"THE INSANITY"...should I bother with a second one?

Ah well, time for a moan.
I tried real hard to make a horror adventure game that could rival other well known series but now it's beginning to become clear that perhaps my stuff simply isn't of a similar callibre. Folks generally didn't respond too well to the idea of a 'hybrid' point & click. Something of a new genre I thought would peak some people's interest but did it achieve that? Not sure... If I remember correctly some other great games of the same type were always really popular, reaching the front pages of just about every portal out there, getting millions of plays. I was hoping for the game to get similar recognition but based on the scores and feedback it feels like The Insanity runs the risk of fading into obscurity.I had wanted to go for the Halloween competition and even waited until the 1st October before realising the deal I had with my sponsor stipulated the NG advertising preloader couldn't go in. In retrospect I'm wondering if I took the right option taking the primary licensing option which, -believe me- wasn't much of a cashcow, when perhaps I should've just gone for ingame ads or sold non-exlusives to sites. Aaagh...

So where did I go wrong I wonder? What could I do to improve my work and bring it in line with the other masters of the horror genre? Have you guys got any ideas on how to get my game in front of a wider audience? Should I even bother making a second one?
I'd love to because I've actually conceptualised a decent second part to the story which would illuminate a lot of the mystery behind the characters (esp.The Doctor) and situations leading up to this one. But...well let's just say I'm a wee bit demotivated and at a a crossroads here, wondering if I should give "THE INSANITY" a follow-up or do some simpler beat-em-ups or physics games.
If you do think I should work on a second installment, let me know your ideas for how the game could be improved. Thanks to those who have enjoyed the game and posted kind comments.

Comments

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flailthefox 2009-10-03 15:40:31

THe main theme that all those horror games out there is mostly music, art and the suspense. they seem to be able to join them together to scare you enoughy into giving 5, basically. all you need to do is add a lot of big loads music at scarty places and stuff, know what I mean? Example: at a house, and you see something in a mirror. allow the player to turn around, and they freak out and jump at loud music and a flash of soemthing coming at you with a knife ofr something. you just need the right balance of music, art and drama(lol) to make a great game.

Joelasticot 2009-10-03 15:46:40

I liked your game. I think you managed to create a great atmosphere, without the generic "silence followed by a loud scream" shit. In my opinion, your game was a little too easy. You basically had to click the things in the right order in order to beat it.

If you have a good idea for a second, I say fuck the haters and go for it. What the previous game lacked the most is variety. Try adding some puzzles, or some traps that force the player to do something against their will (example, free a monster in order to obtain an item).

As for selling your game, I suggest you stay away from exclusive sponsorship deals. If you can make a quality product and manage to sell licenses to multiple websites, it can earn you much more (you can also publish a public, limited-content version for the websites that don't want to buy a license, and use them to redirect traffic to your website)

Oh and one last thing... Spell check your dialogs. The amount of typos, especially in the first few conversations, was horrendous, and that's a big turn-off

MeeMan45 2009-10-03 15:56:31

You managed to make a better horror atmosphere than most people, but the problems are the fight scenes and dialouges.

The fight scenes needed to be more exciting. It was a picture of a zombie with you hitting buttons with a hammer. I suggest giving the zombies animations, and making fighting more complex.

The dialouges would be far more exciting with sound clips and an occasional cutscene.

Balvuc 2009-10-03 20:48:26

These above have some points.
-Fight is lacking, I'd suggest a reworking or full discarding if possible ( 'run for your life' could work well I guess)
-Linear gameplay. Maybe more intruncated puzzles would be nice, as well as puzzles you could work in the order you wish to, or puzzles which could potentially change the next scenes and their puzzles... you get it lol

But anyways, I find this post kinda strange. I mean, when I played the game, it felt professional and full of confidence, as if the developers had no doubt about what they were doing.

daedraslayer229 2009-10-04 09:22:51

Well, for one, spelling.

FrogOfDrakoja 2009-10-04 15:45:05

I liked it, I would definitely want to see a sequel, especially if we see Friendly's girlfriend, the Takaki nurse, in her mutated glory.

Your game was good, highly creepy, I think the atmosphere could use just a bit of tweaking (a bit darker, for example, the well-lit atmosphere doesn't always inspire chills), as for sound effects, I think they're fine. They certainly buggered me.

The fight engine, eh, I could take it or leave it, I personally kept freaking, thinking I wasn't going to kill the monsters fast enough.

I highly encourage a part 2, either way.

EvilKris 2009-10-04 17:20:23

<a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/513181">http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view /513181</a>

DJBone1031 2009-10-28 02:58:44

Hi There,

I stick to what I said months ago. Go in a different direction. We've all seen this industrial post-goth stuff before. It's not that your stuff isn't good. To the contrary, I play The Damned 1.5 at least once a week. You should work on something more simple and exploitable. Also the monsters shouldn't be Zombies. We have too much zombie stuff. We need something new. I suggested WEREWOLVES last time. If you could make a scary werewolf shooter with different music I think you'd have a hit. But whatever it is you choose to do, make sure it's something you believe people will say 'I haven't seen that before on Newgrounds.' If you wanna talk ideas feel free to message me and maybe we can come up with something. - Bone

meisflashfan 2010-02-20 14:49:40

ahh dont get all worked up about it. I liked your game and thought it was perfect. BUT my only complaint was that it was way to hard even though i finished it. you should definitely make a sequal. just make it a little easier.

astro10 2010-03-12 14:27:25

good and creepy game cool

EvilKris 2010-09-06 16:05:04

now the game is done&dusted sold etc I guess I can tell you, this whole post was well, pure bullshit-I like the game and was completely satisfied with it. I was told that being pathetic might get you the front page. Didn't work though, ye gods.

Thanks for your comments regardless. Some kind and thoughtful people on here.