Any teasers you can give on the other two games? Or are there some threads I missed out there?
Eagle,
I have already given too many clues on those projects which are likely to change quite a bit before production begins. Right now they exist on whiteboards and in game design documents mostly. Some concept sketches. I plan to stick to my expertise and super-serve a few small niches of the game market. I have an M.B.A., 8 years of military experience, multiple combat tours in three countries and four years of game industry experience. I am putting all of that in a blender to create various combinations of products that I can be a valuable team member on. I am lucky enough to have some very talented people who believe in me and a nice little nest egg to fund this first game. As long as it provides the money needed to start the next title, the dream continues. I have a five year plan and will continue to build this small studio/potential partnership. I also have the support of two very nice CEO's of established studios(one is also a publisher) and a half dozen indie studio heads that have pledged their help.
What this means is that I am lucky enough to bypass the ethereal stage where many games die because they fail to take form fast enough. Many people have a vision for a game, and even start it, but without a quickly developing structure of labor, marketing and business plans as well as a sturdy financial foundation the game quickly collapses. Too many people share their game during that phase which has made many of you skeptical.
I have kept relatively quiet about the game because: 1) I had no need to share beyond my own ego 2) I wanted to protect my vision until it was tangible 3) I didn't want it to be judged by the lack of art in the alpha. I would have shared images of the current builds if I wasn't so familiar with how dismissive gamers are. I am ready to start letting people experiment with the alpha as soon as I can insert some attractive menus instead of the crude 1980's-esque assets I have place holding now. We are roughly 6-8 weeks from beta and 12 weeks from release right now unless something goes wrong.
I have not decided if I should use Steam Greenlight to build some name recognition/cheap marketing or if I should bypass it. Both options have their merits and I can't really afford a proper marketing campaign before launching, nor would this type of game benefit from a traditional shotgun spread digital campaign. Word of mouth will make or break me so I will price it fair and provide a lot of replay value. Further, we have three gameplay expansions planned and those will all be free post release.