December 28, 2013

Another week and another update. This past week I took one of my paid games and started converting it to a free game by adding advertisements to it. The game is NUCLEI MOBILE and I had almost finished converting it when I ran into a bug with the game engine used to create it. I have submitted a bug report and it should only be a matter of time until the bug is fixed and the game is re-released for free. There will be no changes to game play or high scores as I am just adding advertisements and making it available for free. The next game I plan on converting to free is BALL FALL. Note that some app stores do not allow advertising (third party or some other form that I can use to get a return on my investment) in their apps so these stores will only have the paid version available in those stores. If these particular app stores change their policy to allow advertising in the future then I will update those stores to the free version.

I also discovered a big mistake I made on the OSRIC Character Creator. I should have created it using HTML5 so it would work in all modern browsers. Unfortunately I used a game engine that uses a custom browser plug-in that is not available on all operating systems for all browsers. As a result many of the potential users would not be able to use it. I am going to redo the OSRIC Character Creator in HTML5 but I will do this "on the back burner" while working on other projects. I may even select a different RPG that has an quicker character creation system and create the next Character Creator for it then use it to build the OSRIC Character Creator.

December 21, 2013

This weeks update will be very short and to the point. Those of you that remember last weeks update will know why. During the last weeks before Christmas I work a very large number of hours at my full time job (60+). This resulted in me not getting a lot of game development work done. Things should be back to normal starting late next week.

Since this is the last post before Christmas I will take this opportunity to wish all of you a very merry Christmas. May your stockings be full, may your presents be good, may you have many friends to enjoy them with and may you have a lot to be merry about.

December 14, 2013

To be 100% honest with you there was very little work done on gaming projects this past week. Why? Because the full time job I currently work at requires me to work a lot of extra hours just before the Christmas Holiday and as a result I ended up working much more then usual this past week. From now until Christmas I will end up working even more hours so I do not expect to be able to do a lot of game development until after Christmas. Despite this I still managed to make one more change to the OSRIC Character Creator (which displayed a license notice on the front page). I am getting close to releasing it (still hoping for this month) but I am also waiting for the people that produce OSRIC to have a look at it first (which they are currently doing) before I release it. I also have to give it the ability to save and load saved characters before I release it.

December 7, 2013

This past week resulted in more progress on the OSRIC Character Creator. I expect this product to be released this month (December 2013). I am having the company that produces the OSRIC rpg take a look at it before I release it to make sure and have their approval. I have still not found a way to print the finished character on a printer but I am still looking. I though I found a way before I started creating it but I discovered this week that I was wrong. Most of the other features are finished.

I also made some progress on translating games into other languages as well as submitting games to more new app stores. More of this type of work will continue into the foreseeable future.

I also made some progress on an Adventure/RPG game. I have two of these being developed at the same time and I do not know which one will be finished first.

One final note. I was considering offering a service of creating a customized jigsaw puzzle to customers. The idea was to let people send me pictures they wanted in the jigsaw and I would create a custom jigsaw puzzle for them. It would be HTML5 and thus run in any browser. I would charge $5.00 per picture to create it. If the customer did not have a web page to host the jigsaw puzzle I would host it for them for only $10 per year. If you would be interested in this type of thing then send me an email (link located below) and let me know. If there is not sufficient demand I will not spend time creating this service.

November 30, 2013

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly did. I made very good progress on various projects this week. As regular visitors can see by looking at the front page I rearranged the web buttons so they are now located on both sides of the page instead of only the left side. I also added a new link to my Pinterest page (you will find this on the right side of the page in alphabetical order). I plan on using Pinterest to show not only screen shots but also sample graphical assets (such as sprites) for future games.

I made a lot of progress on the OSRIC Character Creator this week. I completed the last major task (giving it the ability to create a random character with one button click). Now I have a few odds and ends left and it will be finished. I hope to publish it sometime in the month of December 2013. I have included another screen shot of the OSRIC Character Creator below (not to scale) which shows the race selection screen.

This week I also added translations for another game ( Par 5 Mini-Golf) to an app store (Amazon). More of this type of stuff will follow in the future. I am also continually looking for new app stores so if you have a favorite app store you use that my games are not available in let me know. I also plan on making a few more changes to the web site next week.

November 28, 2013

Just a quick not to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. I moved the latest update for this week (November 23) to the old news section so if you came looking for the latest news click HERE. Regular readers will already notice one new change to the web site which will be announced in the next regular news update this Saturday (November 30). Anyways, happy Thanksgiving everyone.

November 23, 2013

This past week I finally finished the character sheet (which displays the character) of the OSRIC Character Creator. It was more complex then I thought it would be and I may have to do some format changes but for the most part it is done. I have one large feature to complete (being able to create a totally random character with one click) and several smaller features to finish. I have posted a sample screen shot of the class selection below for you to look at.

Next week more time will be spent on the OSRIC Character Creator. In addition to this I may convert another game to another language or test some new app stores. I am also slowly working on my first RPG/Adventure game.

November 15, 2013

This past week I finished distributing my latest game (TINDEL THE TURKEY VS THANKSGIVING). You can find more information about the game by clicking HERE. I did not distribute it to as many app stores as usual because many of the app stores are not located in the USA (or the majority of their customers do not live in the USA) and Thanksgiving is a holiday that is primary celebrated in the USA. If you are the owner/manager of an app store that does not have TINDEL THE TURKEY VS THANKSGIVING and you would like it submitted to your app store send me an EMAIL telling me the name of your app store and I will submit it.

This past week was also a first on another front. I converted one of my games (NUCLEI MOBILE) to another language (Swedish) and submitted it to an app store (APPLAND) that has a lot of Swedish customers. I plan on converting several of my games to other languages so if you are connected to an app store that has a large number of customers that speak a language other then English and would like to see some of my games converted to that language EMAIL me and let me know.

I am almost finished with the character sheet part of the OSRIC Character Creator. I have one item left in that area to finish (listing equipment) then it will be on to the last major thing (creating a totally random character with one click). After that I will need to do a few odds and ends that need finishing before it can be released. It has taken a lot longer to do the Character Sheet part of the OSRIC Character Creator then I thought it would take but it is almost finished.

November 9, 2013

This past week I completed the thanksgiving game (Tindel the Turkey Vs Thanksgiving). This makes the second month in a row I have released a game and I am glad of that. It took longer to acquire the artwork for the game then it did to make the game and I ended up doing a lot of the artwork myself (I had a rapidly approaching deadline). The game is a little different then most other games out there and ended up being a cross between a time management game and an arcade game. This game is also being priced at .99 just like the last game (Pumpkin Patch). You will find a screenshot from the game at the bottom of this post.

With so much of my time being used to finish Tindel I did not have a lot of time to spend on the OSRIC Character Creator. I am still working on the character sheet but I am now putting this project to the front of the priority list. I expect it to be released if not this month (November) then in December for sure. There is still a few tasks to finish with it but it is slowly being completed. I must admit it was a much larger task then I originally anticipated.

Next week I will spend some time releasing Tindel the Turkey Vs Thanksgiving (including creating it a web page) and make as much progress as possible on the OSRIC Character Creator. As far as the extra little project I mentioned last week I have decided to wait until after the OSRIC project is completed. I want to do a little more research to make sure there is a demand for the service being proceeding any further with it.

November 2, 2013

I made a lot of good progress this past week on my vacation. The thanksgiving game (which is called Tindel the Turkey vs. Thanksgiving) is now almost completed. I only need to get two graphics, one song, do the finalizing of the high score system and create a detailed game description to finish the game. As the name implies the game is about a Turkey trying to stop the Thanksgiving meal from being prepared (for obvious reasons). I tried hard to produce a game that was different from the various other games already on the market and I ended up with a game which is a cross between an arcade game and a time management game.

I also made some progress on the OSRIC Character Creator. I estimate the character sheet (which I am going to use to display all the character information) is about 50% completed. After I finish the Thanksgiving game I will put most of my effort into finishing this product. As a side note I have also changed my decision and decided to not create a separate web page for the RPG tools (like the OSRIC Character Creator) I will be doing due to the fact that it would take more time to maintain the extra web site then what I already spend maintaining my web sites. I have been pushed for time the way it is now and I do not want to spread my time out even more then it already is.

I also have one small side project to do (which will allow me to offer a service to people) but this project should not take more then a week to complete. Once completed it will not take long to perform the service for each person that wants it. More details on this to come.

October 26, 2013

This past week I made good progress on the Thanksgiving game. The game play is around 50% completed and I have acquired a few of the assets (graphics thus far). I hope to finish the game play this upcoming week and start acquiring the assets at a much quicker pace. I expect this game to be ready by Thanksgiving with ease..

On the OSRIC Character Creator front I have now reached the final part of the program which is displaying the finished character on a character sheet for easy use in the game. I also have a few odds and ends to finish up (such as licensing, saving and loading finished characters, etc...) but it will not be long until I move onto the final major task (which is creating a totally random character with one click).

I am on vacation from my full time job next week so I plan on making a lot of progress on all fronts next week. I have also not forgotten about my desire to produce Adventure/RPG games (as well as First Person Shooters). I have slowly been working on one of these while working on the other games.

October 19, 2013

This past week I released my latest game (Pumpkin Patch) in many of the app stores. I also updated this web site with a Pumpkin Patch page. This is the first game I have released at a .99 cent price point so the effect on sales will be interesting. Check it out.

I have also started a new game for Thanksgiving. It is a game that will not take too long to complete with most of the time being spent acquiring assets (graphics, music, etc...). It is an arcade type of game and is a little different from many of the other thanksgiving games out there. More on this in the future.

I have also finished the equipment section of the OSRIC Character Creator. There are now one main section left to complete (the character sheet) as well as a few small details (like saving/loading characters, etc...). I also plan on adding one extra feature to it which will be the ability to create a random starting character with one click. There are other features that I can add but I have decided to add them in future releases so I can get this finished and into the wild for people to use. To find more information about OSRIC go HERE and remember you can get a copy of OSRIC for free HERE if you want to try the game.

October 12, 2013

After last weeks update I decided to try one more time at the Halloween game and this time I succeeded in finishing it. It is a short game with a Halloween theme and I am now in the process of distributing it to the various app stores. This is also the first game I am releasing with a .99 cent price tag (all my other games have either been free or $1.49) so that will be an experiment as well.

As far as progress on the OSRIC Character Creator goes I found and fixed a bug that was causing problems with the equipment section. I only have one more thing to do with the equipment section and the equipment section will be finished then I will be moving on to the next section.

After the OSRIC Character Creator is finished I am not 100% sure what the next project will be. I want to do a quick Thanksgiving game, a retro style rpg, a first person rpg as well as another Character Creator for another pen and paper rpg. These are just a few of the programs I am considering. I have sure been blessed with a wide variety of ideas for games as well as non-game program ideas.

October 5, 2013

This past week I spent some time working on a new game for Halloween, with a Halloween theme, but It looks like there is not enough time to finish the game before Halloween. I am considering putting it on hold and going back to working on the OSRIC Character Creator. I will give it a little more time tonight to see if I think it can be finished before Halloween. If I think I cannot finish it I will put it on hold until next year.

As far as the OSRIC Character Creator goes I am almost through with the equipment section (this section has taken by far the longest to finish). I still have one more section (the general section) that is also fairly long but I hope that section will not take as long as the equipment section did. After that I have a few minor areas to finish (like the license, saving and loading pre-saved characters, etc...) and it will be finished. I am hoping for an October 2013 release.

There is also a good possibility for Character Creators to be created for other games if the OSRIC Character Creator is successful. If this is the case I will probably start another web site dedicated to those types of programs and just use this web site for computer and app games.

September 28, 2013

This week has been a slow one. On the OSRIC Character Creator I am still working on adding equipment selection. I have finished Armor, done half of the Weapons (melee and missile) and still have General Equipment to go. It is taking so long because I have to enter a lot of data for each item and making the item lists is what is taking so long. I hope to finish the equipment selection this week and move onto the next section. I also managed to fix a bug in Alien Shoot that was causing it to crash on the Nook family of tablets (sold by Barnes & Noble) and have submitted the updated version to Barnes & Noble.

This next week I hope to make a lot more progress on the OSRIC Character Creator. I am also looking to add some of my previously created games to more new app stores. I am also considering doing a quick Halloween game if I can get it finished and released by Halloween.

September 21, 2013

Not a lot to report this week. I had a setback in the form of my main developer computer's modem stopped accessing the internet and I had to take it to the computer doctor. I discovered that an anti virus program I had tested did not fully install when I removed it from the computer and this caused the problem. Everything is fixed and seems to be working fine now. Despite the delay I still managed to finish the Class Selection and Alignment Selection parts of the character creator I am currently working on. I would estimate I am over half way finished and I am hoping to get this released during this month (September 2013). The character creator is for a game called OSRIC which is a pen and paper RPG. You can get a downloadable copy for free at Lulu.

September 14, 2013

Just a quick, straight to the point update this week. I have updated the web page for Alien Shoot showing more app stores where this game can be found in. I will continue to do several more updates to that web page as Alien Shoot continues to become available in more stores. I also add my Par 5 Mini-Golf game to several new stores. I will continue to add some of my older games to these new app stores as time goes by. I have also completed the characteristic (stats) generation for my latest project (the OSRIC Character Creator). I still have the sections on races, classes, equipment and general details to go but I am pleased with the progress made thus far.

September 7, 2013

This past week most of my time was spent uploading my latest game Alien Shoot to the various app stores. In addition to uploading Alien Shoot to the usual stores I uploaded it to several new stores as well and I still have several more new stores left that I am going to upload it to. I have also decided to create a different type of program for my next app. It will be a Character Creator for a pen and paper RPG. I have played pen and paper RPGs for years and this is a something that not only I could have used but that many others will find useful as well. I have decided to make it available for free and charging a fee to disable advertising in it. As far as computer/app games go I am considering either updating one of my older games or creating a new one. I have a good idea for a new game but it will take awhile to create it. I may also finish one of the adventure app games that I have started but that will also take awhile.

August 31, 2013

This week has seen me finish submitting Tresure Hunter to all the app store in addition to finishing my newest game. Instead of naming the game Alien Shootout (like I originally intended) I changed the name to Alien Shoot due to the fact that there is already at least one game already released named Alien Shootout and I did not want people getting the two games confused. The game is available free of charge. As a side not I discovered the final obstacle to finishing the game was not a bug with the game engine but was instead something that I had done wrong. I made the web page a little different from previous games including screenshots and more then one link to get the game. I plan on updating all the game pages to this style eventually.

This next week will be spent getting it uploaded to the app stores as well as more marketing for the new game. I may start work on another game (or a non-game project I have been thinking about for awhile) this next week.

August 24, 2013

This week has been a very productive week. I am one task away from completing another new game and I done another update to the Tresure Hunter game. I have already got about half way through uploading the newest version of Tresure Hunter to the various app store. I should have that fully finished with all the app stores having the latest version of Tresure Hunter by Wednesday (8-28-2013). As far as the new game goes if you remember about a year ago I started developing a game called Quasitto but the computer I was developing it on crashed and I lost all the progress made on the game. The new game is a rewrite of Quasitto under a new name (Alien Shootout). I changed the name from Quasitto to Alien Shootout because I think Alien Shootout will be easier to remember as well as appear in more search results which will help more people find and play the game (and what use is it to create a game if not many people play it). The one remaining thing is connected to either a bug in the commercial game engine used for the game or something that I am doing wrong. I have submitted a bug request to the publishers of the game engine and on past bug requests they have been fairly quick to respond so I hope to finish the game next week. The new game will available for be free (as in no cost) and I have enclosed a screen shot of the game below for your enjoyment.

Next week I hope to finish and publish Alien Shootout as well as maybe do some more work on another game.

August 17, 2013

This week was spent improving three of my older games. Par 5 Mini-Golf was one of the games I improved by fixing two bugs. I have already released the updated version to some of the app stores and they should be available soon. The other two games were Nuclei Mobile and Treasure Hunter. Both of these games involved fixes to the high score system and while neither game has had their updated version uploaded to any of the app stores yet (due to the fact that I am still working on them) this should happen within a week.

I definitely plan on releasing at least one new game next week (there is a slight possibility there might be two new games released next week). It may be another Arcade game instead of an Adventure/RPG game. I also plan on trying to use social media more often then I have in the past as well as continue marketing (which seems to be a never ending thing).

August 10, 2013

Not a whole lot of news this week. I am continuing to market the games I have already released (and learning a lot about marketing in the process) as well as work on new games. My primary game development work is focused on creating an Adventure/RPG type of game. The biggest problem is creating something that plays good in addition to creating something that looks good. I have discovered that when you include very beautiful scenery it slows the game down tremendously on mobile devices. I am still trying to find a good blend between beauty and playability. Playability is the most important but it sure helps with marketing if the game also looks beautiful. Combine that with the fact that without successful marketing very few people will get to play the game which defeats the reason for playability. In addition to marketing and game design work I am starting a new web page devoted to Game Development Resources. The new web page will have all kinds of resources (assets) for game developers including 3D models, sprites, game kits, textures, music, sound effects and everything else that goes into successful game making and it will be aimed at 2D game developers as well as 3D game developers. I am sure you will here more about this new web site in the near future.

August 3, 2013

This week has been a slow week. I ran into several problems with the new Adventure/RPG game I have been working on which has delayed progress. I am still hoping to get it released sometime in August 2013. If not I may release some other game during the month of August instead. I did successfully modify my Par 5 Mini-Golf game adding the ability to send me an error log when crashes occur. This will help me find and fix errors in the game. This new version should be available sometime by the end of next week. This is the only game I have released that crashes were reported in but if the crash reporter works well for this game I will probably use it for other games (even games that have no crashes - just to set a standard).

July 27, 2013

Below you will find another screen shot of one of the games I am working on. It is the same game I showed a screen shot of two weeks ago. This game is scheduled to be released sometime in August 2013. It will be an Adventure/RPG mini-game having one complete level with around 15 to 20 rooms. There will be monsters to fight and treasure to loot. I am still planning on giving it away for free with no display advertising but there will still be at least one "more games" button which will allow players to try other games (both my games and games from other developers). I also hope to start releasing some of my games for the BlackBerry platform in the near future.

July 20, 2013

Just a short update this week. This past week I have spent more time developing games as well as continuing to market the games I have already released. The only type of games I am currently working on are in the Adventuer/RPG genre. I plan on releasing a short free mobile game before the end of August. I am also looking around for various ways to create an MMORPG. There are several different game engines created for this purpose and I am starting to evaluate them.

July 13, 2013

Just a short update this week. Below you will find a screen shot from one of the games I am working on. It is from a first person Adventure/RPG that I have slowly been developing. This is a still picture but the flames on the torches burn continually in the game and look very good. This game is still at least a short ways away from being finished and I am also seriously considering doing a First Person Shooter which will be based in a dungeon that will look just like this one.

July 6, 2013

If you follow this blog on a regular basis you will remember that several weeks ago I was seriously considering making some free advertisement supported versions of some of my older games. After much thought I have decided to not do this. Why? Because when I am playing a game I do not like seeing advertising in the game (even the free ones) so I have decided to not do the same to my customers. The only exception will be buttons (or images) which allow users to get free games from other developers. I like these in games and I plan on including them in my games. Do not get me wrong. I am still planning on making some free games available but they will just be free of advertising as well. They will also be new games (instead of converted older ones).

This past week in addition to doing more marketing (which I realize is going to be an ongoing thing) I have been trying to create an Adventure/RPG. To be honest every time I have tried something I have run into a wall. The walls ranged from the game engine not being able to build for mobile platforms, to the game engine not being developed enough to produce the kind of game I wanted, to bugs in the game engine itself. I am still trying but the going is slow. I may look at producing another game while working on the Adventure/RPG.

June 29, 2013

Most of this week was spent on learning (and doing) marketing. In addition to increasing my number of Twitter followers I am planning on using FaceBook and several other social media outlets to a greater extent in the not too distant future. I also made a quick change to my Private Policy page to make it look more like the rest of the site.

I was also unable to fully recover the crashed computer so it looks like if I want to build a block pushing game I will have to start from scratch. To be honest with you the type of games I want to create are Adventure, Role Playing Games and First Person Shooters. That is where I plan on spending a lot of my efforts in the future on. Do not get me wrong. I do plan on releasing others games in other genres but I was born and raised on RPGs and that is where my interest lies the most.

Next week I will continue my marketing efforts (which will probably be an activity that will continue into the foreseeable future) and work on one (or more) of several games.

June 22, 2013

I had a road bump this week which slowed me down. The computer I was using to create the block pushing game on my break had the hard drive go down. I am trying to repair it but it looks like I may loose all the files on the computer. If I loose all the files on the computer I will have lost all the progress made on the block pushing game I was working on. I should know something by next week.

I am also about to narrow down the number of game engines I actively use. The reason is simple. Learning and working with a lot of different game engines takes more time then learning and working with a small number of game engines. I am definitely planning on using UNITY because I have been using that engine for some time so I am already somewhat familiar with it and there are also many great assets available for it through the asset store. I will also be using GAME MAKER STUDIO for simple 2D games. I have also used this one in the past so I am very familiar with it. Both of the above game engines also are capable of porting games to a wide variety of platforms with more platforms coming in the near future. In addition to the above two game engines I am also planning on using MONKEY for projects that will need to be done mostly through coding. Two final game engines that I am considering using are specialized engines designed to create Role Playing Games. These are EXPLORATIONS and MOXIE. I will probably end up using one (or both) of these two engines in the future.

My research into marketing continues and I will be putting more of what I have learned into practice in this area in the near future. I am also wanting to release another game (preferably an Adventure Game) before too long so work is slowly continuing on this front as well.

And one last thing. I am now trying to post news on Twitter on a regular basis. Check it out to get small updates more then once a week.

June 15, 2013

I almost had a nice surprise for you this week but at the last minute something went wrong. I was hoping to display a short prototype of another game I am working on but fell just short of being able to do it. Perhaps next week.

In other news I successfully managed to get one of my games into the Windows 8 Phone store. The game is Nuclei Mobile and you can click HERE to view it. If you remember correctly one of the goals I set for myself this year was to expand to new platforms and this week that goal was achieved.

As far as progress on games went I continued developing the first level of the block pusher game on half of my lunch break. I am creating the levels in such a way that all the assets will be standardized (meaning I can use them on all levels) and this takes a little more time because I have to get the graphics to look right on different screen resolutions. I have also been tinkering around with several other games on the side. My ultimate goal is to produce Adventure/RPG games and First Person Shooters with RPG elements. That is currently where all my experiments are centered (and it is also the type of game the short prototype that I almost finished is).

June 8, 2013

This week I made some more progress on the block pusher game that I have been making on my lunch breaks at work. I am using a game creation tool (MultiMedia Fusion 2) that I have used in the past and am fairly familiar with so I am making quick progress considering the short amount of time I am spending on it each day (it is the game I am creating on my lunch break so I am spending a maximum of 30 minutes a day 5 days a week on it). I have completed the level selection page (there will be a total of 15 levels) and am now starting to create the first level. I have also decided that the game will be free (supported by ads) but there will be a way to turn the ads off (probably by using an in-app purchase).

I also submitted one of my games (Par 5 Mini-Golf) to Union. This is a part of the company that produces the Unity game engine that helps get games published with Unity into more game stores.

In addition to continuing to create more games some of next week will be spent marketing the games I have already created. Marketing is something that I have not done much of and could learn a lot about. To help me learn more about it I purchased a book (Making Money With Apps) from another indie game developer (My-Indie-Story) who seems to be good at marketing his games. I hope to learn a lot from the book.

June 2, 2013

One quick clarification on yesterdays post. My latest game (MV1) was originally released as a free game and I have decided to keep it free. That is correct. The game is free to download and play. I also made a slight change to its name. I now call it MV1 - Ratlings. Here are two links you can use to download the game: Google Play and Amazon. I will add more links to the game once it appears in more app stores.

June 1, 2013

It is hard to believe this year is already half over. Time has flown by. This week I took an older game I released awhile back (MV1 - Microventure 1), updated it to run on mobile devices (Android) and released it. I have not got it in all the app stores yet but I am working my way through the different app stores. I have already discovered one bug in the program since I released it and that bug will be fixed and a new version uploaded. The bug is that when pressing the Main Menu button on the last page (to return to the main menu) the game will exit two out of three times. It may take awhile to fix it because I do not know if the bug is part of the game engine (which I did not write) or has something to do with something I added. If it is part of the game engine I will have to wait until the creators of the game engine fix it.

I have also been working on releasing free versions of some of my games but this is going slow. It seems that when I try to add a new ad network to one of my games something is wrong with the code used to implement the add network into the game and the ads do not show. This is frustrating but I am making progress of fixing this. There are several of my games which I plan to make free versions of (supported by advertisements) but this is largely an experiment for me. If it does not work I will try something else (I will probably experiment with something else even if it does work).

May 25, 2013

This week I started making a free version of the app OverRun. Since this is the first app that I have inserted much advertising into it will take the longest to do. I have decided to add the advertising in such a way that it does not stand out. It appears there will be one video with several "more game" buttons to get free games. The "more games" buttons will be on the side of the screen on the high score page and will only work if clicked on. I am still debating on where to put the video and whether to give the player any reward if the video is watched. I am also considering adding social platforms (at least FaceBook and Twitter) to it as well. This would give the player a chance to tell their friends about their high scores.

Work also continues on the game I am working on during the second half of my lunch break. To be honest I have been very busy at work this past week (only getting a 30 minute break instead of an hour break) so I did not make a lot of progress on this project but I did get to work on the level selection page.

May 19, 2013

This past week I made a small update to the web site. I divided the Old News page into different pages with each page representing one year. There is also a central index page for all the old news which will allow you to choose which year you wish to view. This web page was started in 2010 and I am glad that it has survived for so long.

On the game front I am slowly continuing to create the Block Pushing game I started on my lunch break. I am still only working on it during the second half of my lunch break but it is coming alone nicely. Before too long I will be designing the levels for it.

I have also decided to create free versions of many (or all) of my previously released games. These free versions will be supported with advertising and there will still be paid versions which will be free of all advertising. Some app stores forbid advertising in apps sold through their stores so only the paid version (advertising free) will be available in those app stores. Other app stores only distribute free apps so naturally only the free version (supported by advertising) will be available in these stores.

May 11, 2013

Just a quick update this week. As many of you will know this week is Mothers Day (May 12, 2013) here in the USA. Due to the fact that I work a full time job in the transportation industry I just spent almost 60 hours this past week at my full time job. This is the reason that I did not get much done on games this past week. Despite this fact I still managed to do some work on the game I started developing on my lunch break. I have decided it will be a block pushing game and unlike past games there will be two versions of this game. A free version supported by advertising and a paid version which is free of advertisements. If this works out good I will continue this practice on future games.

Also, happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there. May your days be filled with love not only on Mothers Day but all year round as well.

May 4, 2013

Each day I get a one hour break for lunch at my full time job. It usually only takes me thirty minutes to eat so I have decided to carry my notebook computer with me and use the second thirty minutes to develop shorter games in addition to work being done on longer games while I am at home. Sometimes I only get a 30 minute break instead of a full hour but each extra thirty minutes I get will help me to release more games. By shorter games I am referring to games that do not take as long to develop. Each of the games I have done in the past took anywhere from five to one hundred hours to make. This should help me to release more games in the future.

I spent some time this past week continuing submitting my apps to different app stores. In addition to this I am also working at expanding to the Windows 8 platform but this is taking longer then I expected. I am also considering extending to the Ubuntu (Linux) platform in the future as well.

April 27, 2013

This past week I spent some time uploading my apps to new stores. It seems like for each new app store I uploaded my apps to I discovered two more app stores I did not previously know about. Combine that with the fact that I have eleven games (with more being developed) to upload to each new app store and I quickly discovered this would be an ongoing thing. Eventually I will probably concentrate on the top performing app stores and let some of the lesser app stores go without adding my apps to them.

As far as game development went I did not make much progress on anything this past week. I am examining several game prototypes (very small versions of the finished game) to help me decide on which game to complete next but no decision has been made. Each prototype will give me a good feel for that particular game as well as serve as the basic building blocks on which the final game will be built. Prototyping lets me eliminate bad or unworkable games without spending too much time developing an undesirable game before it is abandoned.

Next week I will continue to do more prototyping as well as continue entering my apps in new stores.

April 14, 2013

This past week was spent publishing my latest game TREASURE HUNTER. I also done a few changes to it and updated most of the app stores with the latest version.

I am not sure what will be the next game I publish but I am considering a platform game, a maze game and an old school RPG for the next game. I will probably compare a few short prototypes of each of these types of games to see which game I like the best and then finish fully developing the prototype and publishing that game.

I am also thinking about adding my games to several new app stores that I have recently discovered. I am not sure how much of the next week will be spend doing this but it is something I need to do.

April 14, 2013

I know. I know. This weeks update is one day late. To be honest with you I totally forgot about doing it yesterday and that is why it is a day late. But hey, better late then never.

This past week I finished and released another game. It is called TREASURE HUNTER and the object of the game is simply to collect as much treasure as possible while overcoming monsters and traps. The game also features different items that you can find which will help you snag as much treasure as possible.

Next week will be spent finishing publishing the game while doing various odds and ends. After that I will start another game (maybe sooner if I get a chance).

April 6, 2013

This past week I started work on another game. At this point I am calling the game Treasure Hunter but I may change the name later on. The object of the game will be to explore some ruins to collect as much treasure as possible without getting killed. High scores will be determined by how much treasure is collected before the game ends (which will happen when the player does not survive an encounter with an opponent). Instead of being an arcade style game I am going to make it more of a card game with different types of cards. Each time you explore a new room a new card will be revealed which will have an affect on the game. The player will have a safe camp available for them to retreat to in order to heal from damage but the player will only be allowed to retreat to the camp a set number of times during each expedition into the ruins. The game has some Role Playing Game aspects without having detailed combat. I have created around half of the game and if everything goes well it should be completed the month (April 2013).

March 30, 2013

This past week I updated two separate games I have already released. The first game was Par 5 Mini-Golf. I changed the aiming mechanism in the game so that it is now easier to aim the ball. I also had to adjust the high score mechanism to display the high scores correctly. The other game I updated was Nuclei Mobile. I fixed it so balls do not hang on the middle paddle. This will make the game play more smoothly.

I did start work on two separate new games but I have not made enough progress to release any details on either game. Perhaps more information will be released about at least one of these two games in new weeks update.

March 23, 2013

I suffered a major setback on the most recent game I have been working on (the point and click adventure game). I discovered a day after the last update that every time I closed the project and then restarted it the game engine would rearrange the room identification numbers (used to navigate through the rooms) causing the game to go to the wrong rooms. This is a bug in the game engine that I was using and I will have to abandon work on the game until it is fixed. The game engine I was using was a newer one that I have not done much work with and I will have to report the bug so it can be fixed.

In the meantime, I will start another game. I hope to choose a game that can be completed fairly quickly because I have not released a new game in awhile.

March 16, 2013

I suffered a setback this week in the development of the touch and click adventure game. I found a bug that took some time to find and fix. So much time in fact that it pushed the release of the game back a complete week. I still hope to release it this week or next week at the latest. I have decided to call it M1 - Into the Dungeon and I have decided that there will be a total of 15 rooms to explore, with about 4 different types of monsters with at least three or four types of items to find and interact with. Remember that the game will be free to play with no advertising. I decided to start the game name with M1 so that the next game in the series will start with M2 with the third game in the series starting with M3, etc... This way it will be easy to find older (and newer) games in the series and each game will build upon previous games.

March 10, 2013

I have almost completed the item system for the point and click game. One main element I am including is removing an item from a room once it has been taken. For example if a room has two healing potions and the player takes one of those healing potions on her first visit to the room then on her next visit to that same room there will only be one healing potion. The same thing is being done with monsters. If a player beats a monster located in a room when the player returns to that room the monster will no longer be there. There is a possibility that the game may be published as early as next week but if not I plan on publishing it no later then the week after that.

March 3, 2013

This past week I have continued work on the adventure game. I have almost finished the game healing and it looks like the first item added to the game will be a healing potion. It should be readily noticeable that the adventure game will have heavy role playing game aspects to it. I guess the game will be like a single person role playing game with heavy point and click elements to it. I am going to not introduce too many items in the first game (probably around five to ten) because I will be introducing traps on items at some future point (probably in the second game of the series) and I will have to go back and rework any items I introduce before then to handle traps. This would just create extra work for me or delay the first game while I create the traps system neither of which I want.

Febuary 22, 2013

This past week I decided on what type of game to start developing next. I started a point and click adventure game for mobile devices (I guess I could call it a touch and click game). I am going to create the game engine in a series of steps. Each step will add new features to the game but I will complete and release a short game when each step is completed. This will allow me to develop a complex game engine without having to wait a long time before the next game release while developing the engine. I have decided the first step will include the following components: Combat (player vs. single opponent), healing, general exploration of rooms (meaning being able to travel from room to room while interacting with items and exploring), a few (around five) different items to interact with (one of which will be a healing potion) and the ability to post your accomplishments on Facebook. I have already completed the entire combat section and am now working on the other sections. Each game released after the completion of a new step will not be very long (I am guessing somewhere between ten and twenty rooms each) but will be available for free. I hope to complete the first step and first game sometime in March 2013. I also might develop and release a few other games at the same time but right now this series of games are getting most of my development time.

Febuary 16, 2013

This past week I released yet another game. The latest game is called Par 5 Mini-Golf. As the title suggests it is an 18 hole mini-golf game with each hole designed to take five strokes to complete. Check it out.

I have three things on the agenda next. First is obviously work on another game. I am considering completing a point and click type of adventure game next but I have not fully decided. Second is to go back and do some improvements on some of my older games. Nothing major, just some minor things like making some text bigger and such. Third is to learn some things about internet marketing. This is an area that while in the past I have dabbled a little bit in it there is still a lot about it I do not know. I produce some good games but there are not many people that know the games exist and marketing is designed to change that.

Febuary 9, 2013

This past week I managed to finish another game. It is called Kids Toys Jigsaw Puzzles and it is the sequel to the popular Kids Animal Jigsaw Puzzles. I also made a lot of progress on the mini-golf game but I still need to do two things to get it finished (set up the high score system and remove a bug). The bug was unexpected and has been the hardest to deal with but I am continuing to work on it. I have also been thinking about doing a short FPS (first person shooter) but I also have several other ideas for games that I may be pursuing after the mini-golf game is released. In addition to work on games I also discovered and repaired a bug on this web site.

Febuary 3, 2013

This past week I made a lot of progress on my next game which is going to be a mini-golf game. I completed all 18 holes for the course and the only things I have left to do is create the high score system, change some game assets (mainly sounds) and add a few navigation options to the game to make it easier for the player to exit the game or go back to the main menu. I plan on having it finished and published in the various app stores by the next update. I have also decided to do another kid's jigsaw puzzle after that. The reason is simple. The first kid's jigsaw puzzle I done (Kids Animal Jigsaw Puzzles) is selling very well (much better then expected). It will not take long to do the next kid's jigsaw puzzle (one week maximum) and then it will be on to another game.

January 26, 2013

This past week I finished publishing my latest game Nuclei Mobile to the various app stores. I also done an update on Nuclei Mobile in which I cleaned up the display and added music to the game. I am now in the process of updating all the app stores to this latest version (the updating should be finished this weekend or early next week). I have also started another shorter game which I hope to get finished and start the distribution process by next weekend. I also have a good idea for another game after that.

January 20, 2013

Not much to report this week. I have been busy finishing submitting my latest game (Nuclei Mobile) to the various app stores. I am considering making a few changes to some of my earlier games before I release another new game. Things like making the instructions bigger and easier to read and other similar types of updates. I am also considering opening a developer account with more app stores to start selling my games through those stores before I publish my next game. I do have several new game ideas that I am looking forward to turning into full fledged games so I do not think it will be too long before I release another game even with these other things being done.

Since January 1, 2013 I have released not one but two games. I did not say anything about in my previous two news updates because I was too busy talking about the year of 2012 in review (two weeks ago) and my plans for the year 2013 (last week). So without further distractions I will introduce you to my latest two games.

The first game is Kids Animal Jigsaw Puzzles and is my second game released for children. The first game I released (Kids Animal Memory match) done so well that I though a second game was in order. The game is a set of sixteen jigsaw puzzles designed especially for children. First the total number of pieces in the puzzle is selected (there are fourteen selections to choose from) and then the picture is selected. Each jigsaw features a different animal of some kind. The available selections for the number of puzzle pieces are: 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44 and 48. When the puzzle is completed the number of moves as well as the time required to complete the puzzle will be displayed.

The second game is called Nuclei Mobile. A good while back I done a browser game called Nuclei and this new game is a mobile remake of that old game. Why would I do a mobile remake of the game? Because of all the browser games I have created Nuclei has been the most popular being played at least twice as much as the game in second place. In the game you use the arrow symbols to rotate the image in the middle of the screen to block blue incoming balls while allowing green incoming balls to enter the center of the screen. You get five points for each green ball allowed into the center and you get five points for each blue ball which leaves the screen. You loose five points for each blue ball which enters in the center of the image and you loose five points for each green ball which leaves the screen. There are two life markers at the top left corner of the screen. The green life marker is reduced by one point for each green ball which leaves the screen while the blue life marker is reduced by one point for each blue ball allowed into the image at the center of the screen. When both the green and blue life meters are reduced to zero the game ends at which point you get a chance to enter your high score.

January 6, 2013

As promised last week this week's update is dedicated to goals I want to achieve in 2013. The first goal is obvious which is to create more games. I am not going to set a specific number of games that I want to release in 2013 but will continue to release them as they are completed. A second goal is to expand to another platform. As of now the only platform I currently produce games for is Android and I would like to change that. I am considering Blackberry, Windows 8, Lynux and the Chrome Store (web) (among others) as possible platforms to expand to. A third goal is to publish at least one adventure game. This is the type of game I grew up playing and I have many good ideas for games in this genre. Those are the three goals I have for 2013.