Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #59 (Pause on Development... NEVER!!)

     After some playtesting with friends I'm eager to get another build out there! People like the idea of and want it in their hands. Battle Gem Ponies will deliver on its promise of an experience worth the $5 app store price. Things are shifting into overdrive since I need to get serious if I want it released on time. I may not have Build 4 up by Magfest, but it should be out by the end of the week after.

Come see how the game has progressed since Tuesday!

   Completed:

• Detailed Design Plans for Political RPG
• Magfest Plans
• Installed LibreOffice and OpenOffice on Mac (to access Word Documents and Spreadsheets without using school library computers)
• My Itch.io Account
• 6 Pony Cries (Normal, KO, and Ultra)
• Playtesting with Friends

     Lessons Learned:

• Betrayal can hit hard and it is devastating. Your team could end up spending all the Kickstarter money on alcohol and strippers like these guys.
• Focus game ideas around an aspect of life. Leave the players with a new outlook on themselves when a story is playing out.
• Stay Determined!

     After a ton of thought, I've decided not to pause development in favor of a shorter project. Weighing the costs and benefits of both projects I've determined that getting BGP out for the Christmas rush this year is more important than the press boost I could get from a topical project. I can always just release it next year with this year's election in retrospect.

     People interested in politics aren't going anywhere and even after elections people will be fired up about their candidate winning or losing. This gives me enough time to experiment and do extensive research to do this right. Plus, I can have direct links to a purchasable BGP that folks waiting for the new game can buy.

       I'll be attending a lot of game development panels at Magfest, and I'm very likely to learn some good stuff since Extra Credits is going to be there. I may even meet some very important contacts if it goes as well as BronyCon did. It's just too bad I can't go in with a big (even moderately) popular title under my belt. There's a one-hour game jam though, so maybe I can impress somebody there?

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   Downloads:

    I look at these numbers then look at The Witness and Undertale on SteamSpy and just dream... Dream of someday being a huge enough success to spend the rest of my days making whatever games I want without fear of going broke. It only takes one hit to get you going right?

   This week I'd like to thank a Mr. Rutger for joining Craig's ranks by donating $5 to Yotes Games. I'm having serious financial troubles this final semester so any amount of extra income goes a long way. Magfest is coming up next weekend and I already had to sacrifice the vendor hall money I saved up on a new car battery when my old one gave out after the Pennsylvania blizzard a couple weeks back. Getting out of this financial ditch school has put me in is why I have to get BGP out by November so badly.

    Featured:

     I'm gearing up to upload BGP builds to PC platforms other than steam like GOG, Itch.io, and IndieDB. You can already download BGP on Itch.io, but with the added bonus of it telling me how many people are downloading it. Very helpful in gauging interest. All future builds will be sent there. And when the final game is ready for launch, I can upload that build, slap on a price tag, and people can have it immediately. Unlike with Steam, Itch only takes 10% for themselves, meaning I'll have more money to put into my next game (or at least make up for revenue lost to taxes).
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   Back to the steady course now...