Steam Greenlight: 1000 games and counting, more Greenlit every few weeks

PaulLFC said:
This. It was really successful on Greenlight according to Simon, yet it still doesn't get Greenlit?

Above anything that's what I hate about Greenlight, it's seemingly completely random whether you get greenlit or not, and that's shit. There's no "do this and you'll be greenlit", it's just whoever Valve decides to allow onto Steam - so basically their old system with the added ability to vote, and maybe influence the decisions a bit, but who knows by how much.
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Their old system:
- A small cabal of employees picks you based on what they like
- Once you make it onto Steam, you get access to the stuff you need to add Steam features to your game.

Their new system:
- If you make it into the top 10, you're guaranteed a spot
- If you have a rapid debut that demonstrates significant interest, you're guaranteed a spot
- If you make it into the top 100, you're basically guaranteed a spot within a few months
- You get stats about the above that you can check and monitor on a daily basis (See this site)
- If you're a finalist at an indie game competition, you're guaranteed a spot
- Most games are being approved now than ever
- You get access to the stuff you need to add Steam features to your game as early as you'd like
- Early Access also allows you to launch a game before it's done and Valve specifically picks candidates based on this
- A small cabal of employees can still pick you based on what they like

I'm going to go ahead and say it's an improvement.

Visualante2 said:
Deadly Premonition should have just been accepted. What a waste of a slot.
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There isn't a fixed number of slots and if there was that would mean at most a 2 week delay for one title.
 
Stumpokapow said:
I'm going to go ahead and say it's an improvement.
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It's getting close, but there's still a few things holding it back. The "Greenlight trap" (where once you go on Greenlight, you can't choose to work with a publisher) is a pretty serious perverse-incentive system design flaw; the overall volume of titles currently being accepted is still somewhat too low; the interface is all about dumping a huge volume of unsorted shit on you so there's no real way for anything to move forward except with concerted marketing campaigns. I'm also a little skeptical about the top 100 thing since we can't see it anymore.

That said, I think iteration can still make this a pretty good system.
 
I still check and vote on Greenlight on a regular basis, even if the games I like are rarely picked.

Today's batch had like six horror games.

But also two that I'm really excited about.
 
I hate this bit, the bit where you jump up like 5% in the rankings because a bunch of stuff got greenlit and then you realise new popular stuff will appear and overtake you next week.

I honestly have no idea how these top games get so many views on their page, we've been covered by Total Biscuit, Penny Arcade Report, Rock Paper Shotgun etc and still for every 1 person who has viewed our page about 5 viewed a top game. I've never been great with popularity contests :(

Just gotta keep doing what we're doing I guess.
 
charlequin said:
It's getting close, but there's still a few things holding it back. The "Greenlight trap" (where once you go on Greenlight, you can't choose to work with a publisher) is a pretty serious perverse-incentive system design flaw;
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Yes, that sucks. I don't know how you solve it. The reason for that policy is to prevent low end predatory publishers from poaching promising indies because they have more of a budget to allocate to evaluating titles than Valve does. But clearly not every publisher is predatory and there are reasons for indies to cut a deal.

the overall volume of titles currently being accepted is still somewhat too low
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Not a problem with Greenlight, a policy related to Steam itself. Also Valve seems to have made it clear that the rate of uptake is actually being limited by the tools they use to set up new developers. Apparently until recently you had to fax Valve to get set up, store changes had to be emailed to Valve who had staff on-hand after-hours to make the changes, etc. That's ridiculous, obviously, and highlights a backend problem, but also it's pretty logical that those failings would lead to a constraint on the number of new titles published.

the interface is all about dumping a huge volume of unsorted shit on you so there's no real way for anything to move forward except with concerted marketing campaigns.
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That's VERY deliberate and was from the start. If you want to vote on everything, use the queue (I have; I've got 1511 votes, that's everything on Greenlight). But if you just want to support a title, you should be being directed there from RPS or Kickstarter or whatever other outside source. That's their design. They are not whatsoever interested in being a discovery tool. I see the complaint, but I also think it's something that disproportionately affects titles added so far which are often pre-existing titles who now have to go through this process than new titles which will gain Greenlight support as they are first announced and funded and covered elsewhere. Combine that with the fact that they're Greenlighting titles outside the Top 10 based on speed of movement and I think it'll be pretty sensitive to new announcements

I'm also a little skeptical about the top 100 thing since we can't see it anymore.
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Top 10 get greenlit -> 11-20 move to 1-10. Repeat process every 2 weeks. Assume no one votes for anything during those two weeks. Alternatively, assume that they vote for titles in the top 100 and outside the top 100 at an equal clip.

Drifter went from 51% to 55% after this last batch.
 
BudokaiMR2 said:
So I just submitted something this week directly to my Steam contact hoping the game can bypass Greenlight.

It is a Fighting Game Mod Creation tool called EF-12 which is free to download.
A Japanese developer who has worked on some top-tier fighting games (Tobal, Tekken, Soul Edge and others) created it with the goal of creating a new type of e-sport that combines creation and competition.

Check it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3nlk3tV_Ls

Now I'm really worried about this going through Greenlight as it is low on content at the moment. Plus it is very hardcore as far as the modding goes as you can change ANYTHING in the game to your liking.

I really think it is a shame that games like this get passed over and I am going to beat my head into a concrete wall if I can't get it on the Steam Workshop somehow...

<crosses fingers>

If I get shot down again I expect your support on Greenlight again GAF!!!!
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Looked at that: suggestions

support GGPO and evades (if you can put that into the engine) and you probably could sell it as a development tool.

We could see indie 3d fighters on PC with that.
 
Stumpokapow said:
Yes, that sucks. I don't know how you solve it.
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Yeah. Probably it's "consider it on a case-by-case basis," honestly, but I'm not sure if the volume would be too much to deal with on that. I definitely feel like there are publishers they could basically give carte blanche to on this though.

Not a problem with Greenlight, a policy related to Steam itself.
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Well, I'd agree with the proviso that this is one of the problems people were expecting Greenlight to resolve when it was first announced.

I see the complaint, but I also think it's something that disproportionately affects titles added so far which are often pre-existing titles who now have to go through this process than new titles which will gain Greenlight support as they are first announced and funded and covered elsewhere.
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That's probably accurate, and I didn't consider that.

The problem I have here is that there isn't really any way to contribute usefully except to wait for someone to beg you for Greenlight votes. There's basically zero point to ever looking at Greenlight in general or trying to clear your queue, especially since most of the stuff you'll be getting has already been effectively pre-sorted (either it's so bad no one is voting for it and no one ever will, or it's so good it's already headed for the top 100.) It'd be nice if there was a way to go through and evaluate stuff that had gotten some heat but not enough to guarantee a release yet, but I guess the problem here is that they don't want people to be able to downvote stuff.

Top 10 get greenlit -> 11-20 move to 1-10. Repeat process every 2 weeks.
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I think that'll basically follow for the top 30 or so but I can easily imagine stuff treading water at 86 or whatever, especially if there's any kind of decay factor built in.
 
Stumpokapow said:
Their old system:
- A small cabal of employees picks you based on what they like
- Once you make it onto Steam, you get access to the stuff you need to add Steam features to your game.

Their new system:
- If you make it into the top 10, you're guaranteed a spot
- If you have a rapid debut that demonstrates significant interest, you're guaranteed a spot
- If you make it into the top 100, you're basically guaranteed a spot within a few months
- You get stats about the above that you can check and monitor on a daily basis (See this site)
- If you're a finalist at an indie game competition, you're guaranteed a spot
- Most games are being approved now than ever
- You get access to the stuff you need to add Steam features to your game as early as you'd like
- Early Access also allows you to launch a game before it's done and Valve specifically picks candidates based on this
- A small cabal of employees can still pick you based on what they like

I'm going to go ahead and say it's an improvement.



There isn't a fixed number of slots and if there was that would mean at most a 2 week delay for one title.
Click to expand...
The one thing I'll add to this summary is that I've seen games that were originally submitted to Greenlight get pulled off and then show up later on the store, sometimes with a publisher. Teleglitched is one example off the top of my head.

There were some comments from Valve / Doug Lombardi that they want to discourage/ban this practice, as it results in less money going to the developer due to the publisher taking a cut.
 
HoosTrax said:
The one thing I'll add to this summary is that I've seen games that were originally submitted to Greenlight get pulled off and then show up later on the store, sometimes with a publisher. Teleglitched is one example off the top of my head.

There were some comments from Valve / Doug Lombardi that they want to discourage/ban this practice, as it results in less money going to the developer due to the publisher taking a cut.
Click to expand...
...but...if their motivation was truly that they want the developers to get the most money, banning it seems counterproductive.

If you're given the choice between making some money with a publisher taking a cut, and making NO money due to your game not getting through Greenlight, which would you prefer? :P
 
alstein said:
Looked at that: suggestions

support GGPO and evades (if you can put that into the engine) and you probably could sell it as a development tool.

We could see indie 3d fighters on PC with that.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure that evades can be worked into the game. That is something I might test out myself though...

Also, I don't think GGPO can be used for 3D fighting games, although I have no proof!

In any case, we finally heard back and found out that Valve isn't interested.
So expect to see it on Greenlight sometime soon Yay! /sarcasm
 
BLunted said:
Hey GAF,

Need some help getting Talisman Deluxe edition greenlit.

It's based off the classic board game I used to play as a kid. I already own the single player version, but I think a multiplayer version would be awesome.

Swing by and check it out!



Talisman Deluxe Edition

Greenlight page
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Thanks BLunted!
Talisman is currently sat just outside of the top 100 games on Greenlight.

We'd love to get onto Steam, it'll make things like worldwide Talisman tournaments easier to arrange. Please vote everyone!

Thanks.
 
MouseCraft is on Greenlight. You can play the game through the beta program or by paying what you want.

55KEco6.jpg
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If you pay, even $1, for the game and if the game gets greenlit, you get a Steam key.

This offer is valid this August.
 
Wok said:
MouseCraft is on Greenlight. You can play the game through the beta program or by paying what you want.

If you pay, even $1, for the game and if the game gets greenlit, you get a Steam key.

This offer is valid this August.
Click to expand...

Hey man, thanks for posting the news about MouseCraft! My name's Tom and I'm one of the Crunching Koalas.

The game can be easily described as a cross between Lemmings and Tetris, with some crazy cartoon-steampunk style graphics:

mousecraft_screen1.jpg


If anyone would like to get more details about the game, here's the website: http://mouse-craft.com, some say it's worth going inside just for the falling mouse ;).

You can also watch the launch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2bQ-Y_h-DQ&yt:cc=on (sorry for the barbaric english language of our Art Director)

The Alpha version is indeed free, you can get it by signing up for our Beta Program: http://crunchingkoalas.com/betaprogram

If you like the game, you can support it's creation and give us as much as you feel the final game is worth: http://get.mouse-craft.com
You will get the full game when development is complete along with all the extra content: soundtrack (composed by our friend who scored Dark Souls 2 announcement trailer)

Also, we are obviously on Greenlight - all the votes will be deeply appreciated: http://greenlight.mouse-craft.com

Cheers,
Tom - Crunching Koalas
 
CrunchingKoalas said:
Hey man, thanks for posting the news about MouseCraft! My name's Tom and I'm one of the Crunching Koalas.

The game can be easily described as a cross between Lemmings and Tetris, with some crazy cartoon-steampunk style graphics:

mousecraft_screen1.jpg


If anyone would like to get more details about the game, here's the website: http://mouse-craft.com, some say it's worth going inside just for the falling mouse ;).

You can also watch the launch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2bQ-Y_h-DQ&yt:cc=on (sorry for the barbaric english language of our Art Director)

The Alpha version is indeed free, you can get it by signing up for our Beta Program: http://crunchingkoalas.com/betaprogram

If you like the game, you can support it's creation and give us as much as you feel the final game is worth: http://get.mouse-craft.com
You will get the full game when development is complete along with all the extra content: soundtrack (composed by our friend who scored Dark Souls 2 announcement trailer)

Also, we are obviously on Greenlight - all the votes will be deeply appreciated: http://greenlight.mouse-craft.com

Cheers,
Tom - Crunching Koalas
Click to expand...

I tried buying the game but I am getting "test mode" errors. I tried restarting my browser but I'm still getting it.
 
Bought Mousecraft from the site. Couldn't pay much, $2 sorry. I'll gift it to someone when/if it gets greenlit to make up for it :D
 
Stumpokapow said:
Their old system:
- A small cabal of employees picks you based on what they like
- Once you make it onto Steam, you get access to the stuff you need to add Steam features to your game.

Their new system:
- If you make it into the top 10, you're guaranteed a spot
- If you have a rapid debut that demonstrates significant interest, you're guaranteed a spot
- If you make it into the top 100, you're basically guaranteed a spot within a few months
- You get stats about the above that you can check and monitor on a daily basis (See this site)
- If you're a finalist at an indie game competition, you're guaranteed a spot
- Most games are being approved now than ever
- You get access to the stuff you need to add Steam features to your game as early as you'd like
- Early Access also allows you to launch a game before it's done and Valve specifically picks candidates based on this
- A small cabal of employees can still pick you based on what they like

I'm going to go ahead and say it's an improvement.



There isn't a fixed number of slots and if there was that would mean at most a 2 week delay for one title.
Click to expand...

This is a very helpful summary. Thanks for posting it.
 
Paz said:
I hate this bit, the bit where you jump up like 5% in the rankings because a bunch of stuff got greenlit and then you realise new popular stuff will appear and overtake you next week.

I honestly have no idea how these top games get so many views on their page, we've been covered by Total Biscuit, Penny Arcade Report, Rock Paper Shotgun etc and still for every 1 person who has viewed our page about 5 viewed a top game. I've never been great with popularity contests :(

Just gotta keep doing what we're doing I guess.
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I have no idea how high you guys stand on greenlight now. But when I featured your game on my channel (hope you remember that :-) ), I really thought you had one of the best games currently on there...
 
MouseCraft looks fun. my kind of game ;P

Will pick it up when I get home ... thanks

EDIT : The scrolling mouse drop on your website is great...heh. I just held my arrow keys like 5x to watch it ;P
 
MouseCraft looks really cool! I don't suppose you want a Japanese version? ;)

Vancha said:
My channel is http://www.youtube.com/eagleyeloco . i look at indie games all the time in order to help them reach new audiences (allthough my channel is new compared to say, Totalbiscuit).
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That is awesome! If you ever want to feature any Playism games let me or thetrin know!
We are currently looking for channels who are interested in doing videos for our next game Unholy Heights as it really lends itself to LPs in my opinion.
There are already hundreds of videos on the Japanese site Nico Nico for the game.
 
What happens when i vote I'm not interested ?

Does it have negative repercussions on game or just removes it from my que of games to check ?
 
michaelius said:
What happens when i vote I'm not interested ?

Does it have negative repercussions on game or just removes it from my que of games to check ?
Click to expand...

You mean, when you vote "No", right?

There are different opinions about it- Valve claims it has no effect on the game, but a lot of indies say that a game which has a big number of "No" votes won't get Greenlit.
 
Hey guys, didn't even know this thread existed. Hope you don't mind if I tell you a bit about our (NRD Studios) game that is currently on Greenlight, Champions of Demah. It's a hybrid RTS and third-person action multiplayer game. The Greenlight page has been live for a couple of weeks and we've had some nice feedback so far.

We had a meeting with GamersGate three weeks ago to discuss an early access build of the game being made available. That went well and we hope to have that up and running very soon (maybe even in a couple of days). We also did a pretty extensive interview over at Shogun Gamer about the studio and the game if you want some more information.

Cheers.
 
CrunchingKoalas said:
You mean, when you vote "No", right?

There are different opinions about it- Valve claims it has no effect on the game, but a lot of indies say that a game which has a big number of "No" votes won't get Greenlit.
Click to expand...

No votes don't count against people, period. But, imagine if you need 25,000 votes to be Greenlit. Now imagine only 35,000 people are regular Greenlight users. It's true that if all of those regular Greenlight users vote against you, that doesn't count against you, but you'll now need to get all your votes from non-regular Greenlight users specifically drawn to your campaign. And that's not very likely. I think you can agree that if someone clicks through to your campaign from RPS or whatever, they're likely to vote yes. So the source of no votes is going to be people who regularly browse Greenlight voting no to clear their queue. Even though no votes don't count against you, you'd much rather all yes votes because it'll get you to the magic number faster.
 
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