Question for the fans!

[jellobell]

I love this series and I can wholeheartedly say that I will buy any Blackwell game you put out, with or without Convergence's upgraded graphics. However I'm saying this as a current fan of the series. I only discovered the series a short time ago, when I saw a few screenshots of Convergence. I now know that the series is awesome because of the engrossing story and characters, but what caught my attention were the upgraded graphics. I think the best bet would be to strike some kind of balance between sacrificing production values for increased development time/value, but in the end I (and apparently most of the other thread contributers) will be happy as long as future Blackwell games are on par with the rest of the series in terms of quality.

[DaveGilbert]

Since you guys all posted in this thread, you all get to hear it first.  As you've probably read elsewhere, I'm definitely working on the next Blackwell game.  And as for graphics, I'm working with Ben Chandler.  Over the last year, he's  made a big splash in the indie adventure game scene with tons of simple-but-evocative games like Eternally Us and Featherweight.  It's been fun to work with him so far!

Anyway, thank you again to everyone who posted here.  Especially those who joined this forum specifically to do so!  Reading all your comments has given me renewed confidence that continuing this series is the Right Thing To Do.  The game has shaped up to be much longer then the others, and I've made an effort to put as much emphasis on gameplay/puzzles as well as the story, which has always been the common critique of Convergence. 

There will be more info, soon!  As well as a little contest.

[sierramindy]

Another Blackwell game! I'm on cloud 9 from finding this out just now, hard to type but I'll try. Make it your way, Dave. I still remember how I was "wowed by a screenshot" from The Blackwell Legacy and I have remained wowed by everything Blackwell to this day. This is the best news I've read this year. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[DaveGilbert]

Oh, and as an aside... this whole thread is a bit moot now.  My friend Heriberto (creator of this amazing piece of fanart) has hooked me up with one of his artist buddies who will be producing really sweet backgrounds for a very very reasonable price.  So, yay on that score. 

And since you guys are so awesome for giving me so many kind words on this thread, here's a secret sneak peak at what the backgrounds will look like:



Not too shabby!  If we can maintain this level of quality, I think everyone will be quite happy with the results. 

[Jackie]

That looks awesome, Dave.  Thanks for sharing.
Jackie

[sierramindy]

Works fine for me...I'm so ready to start clicking away. I want to see what the sign says and check out those mailboxes and stuff, then go up those stairs, of course. This is truly great news, another Blackwell game, something I was afraid might never happen.

[DaveGilbert]

Blackwell ain't over yet!  I might take detours to work on other projects (like Emerald City and Puzzle Bots) but I'll always come back to Blackwell in the end.  

[SSH]

The graphics in Bestowers of Eternity were good enough for me, Dave...

[cmilano]

That looks amazing Dave! Simplistic yet so many details - I'm dreading Rosangela's clothes though And yep, I know that is a subject to change since it's on early development stage.

[Purplerabbit]

Looking beautiful!

[Stee]

Bit slow on this one, but here goes.

Blackwell Convergence success partially resides on the quality of the previous 2 games. You'll probably find a large stock of sales came from people who invested their time and entertainment in the previous games. I don't know about anyone else, but for me Blackwell 4 is already sold.

In terms of production values and your bottom line, it's not something I can comment on as I don't know the ins and out of your sales figures. Have a look through your previous sales for Blackwell 1 and 2 (I know im being lazy with titles) and match up what information you may have available on buyers to blackwell 3. If most people that bought 1 and 2 first bought 3 next then its clear its the quality of the product itself not the quality of the production.

If I could give you any advice, it would be to maybe put some money into marketing the brand. Send promo copies to games magazines, invest some time and money maybe into popular games websites.

Perhaps a big step in the right direction would be to get your games up on Steam. Also maybe Direct2Drive, Impulse, GOG and a few others that people use.

I think the way forward for your games (and I suppose ultimately the bank account) is to get the products out to a much wider audience. I found you through AGS and via Bestowers of Eternity and Two of a Kind, as did by the looks of things a lot of other members.

On another note, it may also be worthwhile looking at alternative engines for your games. As much as I am a fan of AGS and the games made by it, there is only so much you can do with an old engine. There is probably a big market for these games on other platforms that you should be able to tap into with ease.

In short look at what other indie developers are doing, and make a judgement on what your next step should be. Telltale feature prominently on Steam, and as a result of their success (which arguably is due to them having funds to buy up a popular title by Lucasarts). Hothead Games got their title on Xbox 360.

Just some stuff to ponder over. If you need to talk more about this stuff give me a shout over pm or something. I'm no expert but I'll do my best.

[DaveGilbert]

And I'm a bit slow to respond!  Regarding Steam, I'd loooove to get Blackwell on there, but they aren't buying.  Too low-res and niche for their audience, despite it sustaining my company for about 4 years!  Oh well.  While it would be nice to gain the exposure on Steam, any customers I get would be Steam's audience and not mine.

[StingingVelvet]

Way too late now obviously but I really like the high-res art.  Call me a bad old-timer but I think the crisp images add to the cinematic presentation.

Maybe an option for either/or in the future?

[Midnight_Knight]

Hi,Dave..:-)
(I can't resist and must ask-Are You related with Ron Gilbert..?..:-))
Well,You was askin' about quality and what makes people to buy Your games..let it put this way-I'm Your big fan for very very long time/remember still the first game with Rose and Joey "Bestowers Of Eternity"..? I wrote reviews of Blackwell trilogy for Czech players(watch out for Dave in next ten years,he'll be famous as Al Lowe or Benoit Sokal...and some more stuff in this sense),what catch my eyes on Blackwell for the very first time was the story.I'm the old school gamer,not lookin',if there are 16,256 or million colours in the game...I'm allways lookin' for the story.And Your stories are damn good.Keep this way in all Your next games in the future..:-) BTW Aren't You thinkin' to the future about some longer game...?

[DaveGilbert]

Heh.  Nope, I'm not related to Ron Gilbert.  As far as I know, anyway.  Maybe LucasArts did some kind of genetic cloning experiment with Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman and I was the result!

In any case, thanks!  "Bestowers" feels like an ice age ago.