Game Guide

The first thing you need to prepare to promote your game is a game guide. This is a three-to five-page document that gives the publisher an introduction to your game. To begin with, you should consider the goal of the document.

Without a doubt, the best way to approach a publisher is to demo your game in person. Nothing beats standing in front of the guy and showing him how cool the game is. Unfortunately, it's not always practical to do this, and even if you could, it's likely the publisher will want to then show the game off to others (without you being there all the time). I'm telling you this to give you the right frame of mind with which to approach the creation of a game guide. The guide exists to sell the game on your behalf. You need to emulate the impact a real demo would provide. Just like an in-person demo, your game guide needs to be well presented, professional, succinct, and above all, exciting!

Before you get into the actual document, I want to talk about the image you're presenting. One thing publishers have to battle is the vast number of budding game developers who have little or no professional experience (all of whom believe their game is the hottest thing ever made). It would amaze you just how much flak these guys have to deal with. To combat this, publishers naturally build barriers to weed out the amateurs. If a publisher has never dealt with you before, they're going to assume you're a lone-gun 12-year-old who thinks J2ME games are a groovy idea (for about a week). Publishers want good games, but they also need to build long-term relationships with developers who are going to be around for a while. Right from the start, you need to prove you're serious (even if you really are a lone-gun 12-year-old).

The first (and possibly only) chance a publisher has to judge your professionalism is by the material you submit along with your game. Therefore, it's critical that you spend some time preparing something to prove you're a developer worth dealing with. To do this, you need to start by getting the basics right. Things like spelling, grammar, and the overall look and feel should be smack on. (That's rightthey really do care about spelling.) Just because games are fun doesn't mean these people aren't serious; in fact, you could say publishing is about as serious as game development can get. All right, enough lecturing; I want to get into what goes in this guide.

The point of the guide is to give a potential publisher all the details about your game. Don't worry; you don't need to write a novel. Basically you need three sectionswhy people would love to play this game, how the publisher can experience this amazing entertainment for himself, and a bunch of reference stuff the publisher will need if he gets into the details. Read on to take a look at each of these sections in a little more detail.

Introduction

The sole purpose of the introduction is to get a publisher excited enough about the game that he will bother to spend some time on it. Don't get me wrong; most publishers will take the time to have a thorough look at most games they receive. However, having an intro that gets the publisher excited helps him look at the game in the right frame of mind. If he starts out enthusiastic, you have a much better chance of success.

You should keep the introduction short and to the point; typically, about half a page is good. To write the introduction, you should start by playing the game for a bit to get things fresh in your mind. As you go, create a short list of features you think are really cool about the game. For Star Assault, that might be something like this:

• Fast-paced action

• New style of four-way scrolling shooter

• Great-looking color graphics and animation

• Random level generator that provides for a new experience every game

• Advanced physics (such as great flight mechanics and bouncing weapons fire)

• Smart enemy AI to keep you on your toes

You'll notice that what I call a feature is something relative to the J2ME world. For example, a four-way scrolling shooter is nothing new on other platforms. However, it hasn't been tried much in J2ME, so I'm considering it a feature.

Once you have this feature list, it's time to write the introduction. To do this, imagine you've gone to a trade show, booked some time with a potential publisher, and you now have his undivided attention. "Okay," he says. "What have you got for us?" Write an intro based on what you think you would say at that point. I always start by setting the scene for the game and then rolling through a demo. After you've written it try reading it back like a sales pitch; it'll help you add more punch to what you write.

Later in the chapter, you'll learn how to take screenshots of your game. You should include a few of these as you go along to illustrate what you're saying.

I typically include about half of my features in the text of the introduction (usually the best ones) and then add a list of additional features at the end. I just find that it balances the text well and leaves publishers with a "wow, there's even more" feeling.

Playing the Game

After reading the intro, the publisher should be excited enough to want to give the game a go for himself. Section 2 needs to give him a step-by-step walkthrough of the action. This should be no longer than a page.

Starting with how to begin a new game, introduce the basic controls, the player's goals, and then the mechanics of game play. Along the way, remember to point out the strengths of your game. If you think something is cool, then tell them so! Contrary to what you might think, a publisher will only play the first few levels, so the walkthrough needs to communicate the entire experience in that time.

If you've added any cheat codes, you should point these out so the publisher can better see all the features. Features such as unlimited lives and the ability to jump to different levels or activate all the weapons and options are good things to include in the walkthrough.

Reference

The final component you need is a reference section. This is where you put all the fine details about the game and yourself. Typically, I include the following:

• Details about the exact MIDs on which you've tested the game, as well as any comments about the portability of the game (such as support for different screen sizes, minimum JAR size, and support for localization)

• An interface summary that lists all the available game actions (the keys)

• A list of all menu commands and their functions

• A complete list of any cheat codes

• Details on any technical features of the game, if they are exceptionally good

• Company background and contact information