Your own GameSalad Year In Review - 2011 (By Stormy)
StormyStudio
United KingdomMember Posts: 3,989
Evening guys and gals...
With a little tip of the hat to GameSalads own 'Year in Review 2012' thread, I thought I'd write my own and invite you to write yours as well.
STORMYSTUDIO's YEAR IN REVIEW 2011
The past year for me has seen lots happen, lots learnt and a goal of creating the perfect game still yet to be achieved.
The previous year had been my first using GameSalad, I'd got to grips with the software, had one successful game launch with 'Quake Builder and the Asteroids' and was making money enough to say 'I do a hobby that earns a bit of beer money'. I'd also spent months working on a point and click adventure game 'Dark Asylum' which was shaping up well but taking its toll on my sleep. I finally decided to step off the project for a while and needed a new smaller game project to tackle.
February 2011 saw the start of my little 'Think Outside the Box Contest', I only set it up as a way for me to push myself into actually finishing a game quickly. (I started my 'Escape Artist' game) The contest only had two final entries (I wasn't one), Riffle won with his Clay Moon game entry.
I finally finished my 'Escape Artist' game about 2 months later, it's sold next to nothing on the app store. It wasn't fun to play it and I knew it...it looked nice though and I had learnt some more about the GameSalad software, and lots about gameplay design.
After the rubbish half arsed launch of my game, I set up a second competition this had a good few more entries and the excellent looking 'Robot Nazi Penguins' won. This (along with answering simple questions on the forum) helped towards me gaining my lovely Sous Chef status which I still wear proudly today. A 3rd Think Outside the box contest was finally setup towards the end of summer which was a big success with many more entrants finishing their games, the winning game going to 'Gamers Rejoice' for his polished looking ocean themed game 'Break for it'.
The Contest has been amazing and its great to have seen all the support from fellow GameSalad'ers..donating prizes both big and small. It was then made all the more amazing when GameSalad offering up a Pro Account as a Prize.
Along with running the contest I created my website www.stormystudio.com which has grown and matured over the year. Its been a great place to showcase my animation work as well as dip my toe in the world of selling GameSalad templates.The templates all built from game ideas I'd thought about pursuing (stupid pixels was a lemmings style game, paper toss, 3d rooms) I've now been approved to sell on the GameSalad marketplace and I look forward to finally filling it some confusing tax forms soon.
I've spent the past 4 months since August working on a secret game project. Not working so hard on it that I get bored of it...just tinkering and perfecting it as I go. I did lose a good few weeks constantly working on my Pseudo 3d blocks so I could add some 3d buildings to my game. It's looking really quite cool, and those that have played it seem to actually want to play it past the initial 'polite 2 minutes playtime'. I'm hoping to finish and launch it at some point in January...and add in app purchases to it once thats up and running well with GameSalad and Apple.
After a good 5 month break I've finally got round to setting up the next contest, each time I hope the contests are run better and better. Check out the think outside the box 4 game competition if you've not already over at http://www.stormystudio.com/totb4.html
Well thats me for now... if no one reads this... no worries.... its just nice to reminisce once in a while...
One year on..and I'm still not back working properly on my 'Dark Asylum' point and click game... maybe next year.
Happy New Year..
..........
With a little tip of the hat to GameSalads own 'Year in Review 2012' thread, I thought I'd write my own and invite you to write yours as well.
STORMYSTUDIO's YEAR IN REVIEW 2011
The past year for me has seen lots happen, lots learnt and a goal of creating the perfect game still yet to be achieved.
The previous year had been my first using GameSalad, I'd got to grips with the software, had one successful game launch with 'Quake Builder and the Asteroids' and was making money enough to say 'I do a hobby that earns a bit of beer money'. I'd also spent months working on a point and click adventure game 'Dark Asylum' which was shaping up well but taking its toll on my sleep. I finally decided to step off the project for a while and needed a new smaller game project to tackle.
February 2011 saw the start of my little 'Think Outside the Box Contest', I only set it up as a way for me to push myself into actually finishing a game quickly. (I started my 'Escape Artist' game) The contest only had two final entries (I wasn't one), Riffle won with his Clay Moon game entry.
I finally finished my 'Escape Artist' game about 2 months later, it's sold next to nothing on the app store. It wasn't fun to play it and I knew it...it looked nice though and I had learnt some more about the GameSalad software, and lots about gameplay design.
After the rubbish half arsed launch of my game, I set up a second competition this had a good few more entries and the excellent looking 'Robot Nazi Penguins' won. This (along with answering simple questions on the forum) helped towards me gaining my lovely Sous Chef status which I still wear proudly today. A 3rd Think Outside the box contest was finally setup towards the end of summer which was a big success with many more entrants finishing their games, the winning game going to 'Gamers Rejoice' for his polished looking ocean themed game 'Break for it'.
The Contest has been amazing and its great to have seen all the support from fellow GameSalad'ers..donating prizes both big and small. It was then made all the more amazing when GameSalad offering up a Pro Account as a Prize.
Along with running the contest I created my website www.stormystudio.com which has grown and matured over the year. Its been a great place to showcase my animation work as well as dip my toe in the world of selling GameSalad templates.The templates all built from game ideas I'd thought about pursuing (stupid pixels was a lemmings style game, paper toss, 3d rooms) I've now been approved to sell on the GameSalad marketplace and I look forward to finally filling it some confusing tax forms soon.
I've spent the past 4 months since August working on a secret game project. Not working so hard on it that I get bored of it...just tinkering and perfecting it as I go. I did lose a good few weeks constantly working on my Pseudo 3d blocks so I could add some 3d buildings to my game. It's looking really quite cool, and those that have played it seem to actually want to play it past the initial 'polite 2 minutes playtime'. I'm hoping to finish and launch it at some point in January...and add in app purchases to it once thats up and running well with GameSalad and Apple.
After a good 5 month break I've finally got round to setting up the next contest, each time I hope the contests are run better and better. Check out the think outside the box 4 game competition if you've not already over at http://www.stormystudio.com/totb4.html
Well thats me for now... if no one reads this... no worries.... its just nice to reminisce once in a while...
One year on..and I'm still not back working properly on my 'Dark Asylum' point and click game... maybe next year.
Happy New Year..
..........
Comments
As for me, i'll post my views here, otherwise the whole forums will be filled up with similar posts;
2011 has been an interesting year, its my second year in development and i've learnt lots ... but made less than my 1st year
So i released 4 games in 2011;
Crossbar Challenge - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/crossbar-challenge!/id412374131?mt=8
SpiderBall - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spiderball/id421613926?mt=8
Line Ar(X) - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/line-ar-x/id442161245?mt=8
Helmet Hero - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/helmet-hero/id456088394?mt=8
My personal favourite there be Line Ar(X), its an idea i had floating around for over a year but didn't have the knowledge to build, achieving it was a great feeling!
And on top of that, i got around to setting myself up a more professional looking website - www.kc8.co.uk
With each game i released, i learnt more, and to me behind scenes, each one has gotten better. Whether it be my workflow, the organisation and arrangements, some super cool maths equations, with each title released I'm amazed at what i've learnt.
I haven't made the game of all games to topple Angry Birds .... yet .... but i like to think i've made some pretty cool titles, this year has seen games I'm proud of. Ok, Crossbar Challenge could be a lot better but the other 3 are pretty cool.
Its been a roller coaster ride this year though, GameSalad has been very unstable and has caused many setbacks with all the bugs! When you work full time, have a social life and a girlfriend to please, fitting in Game Dev time can be hard ... when you get to it,you want it to work! The joys of beta i guess though! Having said that, if i was coding natively i wouldn't of even seen one project through. GameSalad is an amazing product, i simply love it and am renewed with belief that 2012 will be a great year for not only it as a tool, but for us, as the devs!
So what else have i been up to? For around a year and 3 months or so, on and off,through corruption and rebuild, i've been working on a big sci-fi project ... This has been my hardest task yet! Soo much work has gone into it and i don't know if i could justify spending that time again! Will it sell? If its anything like my others, not really! Will i make more of an effort to market? Damn right, i've spend a huge amount of effort on this, i must do all i can to give it a chance to succeed. Ultimately, again its a huge step for me and one i'll be immensely proud to have in my portfolio.
Project Saber - http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/32509/project-saber-sci-fi-game-dev-log-beefy_clyro/p1
Im aiming for a release around late February for this, fingers crossed. I've also been working hard on an interesting platformer that i want to keep under wraps for the moment, i love it but it is very taxing on GS. I can't wait to see how it behaves once Lua is taken out of GS and we have 10x performance! Providing this is overall performance and not just loading times!
The last game i've been working on is a golf game with a twist! Lots of ground work went into this, i need some more hazards/obstacles but everything else is built, just need to do the level designs really.
Thats me for 2011 and what I'm taking into 2012
Looking forward to seeing project saber... certainly appreciate those thoughts of...'is it worth it'... 'will I ever see any return on the tremendous time and effort put into this thing'.... etc etc...
Anyone else care to share...
Well this being my first year in GS i got a lot done....
To sum things up:
I got two crappy apps published to the app store in my first week...
Ive been working on one main project for over three months now, Im also working on 11 more projects...
Im still working on a project that i started a month ago entitled "project cute 'n' fluffy
I spent most of my year learning about GS.... Right now I'm practicing my pseudo 3d, Which we al know that @stormystudio is the best at!, Just like his dance moves
Ive set up a Tutorial Website For GameSalad User's
Ive really enjoyed helping others out on the forums and I've really enjoyed being helped by other members of the community to!
I look forward to 2012 an I look forward to another wonderful year with the GS community
Yours Sincerely,
Jack Leonard
Well my year started in March, I wanted to make an app, not because I felt it would benefit others or benefit me in some way, it was driven purely by money. Luckily for me however I found out that it's about a lot more than that.
I released a couple of games this year which if I'm honest are terrible but... I DID IT, little chubby james made a game!
I found a community online that is happy to support and critique if required.
My Macbook Pro came back to life the day after Steve Jobs died.
And finally after 9 months I have an original idea for a game, I also still have 7 or 8 clones in the works and will release those in January.
Now for 2012.... I'm currently sat in a youth hostel in Swanage with 30 of my close family, looking forward to a bloody good party to bring in the New Year.
Happy New Year folks.
James
ps.. If this double posts I blame the cat.
Beefy, Might I suggest a Animation for the net when the ball hits it in Crossbar Challenge?
My 2011 year with GSC has been fairly productive but only as much as I went through 3 totally different versions of my splash screen, and started no less than 6 games/apps, but didn't get too far with some of them (although this last one is a good "runner" and I'm sticking with it until it's finished).
So here's vids of 5 of them "for the record" and for your interest (not totally sure they're in chronological order based on when I created them, but no worries):
••••• Boto and the Isms ....... Top-down shooter
••••• Glub and the Organitron Caves ....... Platformer
••••• Logic Puzzler 1 ....... logic puzzle game
••••• Ancient Ones: Discovery ....... Adventure game, part 1
••••• Alive Antique Wallpaper ....... Levels game with adventure overtones
This is the game I'm going with to finish (by March 2012. I've started a progress thread here if you haven't seen it: http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/37223/at-last-1st-app-aaw-ready-in-march-progress-thread#Item_20
••••• "Secret name!!" ....... A surreal interactive multimedia app
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And that's my creative lot for 2011.
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So as far as actual finished apps next year/year after, it'll be:
1) Alive Antique Wallpaper
2) the interactive multimedia app whose name is secret at the moment!
3) Ancient Ones Discovery
That should keep me busy for the while...
----------------------------------------------
http://davidgriffinapps.co.uk/
My journey began on June 29th to be exact.
I was wanting to create a decent game in a very short time which I learned about 1 day later wouldn't happen..If that makes sense.
I love this community and the great help it brings to me with a happy smile. I hope to release my first game, Penguin Pounce, sometime in January.
And then another around August. We'll see how it goes. I also love to help around here and the joy it brings to me.
Happy New Year guys!
Bray
@Oz ... of course you may suggest it
Anyone else wanna share their years, makes some really interesting reading.
Sincere congrats on learning GSC and getting your first app (which looks excellent for kids) up and running within months. That's an achievement in my books. (By comparison, my first app is finally ready in March, about two and a half years after starting to use GS). :-)
@braydon ... well done on the top score... I'll try and beat it later..
@Beefy... will hopefully finish Dark Asylum, or at least tidy up what has been done and release for free or something...