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[LoSboccacc]

videos surely need to be a bunch more epic and less 'sterile' - ships are too clean and seems plastic props, and I'd see it being much more epic against a realistic backdrop http://media.skysurvey.org/interactive360/index.html instead of the basic withe dotted skymap it has.

mauri wonder how long would it take to add a light shader on the outer hull and change the skymap? I'd help with some videos if needed.

Spoiler: before (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: after (click to show/hide)

ok I'm not good at photoshop, but wouldn't be more captivating?

[kulik]

http://media.skysurvey.org/interactive360/index.html

Pictures like this are in fact taken by a telescope, where all the stars are amplified, you couldn't see such vistas with naked eye. To naked eye the space is 99,999% black, or so I read.

[LoSboccacc]

Tru, but real pictures are a good compromise between visuals and sterile.

Don't get me wrong I like the presentation as it is, but it demoes very badly.

[puke]

All those colorful nebulae images you see are false-color, shifting IR or radio waves into the visible spectrum for illustrative purposes.

Stars dont show up in photos from space because of exposure time on the pictures.  Your eyes are more sensative, so they can actually be seen more easily by the naked eye than by a camera. 

Also, if there is a bright object in view (sun, or sun reflecting off a planet) then that brighter light will swamp out the background stars and they wont be seen.

I'm not sure better visuals are will save this.  There are enough people that will appreciate a very detailed very realistic hard-science simulation like this, it should easily have been able to achieve the goals.

But was just launched without any promotion or buildup or fanfare.  I frequent a few space game boards, and none of them talked about this prior to the kickstarter announcement.  There was no publicity or hype.

mauridadde has made a great game, but he's a terrible marketer.  Sorry.  My suggestion would be to hire someone to manage the crowd funding campaign, and maybe generate some promotional material and do some SEO.

[LoSboccacc]

That was cropped from the milky way in visible wavelenght...

and this game isn't hard science either. true you get some Newtonian space combat, but all orbital mechanics are weaved away.

[mauridadde]

videos surely need to be a bunch more epic and less 'sterile' - ships are too clean and seems plastic props, and I'd see it being much more epic against a realistic backdrop http://media.skysurvey.org/interactive360/index.html instead of the basic withe dotted skymap it has.
mauri wonder how long would it take to add a light shader on the outer hull and change the skymap? I'd help with some videos if needed.

I don't like colorful space background, they are not realistic and are distracting.  A background like this http://media.skysurvey.org/interactive360/index.htm (but with less stars and more similar to naked eye) would be great.
The background is easy to change, there are 6 images in the media/texture folder, they are the 6 sides of a skybox.
I don't want to spend too much efforts on the background until i have implemented multiple star systems because i may draw all the closest star depending on the position. The best thing would be to draw all stars like in celestia (http://www.shatters.net/celestia/) but i don't know how much processing power is required.

Which shader? I don't think shaders can improve ships. what is needed are better ship models with more polygons, higher resolution textures and normals maps.

[mauridadde]

mauridadde has made a great game, but he's a terrible marketer.  Sorry.

No need to be sorry. I know i am not a salesman.

My suggestion would be to hire someone to manage the crowd funding campaign, and maybe generate some promotional material and do some SEO.

I have no money for this   I barely have money to buy ship models

[LoSboccacc]

dude what the heck are you talking about

https://www.nasa.gov/content/milky-way-viewed-from-the-international-space-station

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UqHaYu_m7A


the background in the picture was _literally_ cropped from a visible light milky way photo

[mauridadde]

I was talking about luminosity and contrast not colors, where i live the sky is gray.
I can't find a realistic skybox like this http://media.skysurvey.org/interactive360/index.html to download. Do you know some place to find similar textures?

[LoSboccacc]

what size is needed for a good skybox? also do you need it already spherical projected?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/ESO_-_The_Milky_Way_panorama_(by).jpg

(cc-by-40, 6000x3000)

[puke]

the background in the picture was _literally_ cropped from a visible light milky way photo

Thats a long exposure shot and the pink used in the photoshoped background is from a glow coming off the upper atmosphere.

But it isnt worth quibbling over.  The panorama you just linked seems much better.

I think a second kickstarter could be successful, if it was prepared for.  Without spending money on marketing, some things that could be done:

- arrange interviews and get some coverage on other websites.  Spacesimcentral, Spacegamejunkie, Spacesector, Tacticularcancer.  Wherever people go to find out about sci-fi, simulations, and strategy.

- as you develop the game, write about the process.  publish blog posts about it, maybe use twitter.  Interact with other independent game developers on social media such as twitter, and the people that follow them will become aware of you.

- Talk to other developers about their experience, and get their advice.  Even though the Torchships guy is dropping his game, he is probably still worth talking to since he went through a similar experience and successfully launched a private funding campaign after his kickstarter failed.

Talk to some of the other devs on this very board: the URR guy, unormal, Grid Sage Games... Those are roguelikes, but the guys are professional developers and will have good ideas.

[puke]

I think a second kickstarter could be successful

Actually, maybe games need a larger market these days. 

Battletech can rack in millions, and popular tabletop RPG properties (see: Infinity) can bring in hundreds of thousands, but indies are having harder times.

SolTrader, which looks very polished and is already greenlit on steam, is only asking for about USD 15,000 and it looks like it might fall short.  And the SolTrader guy is basically doing everything I described.  He is engaged with the game development community, and is publishing information among a number of communities.

[LoSboccacc]

scratch that

[BrigadeGeneral]

Actually, maybe games need a larger market these days. 

Battletech can rack in millions, and popular tabletop RPG properties (see: Infinity) can bring in hundreds of thousands, but indies are having harder times.

SolTrader, which looks very polished and is already greenlit on steam, is only asking for about USD 15,000 and it looks like it might fall short.  And the SolTrader guy is basically doing everything I described.  He is engaged with the game development community, and is publishing information among a number of communities.

thats a good advices, man.

From my side I would Add few more, if it even helps (I hope so).

Along with detailed video (since you have gameplay already) and screenshots or concept graphics, name of the game should be something catching and related to the game, more or less. At first, Battleship Commander made me think of something WOW'ish, thats why I get on this topic. Imo, game name is bad and may misslead some poeple.

At Kickstarter I didn't find webpage to your project (maybe I missed it). This should be, again IMHO, biggest filar of information along with social media.

[LoSboccacc]

also getting one of the popular streamer interested would help, but you need something cool to watch so they can keep their audience amused/interested