42 days later…
This week’s blog is in four parts, pick which is least boring for you! (Game Progress / Other Platforms / Press / Music)
Game Progress:
So has it been submitted to apple yet? No…but I am barely working on the code now, I keep on playing it and then adjusting small things here and there…like today I added the games main character to the dull info screens, it’s kind of cute and funny, and stops the big wall of text issue…but I couldn’t really remove the text seeing as I think people need to know what they are doing if they know nothing about Japanese…
I think except for one bug that I am really struggling with that it is done. So the big button may get clicked later on today.
Well let’s hope so anyway, because yesterday saw me wake up at 2am, get on my PC, and except for a trip out to look at a flat, not get off it again until after 2am this morning! 24 hours of teh codezzzz, I is like demo party teenager hacker. So yes some sleep would be nice.
Other Platforms
I have also started in earnest on the Windows phone version, it has a totally different pricing model as Microsoft doesn’t allow microtransactions. I am also curious to try different models out, so on Windows phone the full game will be free with ads, (obviously you will be able to upgrade and remove the ads for a fee). I think because you need to spend quite a long time playing the game ads might actually do OK for it…but there is only one way to find out, and that is to get it out there.
I have to redo a load of code to support custom soundtracks, so that’s a pain. (yeah I know, it’s a music based game but Microsoft requirements demand that people need to be able to listen to their own music which will kind of break the experience…go figure, still I am excited to be releasing it on two platforms)
Which brings me to Android…I am not going to make an android version at this moment. The only reason is that I keep on reading that there are lots of different hardware specs, and the games that work on one, won’t work on the next and so on. I don’t have a phone to test it on, which isn’t so bad I’d happily buy one, it’s just I don’t want to release something that doesn’t work so well and get loads of bad customer reviews. If anyone has any experience with android releases using Mono I’d love to hear from you about how hard or easy it is to do. The initial investment up front seems very much worth it if I am going to be releasing multiple games, I just want to be sure I can do it well.
Press
I am forever grateful to someone at IGN this week, because over the weekend they posted the trailer for my game at the top of their mobile page. They posted it at the end of the day so it got a good 12 hours of being in the limelight! (note I didn’t email anyone from IGN for this it just magically happened after I posted the trailer on a mobile forum)
What does this mean? Well who knows, but I now have some awesome quotes for example this one:
MrScarecrow eloquently conjures up the might of his intellect and gives it a single word – “gay”
But along with the sea of standard internet trolling there was actually a lot of encouraging words, I also got a few messages from people saying it seemed innovative and they are excited to play it. There also are quite a lot of people asking for an android version, which I’d love to be able to provide at some point.
Anyway, all the support really meant a lot, I think the video is over 1.500 views, and has a bunch more likes than dislikes.
If anything it shows me it was worth going for something as crazy as can be, it might not be for everyone, but I guess it’s standing out!
Music
I was going to talk about music, but screw it I’ll talk about that next time, along with maybe some footage of Game number 2…maybe
springloadedgames.wordpress.com 
I stumbled across the mention of your program today and was interested. About 20 years ago I found some great Japanese music magazines (Burnn and Young Guitar) and wanted to read them.
I started down the Katakana and Hiragana path with some great books and programs, but realized that unless I was going to get serious and then keep it up, I’d never really master it.
So I put it aside.
But your app is rekindling that interest. I still may never master it, but if it got me on the road to some small level of proficiency, I’d be happy.
Good luck. I look forward to seeing the final result.
cool, I hope it helps you! I actually read some words the other day (which I guess you would expect seeing as I play the app so much building it! – that said I mainly play the first 5 letters over and over and over and over annd over…..)
Nice taste in music by the way. 🙂
its really cool that you’re doing a Windows phone version! i own both an iPhone and Windows phone (Nokia Lumia 800), but its rather disappointing how people would rather develop for Apple and Android instead of Windows, hence making the Windows marketplace a rather bleak place to look at. Looking forward to the release of your game, I would definitely try on both the platforms!
The windows version is pretty much done, but there are some issues with in app advertising I am trying to get figured out before it comes out. But I really hope it gets sorted out soon. I have a windows phone myself (my iOS device is an iPad), and think as a platform its excellent, I am sure as it get’s bigger more developers will start using it. Their development tools are nothing short of spectacular!
thats really great to hear! would both versions be out at the same time? yup i have an ipad myself, would your iOS app be universal? that would be awesome, so that you wouldn’t have to keep staring at that tiny screen =) when i have time i would definitely take a good look at the windows phone development tools myself too, as a programmer (in Singapore too).
yes I will be a universal app 🙂 A programmer? that is very cool!