Status Report #16

     Finals week is behind me at last. My third semester of college is complete! I now have a full month to myself for game development and things will get done. While my brain recovers from a semester of college I'll be playing the new Zelda and watching some 3D modelling tutorials to get ahead since I have a 3D class next semester. DAZ 3D is free now and it'd be a good idea to master it someday.

     I intend to finish DragCore before January and get started with prototypes for my next game. August is approaching and I still have 3 games to push out. Not to mention summer school. Here's what I accomplished during finals week.

   Completed:

• 100 Twitter Followers!
• Updated TriGrid (iOS)
• New Monetization Strategy for Next Game
• Art Style Change for RPG
• Made Samsung Market Compatible APKs
• Edited DragCore Sprites (transparent effects/polish)
• Playing Zelda on 3DS (for research purposes)
• FINISHED FINALS

       Being more active on Twitter is paying off. I'm getting more follow-backs and likes on my Facebook page too. I mentioned the new idea for my virtual board game on an earlier post but didn't mention the small change I had for my RPG concept. For the RPG I want to have colorful, vibrant environments. I don't want dull colors and shapes that make me look like the average role-playing game. I want the environment to pop. One subtle way to do this is with a grass that is more teal tan yellow/green. It's just a small thing but thought I should mention it.

       I really need to get this Samsung thing settled now. My 100% Indie account glitched and I can't log in. The email confirmation glitched too because the confirmation button is missing. I'll just make a new account and try again I suppose. In other news, TriGrid for iOS has been updated fixing the pause glitch (closing the app during gameplay forced a pause that couldn't be turned off) and giving it a more high-definition app icon. Hopefully that should boost interest. The app store icon is the first impression after all. I'd give it a download.

      TriGrid is really hanging onto its popularity. I hope it passes even Fish Feaster. It really is my favorite game of all the ones I released. I'd like to see lot's of people try it out. If you haven't, try it out for yourself. It's free on iOS and Android. Let's see who's playing it.

   Downloads:

        In the last week I've gotten lot's of downloads for Fish Feaster Free. I'm trying to figure out whee the attention came from using Google Alerts and just Google in general. If anyone knows a way to check where your traffic is coming from, let me know in the comments.

   Revenue:

       I'll let you know when something interesting happens here. It's really the same as ever. You can't make much off a free game with under a hundred downloads (with ads installed). Fish Feaster Free had a recent update with an AdMob Banner installed and only about a 6th of the players have updated it.

     I wasn't kidding earlier you know. I really am playing the new Zelda for research. My RPG was originally inspired by a daydream about Minish Cap with Skyrim leveling which evolved into A Link to the Past with Legacy of Goku 2 mechanics. I'm timing how long certain quests take me, observing every little spec of polish, studying puzzle designs, taking notes on subtle tutorials, recognizing the pacing, analyzing world layouts, noting enemy design, and having a blast with one of my new favorites in the Zelda series.

     It's giving me ideas for the tiny things to consider that will make my own game great. It's a matter of looking at it and thinking not "I should put that in my game!" but rather "Why is this aspect so good?" so that I can find what truly brings out the most in an adventure.

     It won't be distracting me for long though. DragCore simply must be done before next semester. I need to get started with the board game and I could use a little income for textbooks. Let's see how far I can get with DragCore before my next Status Report.