Once is all ya get!

Once, just once. That is all one gets for something to be New.

So take for example trying to introduce my new game to my family (usually home brewers first audience). They are all excited to try the game, and i am very interested in watching them play to see how difficult the game is for a newbie. I also watch a lot more signs like frustration and assumptions etc. Generally (possibly always) i learn so much about my game and things to modify or clarify etc. It is a good time as the family is very complimentary and seem to really enjoy the experience.

However, this whole experience is fleeting. Fleeting becasue it can only happen once per family member. New is only NEW once. Which is a bit sad really. The second time or even after that i find that the experience of trying the game out again on these people is not as informative. They play like they have played before (sic) and generally are not quite as excited. So seconds is nowhere near as tastey as first time. I tend to learn so much less, except that the first levels are really easy now, as i am usually told, therefore not very interesting now.

I now have developed a plan, a method of getting the most out of my family for these first trials. I would recommend it to anyone in a similar position, and it is good in it's simplicity.

TIP:

Try the game on one family member at a time. So i get feedback from someone like my son. All te while keeping the other interested members of my family well away from the trial. Then after some modifications based upon my first trial, i will probably approach my daughter. After some more mods i will se the wifey. She is the ultimate test for basic playability and responsivemness and feedback etc. the more i try to have accomplished in this one trial really shows.

So i get 3 initial trials and not one, like i used to when i used to show my game for the first time to the whole family.

Have fun,
Da Voodoochief

5 levels in and so much more

Development continues at a good pace here in my spare bedroom at home during this Holiday break. I am not quite sure what i am hoping to have completed by the time i go back to work in the new year, but i think it will be something fairly substantial.

Obviously i keep making levels, this is sort of to prove to myself that the concept and control scheme are worth pursuing. In fact i really believe they are, and i am astounded by some very recent play tests by friends and kids. They all sem to be able to play the game very quickly, which is a definite plus. After all games like Angry birds and fruit ninja do not really take skill initially to get people hooked on the echanism. Though my game has more of an initial learning curve (something i am afriad of), it seems to be much smaller than anticipated (Phew!).

So now i made a new level (this morning), i just couldn't help myself. I need to stop. Though putting ina  levels with lots of floating and moving platforms was a blast. I also got my collectibles in the game and then made it so the game remembered which ones you had collected on each level etc. Just like collecting stars in Mario. Collecting the stars will open up new levels, so if ya got stuck on one here and there, ya can just bypass it by doing well enough on other levels to colelct the gems.

Then this afternoon and a bit this evening i realised i needed to get my feedback in for someone pressing on the screen etc. This is a good thing to do an should make the learning curve even faster for new peeps. Now i have to admit something at this time....

I ADMIT IT!
 I think i have ben putting in ALL these most excellent features becasue i really don't wanna program the editor. I know you are probably laughing by now cvos i have created 5 levels by hand, but, well. Making the editor is a bit boring in comparison to writing deadly enemies or springy platforms. Maybe tomorrow eh ;)

Though at the moment i have started writing the Instructions class. More on that when I have done more i think.

Unity is tough to get into when i have a game to write. So not made much progress there, though my evaluation is about complete. Though the prognosis is not good for my purposes :(

The books, ahh, i really need to get more done on those, so that will be a focus tomorrow for me i reckon.

Now off to bed, i am tired.

G'night
Da Voodoochief

4 levels done

Ok, so these are effectively example levels. But they do in fact show some of the gameplay off in a good way. There is a lot more i can add by expanding the gameplay experience with some new elements. That can come later, but now it is time to test those levels on unsuspecting friends.

That is what i thought earlier today, before i went off to a nice Xmas get together at a friends house. A place where my friend Mark cooks a very large English Xmas dinner and then some. There as always was so much food :O  My stomach will be moaning about this for most of the night now haha. Oh, back to the point. I took along my latest version of 'Eternal Recoil' and also took the apk file so i could put it onto his Galaxy tablet. Always good to check if these things just work or not.

Well first things first as we tried it on the Galaxy Tab, and yes it did. In fact it looked and felt exactly like the Kindle Fire version. This was a nice feeling i have to say. Then it was onto watching various people playing the levels, and me trying to keep as quiet as possible to see how they attacked each level. The only information i gave them was the Instructions the game and levels will have when finished.

I am very pleased to say that watching them play was very rewarding. They got through the first introductory levels fast and then completed the 2 more difficult levels fairly quickly. They all seemed to enjoy the experience and yes, one has to take friends opinions of ones games with a large pinch of salt, as they are usually way more positive cos they know you a friend created the game.

The best part was after i got back from a quick visit to the loo, the kids were all fighting over who could have the next turn to play the game. This was such a nice warm feeling inside :)

Next up i will add some collectibles and a few other touches to more complete these test levels. Then i think i might try and find some other programmers, to see if i can get some help to make the game bigger and more rounded all over.

Now i am off to try an soak up all that food i ate :O

G'night all,

Da Voodoochief

More Game Dev and Unity too?

I have been very busy these last few days.

I now have a 3 level game, though one might argue that they are not quite right for the first three levels of my game. In fact i would assume they would be spread a bit apart, though the first level is designed to be the first level for sure. this has been going well as along with the three levels i now have a results screen and a proper ready screen and level selection screen. This also keeps tabs on how many times you succeeded or failed the level and the best time etc. So far so good.

I think i will add in an instruction class next and pop instructions into the first couple of levels etc. then i can truly test how well it can be played, without me giving the instructions etc. so far my Daughter can play it easily, and with a surprisingly large amount of skill for so little play time. My son has yet to play and will be my next test victim. The wifey played it but i am not sure she will have the patience for this kind of game unfortunately.

Still along with all this i have been looking into Unti3D, and i have to say that is a lot to take in, and i do not have long to look into it. time will tell if i get to really play with it or not.

I still have not sorted out my advertisement stuff in either the Android or iPhone devices, which is a pity and something that makes me a bit depressed tbh. I have been working more on the Childrens books pages and get closer every week to be ready for release. I now have two leads for illustrators that I hope i can work with for the second and third books. Time will tell, but i am very excited and hopeful.

That's all from me tonight,

Happy Holidays

Da Voodoochief

Ads make me all AdWhirl

Ok, so my game is Ad supported. I got iAd into my iPhone version, but since we updated to the new XCode and New Marmalade versions, we cannot get the darned thing to build. Still an ongoing issue which will be resolved soon i hope.

So all this Ad stuff is a nuisance. It really is, there are so many ad suppliers, and as a businessman (yeah, soemtimes i like to dabble in this), i would like the best return I can etc.

Anyway, just signing up for ALL these different agencies and groups is a pain in the ass imho. Now i have accounts for everything it seems everywhere. But i can never ever seem to find very clear instructions as to what to do to install SDKs and then what to do when i have. If they include an example i tend to rip that apaprt to make it work. However it all seems a little, cobbled together.

I hate wasting time on getting ads into my games when i could be spending those hours making my game better in so many ways. So what to do? Well i am using Marmaalde and so need to use what they call Extensions to get my ads to display. iAd now works I am told in version 5.2, though i have yet to witness this myself. While i was looking into adMob i found AdWhirl. What the Heck is that i thought. Well it appears that once setup it will supply you with Ads from several different ad suppliers. Wicked i thought, sounds great. It also happens some nice chap (i'll have to find his name...) has created an extension for this thing. Woot, that sounds right up my alley. Well as it happens he has also created an example and then he added instructions. OMG..... i was shocked.

Well after following the install instructions i was happy to see the whole thing compile. So far so good. Next up was to run it on my Kindle Fire, and here is where i presently reside. I get an assert saying it could not load some adWhirlib or something. I am not sure what to do about this of course. I guess i need to go read more forums.

Still, Ad support seems to be a pain, i wonder if anyone had it all go in easy?

Good luck out there and Happy Holidays

Da Voodoochief

What Game will do well ?

I am a bit frustrated i have to say.

I really want to have my Indie games be financially successful. The need and desire for this has several aspects to it. It is not just an avaricious thing like it could be. Though i know everyone wants to make oodles of money (of course).

1. I have a family to support so spending all my time developing Indies detracts from my family time. If the earning of money for the time i spent doing it, it would pay me back time elsewhere.

2. Making money is a side effect of making a game that is popular. I write games so people can appreciate my art, my skill, my creativity. I get a big thrill knowing that people are playing my game. Sometimes in the past I have received fan mail from games players and i can tell you first hand, that it is a wonderful feeling. I really want to see as many people as possible playing my games.

3. This games industry has become quite turbulent and seems to me to be getting more and more turbulent as time goes on. This means I fear for the permanency of my job now more than ever. Ever since THQ arbitrarily laid off everyone at Mass Media a couple of years ago i have had this slightly paranoid feeling of being on the edge of losing my job (yes i also work professionally in the games industry.

4. Independence.. I really want this. I want it because Interviewing for a job in ya late 40's sucks. Who wants to do that, i know i don't. Also having Independence will allow me to code most anywhere. I have been very fortunate in my 16 years over here in the USA to meet really nice people. A lot of these people i call good friends. Heck, my children and theirs have been growing up together.. or were, until they had to move to another state because of the job market here in southern Cali. I want to visit all these people spread across the USA, and i would love to do it over a whole kids school summer break. How fantastic would it be for me to go around the USA for 6-8 weeks towing my trailer and yet working at the same time. Freakin wonderful!!

Back to the main main title. My frustrated quandary.. And i am very sure i am not the only one in this situation.

I started work a few days ago on a bouncing game idea, and i love the way it feels already. But there is a lot of work involved in making this game because of the quality level i want and because of the number of levels etc. I tend to work on the level design and level feel as much as i do programming a whole game, I love balance in games.
Anyway i also have a strong idea for an RTS game, it has a design that seems to give it a unique but very accessible edge, so i wanna do that too. Only.. I can only write one game at a time. So how the Heck do i decide which game to write? Which is possibly gonna be more popular? Which is most likely to be more visible?

I have no answers so i am frustrated.....

Good luck to all you other devs trying to make this decision, I hope ya make the right call.

Laters
Da Voodoochief

Marmalade #6 - iAd issue, Kindle Fire

It has been a fairly busy couple of days. I really thought that the iOs version of the game would be good to go by now. Unfortunately there have been a bunch of unforseen issues. So i will discuss them, and then go on to describe my Kindle Fire and dev for that device.

iPhone version is not ready yet...
1. On wednesday i worked with me mate Paul for quite some time, maybe 2 hours in total. Doing a few things, but majorly trying to solve the iAd crash issue. Every time an iAd was served it crashed the game, or it did 9 times out of 10. After some debugging i traced it to a problem with the IwGxSwapBuffers() call. And this did not match the example that did work. So once i was armed with this i decided to attack the forums, information in hand. Well now i new know to search for i discovered a bunch of threads on this subject. One o fthe main ones mentioned there had recently been a fix (this fix had taken a startling 6 or 7 months to obtain, OUCH!!!!) with the latest update to version 5.2. Sweet!

2. So Paul tried to update the Mac to 5.2 and had issues, which he eventually traced to the fact he needed an update for XCode as well. Simple enough... only... he is still struggling to get the thing downloading to his iPhone and working correctly since all these re-installs. What a palarvor and what a mess. I hope to resolve this really fast and get our game into submission asap.

Meanwhile back at my ranch (ok, my house in the suburbs).
1. I had tried to get the download to my Android tablet (Kindle Fire) working on Tuesday only to be foiled by who knows what. Shortly after that my KF was nabbed by the wife to play 'Where's my water', and i have hardly seen the machine since. Anyway my mate in Utah grabbed my code from my subversion repository and grabbed a version of Marmalade and then built and ran it on his Android phone. that weas very exciting of course, and he showed me it working via skype.

2. Friday turned up and i stole my Kindle Fire back. I had done a bit of research and it seemed that the JDK that i used was broken (it was the latest version 7). The advice was to go back to version 6 update whatever. so firstly i asked my mate to send my his built APK file to try  and see if i could put that on my Kindle. I used dropbox and once it showed up the install went flawlessly and Whamo, i had the game on my device. WOOHOO!

3. Next up was to build my own, so a quick uninstall of jsk7 and then find the jdk6u29 version and install. so far so good. It did not work, i was bummed. It was having issues locating the jarsigner and so i new it was my install that was somehow missing. It then dawned on me that i had provided an environment variable for JAVA_HOME and so went and changed that to the new JDK directory.

4. It worked.. It had ben building but not deploying. Now i can deploy and install or even run it directly. This has allowed me to play the game on a real touch screen device and not just in a simulator. I am very excited and the only thing stopping me getting the Android version published is I need an advertising extension.

As you can see, i faced a number of trials and still do most likely. But i am hopeful that the approval system for the iPhone app will go through fast and without a rejection once we get the thing working again.

I am sure there will be more coming soon :)
G'night
Da Voodoochief

ps. one last note!  I added a nice icon to the build and now on my Kindle fire desktop i can see the HotChicks Icon, it is cool and very exciting!