Overview
How to market your game on the Steam Workshop, get subscribers, reach audiences outside Steam and set yourself up for success!
Introduction
This is a simple guide intended to get more views/subscriptions for your RPG Maker VX Ace Workshop games/etc. as well as reaching key audiences outside of Steam.
Firstly, I’m assuming you know how to properly upload and package your game for Steam Workshop. If not, I recommend you read this guide first on how to package projects/games for Workshop.
[link]You should have your project ready to upload to the Steam Workshop but before you do, I recommend you give this guide a quick read because the first impression users have of your game can net you positive or negative feedback.
These are things you should already have ready before you upload your project to the Steam Workshop:
Thumbnail
Thumbnail
This is the image that will represent your game/project. It should be something eye-catching that stands out. Not just a screenshot from your game or some random misleading picture taken from the web that isn’t even part of your game.
The thumbnail should include the name of your game clearly readable and be at least 544×544. This will be setup from the File-Manage Project menu inside RPG Maker VX Ace.
Be creative! Use something other than a default RTP title screen for your thumbnail and you’re likely to get more interest.
Here’s an example from my game. The game’s title is clearly visible, contrasts well and uses vibrant colors that stick out against Steam’s default grey background.
Description
Description:
The Manage Project menu only gives you a limited amount of space to describe your game. When you initially set up your Workshop item you should just include a paragraph teaser about your game’s story/plot.
When people see your project in the Workshop items list, only the first two paragraphs (or 4-5 sentences) will show when hovering over it. These should grab the user’s attention. Here’s an example:
“Our hero embarks on a dangerous quest to save the land from a spreading evil. The Demon King has kidnapped the Princess and the only way to stop him is to restore the 4 crystals of power and imprison him once more!”
That’s a pretty Cliche Quest but it gives the player an idea of your game’s basic story, some key characters and the tone of your game. You can use the second paragraph to add some extra filler information but part of it may get cut off.
That’s just the teaser blurb though. You need to write a full description for your game. You may want to fire up Notepad for this, then save it so once your project is ready to be uploaded, you can quickly copy and paste this to the description for your Workshop item.
Your full description should include:
Note: You can use standard BB Code in your description.
Teaser/Blurb – 2 paragraphs
Any special/important instructions the player needs to know before installing your game. Should be no more than a paragraph.
Main Features:
A list of main features of your game including but not limited to:
Battle System
Custom Graphics, Music, etc.
Any special or unique features
You can expand on this with a secondary list of features but your most important or unique features should be listed upfront.
Link to a website/blog/etc. or any other websites pertinent to your game.
Link to a non-Steam download for your game
Credits:
Give credits for any art, scripts, music, game testers or any other resources uses in your game that were not created by you.
Alternatively, if your game is episodic or will have a second part you may want to add some information at the end teasing your next game or any other games you have made.
Screenshots & Video
You should already have some screenshots set aside in a folder and ready to upload as soon as your Workshop item has been uploaded to Steam.
Your screenshots should be interesting and showcase/tease your basic story/plot, any unique features of your game, battles and other aspects of your game.
Here are some sample screenshots from my game that showcase the game’s story, unique features and battles:
If you have a video recorder like Fraps or other alternatively free screen recording software, creating a short intro video for your game that teases the game’s intro or includes a montage of the game’s story, battles and features will make users a lot more likely to subscribe to your game.
It doesn’t have to have any fancy, spinning graphics or anything. You can just record your game’s intro or record various parts of your game in short clips and cut them together with simple crossfades and music in the background.
Here’s an example from my recent game, Cliche Quest:
Discussion
These are optional but it helps if you add a few basic pinned discussion topics to your Workshop game to include:
A thread for bug reporting
A thread for feedback on game balance
A thread for game tips
If your game has a lot of meta information, i.e. things that a normal player will not be aware of you should add some basic gameplay tips so you don’t have to constantly field questions about how to get past one area or beat a certain boss.
Remember, you want people to play your game. If they get stuck somewhere they are more likely to just stop playing altogether and not give other people a good impression of your game.
You have to balance difficulty with fun and playability.
You don’t have to give players a complete walkthrough but you might include some light spoilers in your game tips.
Here’s an example from my own game. These tips don’t tell the player everything but they can be helpful if the player gets stuck. You may know your game inside and out but remember players aren’t going to know everything you know. Cut them some slack.
[link]Change notes and upkeeping your game
It’s important to listen to player feedback, fix bugs and make balancing changes to your game if needed.
When you make changes to your game and re-upload your project to the Workshop, you should use the Change Note section and add a little description to what was changed or fixed.
Not all players are going to read these notes but some might and you’ll also be helping yourself.
You can use short blurbs such as:
Added new graphics for battlers
Fixed bug in the switch puzzle room in the Deadly Dungeon
Made balance tweaks to enemies in the Deadly Dungeon
Fixed bug with Item X.
Remember, the first impression of your game can be very important. You should playtest your game at least a couple times yourself before uploading to the Workshop. If you can, have some friends help you playtest it.
If there are game-breaking bugs in your game especially early on in your game, you may lose player interest and it will be very hard to get it back.
Marketing your game outside of Workshop
Steam Workshop is only a minor part of the RPG Maker community.
The major part of the community for VX Ace and RPG Maker are at the following websites:
RPGMakerWeb[www.rpgmakerweb.com]
[link]
[link]
RPGMaker.net is a popular site that will host your game for free on their website as well as having your game’s own page with media and other information, similar to Workshop. It may take a couple days before your game is approved on RMN, but you should upload it there when you get a chance and you can later add it to your game’s description as an alternate download link.
I personally recommend you package your game, encrypted and without the RTP.
You can always include a link to the RTP in your game’s description. People who play RPG Maker games on RMN normally have various RTPs already installed. People generally aren’t going to want to download a 200mb plus RPGMaker game.
You can basically re-use these same guidelines when submitting your project to RMN.
When submitting your game to RMN or creating threads about it on RPGMakerWeb, RPGMakerVXAce make sure you read the submission and thread rules carefully and abide by them.
Conclusion
That’s it! These are just some basic tips to make your Workshop game/project more appealing to other users/players on Steam.
You don’t have to follow everything by the book but you can use this guide as general guidelines and tips for making your Workshop game look great!
Thanks for reading!