Living the dream

6) Advert break
The job is far from over when the code of your game is complete. Now you’ve got to spread the word. Advertising is only one part of marketing, albeit the most expensive. Vic Davis of Cryptic Comet has reservations about its usefulness: “My experience has been that sinking feeling you get as you put another coin in the slot machine.” Research your audience, and create hype by word of mouth. “Every day send off an email to a potential reviewer, blogger or opinion-maker asking them to look at your game.”

7) The sell
“The chances are you are going to be servicing some tiny section of ‘The Long Tail’,” cautions Vic. That’s the long, thin tail of the Great Sales Curve of Life, in case you were wondering. In other words, your sales will be slow (unless you get the game on Steam, of course), but they needn’t ever have to drop away to nothing. “Think of the process as a marathon and not a sprint.” Sadly not all the money earned will go into your pocket. Web-hosting, advertising and taxes all add up. “Assume you sell the game for $20 - expect to end up with $5,” says Cliff Harris of Positech Games.

8) Tharr be pirates
Sadly, not all pirates are as gentlemanly as Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. “The moment you start selling your game you will encounter people pirating it,” says Cliff. “It’s worth putting some effort into preventing casual piracy. You may start off with strong anti-DRM and pro-file sharing beliefs. These ideals tend to last as long as it takes for your savings to evaporate.” Creating a free demo is essential to create buzz, but the sad truth is that a good demo can prompt as much piracy as sales.

9) Creepy-crawlies everywhere
Ridding your game of bugs is a painstaking process, but it has to be done, says Chris Delay. “If your game still sells in three years’ time and people find a bug, you are the poor schmuck who has to look through the code again, so do it right the first time.” Sod’s laws of IT dictate that when it comes to PC development, glitches only appear on systems you can’t replicate yourself: “You have to get into the habit of trying your game on everyone’s PC that you know, just in case.”

10) Keep on truckin’
Few strike gold with the first hole they dig. Bad metaphor, but you get the drift. Georgina Okerson had to live with her in-laws because of the lack of money, but she considers herself one of the lucky ones. “Many people NEVER manage to make enough money on these games to do it as a living. But they keep going anyway, because they love making games.”

Mar 6, 2008