Sci-fi sucks ?

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IotaOne
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by IotaOne »

Katicflis wrote: You disagree so pleasantly.
Funny, i think this is the first time ever i read this after making an opposing point of view.

My statement was not about the possibility of a successful Sci-fi game, but about the existance of data about the "risks" based on preferance.
"Truth is like poetry. And most people f*cking hate poetry."
P_Tigras
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by P_Tigras »

Katicflis wrote:
IotaOne wrote:
Katicflis wrote: Outside of his dating sims, I'm pretty sure Loren did the best and that was a Japanime style with excellent art and 12 romances. And even though you can pick Eleanor or Saren as your playable character, the game's protagonist is Loren, a female. There are literally no sci-fi equivalents to the Winter Wolves games that sold best.
I contest this statement. PS is comparable for this except for the quality. With PSCD you have a lot of romance options, female Protagonist and if you are not into card games, can skip this part entirely. Even if the steam sales skyrocket, as Jack explained the sold copies till now underperformed.
Lol. You disagree so pleasantly. I need to use the phrase "I contest this statement" sometime.

PSCD doesn't compare for reasons already discussed in this topic.
1) PSCD isn't anime.
2) is a card game which isn't the hugest market. We even have one person in this topic admit that's why s she passed on the game. Having a VN mode doesn't negate the fact that it was a game built around card fighting.
3) Honestly the romances aren't a huge focus of the game nor particularly well done.

PS is a rough comparison cause it was released a long time ago and COMPLETELY lacks Loren's polish. It also sounds like it was his best-selling sci-fi game(?). So his most successful sci-fi happened to be the one with anime and romance, which kinda serves my argument. Now release something like it with Loren's level of polish and see what happens.
A big difference in Loren's favor over the original PS for me was that I found Loren's plot more believable. Loren certainly had lots of fantastical elements, but if you can buy into a world like that existing, the story is reasonable. OTOH I had a lot of issues with the story in PS that made it difficult for me to suspend disbelief. I also found Loren's combat mechanics more fun.
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jack1974
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by jack1974 »

Today dug the stats once again and I had a big WTF moment :lol:
PSCD sales seemed not enough to me, simply because it got even less coverage than my other games (which already are almost always ignored by the press). But if I count the people downloading the demo and then those buying it (of course it's not super accurate, but it's still a valid statistic) it's like 2 people out of 3 who play the demo ends up buying the game.
So it's actually a great result! I am now curious to see what happens when it goes up on Steam, even if nowadays it's hard to get noticed even there (there has been 10 new games releases a day recently... :oops:).
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Maruok
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by Maruok »

Personally, I find this fact really easy to explain: those who download the demo are people who are already interested in card/sci-fi games. They see the title, they get curious, play a bit, and finally, since the game is nice, they buy it.

The problem is that the people who like this kind of games are often not the same ones who like your usual genres. So this creates the following annoying situation: many of your usual customers are not interested in PSCD, while players who may like it DO NOT know you and consequently DO NOT try it.

Conclusion: few downloads, but almost all who try it later buy it too, exactly as you said.

On the other hand, on Steam there are lots of card games fans. So yes, I am absolutely sure that PSCD will give you a lot of satisfaction on that platform :wink:
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jack1974
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by jack1974 »

Yeah exactly. Also the art style, very different from ALL my other games, and while I think is good, clearly not everyone likes it. So this thread made me understand this :)
After all PS1 did OK and was the only sci-fi game which:
- had good manga art (very cute too)
- was a RPG (something my customer base likes)
- writing was done by me, but at those times I guess it was OK :lol: but it was very focused no romance/emotions/choices and I think it's what my people like more

so, I think there will be time for more sci-fi "experiments" in future :)
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Pace675
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by Pace675 »

jack1974 wrote: - had good manga art (very cute too)
Was exceptional art, and I would buy again, cuz it that dang good! Hence the reason I can not pull the trigger on PSCD ever.
- was a RPG (something my customer base likes)
I thought it was more of a strategic rpg hybrid, but fun non-the-less.
- writing was done by me, but at those times I guess it was OK :lol: but it was very focused no romance/emotions/choices and I think it's what my people like more
Was good enough for me to buy it and you know how finicky I am, so do not sell yourself short, you did great and English is not your native language.
so, I think there will be time for more sci-fi "experiments" in future :)
Yay!
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jack1974
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by jack1974 »

Pace675 wrote: Was exceptional art, and I would buy again, cuz it that dang good! Hence the reason I can not pull the trigger on PSCD ever.
I agree, I like it a lot. If only that artist was faster... :oops:
Pace675 wrote: Was good enough for me to buy it and you know how finicky I am, so do not sell yourself short, you did great and English is not your native language.
Thanks. It's only that I remember so many people criticizing the writing when it came out! Though now I realized that no matter who writes the story, someone will always criticize it :mrgreen:
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OtterFace
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by OtterFace »

If you don't mind me chipping in, I think sci-fi is a difficult genre to do well. Mainly because it has a long history and tradition, and a lot of baggage on its back. These days it's more of an umbrella term for a variety of very different subgenres. You have old-school, hardcore sci-fi, rooted in the hard sciences and heavily invested in sociopolitical commentary. You have space operas, like Star Trek, which are essentially soap operas in a space setting. You have fantasy sci-fi, like Mass Effect, with grand epic plots which are lightly explained by space magic. You have horror sci-fi, like Alien, which is all about the claustophobia of space stations and has otherwise very little to do with science. You have anime sci-fi with giant mechas and the occasional monster and so on.

So going back to PSCD, if I was not on the forums and hadn't followed the development, I would have no idea what subgenre the game really falls under. And the question of subgenre is pretty important here, since they are all so different. The trailer (especially the music) makes it look like a lighthearted space sitcom, but the art is pretty serious and dark. The descriptions mention romance but the gameplay seems rather deep and intense. The end result looks a bit confusing about what mood and depth it's trying to achieve, so I have a feeling the uninformed customer would simply shrug and move on.

Fantasy is easier to sell because it evokes that passive familiarity for a nostalgic, low-tech world that might not have really existed, but resembles real history well enough to look recognisable. Sci-fi is asking people to imagine things that don't necessarily exist yet and that's more effort. So I think it needs to be more focused and done to a higher standard to get the same response.
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jack1974
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Re: Sci-fi sucks ?

Post by jack1974 »

Thanks for the feedback. Some good observations too :)
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