Registered Brutus2D Thought Experiment

[hartnell]

I was thinking, I love Brutus2D, but I have no reason to register it except out of loyalty. This is a great thing, sort of.

Guilect, I know that Brutus2D is both a labor of love and a commercial product, so please consider what I say here. All other people PLEASE chime in.

In order to make Brutus2D a commercial success it needs to be a noob trap. (This is probably not the best words to describe this idea, but it will do.) The best noob trap known to man is Game Maker.

Here's how it works. Instead of a "demo" version, there is a "free" version which has all the functionality you need to make a decent game. You don't have to worry about your trial running out --- it's the free version.

This allows noobs the all the time they need to both learn how to program on a basic level and learn all the basics of game programming. Secondly, it allows a community to spring up because, hey, its FREE!.

Registering Game Maker gives you access to functions that help you put the "polish" on a game. Rotating and scaling sprites and things like this. The other class of registered Game Maker features are time saving functions.

No game programming language I've seen has taken this model. I think it would be good for Brutus2D.

I know I wasn't asked, but let me know what you think.

-hartnell

[Guilect]

I am not opposed to that idea.

Anyone else, thoughts?

[matthew]

I don't really mind. ;D

[Guilect]

I have been thinking about this some more.
I kind of like this idea.
Let everyone (registered or not) have all the functionality, including making exe's. But, un-registered users get a 'made with Brutus2D' logo displayed on the screen at all times.
Several popular graphics engines do this.
This way if an un-registered user makes a neat game they can still distribute it, say on freeware sites. Only now Brutus2D gets free advertising where ever the game goes. If someone does not wish the logo, to have a more polished game, they can support the project.

[hartnell]

The made with Brutus2D startup logo needs to be small and be shown for less than 4 seconds. Otherwise, testing gets annoying, especially when you are making small changes. Game Maker does exactly the same thing.

I still think some functions should be "registered only", but as Brutus2D is still shaping up, it's probably not a good idea now.

-hartnell

[Guilect]

Just display it in the exe version.
Not when someone is making small changes from the IDE, that would be a pain.

Maybe that's the idea make it a pain then they will want to upgrade.

[hartnell]

Nah, the Game Maker and PlayBasic popups are relatively painless (the PlayBasic one being slightly annoying.) I registered GM for the "polish" features.

-hartnell

[matthew]

When the Amos programming language first came out on the Amiga there was a rule where if you created an .exe, you had to show a 'splash screen' at the beginning of your game which said that it was created by Amos.

[u9]

admin said:

... make it a pain then they will want to upgrade.

I think that is the wrong attitude. Make it an advertisement. Maybe there isn't much difference, but your attitude during the implementation might show through in the final result.

That said, I think an advertising screen is a great idea. It spreads the word. Limiting the functionality i don't think is a good idea, for the same reasons as Hartnell mentioned. But I also think it is good as it is, where you cannot create exe files unless you register. One problem as I see it is the excessive copy protection scheme (sorry for mentioning it again, but i feel it is relevant to this discussion).

One might argue that it is not adequate as it is (apart form copy-protection) when users are not flocking to the product. I don't have much experience with advertisement etc. so I cannot say anything about why this product isn't more popular. Maybe time will tell. Maybe more advertising is needed. Maybe even the price is too low. Lets face it, $10 does say "cheap", but it also says "crap". So it is a bit of a dilemma.

[hartnell]

It's not popular yet because it's not yet known and still limited in functionality and ease of use. The biggest thing Brutus2D has over everyone else is OOP and Guilect.

$10 doesn't say crap if you have a competitive product, which Brutus2D isn't yet. When it is, it will say "Good Deal!".

-hartnell