Version 9.1

[Solecismic]

I'm trying an experiment with Steam. I spent some time last month looking over the numbers, analyzing how each version has done, month by month.

I realized, to my surprise, that FOF9 really hasn't done that badly, except when compared to the first month or so of FOF7 and FOF8 specifically on Steam. Overall, not too bad when compared to pre-Steam versions. I talked to a couple of people in the business recently, and they tell me I'm certainly not at OOTP's level, but for a sports sim, I'm doing pretty well.

What makes it look bad from my perspective is that Steam takes a nice chunk of change off the top of each sale. Fees, a healthy percentage off the top. It was all great with FOF7 and FOF8 because they marketed new independent games very well.

Several years later, and there are just too many games out there. Visibility just isn't what it used to be.

With the update, I'm trying some new Steam tools for visibility. It should generate a good number of new views, and interest peaks for my games in late September and right at the end of the year. Temporary, but it should be a good number.

The new update is small, code-wise. Just a handful of fixes. I've also had quite a few (maybe a record for me) people complain about the play text disappearing when input is ready for the new play. An artifact of the new multi-threaded architecture which also makes FOF9 really fast. I think I got the timing down to keep that text up there properly now, though.

The big add is the 2024 player and coaches file and the 2024 schedule. That's a lot of work. I can't promise I'll do it again in 2025, but I want to give FOF9 another shot at being current - see if this thing can actually become more a success.

With that in mind, please review FOF9 on Steam. It's pretty close to a major bump, given the positive/negative review ratio, but not quite there, and new reviews count more under their new system - particular reviews they consider "salient" - meaning it looks like people actually played the game and have something to say about it. They always seem to have a new algorithm going.

I hope I've given people a good amount of entertainment over the years. The reviews are important. I don't know if this is my last rodeo, but I'd like to go out with a hit here. If you reviewed it negatively earlier on and have gotten a lot out of the series, I hope you reconsider and at least delete your review. I don't want anyone to lie if they feel it's not worth recommending.

Thanks for your consideration.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I'm trying an experiment with Steam. I spent some time last month looking over the numbers, analyzing how each version has done, month by month.

I realized, to my surprise, that FOF9 really hasn't done that badly, except when compared to the first month or so of FOF7 and FOF8 specifically on Steam. Overall, not too bad when compared to pre-Steam versions. I talked to a couple of people in the business recently, and they tell me I'm certainly not at OOTP's level, but for a sports sim, I'm doing pretty well.

What makes it look bad from my perspective is that Steam takes a nice chunk of change off the top of each sale. Fees, a healthy percentage off the top. It was all great with FOF7 and FOF8 because they marketed new independent games very well.

Several years later, and there are just too many games out there. Visibility just isn't what it used to be.

With the update, I'm trying some new Steam tools for visibility. It should generate a good number of new views, and interest peaks for my games in late September and right at the end of the year. Temporary, but it should be a good number.

The new update is small, code-wise. Just a handful of fixes. I've also had quite a few (maybe a record for me) people complain about the play text disappearing when input is ready for the new play. An artifact of the new multi-threaded architecture which also makes FOF9 really fast. I think I got the timing down to keep that text up there properly now, though.

The big add is the 2024 player and coaches file and the 2024 schedule. That's a lot of work. I can't promise I'll do it again in 2025, but I want to give FOF9 another shot at being current - see if this thing can actually become more a success.

With that in mind, please review FOF9 on Steam. It's pretty close to a major bump, given the positive/negative review ratio, but not quite there, and new reviews count more under their new system - particular reviews they consider "salient" - meaning it looks like people actually played the game and have something to say about it. They always seem to have a new algorithm going.

I hope I've given people a good amount of entertainment over the years. The reviews are important. I don't know if this is my last rodeo, but I'd like to go out with a hit here. If you reviewed it negatively earlier on and have gotten a lot out of the series, I hope you reconsider and at least delete your review. I don't want anyone to lie if they feel it's not worth recommending.

Thanks for your consideration.

Just bought it, will review after some game time later today.

[jcasanovadavis]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I'm trying an experiment with Steam. I spent some time last month looking over the numbers, analyzing how each version has done, month by month.

I realized, to my surprise, that FOF9 really hasn't done that badly, except when compared to the first month or so of FOF7 and FOF8 specifically on Steam. Overall, not too bad when compared to pre-Steam versions. I talked to a couple of people in the business recently, and they tell me I'm certainly not at OOTP's level, but for a sports sim, I'm doing pretty well.

What makes it look bad from my perspective is that Steam takes a nice chunk of change off the top of each sale. Fees, a healthy percentage off the top. It was all great with FOF7 and FOF8 because they marketed new independent games very well.

Several years later, and there are just too many games out there. Visibility just isn't what it used to be.

With the update, I'm trying some new Steam tools for visibility. It should generate a good number of new views, and interest peaks for my games in late September and right at the end of the year. Temporary, but it should be a good number.

The new update is small, code-wise. Just a handful of fixes. I've also had quite a few (maybe a record for me) people complain about the play text disappearing when input is ready for the new play. An artifact of the new multi-threaded architecture which also makes FOF9 really fast. I think I got the timing down to keep that text up there properly now, though.

The big add is the 2024 player and coaches file and the 2024 schedule. That's a lot of work. I can't promise I'll do it again in 2025, but I want to give FOF9 another shot at being current - see if this thing can actually become more a success.

With that in mind, please review FOF9 on Steam. It's pretty close to a major bump, given the positive/negative review ratio, but not quite there, and new reviews count more under their new system - particular reviews they consider "salient" - meaning it looks like people actually played the game and have something to say about it. They always seem to have a new algorithm going.

I hope I've given people a good amount of entertainment over the years. The reviews are important. I don't know if this is my last rodeo, but I'd like to go out with a hit here. If you reviewed it negatively earlier on and have gotten a lot out of the series, I hope you reconsider and at least delete your review. I don't want anyone to lie if they feel it's not worth recommending.

Thanks for your consideration.

Great news. I will definitely review and I am looking forward to the update. Thanks!

[Lann]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

The new update is small, code-wise. Just a handful of fixes. I've also had quite a few (maybe a record for me) people complain about the play text disappearing when input is ready for the new play. An artifact of the new multi-threaded architecture which also makes FOF9 really fast. I think I got the timing down to keep that text up there properly now, though.

1000 thanks just for this.