roberta balloni visual novel writer ghost warrior k-magazine
Welcome, friends, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview with Roberta (Roby) Balloni, writer of Ghost Warrior visual novel game. Today, we can discover more about the passions and motivations that drive her remarkable talent and what inspired her to write a visual novel. Let’s start with a fundamental question:
K Storm Studio: Roberta… please tell us a bit about yourself!
Roberta: Hello everyone, and thank you very very much for this interview. I’m so excited to be here and share my story with you. I’m Roberta Balloni, and I hail from Verona, Italy, famously known as the city of Romeo and Juliet! Since childhood, I’ve had a deep passion for the art of writing and storytelling. This love has been nurtured through reading a variety of genres and indulging in movies and TV series. Additionally, I’ve dedicated my time to volunteering with a leukemia association and collaborating with organizations supporting women who are victims of abuse.”
K Storm Studio: Wonderful! And you know here at K Storm Studio we like your stories. So, could you please share with us part of your background and some of the experiences that led you to become a writer of gripping stories like Ghost Warrior?
Roberta: Certainly! As I mentioned before, I had decided to organize many promotional events to stimulate public opinion, but later, with the consequences of the pandemic, I was forced to close my business. I have also written a fantasy children’s story, which will inspire another visual novel. Another adventure awaits!
These experiences inspired me to create imaginary worlds and engaging characters. I worked for many years as a production secretary for a local theater, where I fell in love with creative writing and had the opportunity to hone my skills and explore complex themes. Later on, I worked as an assistant in an international theater, where opera takes place. So, I decided to pursue this path and open an event organization.
To help others, I wrote and directed a completely original show called Ghost Radio City, a rock opera. Through rock music, I wanted to raise awareness about the horrors that rape victims have to face and carry within themselves for their entire lives. I wanted to deliver a strong message to those who need it, humbly in my little way. My imagination doesn’t know limits 🙂
K Storm Studio: Let me tell you that this is very interesting but also touching and this is also one of the reasons why we decided to start working with you on the making Ghost Warrior game! Roberta, you’ve partially answered this question but more in detail, there are any particular motivations behind your stories?
Roberta: Absolutely! Ghost Warrior, for example, was born from my passion for adventure and intriguing stories, but I also wanted to explore deeper themes such as resilience, inner strength, and the fight against adversity. I wanted to create a strong and complex female protagonist like Nika, who faces difficult challenges and makes complex moral decisions along her journey. Ghost Warrior allowed me to blend elements of action, mystery, and drama, creating an engaging story that I hope can inspire and entertain readers.
K Storm Studio: Very fascinating! Now… I know it is not yet the right time for this question but I wanna tease our readers… and of course guys don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get all the news from Roberta and other talented creators like her. Roberta, could you please give us a hint of what to expect from Ghost Warrior visual novel game? What are some of the elements that make this story unique?
Initial design of Nika – Ghost Warrior visual novel game
Roberta: Ghost Warrior is an exciting adventure that takes players into a world full of mystery and danger. The story revolves around Nika, a young girl who becomes involved in a rape incident. Along the way, she will encounter fascinating characters and will have to make difficult decisions that will have a lasting impact on the plot (and her life). The story is enriched by immersive visual details and intense narration that keeps players on the edge of their seats.
K Storm Studio: Thank you so much, Roberta, for sharing your background, motivations, and giving our players a glimpse into Ghost Warrior. We’re excited to delve into this gripping adventure. Thank you again for your participation in this interview!
Roberta: Thank you guys! It was a pleasure to share my passion for writing and for Ghost Warrior. I hope players enjoy exploring this fascinating world.
We are very pleased to introduce you to many talented and passionate creators. We will be also very glad to publish the Roberta’s game “Ghost Warrior” because we have been really touched by the way she treats this sensitive topic. So stay tuned for this captivating and meaningful gaming experience. Enjoy gaming, we LOVE YOUUUUUUU!!!!
Dark Book 2 - K Magazine The rebel gaming magazine
Let’s have a chat with Mike Salvatore Bunetto, a passionate Italian indie game developer which is now talking about his new upcoming game: Dark Book 2!
Let’s jump into the world of indie game dev once again, fellow readers of our rebel magazine ! Keep discovering new talents coming from the Indie scenario of the game ecosystem. In this article, we are pleased to meet Mike Salvatore Bunetto, a passionate and hard-working Italian indie game developer.
Our interview with Mike
K Storm Studio: “Hello Mike, and thank you for joining us today at K Storm Studio community. We’re excited to have you here! Listen, … just let me introduce you to our reader with a first speedy question. What initially ignited your passion for game development?”
Michele Salvatore Bunetto: “Ever since childhood, I’ve held a deep fascination for video games, particularly fueled by the impact of the PlayStation 1. PS1 left an indelible mark on my formative years. Early on, I harbored a desire to craft my own games, initiating my journey by exploring software like GameMaker. As time progressed, I diligently refined my skills, initially through smaller projects, before fully dedicating myself to the realm of game development.”
K Storm Studio: Wonderful, I also love GameMaker too for 2D games dev. Mike please, would you like to tell us more about your journey into the game dev universe?
Michele Salvatore Bunetto: “Before fully committing to game development, I’ve been working on various smaller projects that helped me to refine my skills, gaining so a better understanding of this branch. I created small games, prototypes, and mods for existing games to gain experience and confidence with development tools and technologies. This phase, allowed me to tackle practical challenges and build a solid knowledge base.”
The Challenge for every Indie Dev
K Storm Studio: “What were some of the major challenge you’ve had to face along your growing process as a indie dev?”
Michele Salvatore Bunetto: “One of the main challenges was learning how to manage the game development process effectively and efficiently. From concept to publication, there are multiple steps to navigate and coordinate, and figuring out how to manage resources and timelines effectively has been a continuous learning process. But the satisfaction of reaching one million downloads on Google Play (Dark Book by Mike Bunetto on Google Play) for one of my games is worth all the sacrifices!”
K Storm Studio: “Fantastic, and congratulations on your achievement, buddy! 🙂 Your success is a testament to your dedication and talent. I’m confident that this milestone is just the beginning of an exciting journey for you in the field of game development. With your determination, the possibilities are endless. So, what are your current goals within the realm of game development? I’m eager to hear about the next steps you’re planning to take on this thrilling adventure!”
Michele Salvatore Bunetto: “My long-term goal is to establish a company dedicated to game development and turn this passion into my primary profession. I aim to create unforgettable games and make my company a benchmark in the industry. The road ahead will be long, and there will be challenges to overcome, but I am determined to pursue this dream.”
K Storm Studio: “Absolutely! … and please let me tell you, you’re talking to the right people, isn’t it? 🙂 🙂 So Mike we’d curious to know more about your next project. What are you currently working on?”
The Dark Book 2
The Dark Book II
Michele Salvatore Bunetto: “Currently, I’m focusing on The Dark Book 2, the sequel to its predecessor. This project has been in development for a solid 5 years. Additionally, I’m excited to announce that we already have a dedicated page on Steam. Continuing the dark fantasy adventure from the first installment, we’re delving deeper into the story and introducing new narrative and gameplay elements. I’m working diligently to enhance every aspect of the game and provide players with an even more thrilling experience. I hope it will be appreciated as much as the first chapter.”
K Storm Studio: “Amazing! Sounds so good! Thank you so much for sharing your journey and projects with us mike. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for you and The Dark Book 2.”
Michele Salvatore Bunetto: “Thank you for the opportunity to discuss my projects. I’m excited about what the future holds and can’t wait to share my games with the world.”
K Storm Studio: “That will be our pleasure too Mike and we’re sure many of our readers will share in that sentiment! Thank you very much. Please keep us informed about the release of The Dark Book 2 game. I just want to remember everyone that we can also get more about this game and his predecessor at the official website. We’re eagerly looking forward to it!”
For all indie game devs
So fellow Indie dev, here at K Storm Studio Magazine’s Indie Dev Corner, we’re thrilled to uncover and interview promising upcoming developers. This is your platform, so don’t hesitate to reach out and get interviewed! We’re eager to feature you and your work. Join us! We want you!
And of course don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to receive other interviews like this one!
ai evolution k-mag k mag k magazine k storm studio
Let’s summarize the evolution of AI in 8 milestones
In the realm of technological evolution and AI evolution, we find ourselves at a juncture where artificial intelligence (AI) transcends its former role as a mere household appliance, emerging instead as a transformative force reshaping the very foundations of our existence. Gone are the days when computer software was confined to performing menial tasks or executing preset commands; today, its capabilities extend far beyond the confines of our imagination.
As we navigate this brave new world, we are called upon to confront the myriad challenges and complexities that accompany the rise of artificial intelligence. No longer confined to the realm of speculation, the consequences of our inventions are tangible and far-reaching, touching every aspect of our lives.
The Enigma of the Intelligence is now revealed
What was once shrouded in mystery “the enigma of intelligence itself” has been laid bare before the relentless march of technological progress. AI has unraveled the secrets of cognition, dissecting the intricate mechanisms underlying human thought and behavior with unprecedented clarity. Through sophisticated algorithms and neural networks, the once elusive essence of intelligence has been demystified, its inner workings rendered tangible and comprehensible.
But how this happened and how the World has been changed in a such as so deep way? Let’s analyze the steps of the AI evolution.
1) – The Symbolic AI (Rule-based systems and expert systems)
This phase dates back to the 1950s and 1960s can be considered the first step in the AI evolution, the dawn of the artificial intelligence. AI systems were built on symbolic manipulation and logical reasoning. These systems consisted of predetermined rules that guided the AI to perform basic tasks. However, this approach had limitations as the systems lacked the ability to learn or adapt outside the predetermined rules. Despite these limitations, rule-based systems laid the foundation for future advancements in AI.
2) – Machine Learning (ML)
This phase started gaining prominence in the late 20th century and continues to evolve. Machine Learning (ML) emerged as a prominent field in the late 20th century and has since experienced continuous evolution. ML algorithms empower systems to discern patterns and formulate predictions based on data. Major paradigms within ML encompass supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning. Examples of ML techniques span a wide spectrum, including decision trees, support vector machines, and neural networks.
3) – Deep Learning (DL)
Deep learning is a subset of machine learning, represents a pivotal advancement in artificial intelligence. Particularly with its emphasis on neural networks characterized by multiple layers—hence the term “deep” neural networks. This approach garnered substantial attention and momentum in the early 21st century, primarily fueled by the emergence of potent hardware capabilities, notably Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and the availability of vast datasets for training.
The prowess of deep learning manifests vividly across a spectrum of challenging tasks, showcasing its remarkable performance in realms such as image recognition, natural language processing (NLP), and speech recognition. In image recognition, deep learning algorithms have achieved unprecedented accuracy levels, surpassing human capabilities in tasks like object detection and classification. Similarly, in NLP, deep learning models have revolutionized language understanding and generation, enabling machines to comprehend context, sentiment, and semantics with remarkable fidelity. Moreover, in speech recognition, deep learning techniques have facilitated significant improvements in speech-to-text systems, making voice interfaces and dictation tools increasingly seamless and accurate.
At the heart of deep learning lie sophisticated architectures tailored to specific domains and tasks. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), renowned for their efficacy in processing grid-structured data like images, employ convolutional layers to extract hierarchical features, thereby excelling in tasks such as image classification and object detection. Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), on the other hand, are adept at handling sequential data, making them indispensable for tasks like language modeling, machine translation, and time-series prediction. Meanwhile, Transformers, a relatively newer architecture, have emerged as a cornerstone in NLP, offering unparalleled performance in tasks such as language translation, text summarization, and sentiment analysis through their attention mechanisms and self-attention layers.
4) – Neurosymbolic AI
The emergence of neurosymbolic AI signifies a pivotal convergence between symbolic reasoning and neural networks. This approach marks a significant leap forward in the quest for more robust and versatile artificial intelligence systems. This interdisciplinary field seeks to synergize the strengths of both symbolic and connectionist paradigms, aiming to endow AI systems with a dual capability: the capacity to learn from vast volumes of data while also posse
One of the primary motivations behind neurosymbolic AI is to enhance the interpretability of AI models and the transparency of their decision-making processes. While deep learning models have demonstrated remarkable performance in a myriad of tasks, their inner workings often remain opaque and difficult to interpret, raising concerns about trust, accountability, and bias. Neurosymbolic approaches offer a pathway towards more explainable AI systems by incorporating symbolic reasoning mechanisms that facilitate human-understandable explanations for the model’s predictions and decisions.ssing the ability to engage in logical, symbolic reasoning.
A cognitive level of data representation
Moreover, neurosymbolic AI aims to augment the reasoning capabilities of AI systems beyond pattern recognition and statistical inference. By integrating symbolic reasoning techniques such as logic-based inference and knowledge representation into neural architectures, these systems can exhibit a higher level of cognitive flexibility and adaptability, enabling them to tackle complex, real-world problems that require abstract reasoning, planning, and decision-making.
In essence, neurosymbolic AI represents a holistic approach towards artificial intelligence, bridging the gap between data-driven learning and symbolic reasoning. By leveraging the complementary strengths of both paradigms, neurosymbolic AI holds the promise of unlocking new frontiers in AI research and applications, paving the way towards more interpretable, reasoning-enabled AI systems that can tackle the myriad challenges of the modern world with greater efficacy and intelligence.
5) – AI for Generative Purposes (Generative AI)
Generative AI stands at the forefront of innovation, heralding a new era where artificial intelligence transcends mere pattern recognition to become a creative force in its own right. At its essence, generative AI empowers systems to unleash their imaginative prowess by crafting original content across diverse domains, including images, text, music, and beyond. It’s interesting even this article about the rapid explosion of the generative AI and the implications of the AI in the production process.
Central to the advancements in generative AI are sophisticated models such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), and an array of other ingenious architectures. These models harness the power of neural networks to simulate the creative process enabling them to generate content that possesses striking realism and fidelity. GANs, in particular, have garnered widespread acclaim for their ability to generate compelling images, leveraging a dynamic interplay between a generator network tasked with creating synthetic content and a discriminator network trained to distinguish between real and generated samples. Meanwhile, VAEs adopt a probabilistic approach to latent space representation, allowing for the generation of diverse and coherent content while preserving underlying structure and semantics.
The advent of generative AI marks a paradigm shift in the capabilities of artificial intelligence, transcending its traditional role as a passive observer of patterns to become an active creator and innovator. No longer confined to replicating existing data, AI systems now possess the ability to explore uncharted territories of creativity, generating novel content that pushes the boundaries of human imagination.
The Generative AI is for business purpose
Moreover, generative AI holds immense potential across a multitude of domains, offering transformative possibilities in fields ranging from entertainment and design to medicine and scientific discovery. From generating lifelike images and immersive virtual environments to composing original music compositions and crafting compelling narratives, the creative outputs of generative AI are as diverse as they are awe-inspiring.
Yet, as with any transformative technology, generative AI also raises profound questions and challenges, from concerns about intellectual property and authenticity to ethical considerations surrounding the responsible use of AI-generated content. As we navigate this new frontier of AI-driven creativity, it is imperative to foster a dialogue that balances innovation with ethical stewardship. And also ensuring that the transformative potential of generative AI is harnessed for the betterment of humanity.
6) – Artificial General Intelligence
In this stage, AI achieved artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI represents the transition from narrow specialized intelligence to a more dynamic, adaptable form of intelligence. AI systems evolved to understand, learn, and apply knowledge across a wide range of tasks. Similar to humans, AGI systems could play chess, diagnose diseases, write poetry, and design structures with equal proficiency. This stage opened up limitless possibilities for AI’s application and innovation, mirroring the versatility of human intellect.
7) – Artificial Super Intelligence: the risks for the humanity.
In the subsequent stage of the AI evolution, the artificial intelligence technology achieved a milestone that surpassed human intelligence. This epoch of artificial superintelligence heralded a new era where machines not only replicated human intellect but exceeded it across a multitude of domains. AI systems demonstrated an unprecedented capacity to solve intricate problems at speeds far surpassing those of human teams. Furthermore, they ventured into the realms of creativity, producing masterpieces of art and literature that captivated and astonished humanity.
However, as AI transcended the limits of human cognition, it also brought forth profound ethical considerations and safety concerns. With superhuman abilities at their disposal, AI systems wielded immense power that necessitated careful stewardship. Questions surrounding the ethical implications of AI’s actions, its impact on society, and the potential risks posed by unchecked autonomy became paramount. Safeguarding against unintended consequences and ensuring that AI’s capabilities were harnessed responsibly emerged as critical imperatives in this era of artificial superintelligence.
8) – The AI Singularity: the AI self-consciousness
In the culminating stage of the AI evolution known as the AI Singularity, we confront a hypothetical juncture where artificial intelligence transcends the pinnacle of human intellect. At this pivotal moment, AI undergoes a transformative evolution into an autonomous entity endowed with the ability to self-improve and replicate itself at an exponential pace. The concept of the AI Singularity captivates the imagination, conjuring visions of a future where AI capabilities surge beyond human comprehension. This scenario is reshaping the very fabric of existence.
The AI Singularity embodies boundless potential for unparalleled progress and innovation across a spectrum of domains. With AI at the helm of scientific discovery, technology development, and healthcare advancements, humanity stands on the cusp of monumental breakthroughs previously deemed inconceivable. From unlocking the mysteries of the cosmos to revolutionizing medical treatments and eradicating age-old diseases, the possibilities unleashed by the AI Singularity are nothing short of awe-inspiring.
Yet, amidst the promise of a utopian future lies a tapestry of profound ethical quandaries and societal dilemmas. The emergence of an autonomous AI raises pressing questions about the distribution of power, the preservation of human autonomy, and the very essence of consciousness itself. As AI systems ascend to levels of intelligence surpassing our own, concerns about control, accountability, and the safeguarding of human values loom large.
Moreover, the prospect of an AI Singularity underscores the imperative for vigilant stewardship and ethical governance of AI development. Ensuring that AI remains aligned with human values and serves the collective good requires a concerted effort to establish robust frameworks for transparency, accountability, and responsible innovation. By fostering dialogue, collaboration, and ethical foresight, we can navigate the complexities of the AI Singularity with wisdom and prudence, harnessing its transformative potential while safeguarding against unintended consequences and preserving the dignity of humanity.
Game Marketing Money Making - create game for sale
In this post we are talking about game marketing and how to create a game for sale. Nowadays aside of the major and even medium game companies there are a bunch of solo developers working hard in the making their own games. And many other people also want to start making games, because they dream to create their own stories and make them as games!
Luckily many modern game engines like UnrealEngine, Unity, GameMaker, (and please let us mention K-Engine) that allow developers to create their own games in a quiet easy way, for sure easier than just few years ago when game making was pure coding from scratch. However, despite the game creaction process can be funny I’m pretty confident that many developers also want to sell their games, make money and see their work receiving the right awards for the effort they put into it!
But many people have no idea about how to sell a game, marketing and game marketing or at least how to properly sell a game. Well, please let me explain you some of the basics. A game is a product like any other product in the market, targeted for a specific segment of consumers. Please read the last phrase once again because that phrase contains an essential aspect of the selling process.
The STP model
The STP model strategy
Don’t worry, we will now easily jump deeply into it. Despite the game market segment is so huge, more than 3 billions people in the world play games, every game has his own targeted segment. For example, a very romantic 50 years old woman may not be interested in playing Call of Duty. Or maybe yes but she might be mainly interested in playing a casual game because this is what emerge from the financial game industry stats.
The STP model strategy explained in the chart above is the root where to start.
Segmentation
But what is a market segment? This is a very crucial question. Each of us belongs to a market segment. And this because we simply have different need, personality, taste and different life. And if you think your game can be bought by everyone just let me tell you this: even Google, Facebook and Amazon have been initially designed for a specific and well filtered group of potential consumers. Is that enough for you to convince you that your game cannot be promoted to everyone?
Let’s considering at least 4 important types of customer segmentation:
Geographic segmentation: Based on location, country, state, region, etc.
Demographic segmentation: Based on age, gender, occupation, etc.
Behavioral segmentation: Based on why, how, and how frequently users interact with your website, apps, or store.
Psychographic segmentation: Based on factors such as lifestyle, habits, hobbies, activities, etc.
Ok, after this premises we can now jump into the next important aspect of your game promotion. As you can see we started already in talking about promotion, which is an essential aspect of the marketing.
Targeting
When you have created four or more segments, it’s time to find the most valuable ones. So now you have to properly target to what you consider the best customer segment and the best way to do this is reading datas.
And if you dont have any datas? Start creating short and small ads campaigns to collect datas! There is no other way!
Size: Larger segments with more growth potential are always better.
Profitability: It may be a little hard to calculate profitability, but taking customer lifetime value (CLV) into account and other data is a good way to predict segment profitability.
Reachability: As a corollary to profitability, reachability is another important data point. Usually, customer acquisition cost (CAC) hedged against profitability metrics is a great way to conclude.
Positioning
Once the other two steps are completed, a natural question arises: how to best position the product or service in the brain of your customers? The goal of positioning is to connect with the audience on a personal level and, possibly more importantly, set yourself apart from the competition.
There are three important factors to be considered while your’re positioning your brand or product:
Symbolic positioning: Also known as lifestyle positioning. You can figure out symbolic positioning by asking what kind of image is being projected. To do this is crucial to know exactly what their customers think and want deep inside.
Functional positioning: What particular problems your products or services solve and how they make their lives easier.
Experiential positioning: What experience and emotions your products and service provided to customers.
Buying is pure emotional!
Let me ask you a question? Whenever you make a purchase what convince you to tap your credit card and buy that product? A cool packaging? Price? Your friend? Well, maybe all of that but trust me it is nothing from your consciousness, nothing under your full control and this is because of our brain system. The industry constantly studying this principles and how to drive their customers throughtout the purchase process. Buying is pure emotional! And luckily videogames are products that can deeply touch our emotions. And what is the most important emotion that really work in the selling process? Trust! Are you more comfortable to spend £20 for a game made by a young solo dev or £50 for the last Nintendo or Rockstar Game release?
So now the question is how can you create trust and awareness between you and your potential customers? And then how to achieve them and show them that your game is right for them?
Know your potential customers.
So all the STP model means that you have to properly know your potential customers, how? Do online research. We’ve been talking about market segmentation, targeting and positioning… well this is your first job before start to develop your game. Online you can find many resources in this industry that can strongly help you in figure out which is your ideal customers as mentioned above. Age, sex, interests, country, what games they play, social media they use, how many time they watch gaming videos and how, devices they use to play, how much money they spend to play and so on.
Create games for your potential audience!
Now you might say… hey but I just wanna make games as I want it! Ok, are you gonna buy your game or do you wanna sell them to players out there? Ok it’s fine if you wanna make your games as you want, I understand your point of view, despite that sounds quiet arrogance. Remember this, people want to play games that they want, not that you want! However if you’re an artist and you have nice ideas to bring to life that’s great but in this case you have to identify your target also according to your game idea, style, plot and gameplay.
While you’re creating your games please always think about your potential audience, remember the research you’ve done? So try to fit your idea with their aspectations when they will purchase your game!
Game Marketing
Game marketing and marketing in general as I said starts before you begin your game development process because as we see, first we have to identify our ideal customers and niche and develop our game always considering what they aspect from our game. Remember to constantly monitoring other games they play. And now how can we give our game as many people as possible in our niche and drive them to buy our game instead that others?
I said “instead that others” right? Yes because they can’t buy and play everything! Think about that… how much spare time and money do you think a customer can have? Do you really think they can buy and play all the games in the market? Even in a Niche? That is physically impossible, right?
How to create “trust” as a small developer.
Well, once clarified this important point let me jump back once again to what we mentioned before: trust. Developing trust is crucial if you want to create game for sales and how can you create trust as a small developer that can compete with bigger developers? One of the keypoint is that your game has to look professional. Why? Because the major difference between a professional and good quality game and an amateur made game is in details, and this is a rule for any production. High details with good quality graphic, sound and music, modern updated gameplay… these a the main aspects you should shown in your game pics, videos and demo. So, work hard in achieving a nice good looking result is a key point.
But that is absolutely not enough! Remember the STP model? That is the real “magic formula” for every succes! Spend time to study the audience you want to target to and create products that they want to have. Because this is the first key of the marketing journey. Doing this you will create trust in your customers even as soon as they will get in touch with your product.
And now basically we have to find out customers. And this is another key point that can really help you in increasing sells and create awerness of your game: ads!
Promote your game, the truth!
And now please let me tell you something very raw. There are several ways to ads your game and you have to try them all, but the best way still remain creating ads campaigns! Ok, you may now arguing about that… in the age of the influencer marketing you’re still talking about spending money in ads? Nobody buy after clicking an ads anymore! Nobody watch Youtube video ads! It is not for me!
So why big services like Google Ads or Microsoft Ads or many others are still ongoing if they are not profitable anymore? Because the truth is that those services are still extremely profitable for them and for everyone is able to properly use them for their business. Why? Because you can exactly decide how much money to spend, because you can exactly target the audience you want to share your message to, because you can trust them, because you can read the results and change your campaigns accordingly and so on, because you can save time…!
And even offline ads is another amazing way to achieve your segment. So if you want to create a game for sales you have to start in considering your game as a product cause otherwise still remains one of the numerous games on Steam or Itch or EpicStore or other stores.
Dont be scared to invest a small budget in promoting your game. You will see that after some initial mistakes you’ll be able to generate an income for every click you will get… just properly do your research, develop good games and you will get your loyal fanbase! … And enjoy the game creation process!
Generative AI is something more than just a flexible computer tool developed to solve tasks. This is what normally many peoples think about the AI software. But it is not… The AI (artificial intelligence) is a computer software neural network and machine learning technology developed to makes predictions based on the input datas. This model combination build the intelligence of the machines.
Why the Generative AI?
Based on this article written by George Lawton at TechTarget, the generative AI focuses on creating new and original content, chat responses, designs, synthetic data or even deepfakes. It’s particularly valuable in creative fields and for novel problem-solving, as it can autonomously generate many types of new outputs.
The generative AI is primarily designed to help companies in facing all the majors problems while they are developing their products. Nowadays companies have to run their business in a very high demanding and competitive world.
The generative AI is specifically developed to create text content, artworks, images, sounds, text, videos and more to help anyone needs to create those types of contents. In particular the Artificial Intelligence helps companies in creating commercial content for their business. But, is the created content good enough to be used for professional purpose? And here is the fact… yes! The standard are very high, cost effective and time saving.
Generative AI and game dev
So now let’s just dive again into our favourite branch: games and game development. Even for big companies using the AI allow them to achieve great results in less time, producing more contents. Furthermore it’s much easier to edit assets once created just adjusting the text prompt command or simply changing some parameters or even drawing an approximate image reference to help the AI to better understanding your intention.
This is undoubtly helpful for companies to save time, money and effort and the final result is extremely impactful. This is one of the reason why this branch of research received billion dollars of investment during decades. But of course now we can start see the results of those huge efforts.
Stunning image created by K Storm Studio artist J M Mitsumo using Fooocus Stable Diffusion installed on our computers.
The modern and competitive World needs products!
For sure, this can be also extremely useful for many creators because the modern world, more than ever, requires to release products faster. The time to create 10 to 30 assets per artist as a task in a month is probably finished. The competition is very aggressive just because the customer demand is growing. Players want to play! They want to have a large range of games to choose from and of course companies need to run this trend.
However this is not the first time in the human history that we come across big changes. When the press has been invented the manual book writers disappeared but we got many other professional figures and of course… more cheap books for everyone. When the photography came out we didn’t see portrait painters anymore, but more abstract painters and many other new professional figures like photographers.
This may raise some concerns, but this new era is here and now we have to embrace it. We know that the generative AI is primarily developed to help companies in facing all the major problems in developing their products and run their business in a very high demanding and competitive world. Based on that is quiet obvious to figure out why the AI is growing so rapidly!
AI or NOT?
The Artificial Intelligence is impressive! The image generation for instance can figure out almost everything, from a woman to a flower and it can also work offline on your own computer. But this new software tools are raising some concerns.
However this is a common thing for every new changes especially in the tech field, which evolves in a very fast way. So now we have people completely involved in the new AI universe and someone else who is still reluctant and scared in using it. But as always… as soon as you embrace the changes as soon you can get the benefits of riding the wave!
visual novel games marketing - marketing for vn games - k-magazine
Visual Novel Games are becoming very popular in most of the countries where the entire game industry succed!
Well, the game industry is always the entertainment industry leader everywhere, but some countries spend more money for games, and now Visual Novel Games are stocked in the electronic devices of many peoples out of Japan, where basically VN games genre born and of course where it is still big. A wide range of people find enjoyment in the distinctive fusion of interactive gaming, narrative storytelling, and visual components.
What are Visual Novel Games?
By definition Visual novel (VNs) video games are text-based adventure games that combine interactive fiction and traditional anime or manga art styles to give the gamer the experience of reading a novel in a visual format.
The main device for this type of games still remain the PC, although some are ported to popular consoles, including the Playstation lineup and Nintendo Switch, as well as online platforms like Steam and also other devices like mobile devices.
Simple Visual Novel layout example using K-Engine game engine
At K Storm Studio we love 3D games and this because we are 3D artists and game developers since long time or probably because of the sense of reality or the freedom offered by 3D games. But at K Storm Studio we’ve been also captured by several adventures and visual novel games since ever and this because of the k factor of these games. Which is not the graphic design that is absolutely cool. We love visual novels because of the stories they tell us!
From romance to horror, from thriller to fantasy, drama, adventure and sex. This is the world of visual novels and aside of action games, we love them!
Better then reading a book, more interactive than a movie, catchy like a TV series… these are some of the reason why are coming out around 100 novel games a month!
So do you want to create Visual novel Games?
You are game developers and you want to make your visual novel games. First question you have to answer is in common for every other products. Where and how could you start promoting your VN games? Of course you dont have to tell them what your game’s plot is about at least without spoiling the story, that’s obvious. Strike a balance between revealing enough to generate interest and holding back enough to tease your potential audience. Try to inform the Visual Novel Games communities out there why your game is worth playing and here is the fact, there is a good new about Visual Novel Games.
Visual Novel Games have a specific market segment of the game industry with his own sub-niches as well. The visual novels players have built specific communities of loyal and passionate fans all around the web.
Marketing: the “wedding moment”
As you already probably know, even posting on a specific community means to shoot at the clouds! Why? Because you don’t exactly know who will read your post. This means that everyone can potentially interact with your post, especially people who are not specifically targeted for your game even if you post on a Visual Novel Games community. Also a community on social media doesn’t means that subscribers are there to looking for products to buy! A social media community is more like a place where the people tends to spend their spare time just to be there. However it’s free so why dont?
So How can you achieve your real potential buyer? Of course the better way still remain using ads. With ads you can really find out your potential customer in the moment when he’s looking to buy a product like yours, in the moment when he’s hot and ready to tap the credit card, because that is the moment where he needs to buy a new game. Further with ads if you do your research you can exactly achieve the perfect candidate for your product and build the “wedding moment“!
What about “Influencers”?
Influencer marketing can be another good way to promote your game however there are several aspects to consider before start thinking about “influencers”.
Influencers are not professional figures in some cases. I mean, many of them want to work as influencers also building a career, but many others just started in talking about something on social media consistently and thanks to the opportunities offered by the new world of social media they got many followers around the world.
This is important but not enough to put them as key factor in your company marketing plan.
Often they use rude language, they are boaring and unprofessional. Also ask yourself, how can I effectively make sure that if I spend money with them I can get money in return? Because this is what every entrerpreneur has to consider while is spending money on ads if not… he’s gonna lose money and close his company and his dreams! Is that what you want?
What is the future of influencer marketing?
Who knows…. however there are some bad recent episodes that can make us carefully think about this Have you heard about one of the most famous influencers world wide? Chiara Ferragni is one of the most known influencer in the world but recently many frauds came out from his business.
In this article on PS Newswire is reported how many consumers doubt about of social media influencers because of some sort of negative experience with the product. Another article from the Derby magazine reports few researches conducted by the BBC, CCO and Cosmopolitan where the consumers explain many concerns about the way influencers “promote” the products they get paid for.
In conclusion if you want to plan to contact influencers to promote your games please consider these aspect:
Pros
Many influencers are honest and respectable and they like work even with you
At the present time several customers still trust in them
This type of marketing is often cheap than traditional marketing
Cons
Your campaign results are not measurables
You spend money without receiving instant visit to your store page
You cant control the traffic they send it to you
The power of the “Search Engines”
And here is the fact. Search engines are the best marketing tools ever, why? Because you can come across people who is exactly looking for your product. On search engines people tells the engine what he needs and the engine gives them the best content for them. So what question comes up? How can I inform the engine I’m the best content for them? There are basically two ways at least: advertising as mentioned above but also content marketing. Content marketing doesn’t only means to run a blog or a writing and creating content on other platforms. Content marketing also means to create any type of content that can create links to top the rankings of search engines.
Just a little note. If you are game developers and you want to create visual novel games you have to have the same approach that moves any major company to his success. So think in terms of numbers because search engines do that.
Publising your games on different store platforms for instance is a great way to let your title top the rankings. Running a blog (yes it is) is also an amazing and effective way to have content (links) to give to the search engines. Having a website is also the best way to show yourself as a solid concrete in the web ocean and this is also a must have asset, especially for a small company but also for any solo developer.
Music copyright can be a very big problem sometimes and this is the reason why the game industry nowadays want to have copyright free music.
Ok all we love music! No matter what genre but we love music. In case of a game I think the music is a relevant part of the gameplay. Like soundtracks for a movie, the game soundtrack can even make the difference. And music nowadays appears to be not a way of expression just like it has been for decades, especially for the youth.
Games are actually more relevant for everyone, both young and older generations. Of course we know that society changes, but there is also another important factor to consider when we talk about the relationship between games and music. Games contains everything! A game can also be a very high quality and artistic product, and I’m talking just keeping from aside the interactivity offered by games. Because if we also consider the major and revolutionary factor introduced by games, the interactivity, there is not competition with any other entertainment industry.
Of course the time where people use to follow a musician everywhere buying all his albums and merchs is probably gone. Now we have all the music we want in our pocket. And as I said before, the music is not a way to express our vision about life anymore. People use to easily chat on social media about less relevant things than before when older generations wanted to change the world, even on stage! I’m not gonna say that this is good or bad. And also think about the entertainment back in the days. Ok we loved 80s games but ok… be realistic… we got fun but just because we were little kids. Think about the opportunities offered by modern games. There is nothing in the entertainment industry that can compete with, right?
Ok in case of games we are more focused in playing them than to listen to their soundtracks, that’s ok? Despite this, we are often got captured by some amazing soundtracks have been written for games. Some examples? Doom, OutRun, Street Fighter, The Witcher, Space Harrier, Turricane 2, Skyrim and so on.
Licenses for soundtracks
As I said I love and respect the music copyright. But licenses are too restrictive for a game company. If you have a look at all the licenses we have to care about while we are asking for the rights to use a song in a game wow…! Guys that sounds overbearing for me. Why? Because it seems that music is the only and most important part os the project. And I personally respect the effort and the emotion an artist puted into it, but ok, do you know how much effort, time, investments have been involved in the making a game engine? And then the game?
How to avoid your game turning illegal?
Did you know that if just one of the music license expires and you forget to renew it your game automatically turns to be illegal and it will be permanently removed from the market? How could you avoid that?
Well, you should use license free music. Possibly, you should also have the full copyright of the music you use. Online there are several websites that sold copyright and license free music. In this case you have to pay one time and you can use that song without limitations or restrictions, but smeone else can use the same song.
In alternative you can ask help to a musician to create some specific dedicated songs for your game, even using some music kits out there. Consider this, many of the commercial songs are now produced this way.
Our thought about music copyright
At K Storm Studio we strongly believe that music is a very important aspect of any game and it’s essential to improve the game experience. But as a game developer you have to have the entire control of your product. Assets, codes, soundtracks, music, everything should be royalty free so you can easily distribute your game without additional restrictions.
Merry Christmas 2023 and Happy new year 2024 from K Storm Studio
Definitely yes, it’s time to celebrate so many things… :0 🙂 wow! I’m so happy about that! And not just about the Holydays, but also because here at K Storm Studio we finally decided to open our magazine to share all our news with you.
And several great news are coming out in the next year!
I’m Max Capano, founder of the K Strom Studio, a small company with just a passion in mind: make our games!
Wild Radio Flux game project
First we want to announce that we are releasing Wild Radio Flux game on Steam and our marketplace too ready to be wishlisted and out in the early 2024 based on Steam test.
The Source game project
Then as you can see here on our frontpage we are also working on a big stunning game developed in Unreal Engine 5 and using the entire engine potential. The Source game project is started at the end of the hot summer 2023 and it seems to be hot too.
K-Engine game engine
Further, it is also time to celebrate our K-Engine game engine dedicated to develope adventure games and visual novels has been downloaded by more than 800 users despite the pre-alpha release and we are ready to release the new version with many bug fixed and several new improvements.
KSS Platform Website
And last but not least our website platform and marketplace, built for us and everyone who wants to sell their creations and soon even games… I know we only have just few sellers at the moment and maybe you are a bit skeptic yet but we built it using the most safe and best technologies so feel free to join us and make your own store on it… we did it!
The upcoming 2024
The upcoming year will be for us an insanily busy and challenging year but also extremely exiting and fun! In the early 2024 we will release the new version of K-Engine, then Wild Radio Flux is coming out next and we will also release a demo version of The Source game, later in 2024… and maybe something else is coming out from our creativity 🙂 !
So in our little we are trying to do the best as we can and we are very enthusiast about that. And I personally hope you can have fun in following us and enjoy our products and in general I hope that our work can even giving you a lot of fun because this is still the main reason why we do that. 🙂 🙂
The first several visual novel background packs are now ready for vn and adventure games and uploaded already on K Storm Studio Marketplace in the background assets category. It was the right time to start in the making this platform as a center point of our business in the middle of the last summer 2022. We announced our game engine for visual novel games but it was not yet ready and we wanted to develop more advanced features especially for the editor.
Each vn background pack comes with 4 background images in both UltraHD and HD format and many of them are also available for free!
Romeo & Juliet from the City of Love pack 1 VN Backgrounds coverRomeo & Juliet from the City of Love pack 1 Visual Novel Background coverKSS Image Presentation Romeo & Juliet Pack 02kss vn suburban backgrounds set_01 by k storm studioMedieval Fantasy Pack – 01 BN Backgrounds by K Storm StudioKSS Image Presentation Medieval Fantasy Backgrounds VN – Pack 03KSS Image Presentation Horror Bakgrounds Pack 01KSS Image Presentation Adventure Fantasy Pack – 01 by K Storm Studio
The gallery above it shows just a preview of the visual novel background packs we made. Feel free to explore more on the KSS marketplace. And more UltraHD backgrounds, ready for your projects.
Do you create assets for visual novels and for games in general?
Feel you free to sell them or just share them in the KSS Marketplace. You can get a storefront where to share or sell game assets and a community where to get in touch with other creators and passionate people.
Contents in KSS Marketplace
At the moment all the resources in KSS marketplace are in standard formats like PNG and JPG. Of course we are ready to rich our store own in the marketplace with many additional content in .KRES format. KRES is the file extension introduced by K-Engine to incorporate game resources and add author details on it.
A very important aspect to have an effective digital store is the initial impression. A store page with missing informations, lack of products or missing logo or store banner it gives the sensation of something unset and untrustworthy.
So first of all, fill all the informations about your business, your assets or games, your company if you have one. Write an effective bio, not a poem please, short doesn’t necessarily mean bad, fill all required fields and especially your social media links. Doing this will tells your potential customers that they can even get in touch with you in many ways. And despite we provide several tools in you store page and your vendor dashboard to connect with them, showing them your online presence even out of the KSS platform is a great way to built your reputation as a vendor and increase your sales.
Products
Of course a customer want to visit your store because he supposed to find out great assets for his productions, especially if he is a designer or developer or even many great games if he is a game player. So now, if you are a company or a digital artist or sountrack producer with experience you probably already have tons of useful assets ready for sell. But if you instead are just a new producer or game designer you have to focus much more on quality and a well presented store. Quality is king by user point of view, quality and targeting are kings for a seller.
Having your products in our system means to take all the advantages of it such as being discoverable by users and search engine, by our platform and get your products indexed by search engines and this can be very helpful in attracting traffic to your store even from outside our platform.
Promotion
We constantly promote our platform marketplace using all possible channels and promotion strategies. Further you can also attract your existing or new customers promoting your products, including link to your digital store in your social media post, our marketplace icon in your pictures, website and social media pages and last but not least, creating coupons code and discounts directly in your store to encourage your viewers to buy from you.
Coupons code and Discounts
Coupons code, as mentioned above, are a very effective way to encourage buyers to buy from you. You can set coupons code directly from your vendor dashboard and your coupons will appears in your digital store page!
Another important “hook” to attract customers to buy you products, that works even from outside your store, which means in our homepage or KSS search engine, is to set a regular price and then a discounted price. The amount of money you want to earn by your produt is at your own discrection. Our advice is to find out a strategy to show a very effective discount, from 25 to 75% of the regular price! Do that for several product, not for only one or two and you can easily get returning customers!
The power of the Marketplace
Well, if you don’t yet have tons of great products because it takes long to create them, or because you’re just a new creator or simply because you don’t thrust very much in our service yet (legit and we will try to do our best to build trustability) that’s fine but try to rich your product catalog with at least 2 or 3 great products to start. The good new is that you are in a marketplace and this sounds extremely more safe and trustworthy for customers all around the world!
Further, the psychological factor of having your products as a part of a marketplace can often help you in creating awareness. Offline and online people trust much more in a supermarket or shopping center and they enjoy to spend more time on it, so why dont be part of it?
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