Progress and Multi-Platform Capability

Huzzah! Finally the game is now working on both iOS and Android platforms! This is a major milestone. There is still a lot of work to do, but with the game now working in both platforms, user testing can soon begin in earnest. The project is moving along now nicely. The college deadline set for 9th of January is beginning to rear its malformed and twisted head over the horizon, extruding terror and confusion as it rises. While the final hand up will not be the completed game, the scope of this project has greatly grown out of the confines of the college deadlines. What is handed up in January should be a solid and reliable representation of the final game, containing all the relevant mechanics and the basic game play elements.

The game itself is steadily moving forward. Marco recently completed the important and necessary task of re-factoring the game code. This is basically some house cleaning and tiding of the code, eliminating duplication and generally streamlining and polishing the games engine. This will make it more efficient, less likely to bug and should reduce the overall size of the game. This has been completed and now Marco is fixing any unintentional bugs that have come about as a result of the re-factoring.

From the testing that was done during the game seminar a few weeks ago, one of the main things that needed to fixed was the control layout. In the earlier versions, the button layout was aligned along the bottom. As mentioned in a previous blog post, this is a big problem for a game like this. This caused the players fingers to obstruct the game screen, crucially the bottom where the player would see the rising lava. So to fix this they have been moved to the side of the screen. There is also room now for the scoring and timer elements to be shown on screen in a non obstructive way. The buttons have also been enlarged and coloured to make them clearer and easier to see. While the layout of the buttons is slightly less intuitive and a little different to that of the normal control scheme that many players would be used to, specifically the left and right buttons, after a short time the player should be able to accept the new layout. This will be one of the primary objectives of early user testing of the game. 

Meanwhile in the background, the final report is also been written. This beast is will describe the whole project in detail and shall be my constant companion over the Christmas break. It will be posted online for all to see and enjoy once its done.

On Business Models

With last weeks seminar still fresh in my mind, I've begun to consider the ways in which to sell and distribute Magma Surge. With the huge amount of apps and games now available, an effective way to easily and quickly distribute the game to as many people as possible is very important. Magma Surge will be distributed through the App Store and Android Market.

While browsing for software in either of these stores, the first thing thats noticeable is the huge number of games and applications available. The user is inundated with tens of thousands of choices. When someone wants to buy something that they have not played or used before, they are taking a risk in buying something they may not like. This can off-putting for users and is can be a significant factor in whether the game will be bought. The bigger the user base for the game is, the higher the chances of people liking and talking about the game.

The business model I think is most applicable to getting Magma Surge out there is the Freemium method. This is where the product is given away initially free of charge, with the full product being bought a later date. The most popular software that uses this model would be Skype. The program is free to download as are calls to other Skype accounts. However if the user wishes to call phones they need to pay.

Another common model, especially for games is to release a 'Lite' version of the software free of charge. This is usually a stripped down version of the final game with the first few levels demonstrating the main game mechanics and features. Later levels, extra content and other aspects of the game are either locked or available for download if the user pays a fee. These versions also often include built in advertisements that are only removed when the full version is bought. Many games use this method of distribution. Rovio's Angry Birds is the best example of a very successful game distributed using this model.

While the idea can seem a bit strange, and there is a large disparity between downloads and actual purchases, this method has the added benefit of getting the software out there onto peoples phones. Even if 1000 people download it and only 100 pay for it, that still means, for better or for worse, that a thousand people have downloaded and played the game. Financial success is not the primary reason for making this game, so this will certainly be a very educational experience and will be something I can apply to future projects.

Magma Article!

Very happy to say a short piece on Magma Surge can be found on game blogger Keith Cashin's website!

Keith asked me a couple of questions about the project and how it began. Please check it out!

http://keithcashin.wordpress.com/

State of Play Seminar Review

I attended first State of Play indie game seminar last Friday in DIT Aungier St. The event saw a range of companies and small developers describe their journeys of success or not into the independent games industry.

Some of the companies who attended included Weeman Studios, BitSmith Games, SuperFunPlay, Open Emotion, Redwind Software and Digital Arrow. For a full list check out the State of Play link. There was also a demo section where some people got to showcase and demonstrate their games. I was very lucky to have had the chance to showcase Mamga Surge and it was a valuable experience. While the demo segment was a little shorter than I would have liked, several people were able to test out Magma Surge for the very first time. I was greatly boosted by the positive feedback and return with renewed vigour for getting the game completed.

The main seminar itself was also a very interesting and entertaining experience. The different presenters all had unique and inspiring stories of success and failure. There was a lot of valuable and important insights into the world of indie game development in Ireland today. Notable speakers included Paddy Murphy from Open Emotion, a truly inspiring story of how an obvious messer can achieve great things. Open Emotion is a great example of how through trial and error, they have managed to build a successful game company recently winning £250,000 contract with someone we shall call their 'Benefactors'.

Owen Harris from Bitsmith Games was another interesting and ongoing tale of a very recently formed company going through the ropes. Bitsmith was formed by 3 members from my masters course who are working on a game called Ku. This is an action RPG for the iPad which is based on traditional Irish mythology.

Liam McGarry from WeeMan Studios provided and educational look into the inner workings of a company responsible for the highly anticipated Galactic Racer. Liam really demonstrated the importance of being a cheeky bastard and not to be afraid of chancing your arm.

One thing that the seminar really illustrated is what can be achieved with a limited budget. There is a huge amount of resources available to Irish game developers. One thing that can be said by our current government is their commitment to the development of this sector of the economy. The seminar finished with a panel discussion made up of an esteemed and notable people from the Irish games industry. This was a fun and informative look at the some of the people currently championing the gaming cause in Ireland today. One of the most memorable moments was the knowledge that Enda Kenny mentioned the fact that he had 'killed zombies in Dublin!'

Afterwards there was a shindig in the Solas Bar around the corner at which numerous pints were consumed over tales of conquering galaxies, starting companies and general banter.

Overall I really enjoyed the experience and look forward to taking part in similar events in the future!

Lava Animation

Iv been busy trying to create some interesting animation for incorporation into the game. Check out my lava bomb animation. This is for the planned lava bomb hazard. Anyone familiar with platform games should instantly recognise the type of hazard this is, the player needs to time their jumps in order to successfully avoid being struck. I'm pretty happy with it, I like the thick gloopy look of the lava. Now I just need to find the appropriate sound effects!

Early Smartphone Test

After a meeting with Marco, and some wrangling of windows and android, the very first smartphone version of Magma Surge is now working! It has a long way to go before any demonstration, there are a few control issues as well as graphical bugs that need to be fixed. However it is really cool to be able to see the game working on my phone. This is a major milestone and, despite the fact that it needs lots of tweaking, really shows how far along the game has come since it began.

The green boxes are the collision layer which is visible for some reason. For now the game is controlled using the directional buttons to move and the up button to jump. Experiments with the control scheme will start when user testing begins.

Obviously for this I had to go and purchase a smartphone. I decided an Android phone was the way to go as we already have an iPhone in the team, so now we could test the game on both platforms. So im now locked into an 18 month contract with Vodafone so I can have a nice new shiny Samsung Galaxy S2. And what a beaut she is too. So below are some screenshots of this very early version taken while being played on my phone.

State of Play Indie Game Seminar!

Magma Surge will get it first bit of decent exposure and promo at the 'State of Play' indie game seminar on Friday 25th of November.

http://www.gamedevelopers.ie/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6532&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=263900866990189

By then we should have some versions working on an a demo iphone and hopefully an android phone so people will have a chance to play the game. This will be a big deal for the promo of the game, so hopefully it gets a positive response. A full break down of the event will be posted afterwards!