This is is the first devlog post for Settlements Rising, and it's also my first devlog post on Steam ever. I wanted to thank you for the 15,000 wishlists. Also, if anyone is interested, I'd like to share some statistics about the game.
Before the demo
I started developing the game in November 2022. Initially, I didn't have such a detailed game in mind, of course. The goal was to create a game with enough content that I could release within 1-1.5 years. I started developing it alone, but I was thinking of involving a few friends in the project along the way, but right now I'm still the only one. So, we can say this product is the work of a single person. Apart from music and sound effects, I'm trying to create all the assets myself. One of the reasons for the game's low poly style can be attributed to this.
I launched the game's Steam page to everyone on April 1st. I quickly added a trailer, but at that point, there was hardly any interest in the game, so I started to lose hope a bit, I must admit. The game lacked the visual appeal and excitement that could make it go viral on social media, so my opportunity to promote the game before the demo was very weak. I focused more on creating a great demo than on marketing.
I tried my best to make the demo feel as nice as possible, and in the process it went from being a game that could be made in 1-1.5 years to a more detailed and nice game, and I'm happy about that.
After the Demo
Knowing that without a demo game can't be effectively marketed, I knew a good demo was crucial for marketing. I worked hard to make sure the demo had at least 45 minutes of content and was polished enough not to lose the player in the first few minutes. Also, since receiving feedback was one of the main goals of releasing the demo, I had added sections in the game where you could send feedback. I'm very grateful for having done that. I released the demo on November 6, 2023, and by then, we had 600 wishlists.
The wishlist increase, which was between 0-1 per day before the demo's release, jumped to 400-500 after the demo for several days. The demo received incredible attention and was tried out by many content creators in a short time. Other than a bug that caused FPS drops in the early versions of the demo, there weren't many issues that bothered me. With quickly integrating the feedback, the demo reached high levels of quality.
As of today, we have reached 15,000 wishlists, and I want to thank the 16k+ people who played the demo for your interest. The success of the demo is thanks to you and the feedback you sent!
Statistics for the Curious
- 15k: Wishlists
- 8.01: Average rating you gave to the demo out of 10 <3
- 452: Number of votes
- 46m: Median demo playtime
- 1h 35m: Average demo playtime
- 142: Feedback forms filled out
- 16k: Demo players
- 5.12: New games per demo player
- 390k: Total buildings built
- 132k: Immigrated villagers
- 211k: Babies born
- 82k: Villagers died
- 10k: Number of saved games
- 5.5k: Number of players reaching 50 population
I'm excited along with those who are excited about the game. I hope I've been able to meet your expectations and continue to do so with future updates. An update bringing a illnesses and injuries to the game will be released in the next 2-4 days, I'll also let you know about that.
Until the next devlogs, take care!
Caner
