its free now

@phil_me_up 200 a year?? oh god, I would go and jump of a bridge if that was me, 2k a year is also insignificant.
Depressing yes, but I will keep going.

Unfortunatly low sales are the norm - many people see 0 sales. I've read in some places that 200 downloads per year is pretty good, others say 2000 per year... It all makes for very depressing reading when you're tying to make a living out of it :(

Still, there is every chance that one of us will make the next big thing so there is always hope!

@phil_me_up About the jumping and not moving when you tap the screen, it will be changed.
I will release an update with some of the issues you mentioned (and others that I've noticed when people play) and I will start on my next project. Im in this for the long run, I'm hell bent on making good revenue from this.
This first game was a simple one BECAUSE it was my first game, I wanted to see how everything worked.
And I do know there are a few things that can be bettered about this game, but I didn't pay too much attention to them because I was more interested in the gameplay. I wanted a game that was simple, easy to play, no more than a couple of minutes play time at a time and I wanted to get people hooked up on the high scores, meaning, I wanted people to play just to get the highest score on gamecenter. Like.... tiny wings, or traffic rush, they are VERY simple games, not much to do on them, but people play them to try to beat their last high score, thats it. Casual gaming at its best.

@hm50 Lucky you! lol
Thanks for the input, like I said to phil, they will be taken into account. About the fingers... I'm sorry lol, I will play with the button sizes to see how they look :) for big clumsy fingers.
I'm glad you enjoyed the gameplay and found an octopus with a bazooka funny :)
About the sales, it's been 4 days and they have been shockingly low, I never thought it would be THIS bad. I will write a blog or something after the first month (I have a few tricks up my sleeve still).

To all who read this, show me some love! gameplay is fun! and no one has beaten my 1200 score on Veteran game mode! hehehe.

Thanks for the critics guys, I do appreciate them.

I've played a few games. Game play is pretty good. I am guilty of jumping right in, skipping the 'how-to', although I read it after the first game. I mostly agree with @phil_me_up. The background music alone, just doesn't feel exhilarating enough. More noise!! (at least you could set the option to turn it off) I too was surprised when I was magically at the game over screen, I didn't even know I'd been hit. :( One other minor issue, I have big clumsy fingers and thought that the lower navigation menu buttons could be a little bigger and farther spaced. I think the game is fun and has a cool idea/theme. Good job! I wish you good luck! Let us know how sales progress!

Harv

Holy Crap...the second one was open..TT3WXL7FEF99. I'll let ya know what I think.

@Aorata

I had another couple of games after I wrote the above and I got the rapid fire bullets too so I've seen a couple of other options now (for one reason or another I had about 5 tripple bullets in a row - not a bad thing but that's why I thought it was only tripple). Interestingly I did skim the 'How to Play' before playing but obviously missed that - most people will ignore it anyway as they want to jump straight in. Still a good idea to have it thought.

The swiping wasn't really a problem and it moved the way I wanted straight away - I was just a bit surprised when, after a few games, I repositioned my finger and the octopus suddenly jumped rather than moved (if that makes sense). Not a big issue as it doesn't affect game play much, just a visual / continuity thing.

Anyway, congratulations on releasing the game! Are you planning any updates or are you going straight to the next project?

@phil_me_up

Yeah, I've gotten some of those criticism before, and I do agree with a few of them. I will work on it to make the game better :)

About the bonus thing, there are 5, not just the triple bullet. How to use them is explained in the instructions, but for some reason, no one ever reads them.

I've also seen people try to swipe the octopus, but what I though was this: if you learn to play by the 3rd or 4th game, then it's fine. Do you agree with that?

Also, I know the video isn't great, but I'm on a tight budget :S, I was hoping this game would make some decent revenue so I could go at the next one with a bigger budget...

The sound when the 0ctopus gets hit is a good idea. But the explosions and sounds when you kill bad guys is a very bad idea. My record is 1200... at high scores like that, there are way too many bad guys to be having noises and explosion animations going. It just drives you nuts. We removed it for that reason.

The shooting torpedoes thing is also in the instructions :P

And don't be sorry about being the criticisms, I DO appreciate them very much. Is those criticisms that help us make better games, so thank you! happy gaming!

Hey,

A bit of feedback from me:

1. I agree that there should be a bit more movement in the enemies / background. Generally the animations are nice, just not enough of them. Maybe something when the enemy dies?

2. The collision boxes seem way too big. Many times I either got hit by something or I hit something despite the bullet / harpoon being quite a distance away. It might be worth looking at optimising your collision areas a bit to be tighter to the sprite.

3. There was no feedback for the player when they we're hit. This often lead to my death being a bit of a surprise - Maybe a hit noise / animation would help the player keep track? A death animation / would be better than just going to the restart screen which again, sometimes felt like a bit of a surprise.

4. I originally thought I needed to swipe the octopus up or down however it looks like the octopus will suddenly transport to wherever I touch rather than actually move - this felt a little weird and broken. Could the octopus move between positions rather than just appear where you touch?

5. I didn't realise that three was a triple bullet ability till I'd played a few games and just tried pressing the button out of interest to see what happens. Maybe you could tell the player during game play?

6. I kept wanting to be able to shoot the torpedoes shot by the subs but you can't. I took a lot of damage that way.

Sorry if some of that is negative. I did enjoy playing the game but thought you'd appreciate a little bit of critical feedback. As it happens, the app I'm about to release, Wonton 51, has quite a lot in common so I'm probably a bit more critical than the average player (see http://www.quartercirclepunch.co.uk for some details. Video isn't great but it gives an idea). We spent a lot of time balancing collision areas, score attack behaviour etc to keep the game a challenge (it is pretty difficult) but to also limit frustration.

nice graphics

I just checked and I got the last one (7L7WEW3A7H4R). Didn't try the others though so they might be available still. I'll check it out and pass on any feedback.

Sorry that you didn't et any thanks before - like @zaaroth said, there are lots of people who just grab them who aren't even members of this forum so I agree that PM'ing is the way to go.

I have seen numerous threads of games in the past months. Out of them I figured the best way to give away codes is to ask for PMs.

That way you can track down who took which and ask for feedback directly. Another downside to post codes here is that people can find them through google and take one without even being a member of the forum. That alone provides a boost for piracy, since a single code may deliver what is needed to distribute through torrents or any other lame way.

Anyone care to check if the promo codes are taken?

Last promo codes, if you use them, please say witch one you took. To help the others

6YY74MXFHWJA
TT3WXL7FEF99
TXNN33AHAFY6
KE3HY97MFYE9
7L7WEW3A7H4R

No one said thanks for the promos :(

SURPRISE!!

HKNXW7YP74YX

Neither can I lol

Dude that 1200 score is sick!, i can't get over 500!

A promo code I left behind for some reason

TTALAYAXJ39Y

By the way, has anyone beaten 1200 score on Veteran mode?

Thanks for the criticisms, I will take note for future updates :)

Your game does look good, I especially like the dramatic music in the trailer :-)
I agree with @Olmeister, the action looks a bit static because the background isn't moving.

It should be pretty simple to add a scrolling background, just follow Ray Wenderlichs tutorial on parallax scrolling.
http://www.raywenderlich.com/3611/how-to-make-a-space-shooter-iphone-game

Then it looks like the Octopus is constantly moving towards the attackers = even more action!! ;-)

Hey, Looks good, I have a criticism though.
From your video it seems that you didn't incorporate an animation for when the enemies are hit with an attack.
Why didn't you implement this? It seems like you have put a lot of effort into your game, so why not go that extra step and put them in?

Also, perhaps you should consider a dynamic background, for example, your background has a school of fish, frozen there.
If I was you, I would remove that school of fish from your background, then add in a new class of a singular fish then subclass it into a school of fish, add the school to your background layer or whatever, then use integer timers to move them.

Its the small little things that add up to big things to create; great, polished games.

Just my 2c,

Congratulations though!

looks pretty good, congrats

@Aorata FYI All promo codes are gone. I did not get one.

@Karvus thanks! really appreciate it!

Has anyone even taken the promo codes?

Downloaded the game and loved it! nice graphics btw
And I liked playing with two fingers, makes it very dinamic!
congrats dude!

PROMO CODES FOR YOU!

MJ69EKTKJM3N
K4RLTYRLMYEA
LMRY64FMLJLJ
YE3ETTFEMF97
4KTAHHERMYRA

Enjoy!!!!

0CTOPUS RAMPAGE IS OUT!

First of all, thank the community for the help, you've been very helpful, I probably wouldn't have been able to make this game with out you guys help.
So thanks! I tip my hat to you!

0ctopus Rampage is a survival/shooter type of game, you have to kill the enemies as they appear while you dodge the bullets that they fire! You can play with two fingers at the same time, one to move the 0ctopus (thats you!) and the other to aim. The firing is automatic!

Also, you can gain bonuses by shooting them, then you can release them at the most opportune moment to increase your score!

Hope you have fun playing! don't forget to review us! thanks a lot community!!!

Here are some ScreenShots!!!

This is our youtube trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MScz6HzAM8Y

This is our facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/0ctopus-Rampage/283900708304648

And here is the link for the App Store!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/0ctopus-rampage/id470014896?ls=1&mt=8

Ads dont work (unless you spend a ridiculous amount), good reviews dont work, and Apple has put a stop to buying installs (wisely IMHO).

Its all up to the fates!

One good thing about a good review is you can put it in your description text and that may sway a few people? Maybe.

http://www.148apps.com/reviews/squid-drop-review/
Hopefully this will boost some sale for him

Thanks cocoBavan.

It went up to 15 copies worldwide (from 6 copies the day before). Down again to 6 copies the next day. I think the #1 thing I've learned during this release that reviews, even great ones, doesn't necessarily mean all that much sales-wise.