Thank you!
Thanks to everyone who helped out yesterday with our little (but potentially major) problem of the Steam algorithm not having enough information about you, the players, to offer it the expected launch traffic.
The good news is that the problem is now resolved and views to the Stack Masters store page have increased massively.
Thanks again. I was feeling hopeless there for while and you guys dragged the game back onto the tracks and we are now full steam ahead once again, no pun intended. I have to admit that I genuinely have a tear in my eye as I write this. Maybe I'm a tad too emotional but hey, this game has been my life and passion for a long time and to see it potentially die without getting a fair chance was heartbreaking.
So, what happens next?
I shared yesterday that Stack Masters was an experiment in making a ridiculously polished and accessible game and then selling it at an equally ridiculously low price. Why? Because, as a solo developer, time is so precious that spending huge amounts of time on pre-release marketing is not really financially viable in most cases. It can take as long to do the marketing as it takes to make the game. 95% of indie games fail to turn a profit, and so we have to try out new ideas sometimes to break through. Also, why charge you guys double or even triple for a game, to cover the marketing time and expenses, if there is a possible alternative?
For those that don't already know me, Stack Masters is my third major Steam release. My first two games were NeonXSZ and Space Bob vs. The Replicons, so this is not my first rodeo. Whether I'm an idiot or not is debatable, but I'm fairly confident that I'm not a complete idiot.
The popular consensus from those in the know would likely be to tell me that my experiment is doomed to failure, but the only people who can actually determine whether that is true or not is you, the players. It's now really all up to you guys. I can do my best over the coming weeks and months to get YouTubers and streamers to play and share the game with their viewers, but ultimately, my voice is but a whisper compared to yours. If you guys suggest the game to your favorite streamer you will have an infinitely higher chance of convincing them to give it a try than an unsolicited email from me ever could. Tens of games are released on Steam daily; Imagine what the email inbox, or twitter notifications, of a popular streamer might look like. They will be overflowing with requests from indie devs like me. They will have tuned out from even reading those types of requests a long time ago.
What About Game Updates?
Yep, they are coming. There was already a little hotfix today to deal with controller stick drift, which one player found was negatively affecting their game.
Stack Masters is already super polished and even our most avid community member and alpha tester, (Nomad Universe with 270+ hours played at the time of writing) still hasn't managed to play all the levels in the game.
I mention that only to illustrate that additional level content really isn't required any time soon. There's already enough to keep most of you busy for weeks. We've also spent months polishing off any rough edges and adding all the QOL improvements suggested during testing.
So, now, I want to sit back, and let all of you new players take some time to explore the game and share your views. I always wanted Stack Masters to be a community driven game. Where it goes next is up to all of you. Let me know your thoughts, and we'll filter through them as a community and decide what direction to take the game.
The game already has a fully featured level editor with super easy to use Steam Workshop support, so it's easy to share your levels and ideas with others. Some of these levels will find their way into the game's main campaign over the coming weeks and months.
I have endless ideas for new game mechanics and competitive features. One idea that is very high on my list of potential additions is to add a 'Level of The Week' section to the main menu. In there we could find a new level every week with a permanently visible leaderboard next to it. This would give the entire player base a single level to compete on and push to it's absolute limits on a weekly basis. It's just an idea though - it may or may not happen.
Whatever happens, I've always been a huge proponent of feedback both from the players to the dev but also as a dev to the players. I will be watching any and all discussions that happen over in the discussion area here on Steam. I will likely leave you guys to chat and share your ideas and thoughts about the game in there, but rest assured I will read every word and they will all influence my decisions. I'll post dev updates, like this one, on a regular basis as it seems appropriate and required.
This was meant to be a short little news update and a way to thank everyone for their help yesterday. It's already too long so I'll leave it there.
Thanks again, and don't forget to tell your favorite YouTubers and Streamers to check out the game. The more they hear about it, the more likely they will be to give it a try. If you love the game, and want to see it grow, that is how it will happen.
Thank you all,
Paul.