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[firstordergames]

Devlog 20 - Finishing Up:

I'm getting very close to finishing up Swipey Rogue. It is exciting to be near the end of the project. This past week I have mostly focused my time on remaining content. I have finished the last of the Challenge Saga rooms. There are now 200 Challenge rooms (50 in each of the areas). All 3 challenges are tested and tuned for each room. It is amazing to see all that content completed. It was part of my goal with Swipey Rogue to create a free game that is also loaded with designed content to stand out from other procedural score chasers. Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to.

VFX / SFX Polish:

There is a Chain Damage perk in Free Running mode that randomly applies damage to other enemies while you're engaging one (frequency and amount based on your perk strength). It needed to communicate more that you're applying damage to everyone so I made a lightning effect and paired it with a new zap sound. It's much more satisfying now!



Challenge Room Design:

This is the tool I created to speed up the process of designing Challenge Rooms. It has enabled me to create the 200 rooms in Challenge Saga mode. Without it, there's no way I could have done this. It was well worth the minimal effort to create and maintain it. It was important to me that Swipey Rogue shipped with a big chunk of designed content. Enough that it would make anyone say: that's a lot! As a free game, this is more of a demo of what I do than a money making venture. It's my first totally solo project so it needed to have some punch.



I usually don't like making tools when I'm working in a larger group. However, if I'm just making tools for myself I find the process very efficient. When it comes to using my own tools, I find I'm very flexible with accepting how the tool works and just using it. When making tools for others, too much time is spent finagling the usability and adding unnecessary features (even just talking about the usability and features takes too much time). It's like, as soon as I realize I could have already done the job with the tool myself in the same time it took to make the extra features to allow someone else to do it, I'm just done. It's partially why I went indie. I'm very over wasting time like that.



The editor also allows me to specify tile details like randomized prop placement and where random loot pickups are allowed to spawn.

Special, Hidden Leaderboard Challenge Rooms

While I was designing the final challenge rooms, I decided to hide a super difficult room in each area. As a reward, the room contains a non-random gem pickup (if you can get to it!). It also has it's own leaderboard (score), and an achievement for completing all 3 challenges.



I wanted something in there for the hardcore player that might get into the game and want some extra challenge.

Finalizing Hud Art:

Hardware issues have delayed the contract artist's progress with the Perk icons. We have a final design though. I love the look. Perk icons are used extensively in the Free Running mode UI so I can't wait to see them finished. Placeholders are in place everywhere in the game. When the new art arrives, it should be a quick swap out.



Thanks!

Thanks for checking out this week's update. I'm doing some final fixes and polishes on the game this week and planning to submit to the App Store on Friday. I'll keep you posted!

[firstordergames]

Last Additions:

I'm wrapping up here today.  This past week, I've completed the final little additions that were needed to the game and integrated the final art for the perk icons.  I've uploaded a final testing build (just so testers can check out the final game, it's already been tested internally very heavily).  When that test build is approved for testing, I'll leave it up for a day or so then upload the final build (with advertising enabled) that I'll submit to apple for App store review.  Then I'm back into Android land to integrate leaderboards, achievements, social share, and IAP to remove ads.  I'm hoping to release on the same day for Android and iOS.

I'm pretty excited.  It has been a long road.  This has been a fun game to make. I enjoyed the process of the game revealing itself to me.  I think I paid attention to it closely along the way and made sure to keep adjusting and adding what was needed to round it out into a full piece of entertainment.  I hope you enjoy it when it releases!

New System: Start Spells

I've realized that the Perk system is really the key hook of the Free Running mode.  I decided I wanted to create a way of rewarding perks beyond earning them during Rank-Up and finding loot drops that grant you partial perks.

SO, I created a spell system.  Spells are used once when you start a Free Running run.  A Spell is a collection (1-3) of perks.  The possible perks are random, and their strength is also random (on the low scale, nothing insane, but good starting values).



You select from your collection of spells when you start your run.  You can find spells as rare drops in loot crates, but you can also win them as prizes in the new prize minigame.

New System: Prize Minigame

I wanted to provide players with a way of gaining access to the game without having to beat all the challenges.  The challenges were previously the main way to earn Gems (which you need to unlock areas, and to continue).  While you could also buy them with gold you've collected, and also find them as rare drops, I wanted more of them in the economy. 

I also wanted a way of doing this without creating an IAP.  I don't like selling currency in game for money, it skews the game design too much towards screwing the player at all opportunities.  Anyway, I figured that I'd make a random prize minigame that you can play for a minimal cost (5 gems), or you can just watch a commercial to play it.  It seems like a fair trade to me.



So, you pay the 5 gems or watch an advertisement then 3 shields spin on the screen.  You pick a shield to uncover them all and see what's under them.  The prizes under the shields can be gold (range of value), gems (range of number), and spells.  It's a great way to get all of the above.  You can stock up on up to 100 Spells before your "inventory" is full.

Final Art:

The last of the artwork is now integrated and all the Perk icons have been replaced.  I'm excited about how they look.  It has already made me want to collect perks and spells more just to see them all on the screen.   



Demo Video:

Here's probably my last devlog video.  I show the new systems in action. 



Thanks!

Thanks for following along.  It has been a long road.  And thanks again to everyone who tested and provided feedback.  I'll post an update when I've got the final build uploaded to Apple and I'm just waiting on approval (or rejection).  After that, I'll post up a trailer video for the game. (I need to make that...)

[firstordergames]

News!

I submitted Swipey Rogue for review to the App Store this morning.  It feels nice to let go of it!  I was hoping to submit a week and a half ago, but I found some issues and there were still a bunch of little things that were nagging at me.  I addressed all the issues and snuck in some extra polish where I could.



So the current "anecdotal" estimate for review times based on appreviewtimes is 6 days.  We'll see how it goes.  I hope there are no issues.

Recent tasks

While fixing a couple bugs that showed up at the end, I put a little bit of time into adding some extra pizazz and animated movement to the menu events.  I wanted to make the prize minigame more satisfying, and I wanted to emphasize that beating challenges in Challenge Saga gives you gems.  Here's a couple work in progress shots I took while I was developing.





Promo stuff

I have only made development videos so far (devlog type of stuff).  I need to make some proper marketing / promotional videos next.  I'm working on getting the Android leaderboards and achievements working so that version is ready.  When that's sorted I'm going to make some trailers.  

I've started experimenting with short clips on Vine that I can share on twitter.  They don't embed here, but you can check out the links if you'd like.  I've made 2 so far.

Challenge Saga, Gadget Area clip:
https://vine.co/v/eHinVTPQE3z

Challenge Saga, Frozen Area clip:
https://vine.co/v/eHH1h0ZvgU3

[firstordergames]

Crazy News!

I'm stopping the App Store app evaluation because I couldn't resist adding a new feature.  I know, I know, feature creep.  Trust me, I'm the guy who always talks about scope and feature creep.  I'm laughing over here.  But it's cool!

Code Redemption System

I made a code redemption system for the game.  I wrote a server back end, made a new menu screen, and coded up all the save / load functionality for the system.  I'm super stoked on this.

Here's a quick pic:


How do they work?
- I configure prize codes on server outside of the game code
- I set timeout on each prize code, so they're only active for a period of time
- I share prize codes online, saying how long they'll be active
- You enter the prize code in the game, get prize
- (same code can only be used once per player)

Why's it cool?
- I can make new ones whenever I want and share them online
- Great way to give away free stuff in the game
- I can make prize codes for gold, gems, and packs of spells
- For spells, I can even specify exactly which perks and which values they have
- I can continue to interact with players (you!) after the game is shipped

I'll post a demo video shortly.  I'm happy I'm adding this.  I think it's kind of great.  I like the game so much more for it now.  1 day delay, but worth it IMO.

[firstordergames]

Prize Code Redemption System Demo

Ok, here it is.  I made a quick video to demo how the prize code redemption system works.  I can't express how excited I am for this feature.  The motivation was somewhat accidental.

I submitted the Android version of the game to a "pre-register app" to see how much interest it would get.  Most games that do that offer in game rewards (through prize codes) as a thank you for pre-registering.  I didn't have any rewards like that because I didn't know how to do it.  When I started researching it and came up with an idea of how I could do it, I realized I could pull it off and it would be a shame for it to miss the iOS launch.  So ya, I just went for it and made it, and I'm going to re-submit to the App Store. 

I cancel the App Store review at the beginning of the video! LOL

I think we can have some fun with this feature. And, it can become the foundation for a future system to do daily/weekly special drops from enemies or loot crates and stuff like that (post launch update, I promise no more delays). 

[firstordergames]

Crispy, New Screenshots

I made a bunch of new screenshots to update my press kit.  So nice to finally see the game looking as I imagined it.  I feel more confident sharing it every day.  Much of the final polish came down to the UI art.  Getting it all in place gave everything a cohesive feel.

[firstordergames]

Release Date Set!!

Swipey Rogue will be available for free on the App Store and Play store on August 27th!   

It has been approved for the Apple App Store which was my limiting factor for release (I want to release on iOS and Android on the same day).  I had previously gotten approval last week, but I found a major issue so I did not release.  I fixed the issue and resubmitted.  My first approval took 5 days, the second one took 6 days.  Because it's optimal to release on Thursday, I missed this week's Thursday even though the build got approved in time (it was past midnight Wednesday in Europe already).  Therefore I had to bump it to next Thursday.

Non-Dev Marketing Work

Making this game was basically easy.  I've made lots of games and I've also made several on my own.  Releasing a game is much harder.  The time I've spent doing marketing stuff is staggering.  Here's a sampling of the latest video work I've done.  All of this has been really helpful and worth the effort.

Launch Trailer

I created a sort of mellow launch trailer that focuses on gameplay and atmosphere to try to help sell the concept and feel of the game.



Teaser Trailer

I created a crazy, over-the-top, teaser trailer that I may modify to use for video advertising (if I can purchase any video ads anywhere that I can afford).  It is 30 seconds and features a lot of pizzazz and marketing schlop to quickly cover the game highlights.



Challenge Saga Mode - Gameplay Preview

I made a video of just gameplay showing how the Challenge Saga mode works.



Free Running Mode - Gameplay Preview

I also made a video of just gameplay showing how the Free Running mode works.



Thanks!

Thanks for the support from everyone who read and commented on this thread.  I'll keep it open to detail the rest of the process until all the versions are done (working on a web version now).  I'll set the status as "done" when it is released.  I won't believe it until then!  haha

[Pixel Noise]

Just found this, but VERY cool idea. The separate game modes (both designed and randomized) are a great idea I think. Also love the pricing/non-IAP model. Can't wait to check this out!

[firstordergames]

Just found this, but VERY cool idea. The separate game modes (both designed and randomized) are a great idea I think. Also love the pricing/non-IAP model. Can't wait to check this out!

Thanks for your comments!  Ya, I wanted to try to add a little more to the ("score chase", "single touch", "procedural runners", "free", "mobile") class of games.  I felt like maybe I could stand out if I actually crafted some designed content.  We'll see.  I think the randomized mode is what people will play most anyway, haha.  But I needed to make the designed mode to really hone in on the gameplay mechanics, then it was relatively easy to make the random mode by leveraging all the designed and already tested gameplay mechanics.

Hope that makes sense.  Overall, having the 2 modes helped me with design and production (focusing the game and the development on complimentary tasks).

Hope you enjoy it!

New Screens!

Some new screenshots for you.  5 days until release!  This coming Thursday it will finally be out.  Thanks again for every one's support. 

[EvilDingo]

Nice detailed dev log!

I think the UI looks really nice, but the gameplay is super busy. There are so many things on the screen competing for your attention. I think the life bars are too big and distracting. In a lot of the screenshots, I can't tell where the player is.

Shrinking the life bars would go a long way to making everything clearer, in my opinion.

[Dewfreak83]

I see your ads on toucharcade - how is that fairing for you? Any chance on doing write-up on your advertising efforts with the effectiveness vs. costs? Did you spend any money on twitter, google, or FB ads? 

Hope things are going well for you - good luck!

[EvilDingo]

Do they show up on Touch Arcade? The only advertising I used recently was AdMob. Generally, it's very expensive. I think I spent around $5,000 over a few weeks. I accidentally targeted users in Iran by selecting English language with a small conversion cost. AdMob *WILL* find an audience. So anyway, games got really popular in Iran but did little to boost the revenue earned.

I only advertise rarely. All of my successes came from building an audience very slowly. My flops would be a flop with or without advertising so you need to make sure you have a compelling game first.