Wrapping Up Unicorn Training

     Even a week after launch it's still not over. I severely underestimated the amount of testing needed for a game this complex. Bug fixes have been flying up all week at the drop of a hat as I hear about a bug from someone at least 3 times a day.

    Each time I think I'm finally done, but something else pops up as soon as I get ready to start my next project (the ever stacking amount of schoolwork doesn't help either). If something pops up I have o fix it because I don't want to leave a broken project behind. I want this game to have a long sales tail so it needs to be considered good in the long run.

     In terms of publishing experience, I finally have a concrete list of useful app stores to upload to. I also made a set of screenshot resolution templates for all of them. The artwork this time around was pretty good, so the next project should be a hit in that department. It's playtesting that needs to be kicked up a notch the next time I make an RPG.

     I also need to design a new control scheme, which brings me to my next project. I'm trying to make a small game within 4 weeks that uses a grid-based movement system that should feel much more solid than Unicorn Training's wonky collision boxes and movement.

    If I finally clear out the last of the game's bugs I can get started on that.

Get the (hopefully) bug-free Unicorn Training on Google Play!

Unicorn Training Weekend Sales

     It's an early status report but I'm sure some of you are as interested as I am in seeing how well Unicorn Training did on its opening weekend. It's doing better than I expected and my inner flame burns brighter than ever knowing that I have a real chance at being a successful indie developer! I don't see me making enough for a Macbook just yet, but I can expect my first ever payment from Google to come in next month!

Catch some rankings and numbers to satisfy your curiosity below the break.

Press Kit Trouble (It'll Have to Wait)

     I took a look at Pixel Prospector's list of indie dev press kits and starting thinking of ways to organize my game stuff in a professional way as practice for when I try to get big-time game journalists' attention. I thought that using the presskit() program would be as easy to use as Blogger has been for running this website, but it turns out to be more complicated than that and may even cost some money to run over the years. It's basically not something to be handled in the middle of a school week and I'll have to put it off until I have time to look into making a great game press kit.

     Making something nearly as nice as Shovel Knight's on a budget of zero is harder than I thought it would be.

Bugs... Bugs Everywhere...

     The release of Unicorn Training came with the expected nervous waiting for something to go wrong. In this case, many things. Being that I've never made a game this complicated, I had exponentially more bugs post-launch than I'm used to (with games like DragCore). I had some shaky internet access all weekend so there were lots of moments where I wondered what could go wrong next. The feeling disappears when I upload a new patch, allowing me to rest easy with the feeling of having a game that works. Too bad it's not permanent because I know there are some things wrong with the game that can't be changed due to the way certain systems were designed.