Dave Hailwood's Forum Posts

  • farflamex

    thanks for taking the time to check it out, and for the kind words.

    I should have an update ready for tomorrow, which will include Sound Effects, a new potion power, a few updated graphics, and a new spawning mechanic that occassionally spawns more potions and enemies when they're getting low so as to keep things interesting.

    I'm sure there'll be plenty of exciting new bugs to discover as well. Hurrah!

  • farflamex

    I think the best you can do in terms of marketing is look around on the Construct 2 site, search for success stories or examine different members approaches to tackling the market.

    It is an area where most people fail, simply down to the fact that the majority of us are creative types who're more interested in making fun stuff that doing that boring 'promotion' thing.

    Places like Google Market and Chrome store list the amount of plays/downloads that each individual game has had, so this is a good thing to study when it comes to gageing popularity (in the case of most contruct 2 games that I've seen on both stores, this tends to be extremely low unless they're free).

    Mortar Melon by thehen is well worth studying, as its received over a quarter of a million downloads over on Windows 8 http://www.scirra.com/forum/mortar-melon-now-live_topic59762.html

    Although I haven't played the game (as I'm still stuck in the stone age on Windows Vista) it's clear to see from the video previews etc that there's a high level of professionalism at work.

    Super Ubi Land by NotionGames is another game that's worth inspecting closely, as it's close to achieving a $5,000 kickstarter fund to help put it on the Ouja and other devices http://www.scirra.com/forum/ouya-super-ubi-land-official-thread_topic51641.html

    Dungeon Buster by Wrangler is also well worth following, as although he hasn't set out any financial game plan, he's using forums like IndieDB to help promote the product he's working on and build up a nice fanbase in the meantime http://www.scirra.com/forum/dungeon-buster-wip-thread_topic56656.html

    As I have little knowledge of the marketing world, what I'm hoping to do with my own game (Board Horde - http://www.scirra.com/forum/topic65322.html) is use it to test the waters, find out which sites are good to sell on and where it bombs, whether in-app advertising works or doesn't, etc. I'm purposely trying to keep it to less than ten megs so that I don't have to host the game myself and incur any costs that I really can't afford. At the end of the day, my main aim it to make a fun game and learn all I can from the experience - if I actually make money, that's an unexpected bonus.

    One option for your game (especially if it's a large file size) would be to sell it on your own website using a paypal account and distributing it as an EXE using Nodewebkit (which apparently curently has some export issues when trying to close from fullscreen view), though if you take that route you will need to try and build up a fanbase and direct traffic to your site by making announcements on all the various gaming social sites.

    Anyway, I hope some of this is of help. There's some good books out there on how to market your game (can't think of the titles offhand, but I'll mention them when I remember) which are also worth studying.

    Best of luck on your quest!

  • —

    tested on internet explorer, and Chrome and it works fine for me (I seem to recall having also tested on my Ipad 3 at some point, and it worked well with the touch based controls).

    But if, as Mineet has mentioned, the game also isn't working for some people, that might explain the one star rating (also it can come down to personal taste. If someone played your game and wasn't in the right mood, or were looking for something with a crazy amount of depth, then this could also lead to a bad rating).

    I think suggesting that other members are downrating games to get theirs to go higher in the ratings is unlikely, though not impossible (there are, after all, unscrupulous folk in all fields of life). Don't forget that members of the general public can also play these games, and are less likely to be respectful of the amount of time that goes into creating them. It's possible that someone simply played it and didn't like it (I enjoyed it, but didn't find enough depth to keep me interested as I'm not a 'high score' fanatic. Whereas those people who enjoy trying to beat the latest score will no doubt enjoy it immensely)

    Anyway, try not to get downhearted - pick yourself up, and create something even more awesome.

    • Dave

  • farflamex

    This is a game that I will continue to come back to and test many more times, as there's a lot more to it than first meets the eye.

    I like all the extra options you've included, such as a tutorial, ability to adjust graphics, buttons to see your weapons deck etc. It's very professionally executed, and you've clearly put a lot of time and attention into it.

    I tried playing as the rebels, and found the combat a bit more interesting (it was nice to see missiles flying at me from all angles). I think I've managed to put my finger on what's bothering me about the ship to ship combat, though; it's the fact that a lot of the time the beautifully rendered planets in the background are giving the false impression that you're travelling really, really slowly (since they edge across the screen a fraction of a millimetre at a time) - it's only when there's lots of moving objects on the screen (other ships, asteroids etc) that you start to get more of a feel for the speed your craft is going.

    Anyway, jolly nice work, and I look forward to having a much longer playtest when I get the opportunity.

    As for Monetising, you could try the Ads route and display on Kongregate, Newgrounds etc, upload to the Windows 8 app store, or if you do a hugely reduced version, perhaps give Android and IOS a try (though these can be problematic, as just one simple effect can be enough to throw your framerate out the window).

    Keep up the good work,

    • Dave

  • Looks like being a very ambitious project. The graphics look rather marvellous, especially with all the effects added (though there's a helluva lot of objects on screen at once, which may cause some frame rate drops).

    The docking with space stations, trading, mining etc are all nice features, and I liked the alert that you get when enemy ships have spotted you.

    I did find the actual combat a bit tiresome, as it basically seemed to consist of me staying in one place whilst the enemy ship cirled me, and firing endlessly at him for ages and ages until the little rascal finally died.

    It might work better if you perhaps try to scale the enemy difficulty depending on what level the player is (so if they're just starting out, some of the first enemies they encounter might explode quicker, but as they progress things get more challenging as their foes get tougher to kill)

    I would also recommend changing the title of the game, as Frontier was the name of the sequel to Elite. Although that's where you probably got your inspiration, your game deserves to have its own unique individuality.

    Anyway, I'll give your game a bit more of a test soon, as I love space flight trader/combat games and this has lots of potential. There's definitely a market for this sort of thing, especially with the new Elite game having achieved funding on Kickstarter, and AJTilley's Spatial Flux C2 kickstarter also having been successful.

    best of luck with everything!

  • —

    I like your plan to make as many 100 event maximum games as you can - using the free version restriction as an asset rather than an obstacle.   The small size will mean your less likely to Feature Creep, and will no doubt stick to the essentials (a good example of what you can achieve in under 100 events is Kyatics asteroid game).

    I'm fortunate enough to have purchased the personal edition (hurrah for Xmas money!) so I have a lot more events to play with, and will therefore just be trying to create one nicely polished game (Board Horde, for which the W.I.P can be examined here: http://www.scirra.com/forum/topic65322.html)

    As its my first game, I'm gradually discovering the pitfalls of designing for mobile devices as I go (avoid effects, check sound works in all browsers, and expect massive frame rate variations between types of devices) but its certainly a fun challenge and its good to have a deadline to work towards.

    Anyway, keep sharing any obstacles that you come across whilst making your game and I'll be sure to do the same.

  • Nice clean graphics, and a simple and fun game. It has inspired me, and I shall now spend the rest of my weekend attempting to catch fish with a plunger.

  • harrio

    I'm hoping to have some sort of 'puff of smoke' effect when enemies and potions materialise, to draw attention to them. Making them glow is also a mighty fine suggestion.

    Kuso

    I have got plans to add a special 'event' system once I've got everything else done, which will be like a short Choose Your Own Adventure style scenario. Depending on the decisions you make, it may influence whether the character gets a special power, gets moved forward, dies etc.

    I'm also hoping to add a Special Skill that's specific to each character (eg, the Necromancer will be able to raise the dead, and the Assassin will be able to Backstab enemies).

    Oh yes, and Troll Bridge shortcuts (kinda like the snake in Snakes and Ladders. Except the troll might eat you).

    Before all that, I must sort out Sfx and visuals. I added lots of sounds today, and now have the joyous task of figuring out how to make them run in all browsers, and stop the game visuals from stuttering. Ah well, its all part of the merriment!

    Cheers for your comments, chaps. Much obliged!

  • Kuso

    Lots of great ideas! The menu certainly needs a lot more adding to it as its a bit bare at the moment. A 'Re-enforcement Available' statement is a good suggestion, so thanks for that.

  • harrio Thanks for taking the time to play through the boards, and your kind words. I had been contemplating changing the dice colour to match the player, and your suggestion has sold the idea to me. Three player (maximum) is on the cards, though I need to tidy up the code a lot first.

    pixel perfick Glad you liked the title. If the game goes down well, I might do a scifi sequel titled: Board In Space.

    mineet thanks for trying out the game, I'm really glad you liked it. There's a lot of artistic polishing to do, and I hope to add lots of Sfx and some simple touch screen based potion powers over the next month.

    Cheers, folks! All comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

  • Here's a couple of screenshots from my 'Board Horde' Rpg board game.

    <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k34-ofXiiFI/UUxNF_WZIdI/AAAAAAAAAcI/DLoV8xTMlrA/s1600/BHMenu+1.png" border="0">

    <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qsQK24aOOfg/UUxNk1jvZVI/AAAAAAAAAcg/MedoE58vSk8/s1600/BHScreen4.jpg" border="0">

    <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4AEk0DctvTs/UUxNW2TJCfI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/EeNxLWACWfY/s1600/BHScreen2.jpg" border="0">

    You can try out the first rough version of the actual game here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/97335933/BoardHordeC2ver1/index.html

  • [Update] 31 Dec 2013

    Hi folks,

    I thought I'd round off the year by giving a brief analysis of the stats/views received for Board Horde since it's launch six months ago.

    <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TN7EfjupnOc/UsKwXSRkhiI/AAAAAAAAAgg/X5xDA6MEMTQ/s1600/BHMonthlyViews2.jpg" border="0">

    It seems that board games prove particularly popular around the November/December holiday period, as views started to pick up massively in November (going from 5 views a day to 100), and this month alone the game has had 4,500 views (which accounts for more than half the total views over six months!).

    <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SliDQLYvO9s/UsKwkQow2yI/AAAAAAAAAgo/VZ9CBRRt6Lg/s1600/BHFullTally2013.jpg" border="0">

    I'd strongly recommend use of Clay.io in everyone's games, as it gives you access to stats like this, gets you plenty of plays, and also allows other gaming sites to link to your game which can get you plenty more plays without any effort on your behalf (such as m.clickjogos.uol.com.br - a foreign site which has given my game over a thousand views)

    Also adding a Gamemix banner to your game can add a small but steady trickle of users.

    Oh yes, and the grand total of advertising revenue that I've made to date? $4! Finally I can buy that speedboat that I've always wanted!

    Anyway, although I'm going to be busy next year with a billion writing projects and putting out my own comic I'm sure I'll find time to squeeze in an update or two, and perhaps something new.

    All the best for the New Year, folks. And thanks for your support and assistance - it's a bloomin' marvelous community we've got here.

    • Dave H.

    [Update] 20 July 2013

    Board Horde (a game best described as Ludo meets Lord Of The Rings)is now available to play at the following links: (Gamejolt and Facebook are desktop only)

    Kongregate

    Newgrounds

    Gamejolt

    Clay.io

    Facebook

    MarketJS

    I've also set up a Board Horde page at Indie DB (along with a company profile for Biomekazoik). There's only a few screenshots on the site so far, but more news etc will follow as the week progresses. You can keep up with it here: Board Horde Site

    It took quite some effort to get the game working on Kongregate (as I'm linking to a version on Clay.io, but wanted the ads to still show up on every external site other than Kongregate) so I'll probably share some tips in a post soon.

    Changes:

    Survivor Mode - this game mode gives the Heroes a limited number of lives, and allows for some very high scores as they can be selected again if they reach the exit.

    Traditional Mode - this is the mode that started it all...no score to worry about, just get your heroes to the exit before your opponent.

    Plus two new boards, bringing the total to 8.

    Thanks for your help so far, folks!

    <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k34-ofXiiFI/UUxNF_WZIdI/AAAAAAAAAcI/DLoV8xTMlrA/s1600/BHMenu+1.png" border="0">

    <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4AEk0DctvTs/UUxNW2TJCfI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/EeNxLWACWfY/s1600/BHScreen2.jpg" border="0">

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  • Hi Anty, thanks for the kind words. The second ones probably my favourite too. I tried a focus pull effect on the other two illo's to help them stand out a bit from the board that'll eventually be laid out over the top, but I'm not sure it quite works.

  • By the way, there's some very useful vector art/Inkscape tutorials on this site, if you haven't visited it before: 2dgameartforprogrammers.blogspot.co.uk

  • Hi folks,

    I was so close to almost having the rough version of a Board Game I've been working on ready to show last weekend, until I discovered that in my eagerness to finish the rascal a few game breaking errors had surfaced. So, whilst I'm working on squishing those pesky little bugs of mine, here's some backgrounds from the game (knocked up using Inkpad, and filtered using icolorama on the iPad).

    <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ON7uzNOcwcI/UUha1krN17I/AAAAAAAAAb4/fDd-B9LytG0/s1600/DHBG4.jpg" border="0" />

    <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D9ZLBNId5GQ/UUhaub9hfPI/AAAAAAAAAbo/xYQMupFIpPI/s1600/DHBG1.jpg" border="0" />

    <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J1b1uVwQPK4/UUhay6R1nOI/AAAAAAAAAbw/33sgNcoadk4/s1600/DHBG3.jpg" border="0" />

    Some damn fine artwork in this thread, by the way. Does anyone else here come from a comic creating background?