u/Xanarki

Icons are sorted alphabetically, snaked: start in the top-left corner --> go right --> go down 1 row --> go left --> go down 1 row --> repeat...Even though I didn't get thousands of upvotes on my previous posts across Reddit, there were A LOT of comments overall. Enough of 'em to create this desktop w/ icons of nearly every game that other users brought up (see my comment below for more info on my book + this process).

The game titles are captioned for each image. These screenshots are ones that I took myself for the book (see comments for more info), but I really am curious, given how popular the genre was from 1995 to 2001, your Top 5/10/20 RTS games from that era specifically

20 images total, each one should have a caption attached.

First, the self-promotion of course:

Although it took me about four years, I've finally finished my first book. It technically comes out on Sunday (e-book only for now due to the sheer size and large amount of content), and I've been sharing in different places outside of just Reddit, albeit at a focused rate so that I don't burn myself out.

And then it occurred to me that r/NewAuthor exists. So, thank you to the mods for giving new authors an outlet to push their work out there.

I know that my book has an oddly specific topic. More than likely, it will only appeal to someone who lived through that '95 to '01 era or to someone who has a desire towards learning about an era before their time. But I'm alright with that, because writing is just a side hobby of mine, and I don't ever expect anything substantial, which is also why I tried to make the price decently sensible ($3.99 lol).

You can buy/pre-order it here, but please excuse the incredibly basic '90s website:

https://win9xera.neocities.org/

Second, the question:

Currently, I'm only selling my e-book on Amazon and Google (Google has my epub file frozen though - I just contacted support about it). Later in the year, I plan on selling on Itch. I also wanted to sell on Kobo, but apparently their file size limit is 100mb so that doesn't quite work for me.

Since it seems like most authors here have sold on Amazon or Google, I was just curious about your experiences with selling on Itch and Kobo (or any other non-mainstream platform), specifically when comparing to the other more mainstream outlets. I know the basics about 'em, but I'd like to hear from new/new-ishhh authors directly:

Did you get more reviews or engagements on the other platforms (or do you regret selling on the other platforms due to a lack of activity)? Was the publishing process easier on the other platforms (or was it a bigger headache)? Do you think that your book benefited from the wider platform choices (or was it simply too spread out)? Etc etc etc.

It was just shared on Chad's support FB page that he has died. After a head injury circa 2019, he was left unable to speak or function. He was in various facilities over the past several years, but he was able to communicate with others through movements and noises. Course of Empire has reissued two of their albums (and released an outtake album too) in support of Chad over the past few years.

I know that Course of Empire isn't a huge name around here. But they had a brief spell on a major label and they were truly unique, combining elements of industrial rock, post-punk, and noise rock...and they were one of the few bands to utilize two drummers simultaneously (and not just an extra percussionist either - actual full-blown drum kits for both). Chad was essentially an original member (he joined a few months after the band's formation but before anything was recorded anyway) and he appeared on all three of the band's albums. Along with vocalist Vaughn Stevenson, bassist Paul Semrad, and guitarist Mike Graff, Chad played with drummer Anthony Headley, who was replaced by Kyle Thomas, who was replaced by Michael Jerome. Chad also did a lot of the engineering and production work on the Course of Empire music. After the band broke up in 1998, he went on to do tech work at Dallas venues (I'm not from there so I don't know those specifics).

Here's a few standout tracks from Course of Empire. RIP Chad.

Coming of the Century (from their 1st album, was their debut single - 1990):

https://youtu.be/tSswr1-YFVw?is=a-5ymUJ\_YXWKKXMo

Infested (from their 2nd album, was probably their most popular song as it got a decent amount of exposure - 1994):

https://youtu.be/MD7UYUnxxGY?is=tp2GOrXXWKD8OXXt

White Vision Blowout (from their 2nd album, another strong single - 1994):

https://youtu.be/INaIDLEW5ug?is=qfDWyvnvTym6daHU

The Information (from their 3rd album, also appeared in the film Dark City and was produced by John Fryer - 1998):

https://youtu.be/3eBBn1knHVk?is=IzSYjYKf8K7LyCiQ

In the 90s, DINK only released one self-titled album, but they were on a major label and the single "Green Mind" was decently popular for a while. Another single, "Angels", appeared in the film Bad Boys. A second album was canceled by their label and the band broke up, but the album was leaked many years later.

3 of DINK's members eventually reunited under the name K.I.N.D, but then Sean Carlin died from eye cancer a few years ago. On July 4th, the remaining members are releasing the material that they worked on. One of the songs ("Heroin" aka a re-recording of "The Heroin Song") is already on Spotify.