If you remake a game at a higher quality, you usually append Deluxe or Remake or Redux to the name. But what would you call it if you went the other way? If you made a game, but intended to remake it better later, and wanted to save the normal name for the remake?
This term should suggest that this is a finished game, and shouldn't be derisive, but should also suggest that a better and more finished version will come later.
I have a game I've been working on that falls into this category; to keep myself from obsessing too much about the quality being professional enough, I've decided that this will be the "early" version, and after it's released I'll remake it better and that will be the "real" version.
Well we‘ve literally done it, and our solution was to release Oh, Deer! Alpha, then Oh, Deer! Beta. Eventually we’ll release the full thing (maybe) and call it either Oh, Deer! or Oh, Deer! Complete!
But I guess our naming suggests that it's not finished. And I'm not sure why you'd ever want to be like "this game is done, but there'll be a better one later." To me that says "please don't buy this game now." Alpha etc is like hey, get in on the ground floor of this thing! be part of the process!
But a game where you fully intend to release a better version later is kinda asking for folks to not purchase it, which means they'll probably also forget about it. So from my perspective I might suggest just not doing that. What's your reasoning for wanting to do it this way?
You release the game as [name]. Then you come out with a redux version with differerent stuff going on and call it New [game]. Then when everybody says New [game] is awful and the original version was better, you just take the “New” off and go back to calling it [name].
Early Access is what Steam uses though it does imply it's unfinished. Feel like it also entails “massive, open world crafting” game at this point too.
I can relate to that stress that comes with creating something and being that close to done, but not feeling 100% about showing it to anyone yet. Maybe take a chunk or section you feel good about and release a demo? For what it's worth, I've found taking a short break and going back to it more productive than releasing early.
I feel like “Alpha” or “Beta” suggests that it‘s incomplete, but I think you’re right that that does suggest that this will turn into the full version, and you're getting some cool “early access”.
As to why I'm doing it, I guess mostly it's for me, to keep myself from obsessing over / getting discouraged by the quality. It's also likely that I WOULDN'T release this version, and would wait to do a full release until the "real" version is done, or that this version will somehow evolve during development into something I'm happy with calling the real version. So maybe I'll just call this version "First Draft" in my head or something.
Beyond me and this project, I think coming up with a good term like this might be useful for, say, a jam game that the developer wants to develop into a full game later.
I was also thinking that "beta" would suggest that the look was set in stone, but now that I think about it more, there are plenty of games I can think of where I have seen beta versions that look drastically different from the final versions.
I think beta directly implies that everything is in flux still!
As for game jam games, usually they go with something like "game name" and then when the full thing comes out they call it "game name plus" or "game name ultimate edition" or whatever. In the case of Gunhouse, we just called the game jam game Gunhouse, nobody knew it existed, and then we released it fully as Gunhouse, and basically nobody even knows it was related to a jam game that looks nothing like the final product. Nobody's paying that close attention to our games, sadly, but you can use that to your advantage potentially.
Game jam Gunhouse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A33FE77Yi-w
Final Gunhouse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTs3tEa5MpE
Maybe two of my friends noticed that it was originally our game jam game and was now something else. Otherwise nobody noticed or cared, which is totally fine I think!
This isn‘t really what you’re talking about but it makes me think of the game Dux for Dreamcast that before long promised a “version 1.5” to fix bugs and then had a big Kickstarter for a “ReDux” version which ended up being WAY WORSE (that project turned me off of backing games on for old hardware on Kickstarter). It's kind of the opposite of a normal redux but in a different way!
This thread made me think of something… I think the Balan folks missed an opportunity to call the game Balan Wonderland and then release an updated version in the future and call that one Balan Wonderworld.
I like the word “Prototype” as either a prefix or a suffix, but it could have the same issue with implying incompleteness. If it was ME and I was trying to be cute (and it fit the theme) I might call it “Mk. 0” or “Mod. 0”.
