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[AlexVsCoding]

Hey Folks,

So I took my previously designed icon menu and binned it - Wasn't clear enough or consistent with the other interfaces within the game. Instead, I've opted for an interface which matches the main menu, as well as changing the position of the pause button. For this, I looked for the dead spot of the screen (Where players never touched) and realised the middle of the screen was the perfect place for this (As the players touch either side but not the middle).

There's a couple of things to do yet!
- Optimise the heck out of the game: There's a lot of stray objects knocking about within the project (I'd put a ballpark guess of about 1000) composited over the last 5 years. I'll be going through and scraping the project clean, refining the tileset down to one set and clearing out unneeded actors/animations. This one is going to take a while to sort out (Without breaking the project).
- Tweaks to death animation: I want to tweak it just a little bit more, potentially having the players flicker to their inverted colour before they explode. I'm also looking into the possibility of death sounds (Though these would be subtle at most).
- Removal of orientation stuff: I really wanted to get this function in, but it causes all sorts of stretching and snapping effects which aren't pleasant to look at. With the addition of the pause menu that would likely be pretty crowded with the number of options it has, I've decided to gut the previous plans.
- Credits: This section of the game hasn't been touched in a good while and could really do with some refinement (Is made up of two/three colossal images). I'll be trying to find a way to improve this.
- Languages: I'm going to be getting the basic chunks of text figured out for translation then getting in touch with my translators. This is going to be likely the most tedious component of the project, having to create an entire Fontbase to accommodate for the different languages it'll be getting.

I've got a commercial project in the works from September (Which you'll be hearing about soon!), so this really is crunch time for Narcissus. I've registered as a sole trader and I'm getting paperwork for both Steam and Apple sorted currently, so everything is coming together after a very very long time! No specific launch date yet but I'll be aiming to ship before September, giving me about 2 months to get the game done. I also have the terrifying prospect of my 8 year old Macbook starting to pack up, and whether that'll happen before I can export the iOS version!

Stay tuned for more stuff soon, apologies for the gap in between posts, since the last one I've done marking, visiting Portugal, moving to the other end of the country and losing the ability to properly breathe for 2 weeks.

I finished my job at the University of Huddersfield to focus on games development full time, which is a terrifying step but one that needed to happen. I'll likely write a longer post about this at some point!

[AlexVsCoding]

Hey folks, some new footage of narcissus in action.

Improvements include:

- Gutting pause menu
- New app icon
- New app splash loader (showing ways to play)
- Controller inverted by default
- Back button altered
- Tweaks to level select
- Level select added to pause page
- itch.io page gutted and rebuilt.

Things left to do;

- Payment methods (for App Store)
- Localisation (list of words in game coming soon)
- Get TestFlight working and start sending out press copies.
- Get website working again and rebrand (since it's awful)

Stay tuned for more soon!

[AlexVsCoding]

Oh! and here's the text for the game that I need translating!

NARCISSUS
PRESS TO START

START GAME
LEVEL SELECT
CREDITS
EASY
NORMAL
INSANE
LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE NAME IN LANGUAGE (E.g. Spanish = Español)

WHITE
MENU
RETRY
LEVEL SELECT
PAUSED
SOUND
COLOUR
TIMER
BLACK

THANKS FOR PLAYING!

The more languages the merrier, but here's what I'm aiming for (Crossthrough means done):
English (Duh)
Russian
French
Spanish
Italian
German
Swedish
Portuguese
Polish

Stretch Languages - (Harder since it means completely re-creating the game font)
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)

If anyone can help out with any of the above, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks

[alvarop]

[SPANISH / FRENCH ] (Alternatives separated by a comma)
 
NARCISSUS [ NARCISSUS / NARCISSUS ]
PRESS TO START (APPUYEZ POUR COMMENCER / PRESIONA PARA EMPEZAR ]

START GAME [COMMENCER LA PARTIE, DÉBUTER LA PARTIE / EMPEZAR LA PARTIDA, COMENZAR LA PARTIDA]
LEVEL SELECT [  NIVEAU , SÉLECTION DE NIVEAUX, NIVEAUX / NIVELES, SELECCIóN DE NIVELES ]
CREDITS [ CRÉDITS / CREDITOS ]
EASY [ FACILE / FACIL]
NORMAL [ NORMAL , NORMAL ]
INSANE [ DIFFICILE, FOU / DIFICIL, LOCO, INSANO ]
LANGUAGE [ LANGUE / IDIOMA ]

Español - Français

WHITE [ BLANC/ BLANCO]
MENU [ MENU, MENU]
RETRY [ RECOMMENCEZ, RESSAYEZ /  REINICIAR ]
LEVEL SELECT [ see higher up ]
PAUSED [ PAUSE / PAUSA ]
SOUND [ SON / SONIDO ]
COLOUR [ COULEUR / COLOR ]
TIMER [ TEMPS, MINUTEUR / TIEMPO, MINUTERO ]
BLACK [ NOIR / NEGRO ]

When there is an alternative, I put the one that I think works best first. Get them verified by someone else just to make sure, I translated and used my memory of games to use the "right terms"

[AlexVsCoding]

When there is an alternative, I put the one that I think works best first. Get them verified by someone else just to make sure, I translated and used my memory of games to use the "right terms"

That's awesome! Thank you so much! I've got some paperwork to finish over this weekend, after which I'll get these implemented swiftly.

[AlexVsCoding]

Hey Folks, quick update - Got the Spanish Translation done (Excluding language name/mispelling of sonido!)

Stay tuned for more and once again, any help you can offer would be super awesome!

[Tuba]

Still need help with portuguese?

Anyway, why not:


NARCISSUS
PRESS TO START [APERTE PARA COMEÇAR]

START GAME [COMEÇAR JOGO]
LEVEL SELECT [SELEÇÃO DE FASES]
CREDITS [CRÉDITOS]
EASY [FÁCIL]
NORMAL [NORMAL]
INSANE [INSANO]
LANGUAGE [LÍNGUA]
LANGUAGE NAME IN LANGUAGE [PORTUGUÊS]

WHITE [BRANCO]
MENU [MENU]
RETRY [REINICIAR]
LEVEL SELECT [SELEÇÃO DE FASES]
PAUSED [PAUSADO]
SOUND [SOM]
COLOUR [COR]
TIMER [TEMPO]
BLACK [PRETO]

THANKS FOR PLAYING! [OBRIGADO POR JOGAR!]

[alvarop]

Hey Folks, quick update - Got the Spanish Translation done (Excluding language name/mispelling of sonido!)

Stay tuned for more and once again, any help you can offer would be super awesome!

AND tiempo

[Geoff Moore]

Me and a friend just had a blast playing this, good job! 

[AlexVsCoding]

Still need help with portuguese?

Anyway, why not:


NARCISSUS
PRESS TO START [APERTE PARA COMEÇAR]

START GAME [COMEÇAR JOGO]
LEVEL SELECT [SELEÇÃO DE FASES]
CREDITS [CRÉDITOS]
EASY [FÁCIL]
NORMAL [NORMAL]
INSANE [INSANO]
LANGUAGE [LÍNGUA]
LANGUAGE NAME IN LANGUAGE [PORTUGUÊS]

WHITE [BRANCO]
MENU [MENU]
RETRY [REINICIAR]
LEVEL SELECT [SELEÇÃO DE FASES]
PAUSED [PAUSADO]
SOUND [SOM]
COLOUR [COR]
TIMER [TEMPO]
BLACK [PRETO]

THANKS FOR PLAYING! [OBRIGADO POR JOGAR!]

Awesome! I'll get that one added. Russian should be added soon!

AND tiempo

Tiempo I missed since I altered the text directly from time (So my mind saw it as correct, I even wrote it out incorrectly first whilst writing this comment!

Me and a friend just had a blast playing this, good job! 

Glad you enjoyed it! Shouldn't be long before you can give the full final version a blast, revamped itch.io website should be live in the coming month and the iOS launch should be live before September!

[AlexVsCoding]

To do list:
1. Update stars for backdrop - I previously had the background for the stars significantly bigger, but crunched the scale down ages ago whilst making atlases. I've not updated them in a while and I'll be doing some minor experimentation whilst remaking them.
2. Implementing languages - Currently have Spanish and French more or less implemented, have Russian on the way and Portugese to start with.
3. As part of implementing languages, I need to revamp the front menu (to make room for languages. To retain symmetry (3 buttons on top, 3 buttons on the bottom), I'll be breaking it into 3 categories: Difficulty, sound and language.
4. Players are sitting wrong way on credits screen.
5. Intro animation is a little snappy - will be looking at trying to smoothen it up.
6. Making sure every button in game makes a sound.
7. Showing the cursor on the PC build when paused.

I'll be cracking on with these today, I'll let you know how I get on!

[AlexVsCoding]

Hey folks!

Narcissus is translated into Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, French and English. I've secured translations for Russian, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish and Dutch. Also talking to a friend who thinks they can get a hold of a Korean translation and looking for someone to translate to Chinese. Going to get as many of these completed as possible before the end of today (Also need to get the menu re-done before I go much further. Watch out for more updates soon (Will likely aim to have a functional multi-language build on devices by the end of the day), I'll post up a video!

[AlexVsCoding]

Hey Folks, have controller support functional!



Here's how the controls break down:
Right & Left Trigger - Black and white jump
Right & Left Bumper - Black and white jump
Right & Left Hat (D-Pad) - Change Track
Up & Down Hat (D-Pad) - Navigate Menu
X - Confirm
O - Back
Triangle - Pause
Start - Pause

How I'm going to set that up to be functional with the existing menu is yet to be seen, but we'll see soon enough!

Currently experimenting with different scales for displaying the screen - Screen is creating all sorts of weird flickers and artefacts. I'll look into it and see if I can come up with a solution!

[Sitatop]

I have translated it into Swedish in case no-one has already done it

NARCISSUS
PRESS TO START [TRYCK FÖR ATT STARTA]

START GAME [STARTA SPEL]
LEVEL SELECT [VÄLJ NIVÅ]
CREDITS [CREDITS] <- I dont actually think theres a swedish word for "credits". I have only heard swedes say "credits" so I guess thats right.
EASY [LÄTT]
NORMAL [NORMAL]
INSANE [VANSINNIG]
LANGUAGE [SPRÅK]
LANGUAGE NAME IN LANGUAGE (E.g. Spanish = Español) [SWEDISH = SVENSKA]

WHITE [VIT]
MENU [MENY]
RETRY [FÖRSÖK IGEN]
LEVEL SELECT [VÄLJ NIVÅ]
PAUSED [PAUSAD]
SOUND [LJUD]
COLOUR [FÄRG]
TIMER [TIMER]
BLACK [SVART]

THANKS FOR PLAYING! [TACK FÖR ATT DU SPELADE!]

[AlexVsCoding]

I have translated it into Swedish in case no-one has already done it

NARCISSUS
PRESS TO START [TRYCK FÖR ATT STARTA]

START GAME [STARTA SPEL]
LEVEL SELECT [VÄLJ NIVÅ]
CREDITS [CREDITS] <- I dont actually think theres a swedish word for "credits". I have only heard swedes say "credits" so I guess thats right.
EASY [LÄTT]
NORMAL [NORMAL]
INSANE [VANSINNIG]
LANGUAGE [SPRÅK]
LANGUAGE NAME IN LANGUAGE (E.g. Spanish = Español) [SWEDISH = SVENSKA]

WHITE [VIT]
MENU [MENY]
RETRY [FÖRSÖK IGEN]
LEVEL SELECT [VÄLJ NIVÅ]
PAUSED [PAUSAD]
SOUND [LJUD]
COLOUR [FÄRG]
TIMER [TIMER]
BLACK [SVART]

THANKS FOR PLAYING! [TACK FÖR ATT DU SPELADE!]

Excellent! Was going to get it translated by my family in Sweden, but you've saved me the job. Tack!

[sinclairstrange]

I always keep telling you that I love this game, ever since I saw it back in i52. :D

-randomfriend...

[Shirsh]

Russian one:

NARCISSUS [НАРЦИСС]
PRESS TO START [НАЖМИТЕ ЧТОБЫ НАЧАТЬ]

START GAME [ИГРАТЬ]
LEVEL SELECT [ВЫБРАТЬ УРОВЕНЬ]
CREDITS [ОБ АВТОРАХ]
EASY [ЛЕГКО]
NORMAL [НОРМАЛЬНО]
INSANE [БЕЗУМИЕ]
LANGUAGE [ЯЗЫК]
LANGUAGE NAME IN LANGUAGE [РУССКИЙ]

WHITE [БЕЛЫЙ]
MENU [МЕНЮ]
RETRY [ЗАНОВО]
LEVEL SELECT [СМЕНИТЬ УРОВЕНЬ]
PAUSED [ПАУЗА]
SOUND [ЗВУК]
COLOUR [ЦВЕТ]
TIMER [ТАЙМЕР]
BLACK [ЧЁРНЫЙ]

THANKS FOR PLAYING! [СПАСИБО ЧТО СЫГРАЛИ!]

[AlexVsCoding]

Russian one:

NARCISSUS [НАРЦИСС]
PRESS TO START [НАЖМИТЕ ЧТОБЫ НАЧАТЬ]

START GAME [ИГРАТЬ]
LEVEL SELECT [ВЫБРАТЬ УРОВЕНЬ]
CREDITS [ОБ АВТОРАХ]
EASY [ЛЕГКО]
NORMAL [НОРМАЛЬНО]
INSANE [БЕЗУМИЕ]
LANGUAGE [ЯЗЫК]
LANGUAGE NAME IN LANGUAGE [РУССКИЙ]

WHITE [БЕЛЫЙ]
MENU [МЕНЮ]
RETRY [ЗАНОВО]
LEVEL SELECT [СМЕНИТЬ УРОВЕНЬ]
PAUSED [ПАУЗА]
SOUND [ЗВУК]
COLOUR [ЦВЕТ]
TIMER [ТАЙМЕР]
BLACK [ЧЁРНЫЙ]

THANKS FOR PLAYING! [СПАСИБО ЧТО СЫГРАЛИ!]

Awesome! Going to have a field day re-building the font to match this! Cheers for sending this over. Just finished re-building the menu system to accommodate the new languages properly, so I'll crack on with adding them soon!

I always keep telling you that I love this game, ever since I saw it back in i52. :D

-randomfriend...

Haha, you'll get your fix of Narcissus soon enough. Hilariously, our conversations on the backroads of the i52 event with you saying "Not finishing this game is not a fucking option" definitely contributed to me pushing to get it done! Hope things are going well mate.

[AlexVsCoding]

Hey Folks, Quick update:

1. Here's some footage of the new menu in action - There's some alignment to do, but it's just about there with the three categories (Difficulty, Track, Language).
2. Been experimenting with the background and have gutted out the old stars - They were compressed and looked awful. After a couple of experiments and iterations with different tools, I managed to find a happy medium. I also altered the speed of the parallax for the stars (So that the stars one layer back weren't moving at such a dramatically different speed to the foreground stars).
3. I've added a subtle gradient for the background to create some more non-obtrusive detail.

Going to be testing it on my devices this afternoon and seeing how what I've altered feels on phone/tablet. I'll grab some footage of both and get back to you!

Stay tuned for more soon!

[AlexVsCoding]

Hey Folks, quick update:

Been in Sweden for the last 2 weeks, so not much work done there (At least not on Narcissus!) I've got about 3-4 weeks to get the game shipped before a new commercial project starts, so the pressure is well and truly on!

Here's some stuff I've been going over:

- Languages: All languages collected except Arabic and Chinese. Aiming for getting at least one language a day implemented (6 done so far - English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese), so should hopefully have the rest done in the week!

- Fixing my website: Not only does my website for Narcissus look terrible, it needs renewing according to the company I use for hosting purposes (Currently offline). I'll be tackling that and gutting the current site to make it device compatible and more cohesive. I've also revamped my itch.io page, on which I'll be putting a new version of the Narcissus Flash game.

- Monetisation method: Upon my visit to Sweden, I had opportunity to meet up with some developers in Stockholm. After a couple of hours talking with them, their experience with the App Store and giving a couple of examples of other developers laid down a strong case for a freemium method of distribution with advertisements. I had previously been resistant to putting ads in my games, but when we talked about where the pressure to not include ads in games comes from, I realised that it's not from the public - it's primarily from other developers (The stigma of selling out). I'd always imagined Narcissus as a premium game, but from listening to stories of front page featured paid apps getting only getting hundreds of downloads against freemium ones getting millions, it seems hard to argue. With this being the first game I'm releasing on the platform, getting it into the hands of more people is priority. Obviously one of the issues of freemium is it doesn't guarantee success - you still need to get it in front of people (You can't make money from ads if nobody is playing your game). Thankfully, I've managed to pin down some useful contacts at Apple and have my press contacts gathered from over the last few years stockpiled, so I think a feature is in the bag (When the app is done!) The factor of localisation will also likely help spread it around the globe to different storefronts, so who knows how far it'll go?

Now I'm not going to be that guy who plays an ad every time the player dies, it's this kind of poor implementation that has given the option of in game ads such a poor reputation. I'm going to try and restrict the probability of them playing with a couple of variables to try and preserve flow:

1. Random Variable - Sometimes an ad will play, sometimes it won't. Nice and simple.
2. Range/Progress Based Variable - Upon death, your range or progress will be a contributing factor to whether you receive an ad. This is since the last thing someone losing miserably at the start of a level needs is an ad obstructing their progress. Depending on how I put it together, it may be raising or lowering the probability of an ad playing (e.g. Start of level, one in 25 chance of an ad/End of level, one in 5 chance).
3. Difficulty - Due to the rapid nature (And higher chance of death) in Insane mode, I'll be reducing the number of ads since the space of gameplay between them is less.
4. Number of deaths - If a player repeatedly dies at a section on a level and passes a threshold of deaths (E.g. 30), I'll over time scale back the number of ads to help them focus on beating it.

I'm not doing banner based ads since they constantly obstruct gameplay (And in the case of Narcissus can't easily be implemented since both sides of the screen are used), I'll be doing popup video ads and I'll be making sure that the ads used are as least obnoxious as possible (Ensuring they don't crash the app/are not unpassable unless clicked).

I'll also be adding an option to pay for the game to get rid of ads as an option, although I've heard varying success from this method.

At the other end of release, I'll put together a post saying how this method has gone.

If anyone in the forum has thoughts or alternative stories/outcomes, hit me up as I'd love to get some other thoughts on this.

More news coming soon!