Hey just wondering if there is an option for Genetica 4.0 Indie Pricing, specifically the Pro version because of the support for normal map generation is pretty much required. Maybe we can rally enough people to convince them to give us a fair price for indie developers!!!
http://www.spiralgraphics.biz/buygen.htm

$400 bucks is way too much.

If you don't like the price, don't buy it. Or contact them yourself and attempt to negotiate a better deal.

Trying to rally the interwebz in an attempt to get somebody to lower their price is not the right way to go.

Yeah, a mob-like demonstration wouldn't be too great of an idea. If I was the Spiral Graphics, it'd feel like a gun is being put to my head and I'd have to either agree, or suffer a PR fallout. It wouldn't be a good working relationship.

On the other hand, gathering a group of like-minded individuals to negotiate (privately with Spiral Graphics) a bulk license, appointing a lead negotiator who has the budget to buy the amount of licenses agreed upon, regardless if some of the indie developers back out - I think that would be fine. 20 developers, who each pay $200 ($4000 total), negotiating (through a single negotiator) 20 licenses - that would be nice.

Or, finding those 20 other developers (privately, not publicly), and sending a single private email to Spiral Graphics, signed by each of them, with each in the CC line, asking for lower pricing (1/3rd off) for studios making less than $100,000 a year, showing them there is potential profit for them.

The key is, doing it privately. This is more respectful, because then Spiral Graphics won't feel forced into a PR situation that they don't want to be in.

One possible idea for negotiating a lower price for yourself personally, is to offer to display their product on your game's splash-screen in exchange for a discount.

Well I don't think it has anything todo with PR or being disrespectful. Neither are we forcing anyone todo anything. This is just giving them the visibility of having a product offer for Genetica Pro at a discounted price for independent developers that make less than $xxx per year.

I would love to buy there product but not able to afford it. If they see the visibility of multiple developers on this thread in the same situation they have potential buyers and a lot of sales to gain at a discounted price.

Doing it privately is not neccesary, and really defeats the whole purpose.

As someone who paid the $400 for Genetica Pro, I must say that it's a steep price tag indeed for a private person who only just plays around with it. On the other hand, if you mean to develop a game, this is nothing. If 400 dollars are forbidding, even as indie, you should stop right there.

That, and Genetica is probably one of the programs with the best value for money ratio. Except for a few select $5000 programs from Adobe (not outrageous at all, are we!), you hardly find a program that doesn't seriously suck in one way or the other. Genetica, on the other hand, works really nicely for what it's intended.

Contrary to most software that I've paid for in my life, I can definitively say that don't regret paying for Genetica.

It's not "cheap" to be frugal and try to save money, and it's not "cheap" to consider whether the benefits X provides is actually worth the cost.

If they recently had it 40% off, silently use that information in one-on-one negotiations - it gives you a good estimate at how low they are willing to go. That's a good advantage to have in bartering; I bet you could get 50% or 60% off if you agreed to put their product on your game's splashscreen.

People here aren't saying, "just suck up the cost and stop whining" or "don't try to get a better price.".

We're just recommending you do so in a more respectful and business-appropriate way. In your private dialog with them, you might even mention hobbyist-friendly pricing, such as 'free for non-commercial use' or something similar.