's not the type of game that judges are trying to promote at IGF but it will give you visibility and so many feedbacks that will help you improve your game.

I don't see any "Download" section on the website, is there any possibility to try your app a this time ?

[Jabberwocky]

Hiya DJ Die,

The best thing you can do to help - you're already doing it! I really appreciate your presence here on the forum, so as I start spreading word of the game, there's at least a bit of activity around here on the forums. So thanks for that!

Bonjour 401K,
Thanks for dropping by. A Masters in Programming and Sound Design - cool man. Great skills in the game dev world. Are you entering the student competition or the main competition? What's the name of the game, I'll watch out for it. I like the theme.

Salvation Prophecy is in a beta stage, but I don't think I'll release a demo until the game is on sale. That way, if people like the demo they can buy the full game instead of having to wait.

[401K]

Yes, we are entering the student competition as it is the last year we can compete with other video game schools
The game is called Beyond and there is a demo available here : http://beyond-project.com/Beyond.zip (you'll need a X360 Pad as the game was designed for XBLA even if it is very difficult to release on it since few month...)
There is also a devblog with videos, but in french : http://enjmin.blogs.liberation.fr/jeuvideo/

Do you think about platform like Steam to sale your game ? Could be a great way to promote it

[Jabberwocky]

Cool, thanks for the link. I'll check it out next time I take a break from coding.

Steam is definitely the way I want to go with Salvation Prophecy. I really like the platform, the size of the audience, and Steam/Valve are just a really cool company. As soon as the current round of testing is complete, maybe 1-2 months, I plan on sending them a playable version of the game for evaluation to release on Steam.

[Jabberwocky]

Alright, I decided to enter the IGF.

They don't choose finalists until sometime in January. I'm keeping my expectations low, for the reasons expressed in the original post. But for the small entry fee, I decided it's worth it for a chance at the big IGF publicity.

[DJ Die]

Oh you have to actually pay for entry? well its still worth a shot though and from what i can tell your game has great potentional

[SHooLCPype]

Let will be your way. Do, as want.