Sending out beta copies

Today I spent all day sending beta copies to all kinds of people. Bloggers, youtubers, websites, etc. I sent out just under 100 copies of my game, so hopefully at least some of them make it to daylight.

One thing I underestimated when sending out all those emails was actually how mentally exhausting it can be. I am figuratively on my last leg.

Hopefully some of the institutions will get back to me for an interview or something. I would love to just talk to someone about my game, so that anyone that wants to know more can find it easily. I will probably do a gameplay trailer by the beginning of next week to show some more in-depth footage, rather than just two trailers. Maybe that will get some people more interested.

Thanks for reading.

The story of my game and I that I will be posting around the web

(The game is currently in beta and still under development.)

Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is Nick and I am the sole developer for my first Indie game, Irritum. All the artwork, coding, and music have all been done by me. If you wish to contact me for any questions, comments, etc., my public email is nick@irritumgame.com. Now, about the game.

To begin, Irritum is a game about suicide. You, the player, have recently killed yourself, and you are now stuck in a limbo-like state. All you know is that you have to keep moving forwards, you must continue to make progress. Memories echo through your mind, sometimes confusing you, other times revealing mysteries. Discover why you tried to kill yourself as you try to wake from your coma.

The gameplay is that of a third-person platformer/puzzle game with a twist. You can only stand on one type of platform at a time, and each type of platform is represented as a color. For instance, you can only come in contact with red platforms while red is activated, and all other colors would float through you as if they didn't exist. You can switch which colors are activated at any time, but be careful, timing is everything. Avoid obstacles in the void such as the bottomless pit below, lasers that would destroy your sub conscience instantly, and platforms that would push you into the abyss. Master elements such as the ghost ability, which lets you create a shadow of yourself that is invincible to such lasers, or the ability to reverse gravity to bypass obstacles that are too formidable. Reconstruct your brain from scratch as you leap from one reality to another, attempting to finally land in the one that matters.

 Irritum is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and is currently available for pre-order from (www.IrritumGame.com). The preorder costs $10, and will give you an instant download to the Irritum Beta as well as the final version of the game when it releases in August (final retail will be $15). The final game will be available on my website and Desura, and with luck on Steam also.

TL;DR - Buy this game... :)

If you are interested in the development of Irritum, check out my youtube page (http://www.youtube.com/user/IrritumGame) and my blog (http://irritumgame.blogspot.com).

Beta version is slowly rolling out

So far my store is active, and my beta trailer is completed. Now, I need to send out the press copies. I have about 101 outlets listed whom I wish to contact. I want all of them to play and talk about my game, but I expect much less will actually do that.

I would hope that they would at least try a little bit of the game. Preferably I would like it if they talked about the game a little bit as well.

I will send most of the beta copies tomorrow. Wish me luck :)

Thanks for reading.

Making a business

Sorry for the long drought of updates. I have been working hard on polishing the game. All the beta levels are done, a lot of bugs have been resolved, and a lot of new aesthetics have been added.

My next steps are to make a business and submit all the required documentation in order to sell the game. This week, while I wait for all of this stuff to go through, I will probably re-create the player model, and include the story for the game.

I have the script for the game done, however I still need to record it. The story and the official business being created are the only two things I am waiting for before I contact my list of press people and give them a free copy of the game. I want to wait for the business to be done by that time because I want people to be able to preorder AND get instant beta access at the same time.

Thanks for reading.

Beta is well on its way

So far, the beta looks like it is going to be about 40 levels in total. I already have 30 of them done. After I finish all the beta levels, I will update all the sound/music in the game. The next, and probably most important part, would be to include the story elements. So far there are no story elements included in the game, but I will stat to work them in after the above steps are finished.

After that, I intend to re-work the menus and buttons for the menus, followed by the options menu. Then I can work on updating the website and creating new trailers and such.

While I wrap up the game, I will try to create a sole-proprietership so I can actually sell the game, and contact Fastspring and set up a way to sell the game, in addition to launching the game on Steam's Greenlight as an actual game, rather than a concept.

Then, after everything is set up, I will give the game to the press and hopefully start a whole new ad campaign.

I hope to finish all of this by the end of June, and I think that is reasonably possible.

Thanks for reading.