zxdplay | 149 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 (edited) Star Keeper PC Hello everyone, after three months of development, the PC version of Star Keeper is finally complete. The game has been tested and runs smoothly on both Win10 and Win7 systems. The PC version includes the following additions and modifications based on the NES replica version: (1) Redesigned the first level, shortening the length of the stage and adjusting the positions of the stars to make it easier for players to get started. (2) Added two Easter eggs, including a Christmas Easter egg in the first level. Please watch the video below for instructions on how to access the Christmas Easter egg. (3) Added a bonus stage where you need to collect as many stars as possible within a 115-second countdown. After the countdown ends, you will be rewarded with an extra life for every 35 stars collected. Currently, my next step is to release the game on the Steam platform. Since this is my first time using Steam, I'm not familiar with the platform, so I'm not sure how long it will take to complete the initial preparations. Future Projects of Star Keeper Due to well-known reasons, I am unable to raise funds for developing other games through crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter (KS). Therefore, I have to find alternative ways to raise funds. The only method I can think of is to generate enough project startup capital by selling the PC version of Star Keeper. I promise that once the PC version reaches 1000 copies sold, I will initiate the development of Star Keeper 2 . The PC version will be priced at $29. Achieving this goal may be an ongoing challenge or it could be accomplished in a short period of time. If you can help promote the game and make more people aware of its existence, we may achieve the goal faster. I also guarantee that Star Keeper 2 will continue to use Nintendo's cartridge system as the game platform, and the cartridges will no longer include complex circuits. I will also try to collaborate with a US-based distributor to produce and sell the game cartridges.I will hand over the ROM to them and have them help me produce and sell the game cartridges. just as mentioned by @Dr. Morbis and @Scrobins Regarding NFTs After careful consideration, I have decided to listen to everyone's opinions and cancel the planned NFT sales. Originally, there were plans to sell 10 NFTs, but now NFT #1 has been gifted to @RetroX85 , a loyal fan of SK, and the remaining 9 will not be minted as the sales have been canceled. In fact, I have never officially sold any NFTs. I haven't even released any advertisements related to NFTs. The previous post related to NFTs was not an advertisement but rather a discussion to explore the feasibility of the concept. Since most participants in the discussion doubted the feasibility of the plan, I have ultimately decided to listen to the majority and cancel the NFT authorization plan for SK. Furthermore, future projects of SK will not involve NFT authorization, and all NFT-related operations will be terminated. update 2023/5/31 Alright, I will consider the suggestions provided by everyone and reprice accordingly. the key point is that my actual income needs to reach the project's startup capital One of the forum members asked me how much money is needed, and I mentioned that the project's startup would require approximately $10000. However, there may be adjustments made during the production process based on actual circumstances, so it is estimated that at least an additional 6-8K will be needed. update 2023/6/30 The PC version has been officially released on Steam, priced at $9.99. There was a 12% discount in the week leading up to the launch, bringing the price down to $8.79. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2465770/Star_Keeper/ SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7 or higher Processor: Dual core 1GHz Memory: 200 MB RAM Graphics: A graphics card that supports OpenGL3.3 or above is required Storage: 80 MB available space Sound Card: Onboard sound chip Key Input The game defaults to keyboard controls.W, A, S, D correspond to Up, Left, Down, Right respectively (similar to NES D-pad). C and V correspond to select and start buttons respectively. J and K correspond to B and A buttons respectively Press Right Alt+Enter to enter full-screen mode, and press Esc to exit full-screen. You can also use a controller for gameplay. You will need to configure it in the controller settings interface. Edited June 30, 2023 by zxdplay 5 1 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroX85 | 64 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 This is awesome news. I like where your going with this @zxdplay 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfreakofkorn | 282 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 Thats badazz So glad to know its available Will this be only downloadable copy or a physical copy is available ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroX85 | 64 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 Just now, Jfreakofkorn said: Thats badazz So glad to know its available Will this be only downloadable copy or a physical copy is available ? Steam will have 'Star Keeper' for PC. IF the PC version sells (preferably 1000) , The developer will initiate development of 'Star Keeper 2' and that will have a supposed NES physical release. Star Keeper on PC must sell first prior to any consideration of 'Star Keeper 2' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxdplay | 149 Posted May 30, 2023 Author Share Posted May 30, 2023 5 minutes ago, Jfreakofkorn said: Thats badazz So glad to know its available Will this be only downloadable copy or a physical copy is available ? This is a PC version that can be purchased at Steam Store in a few days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khromak | 768 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 This is great news and I'm really glad to hear that you've taken the community's feedback, I think it is the right call. I think $30 will be a hard sell for most casual gamers who've never heard of the game, but for NES collectors who've always wanted to play it, this will be a great way to experience it. Despite the fact that I already own the NES cartridge, I will be buying a copy of the Steam version once it's available, to support you and development of future games. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroX85 | 64 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 9 minutes ago, Khromak said: Despite the fact that I already own the NES cartridge, I will be buying a copy of the Steam version once it's available, to support you and development of future games. Same here. Couldn't agree more! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecmyers | 97 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 This is impressive and fast work, and I agree that it's a good path forward for the series. I'm very glad more people will be able to experience your wonderful game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,492 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 (edited) Cool. I bet most here would toss $29 your way. I hope people spread the word. And yes, less said about the NFTs, the better. Edited May 30, 2023 by Tulpa 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroX85 | 64 Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 (edited) 9 hours ago, Khromak said: @zxdplay the music for the bonus level is really cool, I totally dig it. You make good chip tune music along with your programming talent. Edited May 30, 2023 by RetroX85 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,723 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 15 hours ago, RetroX85 said: Steam will have 'Star Keeper' for PC. IF the PC version sells (preferably 1000) , The developer will initiate development of 'Star Keeper 2' and that will have a supposed NES physical release. Star Keeper on PC must sell first prior to any consideration of 'Star Keeper 2' Christmas is coming, might make a good Secret Santa gift for at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxdplay | 149 Posted May 31, 2023 Author Share Posted May 31, 2023 6 hours ago, RetroX85 said: @zxdplay the music for the bonus level is really cool, I totally dig it. You make good chip tune music along with your programming talent. The music for the bonus level is someone else’s copyrighted music that I had to purchase. I looked for a suitable BGM for a long time and finally found one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,088 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 (edited) @zxdplay: You've made a lot of positive decisions and I applaud you for that! My only real concern is that the price-point is too high for a Steam game with 8-bit graphics and a simple play mechanic. You will hit the first 100 or so sales relatively easily from the retro/collector community, but making up the large gap to get to 1000 may prove to be extremely difficult. I strongly suggest choosing a price point under $20 in order to make more sales in the long run. Even at $19.99 it would be an extremely tough sell to the average/casual gamer, but at $29 it's pretty much a hard pass for just about anyone who's not already in this community and reading this thread. Anyway, congrats once again on moving forward with this IP and I wish you much success with this release. (PS - If it were me personally, I'd price it at $4.99 and watch the random sales roll in year after year from around the world... ) Edited May 31, 2023 by Dr. Morbis 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickman | 3,983 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 16 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said: @zxdplay: You've made a lot of positive decisions and I applaud you for that! My only real concern is that the price-point is too high for a Steam game with 8-bit graphics and a simple play mechanic. You will hit the first 100 or so sales relatively easily from the retro/collector community, but making up the large gap to get to 1000 may prove to be extremely difficult. I strongly suggest choosing a price point under $20 in order to make more sales in the long run. Even at $19.99 it would be an extremely tough sell to the average/casual gamer, but at $29 it's pretty much a hard pass for just about anyone who's not already in this community and reading this thread. Anyway, congrats once again on moving forward with this IP and I wish you much success with this release. (PS - If it were me personally, I'd price it at $4.99 and watch the random sales roll in year after year from around the world... ) My thoughts exactly. It’s great to see this ending up on Steam vs the NFT idea but $30usd is way too much. Between $5-12usd sounds about right and would most likely see more sales in the long run. There’s just way too much competition on Steam these days. Definitely a pass for me at this price point but if you ever do a Famicom version or SK2 Famicom I’d be interested. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,723 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 12 minutes ago, Brickman said: Definitely a pass for me at this price point but if you ever do a Famicom version or SK2 Famicom I’d be interested. Yes, a Famicom version would be nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroX85 | 64 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 @zxdplay I also agree with @Dr. Morbis. Pricing the game less than $20 will help significantly. And if you could do less than $15, that would be great. For us interested in the homebrew scene, it's not a hard sell for us. All of us in this thread know what 'Star Keeper' is and some of us just want to play it because some do not have the NES cartridges it was released on. As for other gamers who do not know of 'Star Keeper', it's gonna be hard to sell them a 8-bit game for $29 on steam. The lower your price, the more likely it will sell on Steam. It may take time but if "Star Keeper' is priced appropriately on Steam, it won't take too long to achieve 1000 sales. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWunderful | 2,927 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 29$ is too high in my opinion. I used to have a copy before I sold it and I played it, while a good game it’s not a $30 digital download title. I have downloaded hundreds of games on Steam and have paid far less for games that have a significant more amount of content and production. 9.99 would be my price point I would purchase it at. No chance at 30$. Vampire savior was (is?) 4.99. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,776 Administrator · Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 1 hour ago, RetroX85 said: It may take time but if "Star Keeper" is priced appropriately on Steam, it won't take too long to achieve 1000 sales. I have to imagine that "1000 sales" is the goal at the $29 price point. OP is hoping to get around $20k (assuming he's accounted for the chunk that Valve takes) from the PC release, by my estimate. If his only goal was to sell a thousand he could put it up for a buck and be done quickly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,096 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 (edited) Ain’t nothing but a bunch of cheap old men in these parts complaining they can’t get Super Mario Bros 3 for any less than $20 anymore lol Congrats on the release and hopefully project NFT is full on dead lol @zxdplay Edited May 31, 2023 by a3quit4s Holy crap steams cut is 30%! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroX85 | 64 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 1 minute ago, a3quit4s said: Ain’t nothing but a bunch of cheap old men in these parts complaining they can’t get Super Mario Bros 3 for any less than $20 anymore lol Congrats on the release and hopefully project NFT is full on dead lol @zxdplay Theres no doubt the NFT project is full on dead brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,776 Administrator · Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 2 minutes ago, a3quit4s said: Ain’t nothing but a bunch of cheap old men in these parts complaining they can’t get Super Mario Bros 3 for any less than $20 anymore lol Congrats on the release and hopefully project NFT is full on dead lol @zxdplay The thing is, there's not a thousand people who already know about Star Keeper. I'd guess maybe 100-200 people who know about it beyond a passing "I think I saw that on a forum or something once a long time ago", and that's probably being generous. The game ISN'T famous. It's well known in a niche within a niche within a niche. To hit a magic number 1k sales, it needs to appeal to a wider audience, and realistically need some hype/marketing behind it to get the word out. And it needs to be compared to what else is on offer at the same price point. There's plenty of absolute garbage at the $30 price point, but it's also teetering on short big studio game territory. There are a number of $5 games that are amazing, heck I got Terraria for $5 and that's one of the most insanely high quality and content to price ratios possible. Star Keeper could sit in a number of price points, but it WILL do BEST in a specific one. Mind you I dunno which that is exactly, as I really don't use Steam. But I do have friends who release games on the platform and I can tell you that their $10 game sold way more copies when it went on sale for $5, and the $30 game sold a ton partially because a big publisher picked it up. Inscription is only $20, and the guy who made it could retire today if he wanted to. Mind you he got backed by Devolver Digital. That all to say there are many factors involved, and OP could totally sell it for $30 to start, then lower it over time or via sales. May or may not be the right strategy, but to my knowledge none of us here are steam game sale strategists. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacepup | 2,404 Administrator · Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 18 minutes ago, a3quit4s said: Ain’t nothing but a bunch of cheap old men in these parts complaining they can’t get Super Mario Bros 3 for any less than $20 anymore lol Congrats on the release and hopefully project NFT is full on dead lol @zxdplay I don't think this group is the problem for being cheap. In fact, I'd wager THIS group is probably the group MOST likely to pay $30 for the game to support a homebrewer. It's all about strategy and knowing the platform. I'm not making a quality assessment or judgment on the game, nor am I being particularly cheap, by saying that I think $30 is a *really* high price for this type of game on steam. Ultimately, it is the developer's choice to price how they see fit, and do whatever they'd like. I think some people are just sharing their thoughts as consumers of media on the platform, and what typically works. After watching the trailer, I would 'expect' to see the game priced on Steam at $10 or maybe $15. It's simply sharing an expectation given previous experience with the platform and purchases, not trying to knock the game or make an assessment on what it is 'worth.' For example, the ios platform is incredibly competitive, and you'd be laughed out of the room for pricing a game at $30. I know that's ios and a very different ecosystem, but it's just an analogy to express how the platform matters, especially given how much competition there is. Back to steam, the challenge will be standing out in a sea of retro-themed platformers, and getting people to bite the initial bullet. As mentioned above, you could always price it to start and then lower it later depending on the reaction. The only other thing I'd suggest for thought, is that pricing on steam does impact the expectations from consumers about the quality and amount of content they are getting. They will be much more strict/harsh on a game priced at $30, than say, $10. The reason that matters, is that people can be brutally honest in reviews - and if a game starts out with low or mixed reviews, it makes future sales a bit more difficult as it impacts search results, ordering, desirability, etc. However it goes, I certainly wish you luck with the project and hope it is successful for you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,096 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 People cannot take a joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacepup | 2,404 Administrator · Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 It's all good. I wasn't 100% sure whether you were teasing or not, and mainly just wanted to share some thoughts to be hopefully constructive for the developer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,776 Administrator · Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 29 minutes ago, a3quit4s said: People cannot take a joke I take this very seriously! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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