DirectX developer connections?
Author
I just developed a DirectX game engine portion for game developers to use with their game engines. I have no idea of how to connect with game developers to solicate the work. Can someone point me in the right direction?
Thanks,
Devin
Well, what you need to do is to formulate some public relations:
(a) Make a website
(b) Make demos available
(c) Network with game developers you know
(d) Some advertising (ads in newsletters, websites, ect)
(e) Show up at the big shows (ala GDC)
Getting started in middleware is quite difficult. At the beginning, you don't know anyone and your product is no good. Once you step up though, you may get some clients, which in turn gets you more clients. And it goes from there.
DX doesn't really have an identifiable developer program. Generally, you are on your own to make connections.
(a) Make a website
(b) Make demos available
(c) Network with game developers you know
(d) Some advertising (ads in newsletters, websites, ect)
(e) Show up at the big shows (ala GDC)
Getting started in middleware is quite difficult. At the beginning, you don't know anyone and your product is no good. Once you step up though, you may get some clients, which in turn gets you more clients. And it goes from there.
DX doesn't really have an identifiable developer program. Generally, you are on your own to make connections.
Author
Thanks, I appreciate the help.
1. Got the website done. Wintsch Labs
2. The demo is downloadable from there.
3. I don't know any developers :(
4. I'll look into GDC.
Is there a list of developers somewhere? Or is cold contacting a bad idea? I guess my question should be "what's the best way to approach them"?
-Devin
1. Got the website done. Wintsch Labs
2. The demo is downloadable from there.
3. I don't know any developers :(
4. I'll look into GDC.
Is there a list of developers somewhere? Or is cold contacting a bad idea? I guess my question should be "what's the best way to approach them"?
-Devin
I've just looked at your webpage. I was a bit confused as to what this product actually was but in the end I gather it's a UI design tool with accompanying runtime library for drawing windows/controls/etc. into a D3D9 render target?
I've got some constructive (I hope!) feedback for you:
What's the price? Is there a demo available? (Edit: Just found the demo! you should add a link to this from your product's webpage)
Why does an app have to make three calls to your library in order to draw the content? Why not just a single directForms.Draw() call?
You might want to mention what amount of sample code/applets are shipped with the product as well as what sort of technical support you offer with a purchase of the tool. A cheesy sample app like a hex editor or Notepad clone might be something worth including to show how to use the framework.
Does this tool require a particular compiler/runtime? I see that the code you've posted via images on the webpage is .cs. Do you support other languages? What about system requirements?
You've got a number of spelling and grammar mistakes on your webpage that you might want to fix. Also, the title of your product's webpage is "Untitled Document".
Good luck with it!
I've got some constructive (I hope!) feedback for you:
What's the price? Is there a demo available? (Edit: Just found the demo! you should add a link to this from your product's webpage)
Why does an app have to make three calls to your library in order to draw the content? Why not just a single directForms.Draw() call?
You might want to mention what amount of sample code/applets are shipped with the product as well as what sort of technical support you offer with a purchase of the tool. A cheesy sample app like a hex editor or Notepad clone might be something worth including to show how to use the framework.
Does this tool require a particular compiler/runtime? I see that the code you've posted via images on the webpage is .cs. Do you support other languages? What about system requirements?
You've got a number of spelling and grammar mistakes on your webpage that you might want to fix. Also, the title of your product's webpage is "Untitled Document".
Good luck with it!
Author
Thanks,
I've got a grammar ace looking at the web page later. The 4 calls are as follows:
1. scan and process user input.
2. Set render states and matrices for forms environment (configure device)
3. Render primitives.
4. Restore original render states and matrices.
Currently the product only creates cs files. But I thought it would be simple enough to make cpp files also if needed.
I haven't thought of price yet. I haven't a clue how to charge for something like this. I guess it's part application and part engine. How should I sell?
not sure what you mean? Could you elaborate please? Mainly I don't understand what you mean by sample app.
The system must run while Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 is openned as it interfaces with it via extensibility built in.
Thanks for help, it was helpful.
-Devin
[Edited by - devronious on October 9, 2006 6:52:36 PM]
I've got a grammar ace looking at the web page later. The 4 calls are as follows:
1. scan and process user input.
2. Set render states and matrices for forms environment (configure device)
3. Render primitives.
4. Restore original render states and matrices.
Currently the product only creates cs files. But I thought it would be simple enough to make cpp files also if needed.
I haven't thought of price yet. I haven't a clue how to charge for something like this. I guess it's part application and part engine. How should I sell?
Quote:You might want to mention what amount of sample code/applets are shipped with the product as well as what sort of technical support you offer with a purchase of the tool. A cheesy sample app like a hex editor or Notepad clone might be something worth including to show how to use the framework.
not sure what you mean? Could you elaborate please? Mainly I don't understand what you mean by sample app.
The system must run while Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 is openned as it interfaces with it via extensibility built in.
Thanks for help, it was helpful.
-Devin
[Edited by - devronious on October 9, 2006 6:52:36 PM]
Author
OK, I updated the site per your request. Hope it's better. Thanks for the suggestions.
-Devin
-Devin
I don't know exactly what market you are trying to tap, but I would think your ideal market would be small independent development teams and individual developers. I would think that larger teams would develop their own GUI system in-house, with more flexibility built in.
So, I would definately say the price should be dialed to a level that could be contained within the small budget of small developers. If you want a clue as to a price you should charge, look at other products aimed at independent developers. Garage Games has a number of products aimed at small developers. If I were to classify your product in a price/usefulness category, I would be thinking about something like GameSpace or some similiar product.
I would also recommend that you have a native english speaker re-write the text on the website. It just doesn't look professional enough (completely my opinion and I could be wrong) for me to spend alot of money there.
When I suggested that you include a sample application using your framework, I meant that you could include a simple example of how a game developer could use it. I mentioned Notepad because it is one of the ways to show how to use a Win32 edit control and menus when someone is first learning how to use Windows controls.
For your framework, you might want to write a simple console type editor that someone could add to their game, or maybe some sort of D3D options menu for displaying/selecting the video modes? Just something so that people could play around with it to see how your demo works.
For your framework, you might want to write a simple console type editor that someone could add to their game, or maybe some sort of D3D options menu for displaying/selecting the video modes? Just something so that people could play around with it to see how your demo works.
I'd suggest sending press releases to game development magazines and sites: Develop, Game Developer Magazine, Gamasutra (though that's the same as GDM), Gamedev.net. You can also send review copies -- preferably on real CDs. (Don't force them to download.)
As for the site, I'd suggest getting rid of the Flash buttons. And in general, make it look more professional. It looks like a toy now, with that colour scheme and the question mark icon on the main page. Stick to DirectForms Designer on your first page. That's the product you have, and you should try to sell it, not any potential future products that nobody will be interested in anyway until they actually arrive. Tell people what features it provides and what benefits they'd get from it.
That's doubly relevant to the product page. A tutorial for using the product is not a good way to convince people to buy it. It's something people might read after they got interested, but you first have to give them something easily digestible.
And BTW, why call it "DirectForms Designer 2005"? The 2005, I mean. (And, BTW, you call it "Direct Forms" instead of "DirectForms" on the main page's product link.) I assume the "2005" comes from integration with VS 2005, but it still sounds like bad naming to me for a product that's coming out now. IMO drop the number.
As for the site, I'd suggest getting rid of the Flash buttons. And in general, make it look more professional. It looks like a toy now, with that colour scheme and the question mark icon on the main page. Stick to DirectForms Designer on your first page. That's the product you have, and you should try to sell it, not any potential future products that nobody will be interested in anyway until they actually arrive. Tell people what features it provides and what benefits they'd get from it.
That's doubly relevant to the product page. A tutorial for using the product is not a good way to convince people to buy it. It's something people might read after they got interested, but you first have to give them something easily digestible.
And BTW, why call it "DirectForms Designer 2005"? The 2005, I mean. (And, BTW, you call it "Direct Forms" instead of "DirectForms" on the main page's product link.) I assume the "2005" comes from integration with VS 2005, but it still sounds like bad naming to me for a product that's coming out now. IMO drop the number.
Author
Thanks for input.
I'm working on a demo of how it would run in app. Also will change web site as suggested. I plan to make contacts next.
-Devin
I'm working on a demo of how it would run in app. Also will change web site as suggested. I plan to make contacts next.
-Devin
This topic is closed to new replies.
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