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From: buzzard@TheWorld.com (Sean T Barrett)
Subject: Re: Anyone trying to market IF commercially?
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Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 22:04:30 GMT
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kodrik <kodrik@zc8.net> wrote:
>Do you want to make a game for sell or do you have ideas for selling
>games?
>I've had the same questions and this is what I understand:
>* If you go retail
[snip]
>* The distribution formats for IF are not suitable for the general
>public for internet distribution.

If anyone really wanted to seriously pursue this, here's what
I'd recommend:

Go shareware. Shareware *is* good for niche markets, and it
is possible to have a financial success at it, although it's
relatively rare.

Pick a single platform (or maybe two) and gussy up the interpreters
so they look nice and consistent. Bundle the interpreter executable
into the game.

Write a complete and thorough "how to play IF" manual. Write a
tutorial with a sample transcript and include it as a text file
or PDF. Supply reference information on how to play and incorporate
it into the game. (Authors shouldn't have to roll this themselves,
it should just be incorporated in the libraries in the first place,
oh well.)

Don't go for the lost treasures/masterpieces approach, instead
bundle three or four games that are carefully chosen to have
common appeal. (The ROI is going to be too sucky for more.)

Go the real shareware route: make demo versions of all the games
that only let you play part way. (Comp-sized games are probably
too small for this to work.)

All of this is a fair amount of work, and it would still be
a gamble. Plus this stops short of the real work: the hardest
part of selling shareware games right now seems to be promotion.

SeanB
