Messages

1

Game Art / Game Graphics, UI, Tilesets, Animations....and some Free Stuff to get started!

« on: February 06, 2015, 03:37:41 pm »

Hello, Stencylers!  I've been working on something that is sure to help some of you who are less than comfortable creating your own art assets.

www.appdevgraphics.com

After years of working in the mobile app industry as a freelancer, I've built a site that will offer:

-Premade Template Sets
-User Interface assets
-Buttons
-Reuseable Animations (built with Flash)
-Tilesets for unique level design

The site is still fairly new and I'm working on new assets all the time.  If you want to try my stuff out at zero risk, visit the site and grab my FREEBIE PACK!  This free file contains dozens of .png files created by me, to use freely in your games.  If you ever decide to purchase the full packs that I create, you'll receive the raw working files from Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop so that you can really take control over the foundations I'm creating.

I love building games, and hopefully this will help clear some hurdles that have been bothering you.  Stay tuned for lots more graphics (and some free stuff for you guys) in the future!

A general working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop is recommended to get the full benefits of these template packs.

Other Notable Site Features:
-Email subscription that will allow me to update you when a new Pack or Freebie is available!  I hate spam as much as you do, so no worries about having your inbox blown up.
-Site blog containing Tips & Tricks for working with graphics, site news, etc.
-Community area where you can submit screenshots of games you are making that have used any of my graphics.  Other users can comment on your work and come play it in the Stencyl Arcade if you link to it!

2

Ask a Question / Re: In Game Timer Pause Problems.

« on: March 05, 2014, 09:13:38 pm »

Instead of using (Do After x Seconds), try creating a Number Attribute called Game Timer (or whatever you want).

Initialize Game Timer to have a value of 0.

Now, set up a (Do Every 1 Second) block:
   If [not paused]
Increment [Game Timer] by 1.

This means that the timer will not go up while the game is paused.

Now you can set up your waves to come in once Game Timer = whatever number you choose.

3

Windows / Mac / Flash / HTML5 / Special Delivery! A delivery game in spaacccceeeeee

« on: March 01, 2014, 08:04:44 am »

***  http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/24803  ***

This is a project I sat on for a very long time as I was learning Stencyl.  I finally wrapped up this small game a few days ago.  There are definitely some things I would do differently now, but it was a great learning experience that really set me up to work on some more in-depth games that will be appearing later in 2014.

You are the newest recruit for the Outer Orbit Postal Service (O.O.P.S.).  They make deliveries across the galaxy, and they do take care to protect packages, but...accidents will happen!  Thankfully, you always have your laser cannon if things get too clustered, and you may just find some duct tape floating around that you can use to patch up any broken pieces of your delivery.  The client will never know.

Asteroids, BIG ASTEROIDS, drifting astronaut hitchhikers, and dive-bombing pterodactyls, OH MY 

Have a great weekend, Stencylers!

4

Chit-Chat / Re: Marketing and Advertising for your game - Do you guys do it?

« on: February 27, 2014, 12:40:06 pm »

Thanks again!
Those links will be really useful for me.
I will access them this weekend and for sure register myself there.
Also it will be really cool to see other people games.

Whenever I access "desktop games" or "mobile games" in here I see a flood of Flappy Bird clones. =(

Hope that fever will pass away soon.

I dont believe that its a good idea to use paid ads before launching your game.
Only if you are a big studio / producer.
But as a "wannabe" indie I do believe that the smart way should be:
Launch your title.
Wait for a few bucks to come (hopefully).
Then, if you are confident, invest in paid ads.

Maybe it will really boost your game income.
I did see a lot of those paid ads from King (Candy Crush) and Clash of Clans. and I still see them.

It might be a good thing to discuss with someone who already did use that kind of strategy giving us some point of view / tips.

Cheers!

I can't even begin to talk about how annoying the Flappy craze is right now.  It hurts hard-working devs whose games *might* have had that top 10 spot, but some random dude who has never done a game before automatically gets a great chart position because he is a really good copycat.  Okay.

True, I wouldn't do any paid ads until you have an idea that people actually care about your game.  Guage your interest and see if you want to do some ads for extra exposure.  Maybe you get lucky and the ad pays for itself indefinitely.

Godspeed!

5

Chit-Chat / Re: Marketing and Advertising for your game - Do you guys do it?

« on: February 27, 2014, 11:51:46 am »

It did help a lot!!
Thanks for all tips.

I have a to-do list in here - a few actually.
Facebook and Twitter are on it. But I didnt know that reddit section dedicated to indie games! Great thing to know.

And I do agree about pictures x videos.
Pictures can fool you out. You may see a picture and imagine a great game.
Then you go out and play the game and you do realize that it stinks bad.

As I am entering the "final stage" for my game demo, I am in a huge need to create those pages - Facebook, Tweeter and now Reddit.

I hope to increment it with a lot of info, knowledge changing, preview images and of course: videos!

Thanks for visiting my dev diary and for the progress complement.
More will come, for sure. I have a lot of improvements to be made.


And one last question:
Paid ads.
Do you know anything about it? Have you ever done it?

I think that if you do have a minor success (really minor) on the launch you may invest on some paid ads, like facebook.
It may boost your sales / downloads.
Am I wrong?

Cheers...

No worries man!  I need to be thinking more about promotion myself.  But anyway, the main subreddits that you may find useful are:

http://www.reddit.com/r/playmygame/
http://www.reddit.com/r/indiegames/
http://www.reddit.com/r/FlashGames/

People post completed or demo versions of their games, provide feedback, make devblog posts, and Youtubers will post their reviews of new games.  Cool stuff.

Regarding paid ads, I have never used them.  I have a few facebook pages that might have benefitted greatly from it, but just couldn't commit to the whole ad thing.  It may be something I look at in the future though.  Maybe another user who reads this thread will be able to give you a better idea about it.

6

Chit-Chat / Re: Marketing and Advertising for your game - Do you guys do it?

« on: February 27, 2014, 11:35:56 am »

I do think preview videos are extremely helpful.  Unless the game is from a trusted developer, many players tend not to bother.  Typically if I am wowed by some preview gameplay, I will highly consider playing/buying a game.
I always love to read dev blogs, so that's something to consider.  People enjoy that feeling of going behind the scenes on a project that they like. 

Dev Blog is a great idea. I always love to follow dev diaries.
So, when I did start developing my game I did a Dev Blog:
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,26644.0.html

But its range is limited to this site (Stencyl Forum).

The Preview is an excellent idea. People need to know your game besides pictures.
The game in motion is a great way to attract attention (or avoid, if its a bad game).

But where is the ideal place to insert that video preview?
I know that we can insert into forums, your web site, and so on.
But how to attract people's interest? How to direct them to your video?

Ah yes, I have read a few pages of your dev blog every now and then...great progress by the way!  This exact format could be transported over to Tumblr, a Wordpress site, or even a Facebook Page dedicated to your game.

Regarding previews, I wish it was something readily available in the App Store.  Devs can make icons and screenshots look like the best thing ever, but it can quickly fall apart as soon as you start playing it.  And again, these video previews can be done on Tumblr, Wordpress, Youtube and Facebook.  I am leaving out plenty of other sites that offer the same thing, but you get the idea.

Reddit also has a subreddit dedicated to indie games/devs/flash games.  Just do a quick search and become active in the subreddit that suits you.

As far as generating a fan base, you just need to dig in and really start directing people to a place where they can follow your progress.  Never falter in your weekly or bi-weekly updates.  If you start a schedule, do your best to stick to it, and your fans will love you for it.  What you are currently doing on Stencyl is a great start, so take that blog format out into the world where people can easily find it.  Tag your blog posts appropriately for maximum exposure.

I hope this helps 

7

Chit-Chat / Re: Marketing and Advertising for your game - Do you guys do it?

« on: February 27, 2014, 10:53:26 am »

I do think preview videos are extremely helpful.  Unless the game is from a trusted developer, many players tend not to bother.  Typically if I am wowed by some preview gameplay, I will highly consider playing/buying a game.
I always love to read dev blogs, so that's something to consider.  People enjoy that feeling of going behind the scenes on a project that they like. 

8

Paid Work / Re: Space Dust - Needs Polishing

« on: February 26, 2014, 09:57:00 am »

Hahaha, well that's one way to handle it!  Good luck with your project.

9

Ask a Question / Re: How to make bullets (Already have downloaded) try to kill my actor?

« on: February 26, 2014, 12:19:35 am »

http://www.stencyl.com/help/view/crash-course-invaders-1/

The Crash Course is a good place to start, we recommend all newbies go and seek the knowledge it has to offer.

10

Resolved Questions / Re: Random Scene switch

« on: February 25, 2014, 06:47:19 pm »

Glad to help out!  Thanks for putting the finished code up for others to see.  One more quick thing that will help the newcomers is if you edit your thread title to say [SOLVED] at the end.  Really helps keep threads organized.

11

Resolved Questions / Re: Random Scene switch

« on: February 25, 2014, 05:48:14 pm »

What sort of code do you have that actually gives [Number] a value?

I would get rid of the [Random number between (?) and (?)] blocks that you have next to your scene transitions.
Try this:

If Mouse is pressed on start button:
   Set [Number] to  [Random number between (?) and (?)]
If [Number] = 1
   Switch to scene with name (?)

etc

etc

12

Paid Work / Re: Space Dust - Needs Polishing

« on: February 25, 2014, 03:16:12 pm »

Also a good idea to clean up the edges of your .png images.  Most notably around the edge of your player ship, just lots of jagged white standing out against the dark background. 

Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and any other program that allows you to work on layers will make this impossibly easy if you set it up right.

13

Ask a Question / Re: I need help on binding levels together in Run and Jump

« on: February 25, 2014, 11:10:57 am »

http://www.stencyl.com/help/toc/

14

Ask a Question / Re: Room Generating

« on: February 24, 2014, 02:45:29 pm »

There are plenty of threads about this already if you have a search.  There is even a user who has created a tutorial for the Flappy Bird system, which you could alter to fit your needs.

15

Ask a Question / Re: SCENE SIZE HELP

« on: February 24, 2014, 07:40:21 am »

Hectate should add Spelling and Grammar to 'How to Ask Effective Questions'. 

Not that anyone will listen.