Bee Magic Press Release
So, I was going to make a monthly blog post where, among other things, I talked about my plans for Bee Magic. This post ended up being entirely about Bee Magic, so… let’s call this a “press release.” Why not.
There’s a “TL;DR” section at the bottom if you just want a short summary.
Release Date
Bee Magic, the puzzle game where you move to cast spells, releases on August 7th, 2024.
I’m very confident in hitting this deadline. The game’s been “pretty much done” for a while now, so all that’s left is testing and a little bit more polish.
I’ve also got some surprises in store for this game, including…
Surprise 1: Rebranding!
For a while, I’ve wanted to start an LLC for my video game development endeavors (and possibly other things as well.) And as of June 26th, 2024 at 11:28 AM… I still haven’t started one! But, I have a business name officially reserved. So, I might as well start using it.
Say hello to Nuvo Facto.
Nuvo Facto is, as of now, the “brand name” for all the “big” games I’ll put out in the future. Hopefully, it will also be the name of my future LLC which I use for those games. Actually, I’m pretty sure Indiana requires LLCs to have “LLC-S” in their name (I’M NO LAWYER, NOT ADVICE, I MIGHT BE MISTAKEN, ETC,) so I might have to make its official name “Nuvo Facto LLC-S” (SEE PREVIOUS PARENTHETICAL.) But it will still be “Nuvo Facto” in my heart.
Why do this? Well, besides the business benefits of an LLC, I also want a personal “brand” I can use for my big projects. Lord knows how inconsistent my online branding has been.
Bee Magic will be the first game to be released under this brand. I have no plans to rebrand all my prior work as Nuvo Facto games, and not all the games I release in the future are going to be Nuvo Facto games either. For example, game jam games almost certainly won’t count.
Time for the next surprise!
Surprise 2: PC release!
In addition to being playable in web browsers, Bee Magic will officially support Windows computers, so you can run it directly on your Windows PC without needing to play it in a web browser. You’re welcome, streamers. :3
Technically, every “big” web game I’ve made since 5 Step Steve has been playable on Windows because it’s easier to develop and debug that way (fellow WASM developers know what I mean.) I even sent a Windows build of 5SS to Arvi Teikari because he couldn’t play the web version in his browser for some reason. Yeah, that’s right, my game wouldn’t work on the Baba Is You developer’s computer! Wait a minute, that’s not as cool of a brag as I thought…
In all seriousness: it’s one thing to make a Windows build that “just works.” But to make a build that has the features you’d expect from a “professional” release and is compatible with other people’s computers? That’s a lot harder. Early testing has thankfully produced mostly positive results, so here’s hoping it goes smoothly.
Also, native Linux support is a giant “We’ll see.” I’d consider incompatibility with Proton or WINE (the Windows compatibility tool, not the drink) as a bug, so feel free to pester me about that should the need arise.
Non Surprise 3: No Steam release! (Yet.)
Bee Magic will release on itch.io, but not Steam.
Both surprises 1 and 2 are steps that get me closer to releasing games on Steam, but I’m not quite ready yet. Specifically, I want to upgrade Nuvo Facto from a “brand name” to an actual business with a business bank account before I do that. And after I do all the paperwork for that, I’ll need to do even more to become a Steam developer. I better brush up on my paperwork skills.
Don’t worry; I still plan on making web games. Even some “Nuvo Facto” games that get Steam releases might also come out for the web as well.
I might release Bee Magic on Steam later, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Non Surprise 4: It’s free
People keep asking me to make re-releases of my games and say that they’re willing to pay for them, or keep saying “How is this game free?”, which is a sign that I should start charging for my bigger games.
Well, for various reasons (many of which are discussed in “non surprise 3”,) I’m not quite ready for that yet. Technically, you’re paying a “paid” version of the games I post to Armor Games, Coolmath Games, and Kongregate, in the sense that those sites pay me to put my games on there. (Technically, it’s just ad revenue sharing for Kongregate, which is different from direct payment.)
I might casually put up a “Support this game” donation button on Nuvo Facto games that are posted for free on itch.io. Even if I do, don’t feel obligated to donate. If you’re reading these words, you’re already giving me more support than I could ask for.
Homestuck is good again!
Originally, I was going to write a section on Homestuck: Beyond Cannon (cw: various adult content,) but it got way too long for this post. Hence why this is now a “press release” instead of a blog post. I might release this section in its own blog post if people are interested.
TL;DR:
- Bee Magic releases on August 7th, 2024.
- It’s going to be a “Nuvo Facto” game, which will be my brand for “big” stuff.
- Bee Magic will support web and Windows.
- It will be released for free on Itch (and possibly other websites later,) but not Steam.
- Nepeta is still the best character in Homestuck (cw: Homestuck has adult content.)
Thanks for reading!
Have a nice day.
