Comments on: Ludum Dare Contest Entry – “Almost Done”

By: Fili

Fili — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:55:39 +0000

After shipping the game to the customers, please make a new post so that we can comment on the game after we play it, it’s hard to see all the complexity from a 28 sec trailer :)
Yeah, I know you were on a tight deadline, I’m impressed of what you could do in just a week. I’m glad you didn’t get offended by my comment and instead you took it seriously.

By: Juuso

Juuso — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 23:45:07 +0000

@Jake: hmm, what’s the third category?

@Fili: Well… let’s hear what the current customers say about the game? I’m getting them to download their versions within 22 hours or so. Their words should help you decide. :)

Cut The Rope is cool game and awesome price (but I’m not sure if I would play that, I prefer different games). My game is totally cool, and it’s well worth the $1. :)
I would put money back guarantee, but right now simply don’t think it’s worth the hassle to refund people. Maybe I do that later.

If you like some thinking & tactical decisions (with bit of luck in the mix) – in fact, if you like board games – I think you’ll like my game.

Oh, and by the way… my “must list” is “cannot be played if this feature isn’t done”. So, “rocks and stuff” was not 100% needed (maybe 98%, but not 100%, thus they made it their way to the very top of the ‘optional’ list). Other example: I sure needed to fix zombie movement bug or otherwise you might get stuck and game never ends. So, that was “must list” feature. And I was under a very tight deadline here.

With that being said… I did add some floor tiles there in the game ;)

Lemme prepare some PR stuff… and then I’d very much wanna hear you more. Seriously, I really appreciate you taking time to make detailed comment. If everybody would be just nodding their heads, no progress would be made. Thanks for your critic – and good – comment.

By: Jake Birkett

Jake Birkett — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:24:40 +0000

@Juuso: Triage means split into three, and I made up Biage because you have split yours into Must Do and Optional (two things)

By: Fili

Fili — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 15:47:41 +0000

Don’t get mad at me, but even in programmer speak, you’re not nearly “almost” done. Think about it: why should I pay money for your game? What do I get for my money? It doesn’t matter it’s just 1$, it’s still money. For the moment I don’t find it attractive at all. No matter how advanced a game is, if it’s just a menu, it’s not interesting.
Think about it, on the AppStore you can find tons of games that sell for 0.99$. Most are crap, but some are very good and get to be #1. Compare your game with Cut The Rope http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xPUdFaraoQ That game has simple gameplay but awesome design.
In my opinion you really need to reconsider your priorities: you need to add some eye-candy. So the “rocks and stuff” should be on your “must do” list, or you’ve worked until now for nothing.

By: Juuso

Juuso — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:16:32 +0000

P.S. Didn’t get that “biage” (in this context) :D

By: Juuso

Juuso — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:15:51 +0000

The must-do stuff is such stuff that without it the game is not playable, and cannot be released. (of course in terms of dialogue I have the option to choose to write between 5 to 500 words ;)) I’ve done educated guess on balancing, and for the first version that should be decent-ish. Something to live with.

But you are right – balancing is so important that I’m quite certain I will do another release ;) – there’s few things that I think will improve the game a lot, but don’t require too much time.

I know what you mean by Monaco ;) …we’ll see.

btw – when I said “worth $1″ I mean “very well worth $1″ ;)

By: Jake Birkett

Jake Birkett — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 02:03:45 +0000

Glad to hear you are using triage ;-) Or maybe “biage” in your case. I’d say some basic balancing also needs to go on the Must Do list. Once the compo is done you can keep going with all the optional stuff. Perhaps this will turn into a Monaco?…