How about a "making of?"

[Ixis]

Hi, I'm new (but not to the site, Aquaria, or other games like Eternal Daughter, etc.)

Have you thought about making a "making of" video or something, with concept art, how the sound/coding is done, interviews maybe, etc? I'd gladly wait another month or so to buy a special edition with stuff like that in it.

[Derek]

We'd love to!  And at some point perhaps we will, although I don't think we're going to delay the release of the game to get one out.  We'll definitely be releasing some "special edition" materials for sale later on.  At the very least, I think there needs to be a soundtrack CD!

Regarding "Making of" stuff specifically, we had always planned on making some of that available for free on the site itself, although time constraints have prevented us from it.  Hopefully after the game is released we can start that up.

[Alec]

Oh man, a full "Making Of" would be epic. We actually have a ton of old RAR files of previous version of Aquaria that are really different from the current version.

I was also just playing the "Stubbs the Zombie" demo, and I liked how they had commentary integrated into the game. I'm not sure if we'd have the time/resources to do that, but it might be a cool idea to think about later - since each area in the game has a story behind how we came up with it and each went through substantial revisions.

[Derek]

Yeah, I'd be pretty much for making one!  It'd be fun to do, plus it could be helpful for others to see our thought process.  And probably really, really frightening, too.

[xander]

Making Of == Good

However, given the music that I have already heard, I would pay good money for a soundtrack.  I would be more than ecstatic if that were to be released.

xander

[Tosheros]

Just finish the game , them we might ask a making of!

[Ixis]

I know for my game what I'm doing is adding hidden characters that show up in levels when played on a new game + save file. Talking to one would show notes, voice overs, or possibly any number of other content things based on that level/event. For me it's easy to run through content and drop one in there, but I'd imagine it'd be difficult for you guys, lol.

Maybe in an expansion pack?

[Quemaqua]

I have to say I absolutely love the idea of a commentary.  As a game journalist and guy with a general interest in game development, I find that kind of thing extremely appealing.  And I really find Alec and Derek to be personable, interesting guys with a great love for their work.  I think if you guys had the wherewithal to spend the time getting a quality commentary mode into the game it could really be good stuff.  I think you'd find that your game has garnered the attention of a lot of people not only because it's a great concept but because it's an indie game, and people are a lot more interested in indie development than I think people are aware of.  I'd love to get a sense of how you did things on all fronts, either from "making of" video-type stuff that talked about your special challenges in creating content as an indie team, or a commentary mode that talked more specifically about the design, tech, and music that went into everything.  Or any combination of the two, really.

[wesley]

I think you'd find that your game has garnered the attention of a lot of people not only because it's a great concept but because it's an indie game, and people are a lot more interested in indie development than I think people are aware of.

I just wanted to add that while big 3D games by big companies are sometimes fun to play and make a lot of money for those companies, they often lack personality (I haven't seen many original 'big' titles lately).

Most people that enjoy this game also care about how it is built and what the story behind everything is. Well, actually, I can't speak for "most people", but I certainly would, as I am interested in this kind of game development myself.

As an on-topic note: In-game commentary would be cool, but then again, you'd have to play the game again, and while playing the game, I find commentary pretty annoying. I think it's best if there's just a making of video.