Sounds a nifty utility! Great for anyone wanting to release a demo, or game (eventually), but not hand out easy to rip artwork! Pity TGC didn't take it to include with Reloaded.
How does it work btw when you install a game that has been packed? By that, I mean how does it look folder wise if you were to find where you installed the game and had a nose around
I assume you would be able to install anywhere, but again it is also a question
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Regarding value, it's a thorny one. One one hand if you look at the price of Smart Packer pro (I think that's it's name) $5 would seem great value, the aforementioned product is roughly about £50, way too expensive for what it does imo, although I can imagine they don't make loads of sales so can see why it is priced that way. On the other hand a lot of people see this as something that should be included with Reloaded as standard, and so even $5 is an extra cost they do not want to pay.
Personally, I would say £5-£10 is a reasonable price in comparison to other utilities I have purchased. I'd say more, apart from the fact I got hold of Mindtex for about 12 quid and that is a really good value product for that price! Amazingly many people berated it for being so expensive! Considering it's main rival as far as I can see costs at least £100 (maybe more) this seems a little unfair, and is a good indicator of how many don't appreciate the value of a product fairly.
When, and if I ever get a game done I feel is good enough to give away/sell I would probably purchase a util like this at the right price. Of course if TGC do actually plan to include decent protection, it's shelf life could be short, so you may have to take that into account with your pricing. You never know, having it free with a donate button may actually get you more cash than selling at a low price, dependant on your customers. However, it is doubtful.
Apps and games these days don't seem to have the value they once did. Look at the android and IOS markets, many pretty good games and apps are available at 69p and above, or of course free. 69p doesn't seem a great price for a hard programmed app or game imo, unless you sell a lot. Price over that and it had better be pretty special to get many sales!
Perhaps you could make 2 versions, a free one and a paid one. The free one would have a say, limited game size so you could only really use it for a small 5-10 minute demo or so. The paid one being unrestricted and allow any size game to be compressed.
Or just a free version and have a license for anyone who makes money from a game using it, which could be a good money earner eventually. Still, hard to police I imagine on your part.
Sounds great anyway, good luck with it!
