So as you’re probably aware, I participated in the NaNoRenO 2016 game jam and made a visual novel called One Night Stand. It was the first ever game jam I’d done… Until March 1st, I’d only been focussing on my gigantic, MMORPG visual novel, working title LoveIRL. I wanted to take a break from it, gain perspective, try out a new art style and learn all about releasing games before I release LoveIRL.
It was a really good thing to do – actually, I get the impression One Night Stand will be more popular than LoveIRL! I honestly can’t believe how popular it has become… It’s currently number 2 on itch.io!
Dealing with success can be difficult: this popularity is certainly shoving me out of my comfort zone, but it can be good to push your boundaries. Gradually, this success is making me feel extremely elated. Creating a game like this has always been my dream, and I’ve waited 29 years to make it come true. I’m so glad people are enjoying the game, in fact, all the comments I’ve read have been either super positive or constructive. It really makes me and Dan smile, so thank you for telling us you like it!
Anyway, in the last 24 hours, the game has doubled in downloads after being featured in a Let’s Play by Amixem. This isn’t the first Let’s Play the game’s received, but it’s certainly been the most influential so far. I still can’t bring myself to watch Let’s Play videos though! I’m just glad they seem to be entertaining everyone.
Really though, this release has shown me the power of Youtubers and how the games industry has changed over the last five or so years. In addition to the Let’s Plays, I got a lot of retweets, shares and so on, but only one editorial website actually wrote about the game. I understand it’s only a game jam version at the moment, and as I immediately jetted off to Japan after submitting the game, I didn’t contact anyone about it, but still… one site? Times have really changed! Anyway, I wanted to see just how well the game would swim if I just threw it into the pool, and it turns out pretty good! It must be one of those water babies…
It was a really good thing to do – actually, I get the impression One Night Stand will be more popular than LoveIRL! I honestly can’t believe how popular it has become… It’s currently number 2 on itch.io!
Dealing with success can be difficult: this popularity is certainly shoving me out of my comfort zone, but it can be good to push your boundaries. Gradually, this success is making me feel extremely elated. Creating a game like this has always been my dream, and I’ve waited 29 years to make it come true. I’m so glad people are enjoying the game, in fact, all the comments I’ve read have been either super positive or constructive. It really makes me and Dan smile, so thank you for telling us you like it!
Anyway, in the last 24 hours, the game has doubled in downloads after being featured in a Let’s Play by Amixem. This isn’t the first Let’s Play the game’s received, but it’s certainly been the most influential so far. I still can’t bring myself to watch Let’s Play videos though! I’m just glad they seem to be entertaining everyone.
Really though, this release has shown me the power of Youtubers and how the games industry has changed over the last five or so years. In addition to the Let’s Plays, I got a lot of retweets, shares and so on, but only one editorial website actually wrote about the game. I understand it’s only a game jam version at the moment, and as I immediately jetted off to Japan after submitting the game, I didn’t contact anyone about it, but still… one site? Times have really changed! Anyway, I wanted to see just how well the game would swim if I just threw it into the pool, and it turns out pretty good! It must be one of those water babies…
So with the unexpected success, we have decided to make a fuller version ofOne Night Stand! Dan’s already had a few ideas and started writing extra content for the game. For me, firstly I’ll be fixing some of the bugs people have been experiencing, then creating more rotoscope animations (ones I wished I had time to make!) and adding close ups of the items you can interact with. There will also be more items, which will add smaller side stories and maybe alternative endings. It’s quite early for me to give details, but we have some cool ideas lined up for you to enjoy! I have to admit though, both me and Dan have found it fascinating to see just how many people want to win the girl and start a relationship with her! We both expected that players would want to get out of the situation ASAP! It’s certainly given us food for thought…
Once the full version is complete, we hope to submit the game to Steam to get it into more players’ hands. I’m actually looking forward to the Steam Greenlight process… I really am! I’m hoping to learn a lot from it. I imagine all this will be happening in the next few weeks, with the final version being finished before June. It’s another tight deadline, but I think we’ll manage it!
Sadly, it means development on LoveIRL will have to wait, but it gives me even more time to consider all the changes I want to make to improve it. With it being such a large project, and only me working on it, it’s been very easy for me to lose focus on my objectives. So far, taking a break has really helped! Though, it’s also giving me ideas for other upcoming game jams, one of which I really want to make! Argh, there’s not enough time!
Once the full version is complete, we hope to submit the game to Steam to get it into more players’ hands. I’m actually looking forward to the Steam Greenlight process… I really am! I’m hoping to learn a lot from it. I imagine all this will be happening in the next few weeks, with the final version being finished before June. It’s another tight deadline, but I think we’ll manage it!
Sadly, it means development on LoveIRL will have to wait, but it gives me even more time to consider all the changes I want to make to improve it. With it being such a large project, and only me working on it, it’s been very easy for me to lose focus on my objectives. So far, taking a break has really helped! Though, it’s also giving me ideas for other upcoming game jams, one of which I really want to make! Argh, there’s not enough time!