Operation Overhaul - Bringing a commercial flop back from the dead

EastboundEastbound Member, BASIC Posts: 1,074
edited March 2012 in Business and Marketing Theory
Hey there!

Several months ago I released an app called Alpha Swarm, and despite great reviews it has been a total commercial flop. However, I feel it has great potential, so I'm reworking just about everything.

I'll be blogging about my progress and will be looking for user feedback and suggestions, so I'd like to invite people to follow along. It should be a decent read for any game developer, and hopefully I can spare some of you from making the same mistakes!

http://jovialapps.wordpress.com/

Cheers!

Comments

  • MotherHooseMotherHoose Member Posts: 2,456
    I got it! … and will be looking forward to your progress in revamping this one! @Eastbound

    @};- MH
  • OmenaboOmenabo Member Posts: 121
    Downloaded. I'm interested to see, how you will be improving this one. It's all ready a pretty entertaining game, afterall. :)
  • EastboundEastbound Member, BASIC Posts: 1,074
    Well, great news for the second day of being free! Alpha Swarm is now in the top 100 free games. I'll work on a post soon with an update.
  • 3xL3xL Member Posts: 676
    i JUST finished downloading it and playing it.

    I LOVE IT. its definitely one of the best gs action puzzle games out there. i CANT understand why it flopped or why you think it flopped.
    only found a negative review about it crashing. not sure if the other reviewers are actual customers or your friends cheering (most devs do that) but it IS a good game.
    how were sales? maybe your opinion on flopping is different from mines lol its a great game.
  • 3xL3xL Member Posts: 676
    i wrote to you on twitter but had errors sending it. i'm @Oo3xloO
  • EastboundEastbound Member, BASIC Posts: 1,074
    edited March 2012
    When I say it flopped, I mean the revenue it brought in was nowhere near what I could make in a part time job- and this is a part time job for me.

    As for crashing, I see that quite a bit on reviews of GameSalad apps. I don't know if its an issue with older devices, or the user just needing to restart. I personally never experience crashes.

    Thanks for following on twitter, though!

    Also, the second blog post is out: http://jovialapps.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/operation-overhaul-progress-update-1/
  • 3xL3xL Member Posts: 676
    heading over now
  • POMPOM Member Posts: 2,599
    @Eastbound
    Glad i saw it , ill be watching this one , i fond reading development threads ;)
    Best of luck with the Overhauling process !

    Photobucket Roy
  • EastboundEastbound Member, BASIC Posts: 1,074
    @P-O-M and @3xL
    Thanks for the kind words and following along! :)
  • tenrdrmertenrdrmer Member, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 9,934
    @eastbound Just downloaded and played through the first 10 levels or so. Very cool game man. Well done. I would recommend though music throughout. This one ponly plays music sometimes on the menu. other wise its just sound effects.

    Great job and I hope the revival works for ya.

    Cheers
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  • HoneyTribeStudiosHoneyTribeStudios Member Posts: 1,792
    Glad to hear the relaunch as free is going well.

    Regarding crashes - it could be on 4th gen ipods? So if you are using retina independence they will use the larger images. But they only have the same memory as 3rd gen devices - 256MB. I was having problems with that recently so had to do another round of optimisations.

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  • T8TRG8TRT8TRG8TR Member Posts: 120
    @Eastbound I honestly think that game is more fun than Angry Birds or Cut the Rope. I left a 5 star review. My one suggestion would be to make resetting a little faster if possible.
  • EastboundEastbound Member, BASIC Posts: 1,074
    First off, thanks to everyone for the kind words! I'll be posting another update on the blog by the end of today hopefully.
    @eastbound Just downloaded and played through the first 10 levels or so. Very cool game man. Well done. I would recommend though music throughout. This one ponly plays music sometimes on the menu. other wise its just sound effects.

    Great job and I hope the revival works for ya.

    Cheers
    Yeah, I published it back when GS was having audio issues, it actually does have music. I need try finding my last complete GS file and upload it. There are a few tiny tweaks I could make while working on the overhaul, actually.
    Glad to hear the relaunch as free is going well.

    Regarding crashes - it could be on 4th gen ipods? So if you are using retina independence they will use the larger images. But they only have the same memory as 3rd gen devices - 256MB. I was having problems with that recently so had to do another round of optimisations.

    That might be the problem, I'm not sure. I don't have all the devices personally, and it didn't come up during beta testing.
    @Eastbound I honestly think that game is more fun than Angry Birds or Cut the Rope. I left a 5 star review. My one suggestion would be to make resetting a little faster if possible.
    Thanks a lot! Faster reset is definitely on the to do list!
  • tenrdrmertenrdrmer Member, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 9,934
    Hows the comeback working out @Eastbound ?

    Hope its doing well. I enjoyed playing this one. it gets very challenging too!!
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