Dead Panic is on sale for 99 cents until Monday- Happy Holidays all!

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=326092201&mt=8

The next version of "Dead Panic" is now available!

"Dead Panic: Survival" adds:
* An infinite "survival" mode
* Four new maps
* Two new weapon types
* A money/upgrade system
* Multi-touch controls
* OpenFeint challenges and achievements
* High scores
* Upgraded sound and graphics
* Force feedback!

If you liked the original game, there is now more to love! If the original campaign was too slow, you will thoroughly enjoy the new survival mode.



"Dead Panic:Survival" is available now.

"Dead Panic" has been featured on the front page of the European app store under in the "New and Noteworthy" section.

To celebrate this achievement, I'm putting "Dead Panic" on sale for 99 cents!

The price will return to $1.99 as soon as the feature is over, so act fast!

Working on an update for Dead Panic - a survival mode, more weapons, and upgrades/feats.

I'm torn right now between hardcoding the upgrade effects in the classes, or creating a generic "effect system" that can be used to modify any property. I know what I'd *like* to do, but I don't know if the extra time (and debugging) will pay off or not.

I'm stuck somewhere between "plan ahead" and "YAGNI."

http://twitter.com/xsmasher

I use it for posting iPhone and Cocoa programming tips, and of course for pimping "Dead Panic."

Sooo... like the iTunes App store, except using the Starcraft engine?

Sounds more like Steam, except you get to use the Starcraft II engine - which, from the video posted, looks very flexible. Plus SC II content. I think it'll open up a whole new channel for indie creators.

still, you can't sell it as a stand-alone game, someone has to own sc2 in order to play your map, so its audience is limited by that

That won't be much of a limit - most gamers I know own a copy of Starcraft, and I'm sure SC2 will get similar penetration over time.

Hey I've got a couple of questions, I want to get into making some game apps with the iphone.(I've gotten as far as a design document, and some classroom hours studying Obj-C.)So here's a bunch of questions.
1. Did you code this in Objective-C, C or other language?

Objective-C, with some C required for the OpenGL stuff. Many people suggest C++ for speed, but I already had a background in C from some palm OS work and some PC work in the distant past. I didn't want to learn two new languages, so I stayed with learning Obj-C and have not regretted it.

2. How long did it take to code(duration/hours?) and/or how long after the first level did it take you to finish it?

It took about 6 months of working 6-12 hours a day, not counting weekends. The first level was playable three months ago - even with programming mostly complete you'd be surprised how much time art, animation, sound, further level design, and balancing takes.

3. Did you use a commercial engine to do this, or would you recommend one for 2d graphics?

Custom engine. If I started today I would probably use Cocos2D for this project - it was fun to learn OpenGL, but I spent a lot of time fiddling with pointers to arrays of vertices. I could have spent that time adding gameplay features instead.

4. What books if any would you recommend for an iphone game programmer?

I don't have any game-specific books, and no iPhone books were out when I started. I read the Hillegass Cocoa book (v2, since v3 was not out), The C book from K&R, and the OpenGL programming guide, along with many tutorials and messageboards. I list that stuff in my second blog post:
How to make your first game for less than $1,000

Hey! I'm sorry, but this has been bugging me... Do you ever get confused with Sean Maher from firefly?

Thanks for the vote of confidence on the trailer.

I'm not the same Sean Maher, nor ever been mistaken in public - only on the internet. I was the top "Sean Maher" in Google until he came along, blast it!

hey, congrats on the approval and good luck with the sales! also, loved the low-budget gamedev post on your blog (and the twist was the cherry on the cake;)).

/btw, I'll be a noob, but what's the 'iPod integration' feature, as mentioned in the trailer?/

Thanks - I promise to post more, it won't be the typical one-post blog.

The 'iPod integration' is just a fancy way to say you can play my music or your own during the game. It may not sounds like much, but a surprising number of games will mute your iPod music when you start, or won't allow you to start your iPod music while the game is running. It took an extra two days to sort this out (iPhone sound sessions aren't as easy as Apple makes them out to be) but I think it's worth it.

I wish I had an iPhone

Is there a video of it or somewhat? Would like to see it before talking about stuff I don't know.

Your wish is my command:

Hello, I'm Sean Maher, an independent iPhone game developer. My strategic zombie shooter, "Dead Panic" , has been approved by Apple and is available now!

I have some exclusive screen shots, not displayed on the Dead Panic web site:




Dead Panic has a 13-level campaign with a sci-fi storyline, instant loading/saving for quick games, iPod integration, and a full soundtrack. If you like the atmosphere of Half-Life 2 and STALKER, you'll enjoy this game. If you like popping zombies in the head with a sniper rifle, you'll like this game. It's getting a lot of attention on other forums so I know that people are enjoying it, I hope you do too!

Hello, I'm Sean Maher, a new subscriber and poster. I just finished my first iPhone game and am trying to garner some feedback and press attention - I quit my job at the ripe old age of 35 to make a game, so I think I have an interesting story.

My game "Dead Panic" is not a financial success yet, but I'm very happy with what I've been able to accomplish and I'm proud of the end product and the accolades it's getting.

Hopefully I will be able to post a happy Indie success story soon! I expect the situation will change from "no one will answer my emails" to "sites are fighting for exclusives" soon!

PS - I've also started blogging about my experience as an Indie:
http://deadpanic.com/make_a_game_1k