Gridiron Solitaire #89: A Deep Breath
I dove into Steam last week.Initially, I was totally overwhelmed. There are a lot of moving parts, because there's a lot you can do, and a lot you need to do, before your game is ready for market.
I had a sinking moment when I realized how much work I had left to do, and how much left I had to learn. In lieu of brilliance (not available--sorry), I decided to brute force things. Even with no idea of what I was doing, I figured if I spent 5-6 hours a day learning the tool, then eventually I would be less dumb.
It worked. I hit a few dead ends, but eventually learned enough that I put the store page together, and with Fredrik's help in the art department, it looks good. Eventually, the pre-launch checklist had "COMPLETED" by every item but one: "At Least One Build Configured".
Uh-oh.
Let me clear: the documentation for all of this is quite good. I'm just unfamiliar with so much in general that it's difficult anyway.
Fortunately, DQ Visual Basic Advisor And Steam Network Consultant Garret Rempel was kind enough to send me The Idiot's Guide To Configuring Steam Builds. So I'm going to sit down tonight and try very hard to get a build configured and working. Garret's trying to lead a blind man on a horse to water and make him drink, but I'm still hopeful.
After that, I'm not sure. A Valve person will review everything and approve it for release, if it's ready. I don't know the length of time that will take, but I'll do the best I can to help hurry it along.
The price is going to be $9.99. Here's how I look at the price point: if someone likes the game, they get a huge value at that price, because they can play hundreds of game and dozens of dynasties and still see new things happening. I don't want people who like the game to feel like they got their money's worth--I want them to feel like they got much more than their money's worth.
I'll let you know when I hear the release date.
I've been playing 10-15 games a day for the last 10 days, and I've made a few very minor tweaks to various things. I couldn't be happier with how it's playing. Just this morning, I had the highest scoring game I've ever played, a 45-42 thriller that I won in overtime after throwing a 40-yard touchdown pass on the last play of regulation. I actually fist-pumped in P. Terry's when I kicked the field goal (hopefully nobody saw that).
Last week, I had the lowest scoring game, a 17-14 bruiser in the rain. It was a taut, tense game, and it was a a blast. Most games are going to have scores in the 20s or 30s, just like regular football, but if you play long enough, you'll have an outlier game, and it will be a true outlier, not something I rigged, because nothing is rigged.
All right, it's time to start work configuring the build.
<< Home