Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!watdragon!tiger!achowe
From: achowe@tiger.waterloo.edu (CrackerJack)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Sell or PD -- some thoughts.
Message-ID: <15273@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Date: 20 Jul 89 13:50:27 GMT
Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu
Reply-To: achowe@tiger.waterloo.edu (CrackerJack)
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 83


I'm also currently in the process of writing a game (actually on hold
do to summer job as a programmer) but I have an answer to your question
about selling and PD (not necessarily the right one).

The way I figure it is this:

1) If you sell a game through a company you make squat for royalties.
   You could also sell the rights to the program completely for lump
   sum but if they make it sell then you'll be kicking yourself till
   you die.

2) If you sell as an independent with no 'name' or 'imagine' then
   you make investment to packaging and promotion. This may be alright
   but you need either: 

   a) several titles to sell and/or 

   b) an excellent sound, solid, sellable product (SSS) 

   eg. FTL/Software Heaven came out with << Sundog >>. Excellent 
   quality. Next they released << Dungeon Master >> and they didn't
   rush it either. Following that came << Oids >>. All of these games
   are fun and meet the SSS standard. Any time FTL come up with a new
   game I'll be able to trust the quality of ideas and code.

   If your product is inferior to an already existing product or buggy
   or difficult to use (bad user interfaces have been know to make or
   break the product and company image eg. << Auto Duel >> gasp!!
   vs. << Roadwar 2000 >> a good product) then you may be making an
   outlay of monies that are going into a black hole.

3) That leaves the Public Domain of which two paths can be followed.

   a) Release all your code and ideas into the world for free never
      expecting a dime. If your code meets the SSS standard then this
      only helps to build a reputation.

      eg. Simon Poole and his << Uniterm >> product. 
	  Also GNU software is often good. An other good example are the 
      guys behind << Sozobon C >>. If they had more time they could
      really put together a solid fully optimizing compiler at lot like
      WatCom C for the PC. With the support of the library writers for
      dlibs, fplib, and gemfast, the << Sozobon C >> compiler (which I
      use) have my highest respects.

      You may be offered a job or at least recieve inquires either for
      work or your product by companies. Also I find that repect is
      often more important than the money, but we still must live in
      a modern world and so must earn a living. 

   b) My last point is the idea of releasing early versions into the PD
	  to:
  
      i) sample the market
      ii) beta test software
      iii) cheap promotion and advertising

      From here you can decide whether you would like to become an
      independent, sell your product to a companies, or just carry
      on releasing into the PD updates because its more a fun casual
      past time than a money making venture.

      eg. Take the writers of << Quick Software >>, Darek Mihocka and
      Ignac Kolenko. I believe that they are upper year or grad. 
      students here at U. of Waterloo (since they have unix accounts
      here). I have not met them, but I see their intentions as 
      mentioned in the above point. They have several utilities that
      seem to meet the first two SS and are trying to determine the
      third S (sellable) by sampling the market.



None of this helps with programming but I hope this paints a picture
of an industry infested by a big blue bully in which machines with
less market share must try to survive with what software exists or
trickles into existence.

- Ant
   achowe@tiger.waterloo.edu      |  "Murdered by pirates is good."
 __                    _          |    - The Princess Bride (movie)
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