Status Report #31

     Big things happening all week! It's been one of the busiest weeks of my life so far with an entire game being made, lessons learned, research done, and connections made. Nothing happened for Unicorn Quest other than a tweaked idea for combat, but a lot of things happened for Yotes Games as a whole.

     Today I'm attending my college's open house to help inspire freshman and convince parents that game development is in fact a legitimate job. I also had a change of plans and won't be attending summer school like I intended which may lead to Unicorn Quest having an early release.

Check out the Status Report below!

Review Request Email Templates

     Getting reviews is endlessly important, but you need to contact people to get them to see your stuff. Even when you do there's only a 1% chance they'll even notice you unless you have something mind-blowing to show off. When requesting reviews it's important to provide all the info reviewers would need, along with some spare download codes if necessary. Instead of giving friends & family freebies, this is where your free copies should be given out.

     I follow a basic structure just barely under the character limit. I try to keep it polite, humble, and easy to read. I'm  no gaming giant so I assume my emails merit an eye-roll when someone first sees my request. I really am just some kid submitting one out of a thousand apps that day. Someone has to sift through all those emails and I want mine to leave a good impression. Take a look at what I send out to people. It might give you a starting point or something to compare with.

Amazon App Submissions

     Amazon is really easy to upload to. I thought there was a development fee, but it's actually free. There's a simple and colorful interface that let's you put android, computer, or web apps on the Amazon market. Yesterday, I submitted my Android apps to the Amazon market so I could be more available during the holiday season. My android games were made with Unity and making them Amazon friendly was just a matter of changing the app store links in the main menus. I just hope my apps get up on time and don't get tossed back with errors. I don't have any Amazon devices to test on or money to get any so it's just wishful thinking for now.

Game Trailers: Candy Shop Catch & TriGrid

     I finally got around to finishing those trailers for my Android games. I can't do one for Fish Feaster just yet, but I'm looking into it. See TriGrid and Candy Shop Catch in action beyond the break.

Feels Good Man

     After Candy Shop Catch I feel like I've ascended onto a new level of indie development. It's like I leveled up and know what I'm doing now. I feel like I can do even better and really make something that looks polished and professional. And that's my next goal. Make a game that looks so good, people will doubt I made it myself.

     It's like I'm a level 3 developer now and I need to be level 7 to make my dream game. A feel  like I took a big step toward where I want to be. I'm going to keep running forward and improving until I know without a doubt that I can make something truly remarkable in the games industry. Big goals for a little fish, but this fish has got heart.
   
     I'm looking hard at Candy Shop Catch for flaws; things to improve on to make it look like the other games in the app store. I have a nice little list of notes I'm working on and I'll post it tomorrow when it's finished. Until my next game is ready, I hope everyone has fun with Candy Shop Catch!

Candy Shop Catch is Now Available!!

     Candy Shop Catch is finally available for Android today! Pick it up on Google Play!

     This is definitely my best game yet and I couldn't be any more proud of it. I accomplished everything I set out to do with it and now have something to show to anyone and have them pick-up and play. Try it out for yourself right now and see what I've been working on for the last five weeks!

Play Candy Shop Catch Now!

The iOS version is on it's way, just going through Apple's review process. Hopefully it won't run into the same issues TriGrid had.

Stuck on Apple Error Status

     In case you're wondering why TriGrid is not on iOS yet, it's because I found a pair of annoying glitches with the AdMob banner and my In-App Purchase Unity plugin. The banner never disappears and the purchase recovery button crashes the game. Instead of fumbling with these problems until I stumble across a solution (the usual way I solve programming problems that stump me), I'll just finish up Candy Catch first and fix TriGrid before beginning my next game.

      Candy Shop Catch needs to be out by November so I can start making money, validating to my parents that this mobile games thing is profitable. As of today, the game is completed and I'm getting it ready for the Google Play store. Once I can get a comfortable income, I can try to produce games with greater scale and polish. I really want that by January. I need to start making bigger and better games to prepare for the giant RPG I'll be starting next year.

Next Game Revealed! (Game #3)

     Candy Catch Shop is on it's way to iOS and Android by the end of October and I'm finally ready to talk about it! Catch the description of it after the break.