About RWK2's name

Several months ago, you said you were planning to avoid making a followup to this game an official sequel so that you don't have to share the earnings with Hamumu Games. Instead, you'd make it a sequel to Hap Hazard, albeit in name only. However, while I understand your reasoning, I'd advise against calling it Hap Hazard 2 for two reasons.


First of all, I firmly believe that a series should always stay true to certain core components. Disregarding this and slapping its name onto largely unrelated games can result in a directionless series that people have no idea what to expect from because it doesn't stand for anything.

Unlike most franchises that get this treatment (a good example would be Nintendo's Mario franchise, in my opinion), Hap Hazard 2 wouldn't even benefit from any brand recognition because Hap Hazard is one of your most obscure games and only available for Windows and Mac on your site, so the vast majority of people who'd learn about Hap Hazard 2 wouldn't even know the original game existed, let alone be fans of it and therefore interested in a sequel.

And even if someone who liked the first game downloaded Hap Hazard 2 expecting another game like it, they'd just be disappointed to find that it's really a sequel to a completely different game.


Second, while I can't speak for others, I personally don't like buying sequels to games I haven't played yet. Anyone who thinks like this would probably first look into the first game upon learning about Hap Hazard 2. This could result in various different outcomes, but most of them would be undesirable:

#1: "Hap Hazard 2? What about the first game?" *searches preferred platform(s)* "Oh, it's not even available here? Screw that, then."

#2: "Hap Hazard 2? What about the first game?" *watches video footage / plays the demo* "Eh, not my cup of tea. I probably wouldn't like the sequel either, then."

#3: "Hap Hazard 2? What about the first game?" *asks about it on the forums* "Wait, so I'm supposed to pretend the first game doesn't exist because it's nothing like this one? Then why even make it a sequel in the first place?"


As such, I'd suggest giving RWK2 a different name that doesn't imply it has anything to do with another one of your games.

Comments

  • edited September 2017
    Simple: Hap hazard 2 will be the sequel of Robot wants Kitty. I think it's called "Hap Hazard 2" because the skins of the game will be from the "hap hazard" universe
  • edited September 2017
    Well, here, I'll explain...

    An artist doesn't get to control himself.  The muse does all that.  My muse has a particularly little fetish to her that I don't enjoy, but no game is allowed to proceed unless this fetish is satisfied: The game must have a cool name.

    To illustrate how severe this is, when I first went to Popcap way back when, I also sold them the rights to "Solomon's Keep," which wasn't even a game at that point, just a concept.  When Popcap bought out Dynomite from me, I specifically took a LOWER PRICE just to get the name "Solomon's Keep" back.  Because without the name "Solomon's Keep" that game would never have happened.

    So, to bring this back to Robot Wants Kitty...

    For some reason, miss muse is forcing me to write metroidvania's in a science fiction universe.  For instance, I've toyed with the idea of making "Solomon's Keep Jr" (funny, yes?) as a little 2D side scroller, and as a metroidvania... but this doesn't click with me.  For whatever reason, it must be Science Fiction.

    Okay, so... as many of you know, "Robot Wants Kitty" is a perfect metroidvania game theme.  Hats off to Hamumu for coming up with it.  It was so perfect that when I wanted to write a metroidvania, once again I got stuck, and DELIBERATELY TOOK LESS MONEY (in the form of Hamumu's revenue share) in order to do it "perfectly."

    Well, right now, the muse won't let me do a metroidvania unless I use either "Robot Wants Kitty" or "Hap Hazard."  She likes Hap Hazard.  She digs the immortal space corpps guys, the green haired princess, and the robots and everything.  She is not AT ALL attached to the gameplay of Hap Hazard (as indeed, nobody in the world except 2-3 guys are).

    As another example, I DID start another metroidvania at one point called "Rob Rescueman" where you play a completely normal guy who comes upon random superhero clothes, each giving you a power, and until you've got all the skillz necessary to rescue your girlfriend. (See? http://i.magaimg.net/img/1fpa.jpg).  Note that even though the muse "kinda likes" this idea, she's just not enthusiastic about it... so the game got maybe 10% done and then nothing.

    So that's the story behind that.

    However, since I am driven by the muse, and not by my own volition, you can try the following tactics on me:

    1. Try to come up with a theme AND name (they work together) that the muse likes, for a RwK sequel

    or

    2. If you like the idea of Rod Rescueman, try to say so in a way that causes to muse to say "okay, you have permission to do this."

    Carry on!






  • Interesting to hear. I guess I can understand that. I'll see if I can think of something.

    I assume your muse is also to blame for your inability to finish Solomon Dark?
  • No, a patent lawyer is to blame for that!
  • I’m psyched at the prospect of a new game, but really bummed there won’t be anymore RWK 1.
  • If you need science fiction themed idea, I got some:

    1. Vault Run

    The game sets in a planet-size vault(something like Death Star without death lasers) of some English intergalactic space lord(who the owner is does not really matter). You are the greatest intergalactic thief who dares to venture through the vault and steal the space lord's Orb of the Lords. As you wander in the vault, you find various tools that acts like power ups in RWK. 

    2. Forbidden Library

    This game sets in far future when most of the civilization has been destroyed by a great galactic war. Main character, a space lich who survived the war, ventures into the "ancient" library which holds many pre-war knowledge and magic. The goal of the game is to find the Book of Worlds, which contains a powerful spell that could rebuild the world in a way the reader wants. Because the main character is a space lich, he or she will revive to nearby soul urn when killed. 

    3. The Last Hope

    There was a boy and a girl who lived in town with a big tower on the center. One day, the girl was taken to the big tower by a group of soldiers. Because the boy loved the girl, he sneak into the tower to find the girl. Throughout the game, you will find books that contain various magic spells that can help the boy go through obstacles to find the girl. Also, as you venture through the tower, you will learn more about the tower, the owner of the tower, and the reason why the girl was kidnapped from the first place. I made the description slightly vague for more flexability.

    P.S.

    1. That Rob Rescueman sort of reminds me of Dan the Man for some reason.

    2. Believe it or not, there is a real intergalactic space lord in England.

    3. If you want to know what would a space lich looks like, check this out: https://psionic-storm.com/wp-content/themes/psionicstorm/img/skins/fullsize/star-lich-kelthuzad.jpg
  • You're a construction worker on a space station. You've got amnesia, and don't remember how to do anything except walk side-to-side. You find construction equipment laying around that jars your memory (like shoes for jumping, a jet pack for flying, a futuristic nail gun, etc). The only thing you know is that you're HUNGRY. You are searching for a sandwich.

    Title: I Just Want a Sandwich
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