The Boring Bit Blues...

In the past few weeks, making use of the first free time I have had in a year, I have been messing around in BlitzMax with a few ideas I have had. One of these ideas was actually not bad and has born fruit, in the form of a working version of the core program. This part was coded with enthusiasm and with the great pleasure of seeing each piece of added functionality working as I went along.

However I am now at the beginning of the cold, hard slog required before a shareware release. All those fiddly little things like copy protection, license codes, program icons, help files, building the website and setting up shareit/paypal options etc. Then there is the mind rotting tedium of software PAD submission to come.

They say that the last 10% of a project takes 90% of the time, how do you get through to release?

Sounds tough, but don't give up - you're so close to the end!

yes but the boring bit is what separates the pros from the the uh non-pros. Finishing that stuff is boring, but it has tobe done. Make a list and tick each thing off so you feel like you are making progress.

Well that's one thing you can cross off your "to do" list. Your game is going to get copied anyway, so don't waste your time.

This is the boring bit but very worthwhile. Think of this as your shop-front, if it looks cheap and tatty people are not going to come in and buy your products.

With regard to copy protection, ignore GfK. You're game may well get copied but copy protectioni will deter the majority of people.

It only has to get cracked once. And it will.

No. Getting paid is what seperates the pros from everyone else. Doing the boring bits just means you are more willing to put up with tedious repetitive tasks. Ofcourse, you want to sell something you really only have two options. A) Take the initial money you got from the early adopters, and make a break for it. B) finish the whole product, and start setting your sights on a mainstream market.

Deter them from what, exactly? No offense, but if copy protection deters anyone from copying your game, it's bewcause it isn't worth copying in the first place.

Thanks for the replies, but it is strange most have made the assumption I would be making a game. ;)
I'll say no more until I've finished it, consider it a personal superstition.

On the issue of copy protection, I just like to stop somebody from simply hitting copy then pasting, nothing more. Just enough to make it not too easy, but not compromising the program itself.

A far bigger issue it that of cracks, keygens and serials. This is a double whammy, huge increase in bandwidth used and marked drop in sales when a serial or crack becomes available. The only defense that I have found is to code spaghetti until I don't know what is going on, and surprisingly, this does seem to keep cracks etc at bay for a good few months.

aha I see you said "program" not "game". I think basic copy protection is worth it via a wrapper just so that joe blogs can't copy it unless they download a cracked one or are a master hacker themselves.

Well I have a sig which ( unless you have sigs turned off ) may suggest a way to avoid that particular mind-rotting tedium ;)

OT: I have sigs turned off, but I know what you're talking about. I may be contacting you soon...

I can recommend the service (indirectly)