The Daily Click

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New Game: Bali Adventure
News posted 20th July, 2007 by Flava
Kisguri of Gamesare has just submitted a nice little puzzle game which goes by the name of Bali Adventure. The game is shareware, but there is also a demo available for you to try out (which lasts for 3 days I think). Comments from the author: Deep In the Heart of the Bali Jungle... Whilst on Vacation your girlfriend has been upducted by forces unknown hidden deep within the Bali Jungle... Hot on the trail you must solve these ancient puzzles if your hope to discover the next clue to your beloveds location! If you solve all 19 of these ancient puzzles then victory is yours in this great Action packed puzzle game!! *Click here to download the game and read its reviews.* Gamesare have also released two other new games, called Mazeman Mania and Jewel Explorer. Click their names to take yourself to the download page. Tweet

Posted by Tim

20th July, 2007

Kisguri's on a roll with 3 this week

Posted by Flava

20th July, 2007

Should I include any of these in the GOTW though?
I know there has been that whole debate in the past of shareware games being in the GOTW..

The first general poll showed most of you thought we should allow shareware games in the GOTW - so would anyone have any objections?

And.. if no objections, which one of the three should I put in the GOTW poll?

Posted by Joe.H

20th July, 2007

the one that gets the most up votes.

Posted by Tim

20th July, 2007

Most Dl's I reckon. I don't see the problem with putting ShareWare in GoTW personally, you still get to sorta play 'em...

If what you get to play is the best out of the weeks' selection then you should be able to vote really.

Posted by Kisguri

20th July, 2007

I would go for Bali Adventure, but I'm just the creator so what do I know

Posted by Silveraura

20th July, 2007

I don't have a problem with shareware games in GOTW, but just not when ever they are nearly 100% clones of already successful puzzle/action games.

Posted by ben mercer

20th July, 2007

Putting it in the poll won't do any harm, I mean, if everyone objected to shareware games then it wouldn't get any votes anyway.

Liking the electricity effect

Posted by ncsoftware

20th July, 2007

I think games like this should be included, even though they're shareware.

"I don't have a problem with shareware games in GOTW, but just not when ever they are nearly 100% clones of already successful puzzle/action games."

Hate to say it, but a lot if the games included normally in the gotw are 100% clones also.

Posted by Tim

20th July, 2007

Originality is rare. Very rare.

Posted by Kisguri

20th July, 2007

Well the sad thing about these three title is they are contracted work and had to work within certain framework, so sometimes it doesn't leave room for Originality,

Posted by Del Duio

20th July, 2007

If you make shareware GOTW elligible, please retro active my ass for the 2 I have up here

Posted by Joe.H

20th July, 2007

There are virtually no games that are original nowadays.

They all seem to follow a set theme.

It's a shame really, the gaming industry is just out to make money now, and not to please the gamers.

Posted by Kisguri

20th July, 2007

the war is within the Publisher Developer relationship, I use my contracts to develop the small games which I get paid next to nothing to develop to serve as the following...

A.generate Resume entries and Sales Records
B.Create some small revenue to keep things above water
C.Develop industry Contacts

and so far it has worked, and things are growing slowly but surely, all this of course is towards the goal to be big and health enough to RISK bringing something unique to the marketplace, so Their is truth in to what Joe says, Publisher don't want to risk Banking something unique, so my plan is to get to the point where I can do it myself and do it with MMF

Posted by MJK

20th July, 2007

Of course the industry is aiming to make money AND please the gamers, as that's how the money is made.

If there would be remarkable demand on new, "original" game ideas, they would surely be developed and published as soon as possible. This is how the market economy works, it's not any kind of pre-planned setting, where some publishers first think by themselves what they want to release and then release it and kinda "force" the market to except what there is available. The end customer always defines what is the most potential type of a game to be developed. Where ever there is money, there is also market research to which the decisions are based on. Competition takes care that the customer's actual preferences are taken into account when planning, designing and publishing new games to the market.

Posted by Dustin Gunn

20th July, 2007

Why is TDC flooding with these damn casual games?

Posted by Kisguri

20th July, 2007

You right, The only reason Clone Games are a sure bet for publishers is that Clone Games are being bought up consistently and with regular frequency... So then the only way to change the Market is to stop buying what is being offered!, of course that could also kill the industry in a switch to market focused on Originality and not Continue to offer the same product in different flavors

Posted by ncsoftware

20th July, 2007

When it comes to shareware/commercial games, publishers always have been demanding, but we still have a choice.... Do I give them what they want or do I create what I like/want.

I've followed the last road for years now and I'm happy with it. It meant turning down contracts (even tempting ones), but I refuse to create what the publisher demands, unless it's something that I would create anyway. Often publishers give good advice, but I'm getting tired of the "our audience are women over 35 and they like something like this or that". Fine then these women are never going to enhoy my games, since I'm not about to clone this or that.

I always try to add something original, something that is me to my games and I've found that with my latest 4 games a number of publishers actually liked it. I made the games I wanted to make and it's up to them to publish them or not. There are still publishers who like something different, something new, something the developer has put his 'soul' into. Those publisher I like to work with. The others who only want clones interest me no more.

Posted by Kisguri

20th July, 2007

Ok Cool Guys

but did you at least like my clone

Posted by Silveraura

20th July, 2007

When I say clones, I don't mean some or most of the game was cloned from another game. I'm talking about games that are recognizable as a first second anyone sees it.

Games such as Zuma, Bejeweled, & Pacman... I don't know, theres just something different about games like that.

Posted by Radix

21st July, 2007

There are three main problems I can see with putting shareware in the GOTW poll:

1. Shareware is generally a demo, and so the basic objections to demos apply. Demos aren't typically included because they don't represent a full game and because it would be possible for a more complete version to be released later, potentially winning multiple GOTWs. Which isn't really fair to those of us that don't release the same game twice.

2. Commercial games are potentially in a different league to the hobbyist games TDC is generally about. That is to say that it isn't really fare to compare something that someone has been or will be paid for to something done for the fun of it. This isn't a strong objection, but it should still be considered along with the other two points.

3. The third and biggest objection is that there's a concrete motivation for a commercial developer to cheat on the poll. A lot of review sites, especially European ones, keep an eye on GOTW for some reason. And then there's always the listing of 'awards' on product pages. Of course I don't think it's likely in this case, but it would potentially be a problem in the future if commercial games are allowed.

Posted by Radix

21st July, 2007

*fair

Posted by MJK

21st July, 2007

Personally I have to disagree with every point made by Radix.

1. Simple solution to this is not to except the second submission (the "full" game)! People will remember. If no one would - that would also mean no one cares.

2. The point in GOTW is to be the best game made by Click programs, right? The one who does the best game IS in a different league by definition - and that's all it's about. Winning a contest. License of the program doesn't make any difference... skills in game making is all that is required.

3. I can't imagine any commercial developer to cheat in such a small thing as GOTW (with all respect). I'd say the odds are much higher for a hobbyist to cheat on it, because to them GOTW maybe much bigger and more remarkable achievement. For many clickers the Click-community is all that there is for their games. In contrast, commercial developers know that the Click-community brings perhaps 0.1 % of their revenue potential. GOTW is simply nothing in that context.

Posted by Knudde (Shab)

21st July, 2007

I've made this point before, but I feel like repeating myself.

Full games

I have no real issue with shareware being in GOTW, but when it's a 3 day or 1 or 2 level demo it seems like it kinda defeats the point. I've seen game with more content get rejected for GOTW (Granted, not NEARLY as pretty or professional) and they were free.

Posted by MJK

21st July, 2007

"but when it's a 3 day or 1 or 2 level demo it seems like it kinda defeats the point"

That's a decent point of course, but why this kind of (short) game should be excluded from the public vote? The poll result will show if people like 2-level game or not. If this 2-level game would be something truly fantastic, people may vote for it, but otherwise it will end up with few votes or none. In this matter, freeware games have better possibilities to succeed in the poll, but there are no real arguments why shareware games should not be voteable. Let the people decide what they prefer as a Click game.

It's like "only the games that we think are extensive or amateurish enough can enter the competition" -> this is weird in my opinion.

Posted by Knudde (Shab)

21st July, 2007

A 2-Level demo is not a full game. Sorry, I kinda got off point there.

Posted by Kisguri

21st July, 2007

I guess it all depends on how serious this community is about having the Mainstream game development take Multimedia Fusion and it's users seriously, do we equally promote and celebrate our Shareware Commercial products as we do our awesome freeware endeavors or do we shun Commercial Products, which in turn would likely shun mainstream Attention...

Posted by MJK

21st July, 2007

Of course 2-level demo is its own game (even though very short one) and people should be able to vote for it (less likely) or against it (more likely)!

I just made a very short game called Roll The Piggies. It lacks many features, variety and depth. Should this be criterion that it should not be included in the poll? Of course not. Other games just will win it in the poll. If you have few features in your game (e.g. trial version of a shareware game), it's less expected that people would like it.

Thus, be it a short game, 2-level game, 15-minute trial version or anything, it should be included in the GOTW. Then let the people decide how bad/good it really is.

Posted by Radix

22nd July, 2007

MJK:
1) That's fine, except that what you're saying would require that anyone publishing a demo must be contacted to see if they want to be in the GOTW. Because otherwise people that actually intend to complete their game end up with it being disqualified from future polls. So the "simpler solution" is in fact to simply permit only full games.

2) Like I said, it isn't a strong objection, but still worth mentioning. But I suspect you're deliberately missing the point anyway, since I laid it out clearly and you didn't actually address what I said.

3) The fact remains that there's incentive for one to cheat, and not the other. The klik community might me a small part of the actual market, but again you ignored the point: GOTW games are reviewed on many other portals, and that's incentive enough. Not everyone is as honorable as kisiguri. "I can't imagine any commercial developer to cheat in such a small thing as GOTW (with all respect)." is nothing but an argument from incredulity, a logical fallacy.

The point here isn't to disqualify shareware, I agree that people should be able to vote for what they want, and that we should support our commercial klikers. But that doesn't mean the GOTW shouldn't have some basic logical criteria, and unforunately those criteria preclude most forms of commercial releases.

If GOTW is so insignificant as you seem to think, what's the problem with this?

Posted by MJK

22nd July, 2007

Yes, demos of freeware games are harder to deal with because it's expected that there will be another submission coming. That's true. But trial version of a shareware game is its own game in its own right and it's very unlikely that the developer changes the licence to freeware later on (thus resulting in another submission). If it's good enough and players like to play it, it should win the award - no matter how limited it is, because in the end, every game is limited to same extent.

I still won't buy your argument no. 3 at all.

There is virtually no commercial value in the "Game of The Week" award of The Daily Click. The Internet is full of all kinds of awards and if any developer wants to collect some of those, it's easily done if the game is of any quality. I wouldn't imagine any "mature" developer to cheat in the GOTW - more likely they are someone like FistaProductions1331, new freeware game developers who appreciate any possible recognition that can be reached by any means. With the same effort that goes to cheating in the GOTW (time is money), a commercial developer can get much more valuable visibility over the web. In other words, that time should be invested in real marketing activities, which have a real financial value.

"If GOTW is so insignificant as you seem to think, what's the problem with this?"

Hopefully you don't get me wrong here, because I like the GOTW - it's fun. And it's completely ok if TDC keeps it like it is...it's still fun... I'm just offering my view of it and how I personally feel it should be developed further. It still is "Game of The Week", not "Freeware game of the week" or "Game, which we think could possibly be the final submission from the author, of the week", i.e. GWWTCPBTFSFTAOTW.

Posted by Knudde (Shab)

22nd July, 2007

Alright, where's GameFun4U with his "50,000 copies of my game sold" comment?

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Flava

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