USPSA Stage Building Program? - Android Apps and Games

I shoot USPSA action pistol, and design stages at my range for competition. I am currently using the stage building Excel spreadsheet and none of the Android office apps seem to support moving objects and shapes within a spreadsheet, so I can't use my Xoom to design stages.
Are there any developers out there that also shoot USPSA/IPSC or IDPA matches? How great would it be to be able to design stages from a tablet?! Anyone up to the task of creating an app for that? I'd be willing to help as needed with whatever I could...

Related

Settlers of Catan

Hey there,
There is a Settlers of Catan game for the iPhone. I'm wondering if anyone knew of that game being ported to Android any time soon? All I can find for Android is the 'Better Settlers' which helps with setting up the board.
Thanks in advance for any info!
Jeremy
shameless "bump!"
I would guess there would be copyright issues or some such :S
well you could try developing your own game..
I'd like to see settlers of catan on this platform too!
Me too, if someone is interested in doing the gameplay, maybe graphics, or whatever else. I would be happy to do the development.
Doesn't neccessarily have to be clone as such, it can have similar gameplay. Try playing something like Travian, it's similar but not exact.
It's a game I'd love to have on my phone . . . don't know it well enough to have a go at dev, but I'd be happy to alpha/beta/gamma test if someone gave it a crack . . .
there was a flash game i found a while ago - never got it working on my mogul though. Also I could help with graphics if a new game was designed
I'd love a SoC game for my Evo. Any new info on this?
Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk + Swype
This would really be great. Id like a version where you could play with others on different phones via wifi/3g. It would be a lot of fun to play with friends and coworkers through out the day (or week as needed)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
mesasone said:
This would really be great. Id like a version where you could play with others on different phones via wifi/3g. It would be a lot of fun to play with friends and coworkers through out the day (or week as needed)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. This would be an awesome
Multi-player app especially if you could save and resume a game. You'd almost have to have one person host the game so the data is all housed on one SD card.
Other thoughts are the ability to change the rules before starting, built in chat and or push to talk functionality, bartering alerts, next turn alerts, review of score and previous actions, the list goes on.
If someone is serious about developing this then I am totally willing to help think it through and create graphics. Send me a PM.
Sent from my HTC Vogue FroYo using XDA App
Settlers of Catan Android game in the works
I've been having a dabble with android development and have been working on a Settlers of Catan game as it is such a great game and it's a good way to learn android dev.
I'm ready to admit that someone might beat me to it, whether by making the iphone version available to android or whatever, but still if anyone is interested in a) helping out on the project b) doing some testing or c) pimping the game, let me know! You can contact me on cettlersofsatan at gmail dot com.
It's currently in SVN online in a single user repository. But I would happily move it to Google Code or something if others were interested.
I'm as eager as everyone else to see this project pull through. And stone do NOT lose faith. It is always better to have an option then only one option for a game/app.
I have assembled a list of people who expressed interest in helping:
stoneskin - work in progress
niknah - dev
Willuknight - graphics
ii Candor ii - graphics/thinktank
DJGibbon - test
You guys should really get together especially with stone and get cracking! Heard some good ideas and plenty of offers to help. The XDA community NEEDS A SETTLERS!
Thanks guys!
I'd love to help too. I don't think can commit the time to help with development though. Real life is just too hectic lately. However, I'd love to help testing.
If the time opens up, I'm interested in helping with development.
As to graphics, just no skills to bring to the table. Although, I did have a thought last night on this subject. The game might be more playable with simpler graphics. Instead of trying to have an understandable picture of sheep/ore/... on the hexes, just use colors. Light green for wool/sheep, dark green or brown for lumber, goldenrod/yellow for wheat, dark grey for ore and dark red for brick.
Work in progress!
Gino, Latenk, thanks for the feedback. Here's the deal.
I agree, simple graphics to start with, I've uploaded a screenshot, but before anyone analyses it too much , let me state what I want from the project initially.
1) The basic game (i.e. no expansions) in full.
2) Multi-player (up to 4 initially) or single-player (with AI) on one phone.
3) Basic graphics, but a clean separation in implementation so that the graphics, special effects, zoom, board rotation, whatever the monkey-magic one wants, can be added ON TOP OF the rest of the app.
4) Game is free (shouldn't be any copyright issues right?) and would be great if it could get onto Android Market or equivalent.
5) Open source?
I hate graphics, hate the tweaking, fiddling, pixel-adjusting and so on, so I've knocked up the simplest GUI imaginable. I've slapped on a handful of buttons which as you can see, have rubbish little text labels - RD = Roll Dice (in one of the screenshots it's displaying the number rolled), BR/BS/BC are build road/settlement/city, MR = Move Robber, C=Cancel, D=Done, X=exit.
In these shots I'm not even playing a game, I'm in a test mode where I'm just free-building. My colour is white. So a hex-side is painted white for a road, the small circles are settlements, the large circle is a city. The large red circle is me selecting a vertices. As you can see, the current player (Bob) has no resources (free-building) but resources are laid out with shoddy little cards.
So the graphics are v. poor. But I'm not too concerned right about it right now.
Where have I got to?
I've got the basic 'model' in place. That is the game model that maintains hexes, vertices, hex-sides and their roads/settlements/cities.
I haven't even touched on AI, ports, trading.
I'm trying to build the app cleanly, so the views have no concrete knowledge of the game model, and any calls to it are interfaced out.
But this is my first Android app, so I'm learning from scratch, possibly comitting all sorts of Android crimes.
I'm a full-time .Net developer, so I'm kinda fitting this in around job/family and so on, so progress is slow.
Here are my thoughts. I'll aim to get this to a clean/stable state within the next week or so, then if others want to get involved in dev I'll create a Google Code project (or equivalent) and sort it out from there.
I'm currently building against 1.6 because I have an X10 mini. It would be great to support up to the latest API versions.
Ok, uploading the images now. Graphics ARE AWFUL but I'm focussing on the game at the moment.
By the way, if anyone knows what licensing/copyright issues there are with something like this please let me know. I've currently called the project 'Cettlers of Satan' 'cos that made me smile. If rights issues meant it can't go through market places then so be it, but would be great if someone could research this.
Haha, you know that is a basic layout but gets the job done! What you could do is have the game map be at least twice as large as say the resolution of a N1 screen. Enable finger scrolling and/or pinch to zoom (comlpex perhaps but a thought) and let people move around the game map as needed. That'd allow for better graphics, larger maps, and a larger feel to the game. The HUD could possibly go up either side of the game map. In fact I'd say make landscape mode MANDATORY so you have the extra real estate.
Check this out: http://games.asobrain.com/
That is what I envision this game like. That game is everything this game COULD be and he even found ways around copyright. Check that game out, play a round or two and it will give you plenty to think about/use as inspiration. Obviously no need to copy, but you can use it for ideas.
Lastly, the previous statement someone made about notifications is pure gold. Allow people to play their turns then pass to the next with a notification appearing. Great ideas.
I've been there before, but a while ago and he's closed all unactive accounts and stopped registration unfortunately.
If you are a member maybe you could upload a couple of screenshots or explain to me how the GUI works in more detail.
I love the idea of finger scrolling/pinch/zoom etc. I'm gonna give some of that a go tomorrow. But like I say, what I'm initially trying to achieve is
GUI
Model
in a clean separation. So any visual representation would be possible. I'll try and knock out some basic zoom/finger scroll effects just to convince myself that my rudimentary framework will hold together.
Thanks for the quick feedback mate.
This shows the basic layout, how it all works, the HUD and such. Again this would have to be adjusted for the handheld, but in general it looks and works great!
In the top left is a pane for the players in the game. It shows Player Name, Player Color, a count of the cards in the players hand, any held and/or played D cards. This pane can be hidden if the player wishes.
The pane on the bottom left shows all things the plyer can buy and what it takes for the player to buy them. (in the android version I imagine this being a tab you can bring up to buy/see what you need and have.
Below that pane is Played Cards, and Table cards which speak for themselves.
Of course along the bottom you see your hand.
On the bottom right you have 3 buttons, claim victory, trade, and end turn.
And of course you see the dice.
Top right is the chat box.
All of this again is simply for inspiration and not for copying. This gives you a great idea of a fleshed out game and how it could look on a handset.
This is a trade window.
Two things of note here. First notice the top left. WHen a player gets cards on a roll, they show up face up for a brief moment. GREAT idea if possible to implement something similar.
Secondly, bottom right is what appears to be a chart. That shows how many times a number has been rolled. This is more advanced than what we'd need, but an interesting idea and prob easy to implement.
Now on this one a couple things to point out. Look at how they do cities and roads. Similar to what you've suggested. I was thinking maybe circles with symbols on the top (kind of like tokens or markers). Of course maybe more intricate and detailed models could be added later.
Also, that speech bubble that popped up shows where the person played their road or city or settlement. This is ESSENTIAL in some form or another on this game. Plan to include SOMETHING like it.
And lastly, this picture shows what it looks like when a person trades succesfully. Again not necessary but certainly handy.
I must repeat again that I DO NOT CONDONE OUTRIGHT PLAGIARISM with anything Asobrain has done. This is purely for inspiration and research. This should give you PLENTY of ideas!
I've got tons!
This is a beautiful start. Couple thoughts.
- The desert color isn't clearly distinct from wheat.
- The name will have to be something other than "Settlers of Catan". I'd avoid the current name for two reasons. One, a lot of us will take some degree of exception to the Satan reference. Two, it's not really different enough to dodge trademark concerns.
- I despise needing to scroll around in a game to see everything. This is my main complaint with "Pirates & Traders".
- On such a small screen, keep the UI as simple as possible. AsoBrain is wonderful. But, it is designed for a largish screen. (BTW, I hate that he killed old accounts when closing registration. I was away for just about the exact period to get locked-out).
- As we proceed, I'd like to plan for a multi-device/network play. This game would be awesome in a peer-to-peer, networked model.
Thanks for getting this started.
P.S. I *REALLY* like how you did the board. The buttons: meh. The board: Wow!
GinoAMelone said:
This is a beautiful start. Couple thoughts.
- The desert color isn't clearly distinct from wheat.
- The name will have to be something other than "Settlers of Catan". I'd avoid the current name for two reasons. One, a lot of us will take some degree of exception to the Satan reference. Two, it's not really different enough to dodge trademark concerns.
- I despise needing to scroll around in a game to see everything. This is my main complaint with "Pirates & Traders".
- On such a small screen, keep the UI as simple as possible. AsoBrain is wonderful. But, it is designed for a largish screen. (BTW, I hate that he killed old accounts when closing registration. I was away for just about the exact period to get locked-out).
- As we proceed, I'd like to plan for a multi-device/network play. This game would be awesome in a peer-to-peer, networked model.
Thanks for getting this started.
P.S. I *REALLY* like how you did the board. The buttons: meh. The board: Wow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Agreed, the desert should be a tan, and wheat clearly a gold.
2. Also agree. It cannot even closely resemble Settlers. We can worry about the name when we have a game worth naming (I was thinking something like Travista, or something resembling travelers).
3. That is why it'd also be prudent to include a pinch to zoom or zoom controls. Let the player get in close if they wish, or let them sit way back and view it all from a distance.
4. Agreed. Simple yet elegant/complex in its design is what I'd like to see. Again give the player the option of getting as complicated as they wish. This can be easily accomplished with tabs that the player can pull out as needed. The only thing that should remain on the screen is the players hand, and a few essential buttons. Look at a game called PocketEmpires, use that idea for assembling tabs. I do feel that certain tabs should be entirely devoted to one type of action (like a building tab).
5. Once you have a basic game framework laid, you can work on making it work across the board and with all devices. The dev should focus on getting it to work native first, then move onward. As for a p2p network GREAT IDEA! If there is a way we can link this either by device or via a server that'd be the best way. Allow players to run through an entire game, or let players take their turns and move on to another player (IE pass it back and forth via notifications, similar to how Scrabble works on the iPhone).
I only wish I knew any code/dev tools to help with. All these ideas and nothing to do about it!

[GAME] Run Your Playlist [BETA TESTERS NEEDED]

I started playing around with some libraries and came up with an idea for an infinite scroller style game.
The story is still in the works, but the basic idea is to rescue songs from being locked away, something like Fahrenheit 451, by collecting timers to keep the song playing.
It uses songs from the device, and there are in-app purchases to load custom characters and maps. If a song is lost three times, it becomes locked and there is Facebook integration to unlock it. This is done by having someone who won a song by the same artist respond to your request for help. You can also post generic help requests to your wall, or send someone a request without being asked. There are achievements for different things like that, but those are still being added for a general leaderboard.
Overall, it is a ton of different ideas that are turning into a game. The custom character and custom maps options are fully working. I will add tutorials for how to make the images if anyone is interested before I get a site together for it.
The game is free on Google Play and has a beta testing option, and new updates are being released almost daily.
Game: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.loungecat.runplaylist
Beta Testing https://plus.google.com/communities/114550766382835608804
All the functionality for the basic game is now present. The next step is to add tiers to levels so you aren't always running on the ground. There is only one map, but more are in the works.
All the Facebook stuff works, and scoring is complete. A lot was done to speed up loading as well. Loading custom maps and players now have fancy selection menus.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
nice !! thanks for sharing
The next major update is not far off. It will include floating layers to jump onto, custom maps will support loading a custom physics object similar to what will be available in the default maps, and items will respond more like their visual shapes. Running and jumping have been improved. The timers are less lagged. A loading screen will now show while resources are loaded. Better menus are coming next, along with more extensive levels.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Improve the quality of graphics. Make an attractive icon. Add videos.
ipkapu said:
Improve the quality of graphics. Make an attractive icon. Add videos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must have missed the notification for your donation because those look a lot more like demands than requests.
Edit: On a more serious note, those will come after the game functionality is fully established. I will be starting a kickstarter project to fund graphics and level design. Right now they are all homemade drafts.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
The icons will be updated for that next release. The previous icon is now a placeholder in the menus and the new icon is more colorful.
I am working on more interesting levels but I can't seem to decide on how I want it to look. I was going for a city type but nothing is quite falling into place yet.
The tutorials for loading custom maps and avatars are on the way. At least then it will open those up for not being limited by my current versions.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Version 2.0 was released. Using the main menu will allow turning off the parallax (infinite scroll) option to use actual maps. Maps contain tiers that can be jumped onto and joystick controls instead of buttons.
The base functionality is now mostly complete and levels are being designed. Graphics and improved menus are coming next.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
good
I may have gone a little overkill on customization options. The game now supports tablets and the display was tweaked to fit everything better. With that working, there are now selectable coin designs to fit custom maps. When you select a map, you can also select a physics file for your "tier". The box that will appear allows you to set the x, y, height, and width of the tier from your map sheet for the physics to reference.
The map sheet image and map must be in the same place, or at least the same top-level directory. This means if your map is "sdcard/mymap.tmx" there should be either a "sdcard/mymapimage.png" or "sdcard/subdirectory_set_by_tmx/mymapimage.png" with it. The physics xml file can be in another location with another name and still work. The game will pull your map image automatically when the map is selected based on the file names in the tmx. This may be changeable in the future but that requires even heavier editing of the game engine, so it's a small price to pay.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
I started a Google+ community for beta testing. This will open up availability to test new versions before they roll out to the public. Hopefully this will help to get more precise feedback on what improvements people would like to see before the new versions of the game are published.
https://plus.google.com/communities/114550766382835608804
The game is undergoing a slight rebuild. Gameplay will not require collecting the coins to keep the music going. This placed a limit on where coins could be placed and made first time play relatively short. It also caused unnecessary breaks in the song. Instead there will be a goal to reach before the song ends.
With this change, I can now support multi-directional running, including levels that now contain much higher ceilings. This will expand the world greatly. This update is currently in progress and the betas should roll out shortly.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
The next version is being designed with augmented reality levels. The game engine doesn't support this functionality so it's currently being designed for this game. That should put a new twist on things and help overcome background shortcomings for now.
The levels also include random placement on the map to reduce repetition when the map isn't changed. Most songs will come nowhere near using the entire map. The base map is equivalent to roughly 20 minutes of consecutive play.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[GAME][2.3+] What City 1.2.1

I am proud to present my very first App release:
What City - The Travelers Quiz is a quiz game with Google Street View panoramas. You have to guess a city from a random Street View panorama. You get to choose the cities you want to play with. Any city with Street View can be added.
It's free and for now also ad-free, since this is mostly a hobby project and learning endeavour.
Since there is no Android native Street View Api yet, the gamescreen consists of mainly a browser window with JavaScript running inside. It works, though it is not a very smooth solution. On older devices animations and can be quite slow, but most notably on larger screens panning and zooming the Street View causes a lot of lag. The main hurdle I had to tackle was the communication between Java and Javascript and getting a correctly layouted WebView independent of pixel densities and Android Versions.
Being new to Android, working my way around different behaviors of different API versions was something I did not anticipate. I would have expected more general convenience (think Visual Studio, or QT Designer), that hopefully will be delivered with Android Studio.
I'd be happy, if you'd give it a try and I would love to hear your comments on what could be improved about my game.
Thank you!
nice game, bit tricky to us

[GAME][2.3+] What City 1.2.1

I am proud to present my very first App release:
What City - The Travelers Quiz is a quiz game with Google Street View panoramas. You have to guess a city from a random Street View panorama. You get to choose the cities you want to play with. Any city with Street View can be added.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eldev.whatcity
It's free and for now also ad-free, since this is mostly a hobby project and learning endeavour.
Since there is no Android native Street View Api yet, the gamescreen consists of mainly a browser window with JavaScript running inside. It works, though it is not a very smooth solution. On older devices animations and can be quite slow, but most notably on larger screens panning and zooming the Street View causes a lot of lag. The main hurdle I had to tackle was the communication between Java and Javascript and getting a correctly layouted WebView independent of pixel densities and Android Versions.
Being new to Android, working my way around different behaviors of different API versions was something I did not anticipate and that cost a lot of time in the end.
I'd be happy, if you'd give it a try and I would love to hear your comments on what could be improved about my game.
Thank you!
this is a very interesting idea!
i like the pre-defined lists idea very much, and hope they (e.g. world capitals) can be expanded to more cities in future versions (or maybe user-customisable)..
just some minor isses to report:
(1) the help box cannot be displayed correctly in my n5 kitkat 4.4.2.. the "The Game" text gets cut off on the upper part..
(2) typo on Help > "Edit Cities" section.. the last sentence "If not, readd it with blah-blah.."
all in all, a very nice work.. thx!
iamelton said:
this is a very interesting idea!
i like the pre-defined lists idea very much, and hope they (e.g. world capitals) can be expanded to more cities in future versions (or maybe user-customisable)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for giving it a try and for your kind words. My plan is to make the lists shareable between users, but this will take some time.
Update to 1.2.2
By user request the new version brings a new preference, that allows you to disable the sticky images in the background.
As always: Any feedback on the game is highly appreciated.
Update to 1.2.3
I only find time on weekends to work on this. The update to 1.2.3 brings:
Improved loading times making the game feel more responsive, through better prefetching.
A less clotted layout.
Give it a try and let me know, if you like the improvements.
New Version 1.3.0
The new version comes with a completely overhauled design. Let me know, what you think of it!

How we made the game. Our story.

Hi everyone! I’d like to tell you the story about the creation and release of our first game. I will tell you a little about our company’s background and the difficulties that we encountered during the development. I hope our story might be useful to you too.
It all started a few years ago when my brother built up a team of like-minded people who were eager to create, and this was then expressed in the creation of animation and computer graphics for various projects. The team eventually grew, as well as the number of orders from clients. Then there was a point when we decided to create our own game project. Thus, we began a long preparation process. Unfortunately, our existing knowledge base was not enough to start the project. New volunteers joined the team, the learning process started, and the project began to acquire its first outlines. The result was a prototype of Crocks Hunter, a 2D platformer.
The plot of the game was as follows: Crocodile-aliens arrive on Earth to steal the Moon from earthmen. The main characters of the game (a boy or a girl, depending on player’s choice) must go through six different locations (desert, jungle, lava, water world, ice jungle, and fairy forest), and catch — not kill, the game is absolutely violence-free and child-friendly — all the Crocodiles into boxes which are used sometimes for some puzzles, and then defeat the final boss. One of the graphics features of the game is that 3D character models were rendered into 2D to make more complex, natural and fancy animations and to keep the high quality of the overall picture, along with a light-weight installation file.
Initially, the project was planned to be released for mobile platforms, but as the development progressed, it was decided to release it for PC, and then for Nintendo Switch. This was due to several reasons. Firstly, mobile game publishers are into the free2play game model, for which platform games are not quite suitable, although we figured out how to monetize the game, and to draw the player’s interest to micro-transactions. Secondly, in order to enhance the visuals of the game with various effects, we would have to sacrifice the performance. Therefore, it was more interesting to release the game on PC and consoles but at a set price. One of the publishers suggested that we release an update with six levels and two bosses once a month. Thus, it would be possible to retain the player for a long time, but so far we have not tried this model. Although, who knows, maybe you will?
We temporarily froze the Crocks Hunter project but did not abandon it. We are writing new documentation, and designing new levels. We are open to cooperation with investors and publishers to make a global bestseller together.
Currently, we are working without an office, so the whole team works remotely. In order to complete the project and make it at a high level, we would need to gather all the team members in one place, and this requires funding. So we started looking for investors. Many publishers appreciated the great potential of the game but would invest in the project after it being fully fledged and ready for release. As it turned out, Russian investors are afraid of the gaming industry, and they are completely unready to invest in it. Perhaps, this is due to their not understanding the potential and the specifics of the industry. Many foreign investors simply don’t work with Russia. At some point in our search for investors, we were stumped. The team could no longer work on pure enthusiasm. Some team members quit. Some began to slow down the main process, saying that they’d prefer to take orders as before than “work for the fairies and unicorns”. But some determined team members still believed in the project and continued to create it. So this is how the PUSHINGAMES company was created.
Unfortunately, there is no “book for dummies” on how to achieve success from the beginning to end in video games industry. The information you may find on the Internet is very superficial. Therefore, look for according courses, literature, or even better, find some competent mentor who will guide you. Our mentor was a game designer Konstantin Savochkin
One evening, when we were discussing some details, we decided to create a little something to distract ourselves, and came up with the “Quick Week” project. The main goal of which was to create and release one mini-game within a week. It took a couple of days to write game design documents and calculate P & L. Meanwhile, our artists already made the first sketches and prototypes.
We really like the examples of the Nintendo and Marvel universes when the story of one character is woven into the story of another, thereby creating fascinating endless worlds. Maintaining the heritage of the “Crocks Hunter”, we chose the main character to be a crocodile. The result was Jumping Crock: Jellyfish Attack, an arcade retro jumper for mobile platforms, designed in the style of space comic books of the 80’s .
Download link on GooglePlay: Jumping Crock Jellyfish Attack
In total, we spent around $600 to create the game, excluding licenses and developer accounts. We spent most of the budget on localizing the game and its description in 12 languages, including Russian.
To do the translation job, we chose a small but very responsible team — Locnloader a pool of freelance video game translators with 8 years of experience and voice over actors collected in one place. They specialize in indie-games and such small teams as ours, and that affects the price in a good way. For a reasonable price, they did us translations within 2 days. Moreover, they helped us with the ASO description text and edited it to sound a little more adequate, which is sometimes hard when it comes to repeating many same keywords in one small text. What I personally liked is that their team manager had some understanding in game design (and even took a course in it), and a little in ASO. That’s what I call speaking the same language!
We are very proud of the music in our arcade in particular. We love rock! There is 8-bit Space Rock music in the game. It was written by a wonderful musician, composer, and our cousin Yevgeny Protopopov. The music takes you back to the past, especially if you played Battle Toads and Tanks as a child.
Since we created the project with our own money, the payment to our specialists for the work done was extremely symbolic and incommensurable with the level of their professionalism. Therefore we are immensely grateful to our team and believe that without them we wouldn’t succeed.
In order for the project to be successful, it is very important for the team to have a Team Lead, who could drive this train, per aspera ad astra. In our team, that would be my brother Nikita.
Many companies could have achieved well-deserved success, but they never reached it, stopping halfway through. The history of the company with the fruit on the logo is the lodestar for us on how to do things.
Of course, you always want to do something unique and ambitious like Crash Bandicoot. You might want to make the game more complex by adding many different features and mechanics, but it’s better not to do so. Make it easy! The process of creativity absorbs you. You always want to add something else, when almost everything is ready. It’s best to concentrate on the main idea and actually bring it to life, and after the release, just make an update. By making game updates after the release, you maintain players’ interest and make your app appear at the top of the search results in application stores. In the long-term development of your project, it’s very important to take a detached view. Do beta and alpha testing. Of course, this is a bit like parent-teacher nights at school, when they scold your beloved child, and it can be painful, but it will be good for you.
We made our game free-to-play. We were looking for ads SDK for a long time, and we stopped at the companies:
● Appodeal
● AdMod
As the saying goes, “Creativity is great, but sometimes hunger takes over”. The most important thing is to remember who we are doing this for. We believe that a player should stay immersed in the game as long as possible, without being disturbed by ads in the heat of the moment. And of course, you can’t go without them at all. Use all available services of GooglePlay and AppStore, in-app ads, Achievements, and Leaderboards.
After we published our game in stores, the hardest part began — promotion. Promoting the project itself is also very important. You can create a masterpiece, but in order for it to become a bestseller, you got to try your best. How can you do it when there is no budget? To accumulate link mass, you can write articles in the media and various forums. But as practice has shown, there is nothing better than word of mouth. Bloggers, YouTube and streamers are such goodwill ambassadors. Each of them makes game reviews in their particular style. Find the one you like and persuade them to do a review for free. However, you are unlikely to have luck on this one (we haven’t). Russian bloggers ask for two to three times more money than their foreign counterparts, by the way.
Before releasing your game, create your info channels and use cross-references between them. It works! We use:
● Facebook
● Twitter
● Youtube
● Instagram
● Yunoia
● Bridget Loker
● Telegram channels and chats.
Now let’s get to the final part — working with app stores and how we published our game.
Google — everything is quick and easy. The main thing is to make an agreement with your conscience and not to sign Coppa.
AppStore —an application is being checked for a long time. It feels like an eternity. But in fact, it takes a week for them to check it, despite them saying 24 to 48 hours.
Amazon — quick and easy.
AppScater — as soon as you publish on the main stores, you can start invading Greater China. Appscater is there to help you.
So it goes.
P.S.
Once again I want to say thank you to my team. And please, don’t forget to try and play our game
The author of this article and chief marketing officer, one of the brothers, Artem Pushin.
Love your journey from starting to till today. Thanks for your post. :good:
Сongratulations on the release! I would like to read about promotion steps, if you did any, except social networks cross-references..
Love it!

Categories

Resources