Hopple released! Will donate $10,000 to riq for his amazing work.

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Hopple released! Will donate $10,000 to riq for his amazing work.

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Started 2 years ago by arian487
Latest reply from bsharp42

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arian487
Member

As many of you know, I've been working on the game Hopple for a
while. First we got rejected by Apple for some stupid reason. After
resubmission, we got accepted and finally our game is on the app
store!

Cocos2d has been such an awesome resource and this game would not have
been possible without riq and his work on the engine. After less then
24 hours of release, our game Hopple made it to the top 25 in the
family category. We have high hopes and we believe it will go
further. As thanks to riq, we give our word that when the game makes
it to the top 25, we will donate $10,000 to the cocos2d project. We
truly believe in this open source initiative and want to help it
grow.

I'd also like to thank anyone else that put up with my questions in
the last 3 weeks! Here is a link to our website:

http://www.tophatmonocle.com/hopple

There, you can also try out a flash version of the game and I should
also mention that our game has a Lite version so please give that a
try too!

Here is a video:

Get the Flash Video

Thanks everyone!

By the way I posted this as well in the old google forum before I realized we have a new one. I'm not sure if the people in the other topic used up the promo codes. I'll consider posting more if I have any left.

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Posted 2 years ago #
Codemattic
Moderator

I bought a copy - its addictive!

Please add the option for tilt controls and for relative touch controls, as opposed to only the absolute touch controls that it uses now.

Also in the dialog to submit your high score, it should remember what I typed in previously - I shouldnt have to retype it every time.

I dont think the local high scores works. It seems to forget my scores.

FYI - if the initial splash screen is up and I tap "menu" the menu dialog is hidden behind the splash and there are some interface problems. Maybe dont place the "menu" button until the splash is removed.

Finally, its great you are going to contribute to Riq, I hope Hopple is very successful, but maybe you dont need to declare an exact dollar amount so soon! :)

good luck in the appstore, Codemattic

Posted 2 years ago #
DeeNiri
Member

What a remarkable cocos2d development :) Great trailer.

Posted 2 years ago #
jd
Member

Great job on the game. I just downloaded it and gave a positive review. My son is playing it right now. I like the very sharp graphics. I hope you do well.

Tilt control would be awesome because my son (5) tried tilting it several times until I got him used to clicking with his finger.

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

I thought a lot about how I wanted the controls and at the end of the day touch just made more sense. I've never been a huge fan of motion sensing or the accelerometer controls and using the accelerometer limits play on a car or a bus for example. I guess I can provide the controls as an update but I REALLY don't like tilt controls.

Codematic, what do you mean by relative controls as opposed to absolute controls? And thanks I am away of the bug with the menu and I'll update that for sure. I am glad you enjoy the game! And I guess I could have withheld on the dollar amount but I saw no reason why I should. If I'm donating to him I don't want it to be some small amount because his hard work on this engine is worth so much more. If I had the money now I'd write the cheque but I'm a student so I don't. If the game makes top 25, then theoretically I WOULD have the money.

Posted 2 years ago #
edisonslabs
Member

It certainly does look like a solid game, but it seems too much like this one from Orisinal

http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/bells.htm

Good job though. We would certainly donate $10000 to riq (and the other contributers) if we made that much money.

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

That game you posted there was my inspiration. I was addicted to that game for such a long time :)

Posted 2 years ago #
edisonslabs
Member

Haha, as was I.

Posted 2 years ago #
LongJohnnyE
Member

Hey there,

After finishing up major updates to StickWars, my next project was going to be a game very similar to this. It's another game that is incredibly simple, but so amazingly addictive. Congrats getting it out and doing a great job on it. Now I can take some time off to relax and find something else to do ;).

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

Thanks! That's what I was going for, pure simplicity but addictive gameplay. Right now I've heard excellent comments from users all around but getting the word out is hard. I posted the submission with a few promo codes on as many forums as I could, adding admob to my lite version very soon, I uploaded an almost full version to Cydia, and just been trying to get people to get the lite to at least try it.

Not much in terms of sales so far, but slide to play is doing a feature story on me and the game since they recently emailed me saying their staff got addicted to the game. Hopefully that helps it get noticed. Bet you'd have an easier time marketing it if you made it John. Already had one hit under your belt plus you could market it through your current game.

That's my hopeful plan, keep trying, get one hit, and then making other hits should THEORETICALLY be a little easier since if its a good game, it gets noticed easier then having 0 hits under your belt.

I'm also going to get a digg story going about cocos and how it's helped so many indie developers get to the top so if that hopefully goes well then my game (and other cocos games) gets noticed. Ideally, I'd like to have it so that when any of us releases a game we can state it was powered by cocos either in the name or description and that gets it noticed instantly.

Posted 2 years ago #
edisonslabs
Member

Hi Arian,

I'm curious what is the reason your app got reject on the first submission?

Posted 2 years ago #
Codemattic
Moderator

"Ideally, I'd like to have it so that when any of us releases a game we can state it was powered by cocos either in the name or description and that gets it noticed instantly. "

I dont see why the customer would care about whether it was made with cocos2d or not.

Posted 2 years ago #
Codemattic
Moderator

"If the game makes top 25, then theoretically"

"when the game makes it to the top 25"

What sales do developers see at number 25 in the app store? Is that what you are calculating is your break-even point?

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

It got rejected because of the description. As a joke I put: "99.99% OFF GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT! PRICE GOES BACK UP TO $9900". I did that to sort of mock the other games which all now claim to be giving x amount off. I've since changed it back to that description and apple hasn't said anything...yet.

I think it'd make a difference, we could have something in each of our games like, "other games powered by cocos", and then list some. Say I put that in Hopple, yes for me directly there is no gain but if we all do it, it could create a nice circle. A lot of good games go unnoticed and this would certainly help them get noticed. I'm not sure what sales people see at number 25 but I do know that 99% of the profit goes to games in the top 1%. So at number 25 I'd say it's probably in thousands per day considering top 5 make around 20-30k a day.

Posted 2 years ago #
coolman
Member

>It got rejected because of the description

LOL .. Apple doens't seem to understand your sense of humour. :-))

Posted 2 years ago #
Codemattic
Moderator

oops I missed this question previously:

"Codematic, what do you mean by relative controls as opposed to absolute controls?"

I mean the controls could be more like a trackpad where it doesnt matter where you first put your finger down, it just matters how far you move it.

You know, even though people want tilt controls, Im not sure tilt is accurate enough for this kind of game. You may have to give it to them just so that they can see that touch is better.

Posted 2 years ago #
Codemattic
Moderator

"I think it'd make a difference, we could have something in each of our games like, "other games powered by cocos""

kind of like App Treasures:
http://www.mobileorchard.com/app-treasures-indie-iphone-game-developers-school-of-fish/

Posted 2 years ago #
coolman
Member

Codemattic,

When will you publish a game? :)

Posted 2 years ago #
Codemattic
Moderator

coolman, too busy composing posts. :( But soon hopefully.

Posted 2 years ago #
coolman
Member

LOL, let us know when available.

I'm crossing fingers and hopefully I'll send tomorrow my game for approval

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

I see what you mean by relative touch controls. I don't think I'd like that but I could give it some testing. And yes, tilt would not be accurate enough but I will throw it in anyways since it's been requested. Anyways, we are doing an interview with slide to play, she loved the game and they wanna do a feature story :)

Posted 2 years ago #
edisonslabs
Member

Tilt is something very very difficult to get right. I worked on a game for a class project, and we were testing it using the accelerometer. It can be very fun, but it's very hard for the player to get used to at first. And that steep "adjusting" or learning curve is a big turnoff. The whole idea of using motion to control game play is really cool, but when you actually implement it, it's not so cool.

Congrats for getting an interview with SlideToPlay. We just submitted our app today and we'll be asking them to review ours as well :)

Posted 2 years ago #
Codemattic
Moderator

edisonlabs, I agree re tilt. So many games Ive bought where the tilt controls just didnt work very well. And it reduced the playability of games when you are on the subway bc who wants to be tilting something around and elbowing your neighbors?

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

^^This is why I didn't do touch. I'll add it in but I'll take my time with it and make sure it feels right.

By the way, any of you guys know by any chance how to get to featured section on apple?

Posted 2 years ago #
edisonslabs
Member

^ You mean tilt right?

I think the conditions for featured apps are as followed:
1. Apple likes your app, could be the approvers, or anyone in Apple.
2. Your app is becoming popular quickly
3. Maybe if you have connections? Though that's dirty :P

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

Hm. Because I was reading up and it seems that the best way to get into the top 50 really is getting featured by apple.

I released a small update by the way. Some issues are fixed such as menu, you no longer need to submit to global on the spot in case you don`t have connectivity, the system automatically goes through your local high scores and updates the global ones where necessary every time you load up the game. I also fixed the issue where if you put the same name it would replace the score in local regardless of whether or not the score is higher.

Posted 2 years ago #
Carpy
Member

Can you even make 10k out of the game even if you are in the top 25 family games?, i really doubt it.

I assume you aim to hit 25 on the family game not on top paid apps.

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

Well I meant top 25 overall...

Posted 2 years ago #
edisonslabs
Member

"Can you even make 10k out of the game even if you are in the top 25 family games?, i really doubt it."

Heh, you can... it's difficult, and rare now days, but I have no doubt that if your paid app is in the top 25, you will be getting between $5k - $10k each month while it is still in the top 25 (My friend made two top 25 apps, and that figure is about right, maybe even more). But games are short living apps, so keeping up that revenue is not going to be easy.

My thoughts are that there's a lot more developers into this now, so the "instantly get rich" is not going to happen anymore. Ideas are everywhere, and coming up with a really unique and good one is difficult, not to mention the implementation of it is going to be harder.

Arian: What is your target goal for the first month?

Posted 2 years ago #
arian487
Member

Edison I've heard you'd get thousands a day if you are in the top 25. I could be wrong of course.

But yes, bigger companies are getting into this and guys like us simply can't compete with an EA releasing something like the sims or NFS. I mean, ultimately my target is top 25 and for the end of the month, I'd like to be in top 25 in the family category at the very least. If it doesn't do well then this was an amazing learning experience. I'm not one to give up easily and I'll most certainly try again.

Posted 2 years ago #

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