The best time to announce project? Thread

Hi,
I'm developing an indie game and I'm not sure when it's the best time to officially announce it. I'm already developing it for almost one year, so I have something to show but there are still lots of unfinished things and it's not meant to have amazing graphics, so maybe I shouldn't announce it yet because it wouldn't be the "boom"; on the other hand, watchers' feedback would very improve it. "you should add...", "you should change..." etc. Then it would be better to announce it soon because it's easier to change unfinished stuff.
So, do you think may I announce it soon or later?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Edited by: Vikom

For something intended to bring in income, the best time is when you are wanting people to see it and give criticisms, but it's close enough to done that people won't say "That isn't the game we were promised" when it's released.

The exception is if you have a giant fanbase who considers you a god.

Ah...this is always very tricky.

I'd say wait until you at least have the game in a functional playable state, so that when people get excited about it they actually have something to try. Some other things to keep in mind:
-Avoid hard line dates like the plague. Promising to have a game out by a certain date leads to disaster.
-Make no promises about things you don't intend to do.
-Its okay to be frank. If someone is requesting a feature and you know it'll be too difficult to add in, be honest and harsh, "Sorry. We'd love to have it, but unfortunately we don't think that's a possibility for the game." If you end up adding it anyway, they aren't going to be mad. If you don't, well they can't claim you didn't tell them.
- Think about holidays. People tend to notice new projects more, when they have free time. So ask yourself, when will people have the most free time? Spring Break? Summer Break? Christmas? Thanksgiving? All of those can provide good times to make the big announcement.
-If you want feedback, consider giving it out privately to small groups before releasing it publicly. If it gets leaked, whatever, its free advertising for you.

As a hard rule of thumb, I would say the most appropriate time to release a news about a new game is 2 months before you anticipate to be ready for Alpha (don't tell anyone that it'll be ready in 2 months though).

Thanks for your answer
I already had most of your points in my mind. I didn't think about timing too much.
You say - announce it while there's holiday? M'kay, I'll wait for an interesting date. I especially thank you for this suggestion.
Two months before alpha? What exactly does alpha mean in my case? The game's progress is (I guess) about 20% but there's already some content that could entertain players. And release alpha? I already let several people I trust to test it.

Thank you for your suggestions, they are useful for me.