Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
Carnevil

Wrack launches on Steam!

Recommended Posts

Oh, and just to prove my point about the box art... what kind of game is this?!



Assuming you don't have prior knowledge or are a tremendous guesser... yeah. You have no way of knowing. Besides, the point of the box art is to get your attention and make you want to know more about it. If you can't figure out the genre after digging further (like watching the trailer), then that's a problem.

(That game is murdering us, by the way. As is that bus simulator, apparently.)

@Creaphis: Yes, perhaps it's trying too hard and perhaps it's not perfect. Again, I'll take it to a writing workshop and see if I can get some pointers from some dedicated, experienced writers. But if it doesn't appeal to you personally, just skip it. That option is there for a reason.

In regards to the business side of things, I don't think what you guys are saying is accurate. You seem to be under the assumption that all there is to success is a). Having a good game, and b). Being on Steam, with the assumption being that if you're on Steam and not having success, clearly the game sucks. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

If I'm launching a product (let's say a vacuum cleaner) and successfully get it onto Walmart/Amazon, you don't just go "Well, it's easily accessible to millions of people now! My job here is finished!" and go sit on the beach sipping cocktails. You have to make people want it. You have to let people know what sets yours apart, figure out which people to target, figure out who's buying it, listen to feedback, update it, promote it, work with the retailers to make your product visible, potentially convince them to make it more visible... all sorts of things. Success goes way beyond "have it in a big store".

All of those are things we haven't been doing enough of, but will do much more of as we build up to the final release. Might I remind you that Skulltag experienced similar slow growth (which, by the way, was available to those on a much larger system than Steam itself called The Internet). I knew I had a pretty fantastic, yet misunderstood source port that wasn't as popular as it probably should have been. Eventually, it grew and blossomed and did become quite popular, and I credit Rivecoder with a lot of that. I think there are parallels here with Wrack. We don't have the luxury to wait around this time, however, so I'm doing what I can to speed the process along.

Share this post


Link to post

Tons of amazing stuff on Steam slips through the cracks all the time. I'm not questioning that. It's just that there isn't really another target to shoot for once you're already there. Anyways, right now most people haven't heard of Wrack and that may yet work in your favour. Instead of trying to maintain a constant, low-level buzz around your game that informs gamers of your product without interesting them in it, pull back, make a really good game and then try to get simultaneous promotion on some game news sites at relaunch time. That's what I'm trying to suggest here.

Share this post


Link to post
Creaphis said:

Instead of trying to maintain a constant, low-level buzz around your game that informs gamers of your product without interesting them in it, pull back, make a really good game and then try to get simultaneous promotion on some game news sites at relaunch time. That's what I'm trying to suggest here.

That's exactly what we tried to do with this recent launch. It didn't work. It's time for a new strategy.

Share this post


Link to post

Got the trailer up for the next update, called "It's a Trap!" There's some nice stuff coming in this one, including... well, you'll see! :)

Share this post


Link to post



Our next update is out! We've now got a beta of Steam Workshop going, so you can now browse, play, and submit custom content through WrackEd itself! We haven't had a centralized location for maps and mods up until this point, so this will be quite the nice thing!

Anyway, full changelog available by clicking the pic, which has the trailer too.

... oh yeah, it's also 40% off on Steam right now! Merry Christmas!

Share this post


Link to post

Wrack's currently one of 3 games up for the next flash sale - if it wins it'll be up for $3, so if you don't have it (like me), now would be a good time to try and get it up for grabs.

EDIT: Ninja'd by developer - who would have thought?!

Share this post


Link to post
Snakes said:

Wrack's currently one of 3 games up for the next flash sale - if it wins it'll be up for $3, so if you don't have it (like me), now would be a good time to try and get it up for grabs.

EDIT: Ninja'd by developer - who would have thought?!


Kinda feel bad for flash sales of beta games. Kinda selling them short.

Share this post


Link to post
geo said:

Kinda feel bad for flash sales of beta games. Kinda selling them short.


Why do you consider it "selling short"? I assume the price of the final product will be the same anyway (will it?). Some big, commercial products appear on flash sales as well so the only way I can think about it is as a way to bring game to larger attention.

Also: I voted on "Wrack" ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Bucket said:

*purple finger* I voted!

If this wins, none of you fuckers have an excuse not to buy it.


I'll wait for it to go 75% and then I'll consider. How I've got most of my games, anyway. I can wait.

Share this post


Link to post

I was pretty sure Duck Tales was going to win. The fact that Another World won is pretty surprising to me. I don't think it's that well-known, and it winning only discounts it by another 89 cents. Oh well. The community has spoken.

Share this post


Link to post

Another World was cheaper. Plus Duck Tales had been as cheap before.

Share this post


Link to post
Patrol1985 said:

It's hard to beat nostalgia... "Another World" wins :/ followed by "Duck Tales".

Meh, never played either one. I really didn't like Duck Tales (the cartoon) and never got the game back in the day, seemed to childish I guess. That and fuck disney. Another World didn't grab my attention for some reason.

Share this post


Link to post

The original Duck Tales was an awesome game. I just don't care to get the remake. The game doesn't take long to beat and from reviews it sounds like they put a lot into cut scenes, and I just don't care that much to see all the cut scenes.

The problem with nostalgia is its all easily accessible. Feeling nostalgic for Duck Tales? Watch it or play it anywhere.

Another World didn't appeal to me then and doesn't appeal to me now. Maybe Wrack will get a bump in sales after being on the home page for everyone to vote on.

Share this post


Link to post
Gez said:

Another World is a great game, you philistines!

True that. I'm tempted to buy it again just so I can have it in a better format than before. (Bought 20y anniversiary edition a few years ago before it came to steam, but it had DRM coming out of it's butt with SecuROM)

Share this post


Link to post

The trailer is out for "Support the Troopers". The troopers now have their own unique model, and will probably get their own sounds, too. There are a few other new things in this update, too.



Since that footage was shot, the texturing has been improved further. I definitely dig it now!

Share this post


Link to post

By the way, I came across this video which I found to be pretty interesting. It's something we discussed in the previous Wrack thread in regards to silent protagonists.



As it turns out, you guys were right. It's a lot easier to immerse yourself into a tabla rasa type of character than a more lively/emotive one. Certainly you don't have to have a silent protagonist to pull that off, but having one works and is unique to video games (to my knowledge anyway). I still think Kain works as a neutral mask, and now I'm (even more) happy he doesn't utter any one-liners or anything like that. This does have me concerned about what Wrack 2 (should we get that far) would be like playing as the other more lively characters. But hey, that's something to worry about later.

Share this post


Link to post

what the!? An achievement for getting one of your maps featured?

Nice to see controller support btw, I didnt think it would have it.

Share this post


Link to post

Nothing is set in stone, but I think once it's done we'll offer it on gog.com as well. I don't see why not. The only reason it isn't already is because before they didn't have good support for updates to in-development games, but I think that's changed since then.

And actually, that particular achievement isn't set yet. I'm not sure what I want to do with it, especially since "Featured Maps" may be replaced by some sort of Workshop showcasing thing.

Share this post


Link to post
Ragnor said:

what the!? An achievement for getting one of your maps featured?


This is a stroke of evil genius. Get all the achievement hunters busy making maps for you.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×