I’m bored as hell, have no new ideas for games, and I’m out of gas in my car so no trips to the beach
L. So I guess I’ll give writing a postmortem for Telepoultry a shot. I have never really made a postmortem and still don’t quite know how to really write one so let me know how I do.
How it started:
Telepoultry was just a quick stupid game I wanted to make to keep the breakup between me and my now Ex-girlfriend off my mind. It was only going to have 5 levels but I doubled that, the art was going to be basic but it’s not now, and really, this game would have never seen over 100 plays. That all changed when Frank Valanzo from freeworldgroup.com contacted me and asked if I would make a small platformer for an easy $500. So I said I had one in the works already and Telepoultry came to be. Also, I didn’t originally feel like entering into this contest because I suck at contests but it’s here because whatever.
What went right:
Nothing at first. I had more bugs in the early stages of the game then there’s bugs in a dump. But I’ll get to the wrongs later. I had a lot of fun making the game, which is really all that matters right? It definitely helped me get my mind of the gal, and I got paid $550 plus royalties so sweet! Reviews I’ve gotten are mostly swell, people think the game is funny which is what I was aiming for, people liked the art which for somebody who has NO professional training it really means a lot to hear positives, people have mixed feelings about the sounds and music which is always good to hear because I know it’s something I try to work on, and quite a few sites so far have picked up the game. This is also a game I don’t mind adding to my portfolio for colleges, portals, and people can see and possibly be interested in me. So overall, yeah, this game achieved the goals I had set for it.
What went wrong:
Like I said earlier, a lot at first. This game was a pain in the ass to program because I was doing things I have never attempted to do. But the majority of the bugs were eventually ironed out and it became much more of the game it was supposed to be. Additionally, I also lost my most valuable play-tester, my now ex-girlfriend was an “average gamer”. She’s not really a gamer but I always got the most feedback and the most notes from watching her play. When she left me I had no one to test my games except my family but my family watches me make these games so they for sure know how to play and beat them. HOWEVER, out of this came the daunting task to “reconnect” with old friends, mainly girls because I’m somewhat of a ladies man. OUT OF THAT came friends willing to test Telepoultry as well as being able to mingle with some pretty cute girls, just saying

After the game was published which trying to publish was somewhat of a pain, I got mixed reviews and a few bug reports which when you get these and your sponsor says “Hey man, it’s got bugs….” You just sometimes want to punch a hole in the screen because you thought you fixed that one bug… After bugs and things were ironed out I started getting more positive reviews so it all worked out in the end.
What did I do with my $550?:
Hehe
J well, I had to buy the necessary things like a new mirror for my car, a new phone, and I had to pay insurance
L I owed my parents a bit so I payed them off and now I just owe my brother a couple hundred so that’s for the next game. I went on a massive shopping spree with the remaining ~$150 or so and bought a lot of cool stuff too much to list here and frankly I don’t think you’d really care. But man, bills and such, it really drags! I want to go back to when I was a kid and only worried about coloring in between the lines ya know? Lol, honestly though, because I’m nearly 18 and because bills just keep coming I’m afraid I might have to drop making video games for a while and look for a real job but we’ll see.
Overall:
I enjoy making video games, always will as long as I have some sort of stupid but fun idea. Telepoultry will be added to my list of games I enjoyed making along with the Mr. Tart series. I feel like flash is really dead so I might go into mobile when I find a legit job to support my sorry butt and yeah
J If you’ve managed to read this far here’s a hint, don’t tell nobody! If you press “7” in level select, it will unlock all the levels. You can do this if you find a level you hate or something.
Good luck everyone in the competition! I’ve seen some pretty sweet entries and look forward to seeing who takes the prizes! Avoir!