A fast, easy to use, free, and community supported 2D game engine
The app was submitted on the 26th of last month. Finally got approved today (on a Sunday!). That wasn't all too bad, although I was starting to worry. Check it out:
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Website: http://www.atomic-cactus.net
My friend just tested it on a 3GS and the dreaded 3GS particle bug is messing everything up on that phone. I have no choice but to pull it down from the store and fix it. Did the 3GS bug get fixed in the newer release of cocos? I'm using 0.7.3 so I'm gonna update to the latest one. Have to pull it though because I can't afford negative reviews from all the 3GS users once they start playing it.. Damn it. That's what I get for not upgrading to the latest cocos build when I had the chance.
That's what I decided to do, upgrade the whole thing. The changes to code are all but minor, though the colors are now quite a bit off so I need to change all of that. But I did already notice a significant performance boost. Just hope I can crunch out this update so that it can be approved toward the end of September. It's been long enough waiting for Apple..
Here are some new promo codes:
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The new update has been released. Of course, it's not selling all that hot at all. When it appeared in the app store under new releases it was already on the 3rd page down. Anyway, I will be releasing a free version now, which will be a fully features spin-off survival mode game based on the story in the main game. Hoping it will reach a wider audience that way.
I also suspect I screwed up with the icon. I didn't even think about it, but I literally didn't spend any time on it. And now that I look at it, the icon does look pretty funky.
I would appreciate if you guys give it a shot and leave a review, right now it has none.
thesmileman
Member
I just left a five star review on the store. I haven't played with the 1.1 update but the game is pretty fun. I think you did a really good job with the level graphics. My only complaint would probably be that the difficulty seems to go from really really easy to really hard very quick.
As for the icon, I don't think it is bad but I think it would be better to be a much simpler design not something taken from the game. That way it could catch people's eyes quicker when they quickly browse through the store.
good job and good luck with the game!
Thank you! That's exactly what I thought about the icon when I first saw it in the app store. I was browsing through games and I recalled how often I judge the game by its icon before even open the description. I am hopeful the free survival game will get more exposure and lure some customers to the story version.
As far as the difficulty, if you get a chance I would like to hear when you think the difficulty goes too high. It's hard for me to judge because I plyed it so much that I pretty much became a pro, so every level seems easy to me. I originally intended to make it really easy all the way to level 10 where it starts getting progressively harder, but I think I might have overdone it a bit.
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I changed to this icon. Unfortunately the actual app still has the old icon. But I'll be releasing a minor update soon, so it will feature this. What do you guys think of it?
Wow, thanks so much guys! Too bad I can't update the app icon remotely without re-submitting a whole new binary. But that's ok because an update is almost done, and the free "Survival" version will receive a similar icon based on your responses. Thanks a lot!
Sales have been "meh", which was expected considering I ignored the most important part - the icon. An update with the better looking icon is still in the process of getting approved.
I also submitted a free game, based on the same "game engine". It's a fully functional survival mode with a few unique features that aren't available in the story mode. Basically I'm going to market it as a different promo game based on "Earthling" and hope to convert some people who download it to buy the story mode.
I personally never download anything that says "lite" or "free" in the icon anymore, because I know a lot of it will be half-done and somehow limited. I only download it if I intend to buy the full game, but want to get a preview first. So I saw a company do a fully functional promo game using graphics from one of their paid games and decided to follow that. Which means my free game is going to be a standalone app, not limited in any way. I hope it boosts the sales. I'll post up numbers a week after the free app comes out to compare. This will be an interesting experiment.
You mean A Knights Quest - Knights Onrush? I'm doing something similar. I didn't label my lite version, which is in approval process, as LITE. I do mention within the game that it is a 'scaled down version' of the full game. I don't think it will do any worse than labeling it LITE. Good Luck:)
@jd, yeah that's exactly the one I'm referring to. Seems to have helped them quite a bit from what I can see, because their paid game is still in the top charts. Should definitely be better doing it this way than submitting a lite version, because people love free stuff that's fully functional. Good luck to you as well!
The update with the new icon has been approved. Already see a bit of an increase in sales, although it's too early to tell. I forgot to change the release date as soon as the update was approved, so my app didn't show up in the newly released charts. I changed it today, so I expect it to be a few pages down but still be within the top 75 newly released apps for tomorrow under Games>Action and Games>Arcade
It will be interesting to see what the nicer icon alone will do. It will take about another week to get the free version approved, so it's sort of an experiment. First I get to see how a nicer icon affects sales, then I get to see how the free version affects it. I'll report back with my findings.
edit: funny thing, the free version just got approved a minute ago.
Here's the URL:
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Might take an hour or two to actually show up in the store.
Looks like Earthling just got put into the "New and Noteworthy" category under "Games" in iTunes! Very excited to see how it does! Do you guys think it's a good idea to integrate OpenFeint in it now? I have been thinking about it for at least a month now. It's at most a 2-3 day job. I'm using OpenFeint in my new game and right off the bat it did much better than Earthling. Still, I'm very happy for Apple to feature it, because I definitely put a lot of care and time into making sure it's a good game and I'm glad to see it pay off!
I'm considering updating the free "Survival" game and adding a new game mode to it that can be unlocked with an in-app purchase, and integrating OpenFeint in it as well. What are your thoughts on OpenFeint? And do you agree that modifying your icon with the green OF bit boosts popularity, or not?
I hadn't realised the importance of the Icon until I read a few user reviews mentioning how they did or didn't like the way it looked on their home screen. I'm not sure about the little OF insignia, if it breaks the look of the icon it may not appeal to those who are indifferent about OF, but then again OF junkies will see it immediately.
If a person has bought into the concept of the game then they may want want to share their experiences on OF, but only after playing it. I would never personally buy a game purely for OF. I'd see it more as a nice-to-have.
The only real way to know is to test it in the marketplace.
Congrats! Good to hear Apple don't just add new games to that list.
Would be interesting to hear the percentage boost you get from the feature (e.g. not actual sales figures, just that sales went up 1000% or something (heres hoping its that much ;))
We're reviewing OF and AGON right now, so interested if OF does boost sales in anyway, and if people take note of their logo.
The new game that I launched with the OF logo bit has really taken off to a good start.
And it's not as slow as people make it out to be. It flies on the 3GS and iPods and it works very well on the iPhone 3G.
I like the fact that there is no registration. I already have a few players fighting it out on the leaderboards and it pleases me to see that the app stays running for +30 minutes per session on average, even on slower days.
I'll definitely post up the results of being featured, today will be the first real day of being up there, and I have no clue what to expect.
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