Promise me you won't have Total Biscuit narrating again and i'll buy it

[👽🐬 Old Black Nerd🐬👽]

Please? Pretty please? Just stuff his fedora in his mouth. Thanks.

[Gough Whitlam]

His narrating seemed out of place to me, since i hadn't heard of TB before playing the game i assumed it was just one of the devs narrating.

[Eudaemxnia]

you do know there is a volume button right?

[Ailouromorphic Projection]

He was asked to, and he himself said it wasn't his best work. It was all an afterthought, really. I expect they'll whip up something better this time around.

Originally posted by all of your friends and family:

you do know there is a volume button right?

Holy crap, that... that avatar!

[The Hat]

TB usually is an excellent caster, if it was done with some planning and forethought it'd be great.

[.//slayer]

Having TB as a narrator would definitely increase the value of the game to me.

[McRib]

I also like him very much (and i normal watch only german lets play). Even i didnt know him when i play the first time this game. Sure the voice wasnt good in the first game i agree but do you know how much it would cost to pay another for it? So it is better to have a semi profession than nobody.

In german we have also a semi profession that is a lets player too (for german it is actuelly a very famous one compare to the population) and he is also making voice action for adversitment and some games.

[Deadmouse]

i thought TB did great in the first Spaz... 1 of the reasons i bought it, plus his review.

[Blorf]

TB did us a huge favor narrating in SPAZ 1 and we are very grateful. Our own attempts were horrible and we had settled on just text until then. He actually offered in his WTF video so we took him up on it. The real reason is may not be his best work is simply because we were shocked that he was doing it and for free and didn't want to waste his time so we took the first set of oggs he sent us and ran. He gave us 3 takes and we picked one of them and really did think it was quite good. As for SPAZ 2, we have hot contacted him yet, but we will probably see if he is interested to perform in some way. We probably won't have a narrator this time since the game is more survival than story based but we will have lots of crazy audio so there may be a place that suits him. He really did a couple of struggling devs a huge favor and for free so he does deserve a lot of credit for that I think.

[.//slayer]

Originally posted by blorf:

TB did us a huge favor narrating in SPAZ 1 and we are very grateful. Our own attempts were horrible and we had settled on just text until then. He actually offered in his WTF video so we took him up on it. The real reason is may not be his best work is simply because we were shocked that he was doing it and for free and didn't want to waste his time so we took the first set of oggs he sent us and ran. He gave us 3 takes and we picked one of them and really did think it was quite good. As for SPAZ 2, we have hot contacted him yet, but we will probably see if he is interested to perform in some way. We probably won't have a narrator this time since the game is more survival than story based but we will have lots of crazy audio so there may be a place that suits him. He really did a couple of struggling devs a huge favor and for free so he does deserve a lot of credit for that I think.

If I may leave a suggestion, please consider having someone narrate at least some bits of story, like the introductory part. Not necessarily TB, if he won't agree to do that, but at least someone with the "grim, gloomy" voice who can give the new players a proper feel of the dark, zombie-ridden galaxy.

The reason I'm asking is because the narration in SPAZ1 really did help me to plunge into that atmosphere from the very first steps. It is still ringing in my ears, and I wouldn't be able to "feel" the game's environment and tragic events surrrounding it if I just read the text myself, with my own inner voice. It's just not the same. And while atmosphere might not be your main goal in SPAZ2, it's still a very strong advantage to have, and will certainly appeal to players like me, who are especially sensitive to bits of story and lore provided by games. Just take this into consideration when you make the decision, please.

[Blorf]

Oh, there will be an intro and outro video for sure with a narration voice of some kind so we have you covered there So I guess that really is a narrator even though they only speak twice. This may also change because we do plan to hire voice actors this time for the main characters. The dialogue is really up in the air right now because it will need to fit the gameplay which is currently still evolving. Mood is very important to us too. :)

[McRib]

Originally posted by blorf:

Oh, there will be an intro and outro video for sure with a narration voice of some kind so we have you covered there So I guess that really is a narrator even though they only speak twice. This may also change because we do plan to hire voice actors this time for the main characters. The dialogue is really up in the air right now because it will need to fit the gameplay which is currently still evolving. Mood is very important to us too. :)

Sound like a plan to me.
Also when you have time you should start marking some video of gameplay when it is done (2-3 months before the planned release would be a good time) to create a hype you need to follow the AIDA formula: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

Attention you can creat over a gameplay video (dont forget to link it to the steampage). Interest is the release date that should not to far out (pre-order should be active at this point!). Desire is the content you show in the video and Action is the buying choice of the viewers.

Sure you cant do it like AC 4 or something where adversitment are everywhere. But to get to the "old" customers that bought SPAZ 1 you need to reach them somehow (and give him the message you make a sequenzel). Without a properly planned adversitment you wont reach them.

Sure you can try and hope the best. But as another games show a "good" game that is unknow to the target group wont reach a good sellary. So keep that in mind.

[Blorf]

Thanks for the info McRib. We do struggle with marketing and getting the word out effectively will be key for sure. SPAZ 1 survived on word of mouth but for SPAZ 2 we will definitely need to build an audience ahead of time so there are enough people there day one buying on Steam to push it into visibility so others investigate us as well. We hope to do a little advertising as well this time. I had not heard AIDA before either, so thanks for that. :)

[McRib]

Originally posted by blorf:

Thanks for the info McRib. We do struggle with marketing and getting the word out effectively will be key for sure. SPAZ 1 survived on word of mouth but for SPAZ 2 we will definitely need to build an audience ahead of time so there are enough people there day one buying on Steam to push it into visibility so others investigate us as well. We hope to do a little advertising as well this time. I had not heard AIDA before either, so thanks for that. :)

A good way but im not sure how that work (maybe it is based on salary) is you can get it on headline of the store page. I mean the headline where 5 games are listed that every 3-4 second can flippt to the next "banner". Currently Dark Soul II and some another titles are listed there (i dont mean The Witcher III!). I notice that games on that list get a lot of attention even they arent good. For example Godus that didnt got a update over 1 entire year was listed 2 times on that. In the forum you found a LOT of new people that complain about that was listed in the headline (and many another bought it). So a good start would be to talk to steam about be place in this headline somehow.

The "over"headline (currently The witcher III) is to much would be my guess because that could eat up a LOT of money and is for a indie game not adequate.

Many players also check sales. So if you release the early access version with a small "salery" many views will see that too. The problem with a salery is that is for a start of a game not adequate because many customers will than think the game is "cheap or of low quality"

Cheap prices = low quality of a game. Yes i know but that is how customers think.

[whoiii]

Plus word of moth still works. I have a perfect forum for that I work as a coffee pusher so in my little nck of the woods I am always steering folks to SPAZ and now 2 for playing enjoyment. Did you know just how many gaming feinds hang in coffee shops.

[Clayboyn]

The best advertising you could do is to send out a few beta builds to streamers and sites like Destructoid and Joystiq so that people know it is coming. I am a huge fan of the first and just found out today that the second one was even being worked on. I will be there for you day one but you are going to have to get the word out to make a difference on the steam page if you want any hope of pasing up Random Shooter 23 or Simulator Simulator 2032.