[closed] Umbra... Now available on Steam

jobel - thank you - but it's not ready yet! I wish it was... I am planning on publishing my greenlight page on Friday.... I'm just putting the finishing touches to the demo version that will be available on the page, as well as some last-minute graphics to make it look better than amateur. Fingers and toes crossed! I'll post here when it's up for voting!!

Steam Greenlight Concept.

does this mean you were already greenlit or need to still get "voted in by the community"?

I'm only asking because I am shooting for Steam next year and have no idea when to start the greenlight process. Should I do it closer to the games release, or as soon as possible?

I've done some alpha/beta testing on Steam for some games and I like how devs have used Steam as a way to distribute alpha/beta versions...yet their Steam page is not public. Will you do something like that?

EDIT: ahh, I just reread that says "greenlight concept".. so I'm assuming that is a different process.

jobel, your edit is correct: the greenlight concept let's you publish a page for feedback so you can gage where your idea's strengths and weaknesses are. I've taken it down now, but the concept page I created gave me some reallygood ideas for what to change, especially the need to avoid having the game look or behave like Limbo. The final version of Umbra is only similar to that original concept because of that initial feedback.

I did have a link on that page to the demo, but traffic dried up after a few months, unsurprisingly. I'm going to provide a trimmed down .exe demo version of the game on the greenlight page when I publish it.

Then, if all goes well and I get lots of thumbs-up, I'll offer early access so a few players can help me bug test. I've not seen the process before so it's going to be a bit of a voyage of discovery....

Good luck for the greenlight travel ^^

Thank you MadSpy! It wouldn't have got this far without your help!

Colludium good to know..

beware Early Access. I've only heard risky things about it. Instead of having a Release release, Early Access IS your release. You never get that bump of being on the steam homepage in finished form or "New on Steam" or "New Releases" or "Upcoming" etc... afaik.

Better to get alpha/beta testers and give it to them for free... then you have them give a positive review (if they liked it) for you when you do release! At least that's the way Lovers In A Dangerous Space Time did it.. I thought it was a brilliant strategy.

jobel - that's good advice. I'll read around the subject so Ii understand it better, but I'll probably avoid it then.

So.... Almost everything is ready to go. Except Youtube has decided to show adds over my trailer video (not good for Steam greenlight) because it automatically concluded that my own music actually belonged to someone else... Dispute started and nothing will happen until it's sorted out. Great.... Could take 30 days to resolve... Scratching head. Might have to create new music track under same licence and see if that is missed by the vulture robots. :/

It's your own music?? and it was flagged by the detection software?

try Vimeo instead..

Thanks, jobel, it was a good idea - but Steam requires a youtube url.... It's a money making scam! Unknown artist X gets 30 days of advertising income from another artist Y only because X paid youtube a fee to search for similar sounding audio...

Umbra is on Steam Greenlight!!!!!

Please check it out, vote, comment, feedback, enjoy the craziness that is this nerve-racking day for me. I have a flood of mixed feelings because I've finally arrived, probably because I've become used to being on the journey! It's been a labour of love and sometimes really challenging, but I hope you think it's been worth it so far! There's still loads to do, not least incorporate Steam Achievements (I am looking at your genius for this, MadSpy for this!), so we're not there yet by a long way. Thank you for your interest in this experiment....

Nice, good luck with it!

Voted, a big yes from me. Well done and good luck.

voted yes, looking good

Thank you —, spongehammer, DARTH Crusher and everyone else who took the time - I am very grateful! The weekend frenzy has started to subside now and I think it's the beginning of the long wait....