Also, if you have 100,000+ pix on hand stay out of the town square. Otherwise you'll attract the attention of That Bitch (aka Euria).
That said, it's fun having daggers, shields and metal items with boosted prices, and nothing with decreased prices. Although I'm wondering, would it be a good idea to put reduced-price items in vending machines?
Man in the Mists on
0
SpectrumArcher of InfernoChaldea Rec RoomRegistered Userregular
edited December 2010
You can, but they won't really sell.
Spectrum on
0
NocrenLt Futz, Back in ActionNorth CarolinaRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
Yeah, they don't move very fast, but at the very least you sell them at that price.
I remember Apples bottoming out so I bought a bushel or 3 dozen. And just shoved them all in my vending machines. Now I could have sold them item by item at say... 120 or so but in the machine they're 300 (base cost). It was a little bonus every time someone bought one.
(We'll totally be spreading the word of this around to various news sites tomorrow if they don't pick up on it themselves)
Pfft. That clearly means you should've put the price up another 30%.
I kid, please don't price gouge us.
This has to have been something the original creators are playing close attention to, considering that it was outselling the original Japanese release back when it was just 26,000 copies.
I guess this proves there's enough of a small but dedicated market for good indie Japanese games.
EDIT:
The larger problem comes from the fact that a large portion of units were made at a steep sale price; we pushed a heck of a lot of units via the Indie Story Pack on Steam. The problem is, we made very little money per-unit on that sale; the pack was $5, split evenly between all five games. Given that we were more heavily discounted proportionally compared to every other game in the pack, well, we didn’t make a ton of money compared to the number of units sold. We still made more money than we did during October, it’s worth pointing that out… but we didn’t make the money we could have, and as the head business dude around here, that nags at me. Especially since we have a lot of data – and I do mean a lot of data – suggesting that people were buying the pack pretty much solely for the promise of “Recettear for $5″. Had we sold the game for $5 first and then bundled it into a pack, we’d have earned quite a bit more than we did. So lesson learned on that front.
I have to largely agree with that assessment. I wasn't interested in the other games in that bundle (or already had them), but at that price, Recettear was a definite buy, and I was surprised to see it bundled in considering the other games were either much older or else smaller in scope. Heck, even RPS (who probably did the most to put the word out about Recettear) advertised that bundle with the headline of "Recettear for £4", then "Or rather “Recettear plus Gish, And Yet It Moves, Jolly Rover and Puzzle Agent” for £4"
EDIT 2:
Also, anyone care to fill me in on what Chantelise is? This is the first I've heard of it, though I'm not exactly au-fait with the Doujin game scene so that's hardly surprising.
Must be nice for devs to make a load of money years after the game released.
(We'll totally be spreading the word of this around to various news sites tomorrow if they don't pick up on it themselves)
EDIT:
The larger problem comes from the fact that a large portion of units were made at a steep sale price; we pushed a heck of a lot of units via the Indie Story Pack on Steam. The problem is, we made very little money per-unit on that sale; the pack was $5, split evenly between all five games. Given that we were more heavily discounted proportionally compared to every other game in the pack, well, we didn’t make a ton of money compared to the number of units sold. We still made more money than we did during October, it’s worth pointing that out… but we didn’t make the money we could have, and as the head business dude around here, that nags at me. Especially since we have a lot of data – and I do mean a lot of data – suggesting that people were buying the pack pretty much solely for the promise of “Recettear for $5″. Had we sold the game for $5 first and then bundled it into a pack, we’d have earned quite a bit more than we did. So lesson learned on that front.
I have to largely agree with that assessment. I wasn't interested in the other games in that bundle (or already had them), but at that price, Recettear was a definite buy, and I was surprised to see it bundled in considering the other games were either much older or else smaller in scope. Heck, even RPS (who probably did the most to put the word out about Recettear) advertised that bundle with the headline of "Recettear for £4", then "Or rather “Recettear plus Gish, And Yet It Moves, Jolly Rover and Puzzle Agent” for £4"
Yeah, personally, I was hoping for Recettear to hit $10 since I was pretty interested in the game. $5 is for games that I'm only mildly interested in checking out. $5 for 5 games made me feel more than slightly guilty and more so now that I know the money wasn't split according to normal price but just $1 per game. You definitely left money on the table, IMO.
But the good thing for you guys is that you got a lot of exposure and simultaneously exceeded your projections. Hopefully you'll be in a strong position to pick up whatever new games you'd like to work on in the future.
Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, one thing you guys did well was the demo. It was enough to get you hooked and gave a good impression of the game while leaving the player wanting more. I'm sure that will be something you need to get right again for any other games you bring over.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Yeah. I have to agree on quality of demo!
It gave me enough to play to hook me in and promise much more on full version.
And it did fulfill on the promises.
I originally tried the demo and ended up buying on full price + the indie pack later on.
----
Jintor: The storyline continues on the endless mode. Just because you've paid your (fathers) debts doesn't mean the story is over. There is couple more dungeons and more characters to unlock.
jammu on
0
mntorankusuI'm not sure how to use this thing....Registered Userregular
edited January 2011
Chantelise looks great.
If it's half as good as Recettear then I will buy it day one
Another piece of advice: If your next game has an odd control scheme like Recattear, then you need to have some info on what buttons to press on the title screen so you don't get people wondering why the mouse does nothing, enter does nothing space does nothing, etc.
If someone gets ahold of you game without being prepped by something like this thread they could get pretty frustrated.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I just paid off the 200,000 pix payment, and I am terrified to play this game because I don't think I can earn 500,000 : (
Oh, it's not that bad. Even if you don't make it, you just start over at Day 2 with all of your merchandise, shop decorations, and customer levels intact. And if you know for sure you're not going to make it -- 300k on the last day, for example, and no big-ticket items in the store -- just use that as base capital to buy a whole bunch of stuff to sell the next round.
I finished on my second loop with over a million pix after the last payment was collected.
Another piece of advice: If your next game has an odd control scheme like Recattear, then you need to have some info on what buttons to press on the title screen so you don't get people wondering why the mouse does nothing, enter does nothing space does nothing, etc.
If someone gets ahold of you game without being prepped by something like this thread they could get pretty frustrated.
It's actually a fairly common scheme for games that have console-style controls. But yeah, a simple "press z to select" label would be nice.
jothki on
0
mntorankusuI'm not sure how to use this thing....Registered Userregular
edited January 2011
Here's another small, minuscule, insignificant control criticism if SpaceDrake happens to be reading this.
Almost every game does it, so I would tell this to any game developer given the chance, but it's pretty frustrating when a PC game attempts to remind you of the gamepad controls using only numbers like "Button 4". If you're using an Xbox 360 controller... or almost any other controller, the tutorial text that tells you which buttons do what is worse than useless
"Select the skill to use with Button 3 and use it with Button 2"
Though a pitifully small number of controllers I've used actually store them, DirectInput has an interface to retrieve button names/labels from the registry. If you're interested in easy interface improvements, have the game check if the joystick device has a name attached to a button and display that instead of "Button [number]".
"Select the skill to use with Y and use it with X"
Anyway, it's a small thing, and it's way less of a problem here than in most games, but it is something I feel strongly about because of how poorly most PC games deal with it. I implemented this, along with a (currently very small) database of common controllers with preliminary default mappings for them, in the PC side of my XNA game already, so I know for a fact that it isn't too difficult. (I'm incompetent)
I've run into the situation where I keep becoming stagnent after the 2nd or 3rd debt payments and clearing the second dungeon. I get fusions fine but I can't seem to progress any further. I read some faqs and it turns out that I have to rush to get charm quicker. Any advice for charging at her faster with a lighter, less leveled up character?
I was having trouble with the dungeons too. If your adventurers aren't biting in the store, just take the top tier weapons and armor off the shelf when you go on your dungeon exploration, and make them equip it. Sure you lose a couple slots, but if they were still equipped with entry level gear, the difference is night and day
I've run into the situation where I keep becoming stagnent after the 2nd or 3rd debt payments and clearing the second dungeon. I get fusions fine but I can't seem to progress any further. I read some faqs and it turns out that I have to rush to get charm quicker. Any advice for charging at her faster with a lighter, less leveled up character?
my first runthrough i beat the game with only using louie, how often are you going dungeon diving? I think the issue is either not enough time in the store/with expensive loot or you have been haggling too high and your customers aren't bringing enough money to the table
on average I went to the dungeons maybe once a week, instead I always had a lot of money tied up into expensive merchandise i purchased around town
SpectrumArcher of InfernoChaldea Rec RoomRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
FYI, there is more than one rank of Fusions. ;X
Keep all ingredients, never ever ever sell them. Try not to make more than one of each lower item until you can see the bigger picture. Try not to sell the lower items either if you can at all help it. Trust me on this.
Beating Charme with Louie comes down to learning her attack patterns. Louie outranges her, so if you can time it right, you can hit her as she comes in and never take damage. Just stay away from nets and watch her dash animation. Worst case scenario use your spin slash until you run out of MP, that should down her to at least half.
Anyone know how to hook up a 360 controller to the PC and get it to work with this game? I already have the USB connector cord for it.
Also had a lot of fun with this game, I think on my final day of debt repayment, I had just run Louie through a dungeon the day before to defeat the giant crab, getting him to level 29 or 30. Then I tried to do a clearance of all my stock, I think I ended it with a bit over 1 million pix, which left me with 530k pix after paying off the loan.
Gnome-Interruptus on
MWO: Adamski
0
freakish lightbutterdick jonesand his heavenly asshole machineRegistered Userregular
Anyone know how to hook up a 360 controller to the PC and get it to work with this game? I already have the USB connector cord for it.
Also had a lot of fun with this game, I think on my final day of debt repayment, I had just run Louie through a dungeon the day before to defeat the giant crab, getting him to level 29 or 30. Then I tried to do a clearance of all my stock, I think I ended it with a bit over 1 million pix, which left me with 530k pix after paying off the loan.
Plug it in and it should work out of the box. Only wonky thing with mine was that the Esc menu got mapped to the left bumper by default, but that's changed easily enough by going into Recettear's config launcher. It works exactly like you'd expect: confirm is A, cancel is B, item info/power change is X. You can also map specific adventurer powers to LB/RB and the triggers, but I didn't bother.
OH. Important thing to note. You have to have either a wired controller or a wireless receiver to use a 360 controller with your PC. The Play and Charge kit will not work, it'll just charge your controller. That thing doesn't carry any data.
OH. Important thing to note. You have to have either a wired controller or a wireless receiver to use a 360 controller with your PC. The Play and Charge kit will not work, it'll just charge your controller. That thing doesn't carry any data.
I made an excel spreadsheet that tells you how Gaudy/Plain and how Dark/Light your shop is currently, by choosing what decorations you've got with 4 drop down menus.
I can tidy it up and post it here if people are interested.
That would have been helpful back when I was still playing this in Endless. Had to keep going back to the wiki page just to figure out how to get the atmosphere where I wanted it.
Posts
That said, it's fun having daggers, shields and metal items with boosted prices, and nothing with decreased prices. Although I'm wondering, would it be a good idea to put reduced-price items in vending machines?
I remember Apples bottoming out so I bought a bushel or 3 dozen. And just shoved them all in my vending machines. Now I could have sold them item by item at say... 120 or so but in the machine they're 300 (base cost). It was a little bonus every time someone bought one.
So there are extra goals in Endless Mode right? Anyone care to inform me?
(We'll totally be spreading the word of this around to various news sites tomorrow if they don't pick up on it themselves)
Some might say too many
some might say not enough
Pfft. That clearly means you should've put the price up another 30%.
This has to have been something the original creators are playing close attention to, considering that it was outselling the original Japanese release back when it was just 26,000 copies.
I guess this proves there's enough of a small but dedicated market for good indie Japanese games.
EDIT:
I have to largely agree with that assessment. I wasn't interested in the other games in that bundle (or already had them), but at that price, Recettear was a definite buy, and I was surprised to see it bundled in considering the other games were either much older or else smaller in scope. Heck, even RPS (who probably did the most to put the word out about Recettear) advertised that bundle with the headline of "Recettear for £4", then "Or rather “Recettear plus Gish, And Yet It Moves, Jolly Rover and Puzzle Agent” for £4"
EDIT 2:
Also, anyone care to fill me in on what Chantelise is? This is the first I've heard of it, though I'm not exactly au-fait with the Doujin game scene so that's hardly surprising.
Must be nice for devs to make a load of money years after the game released.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/chantelise/chantelise.htm
Yeah, personally, I was hoping for Recettear to hit $10 since I was pretty interested in the game. $5 is for games that I'm only mildly interested in checking out. $5 for 5 games made me feel more than slightly guilty and more so now that I know the money wasn't split according to normal price but just $1 per game. You definitely left money on the table, IMO.
But the good thing for you guys is that you got a lot of exposure and simultaneously exceeded your projections. Hopefully you'll be in a strong position to pick up whatever new games you'd like to work on in the future.
Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, one thing you guys did well was the demo. It was enough to get you hooked and gave a good impression of the game while leaving the player wanting more. I'm sure that will be something you need to get right again for any other games you bring over.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
It gave me enough to play to hook me in and promise much more on full version.
And it did fulfill on the promises.
I originally tried the demo and ended up buying on full price + the indie pack later on.
----
Jintor: The storyline continues on the endless mode. Just because you've paid your (fathers) debts doesn't mean the story is over. There is couple more dungeons and more characters to unlock.
If it's half as good as Recettear then I will buy it day one
If someone gets ahold of you game without being prepped by something like this thread they could get pretty frustrated.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
That's great news guys, congrats!
So, where do I find information about this Chanteliese thing?
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Oh, it's not that bad. Even if you don't make it, you just start over at Day 2 with all of your merchandise, shop decorations, and customer levels intact. And if you know for sure you're not going to make it -- 300k on the last day, for example, and no big-ticket items in the store -- just use that as base capital to buy a whole bunch of stuff to sell the next round.
I finished on my second loop with over a million pix after the last payment was collected.
But for real, my friend got it for me as a Christmas gift and it's so fantastic!
After reading that blog post I'm glad I missed the sale and bought it for 50% off.
Steam: betsuni7
Also, does EGS has a thing for portmanteaus of two names as game titles or what?
It's actually a fairly common scheme for games that have console-style controls. But yeah, a simple "press z to select" label would be nice.
Almost every game does it, so I would tell this to any game developer given the chance, but it's pretty frustrating when a PC game attempts to remind you of the gamepad controls using only numbers like "Button 4". If you're using an Xbox 360 controller... or almost any other controller, the tutorial text that tells you which buttons do what is worse than useless
"Select the skill to use with Button 3 and use it with Button 2"
Though a pitifully small number of controllers I've used actually store them, DirectInput has an interface to retrieve button names/labels from the registry. If you're interested in easy interface improvements, have the game check if the joystick device has a name attached to a button and display that instead of "Button [number]".
"Select the skill to use with Y and use it with X"
Anyway, it's a small thing, and it's way less of a problem here than in most games, but it is something I feel strongly about because of how poorly most PC games deal with it. I implemented this, along with a (currently very small) database of common controllers with preliminary default mappings for them, in the PC side of my XNA game already, so I know for a fact that it isn't too difficult. (I'm incompetent)
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
my first runthrough i beat the game with only using louie, how often are you going dungeon diving? I think the issue is either not enough time in the store/with expensive loot or you have been haggling too high and your customers aren't bringing enough money to the table
on average I went to the dungeons maybe once a week, instead I always had a lot of money tied up into expensive merchandise i purchased around town
Handmade Jewelry by me on EtsyGames for sale
Me on Twitch!
Keep all ingredients, never ever ever sell them. Try not to make more than one of each lower item until you can see the bigger picture. Try not to sell the lower items either if you can at all help it. Trust me on this.
Beating Charme with Louie comes down to learning her attack patterns. Louie outranges her, so if you can time it right, you can hit her as she comes in and never take damage. Just stay away from nets and watch her dash animation. Worst case scenario use your spin slash until you run out of MP, that should down her to at least half.
Also had a lot of fun with this game, I think on my final day of debt repayment, I had just run Louie through a dungeon the day before to defeat the giant crab, getting him to level 29 or 30. Then I tried to do a clearance of all my stock, I think I ended it with a bit over 1 million pix, which left me with 530k pix after paying off the loan.
MWO: Adamski
Plug it in and it should work out of the box. Only wonky thing with mine was that the Esc menu got mapped to the left bumper by default, but that's changed easily enough by going into Recettear's config launcher. It works exactly like you'd expect: confirm is A, cancel is B, item info/power change is X. You can also map specific adventurer powers to LB/RB and the triggers, but I didn't bother.
OH. Important thing to note. You have to have either a wired controller or a wireless receiver to use a 360 controller with your PC. The Play and Charge kit will not work, it'll just charge your controller. That thing doesn't carry any data.
Ahh, that would be my problem then. Thankee
MWO: Adamski
I made an excel spreadsheet that tells you how Gaudy/Plain and how Dark/Light your shop is currently, by choosing what decorations you've got with 4 drop down menus.
I can tidy it up and post it here if people are interested.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I of course thought of rapidshare, megaupload, etc. but the counter might be annoying?
Here it is in MU anyways.
Will be adding items and vending machines to it.