A fast, easy to use, free, and community supported 2D game engine
Hi guys,
My latest game has been submitted to the App Store and once again I've used Cocos2d. The new game is Head Spin 3D. This is actually the 4th, and unless it's incredibly successful, probably last version of Head Spin. This version I've gone all out on though after learning from plenty of mistakes in the previous version.
Here's a Youtube clip of me explaining the game:
You can find more info on the website: http://headsp.in
Feel free to ask me any questions.
Dan
Duckwit
Member
Look quite good! A job well done. :)
My only concern is, by the looks of it, you have all the difficulty levels except 'Easy' only unlock-able via in-app purchases?
I don't know how that's going to work on the app store, I mean, take Angry Birds, the most successful game; it has about 120 levels, it started out with about 100 when I got it, and FREE updates with more levels and couple of months. I don't know about everyone else but I for one never use in-app purchases, because it seems like you are paying for something that you kind of already have, just more of it. But when I pay for an app, I am getting something completely knew. :/ But it's up to you, whichever way you feel it will sell best is best.
Well, the game is going to be free. So you won't have paid for anything upfront. Also, at the end of the video I explain how you can unlock the full game for 4 hours, 10 times by sharing your times via twitter or facebook.
I think it's unfair to compare any pricing strategy against Angry Birds. If this were to get to the #1 I'm sure I'd lower the price to make sure as many people as possible bought the game and I remained there. Unfortunately, very few games are that successful and to actually make some money, even just break even a higher price will be required.
Besides, with this game you get 12 puzzles every day for free. With in app purchase that goes up to 72, or infinite if you include the practice levels. So for the tiny amount you pay I think you get value for money.
Regarding the 3D I used the Wavefront OBJ Loader that has been mentioned on this forum somewhere. It was quite complicated. More complicated was working out the quaternion maths required for the rotation of the heads.
If the objective was to complete 20000+ puzzles, then yes I do. This was a problem with one of the previous versions. However, that's not how the game works.
Each day you get 12 different puzzles to complete for each difficultly level. Your objective is to complete those 12 as fast as you can. There is a chance that some of the puzzles will be the same, but that doesn't matter in the context.
This is what I feel stops it getting boring. It's no longer just a puzzle game but also a skill based game. There is a daily version that I've made previously and it has the same players on the scoreboards day after day so I can only assume that they don't find it boring either.
Seeing as I made the game it's unsurprising that I'm one of the best at it. But when someone beat my time I tried so hard to get the top stop, but you only get one shot a day. I got there eventually, but it took a week (10 seconds a day).
The old version is here. Try it for yourself. It's probably not for everyone there are many that do play it a lot:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/head-spin-daily-edition/id371989060?mt=8
Does this text for the App Store description get across what I've detailed above?
Each Head Spin puzzle is played by swiping horizontally or vertically across two adjacent heads to rotate the heads in that direction. The puzzles are complete when all four heads are upright and facing towards you.
Head Spin 3D is not about solving individual puzzles though. Each day players are given twelve new puzzles for each difficulty level. All players get the same set of puzzles. The aim is to complete these twelve puzzles as quick as possible. Players may make as many mistakes as they like while completing the puzzles. However, once a puzzle is complete it may not be replayed to improve the time. Instead, players must wait for the next day's puzzles.
What you get for free: • One difficulty level containing twelve new puzzles everyday forever (that's over 4000 puzzles a year) • Ten opportunities to unlock the full game completely FREE for four hours simply by sharing your times on Facebook and Twitter • Undeniably awesome music to play along to
What you get with In App Purchase: • All difficulty levels - unlock the 3-7 move puzzles (an extra 21,900 puzzles a year) • Practice mode - allowing players to play forever. Ideal for warming up before attempting each day's puzzles • The option to turn off advertising
Head Spin 3D is the perfect game to fill a few minutes, whether you're on your daily commute or sat on the toilet at school/work (we know you do it!), and it will keep you coming back for day after day.
Joethemonkey101
On probation
I agree, I've never bought an in-app purchase
Cool game! I really like the concept behind the daily challenge. And well done keeping the game simple and straight-forward!
The description you have above is comprehensive, but my hunch is that no-one will read it. Especially since the game is free - most folks will just click the Install button after looking at two screen shots. So, here are a couple of suggestions for you:
* Carefully select your screen shots and your icon. Those will be the most important factors (especially the first two screen shots) that convey the style of your game and attract your audience.
* The first paragraph should be a single, short sentence that catches people's eye. That's the only thing most users will see (since they have to click on "more..." to see the rest in iTunes and on the phone - few people do that). Something like: "Be the fastest in the world - one day at a time!"
* Do most of the explaining when the game first loads up and runs on the device. But keep it concise, exciting, and short.
Good luck!
@pfg2009 You might be right. The problem I'm having selecting screenshots and designing the icon is that although the gameplay is fun (IMO) and fits the concept, it's not very visually appealing when on it's own. The screenshots I've gone with are as follows:
Here's I'm trying to give as much of an overview as I can, including the In App Purchase screen and the sharing for full game options. The icon I've settled on so far is this, which again suffers from the same problem:
I might try something along the lines you suggested for the intro of the game description.
@Joethemonkey101 That's very disappointing to hear on a developer forum...
@Codemattic The video was not meant to be a trailer, more an overview of the game. The problem the game suffers is that without a concise description of what you are meant to do no one understands it.
I intended to add new models in updates, themed ones based on the rabbit still. There have been a few version of this game already and the rabbit has kind of become the star. At least in my eyes.
I think it's unfair to compare any pricing strategy against Angry Birds. If this were to get to the #1 I'm sure I'd lower the price to make sure as many people as possible bought the game and I remained there.
This is very true. Pricing game in the top 100 (and especially the top 25) is completely different from the rest of the store because of the massive amount of volume. It's always silly when people give pricing advice that's based on Angry Birds or Doodle Jump or whatever.
I don't think the app description is a good place to explain how to play the game (at least not at the start). Once they've bought the game, they can learn how to play, for now, just tell them why they're going to have fun.
Anyway, it looks pretty cool. I really like the daily challenge idea. I think you should give options options of some different head designs or something, I think it would get pretty boring looking at rabbits all the time.
Head Spin 3D is now available:
Head Spin 3D on the App Store
Here's a new trailer to show it off a little better:
@nord84 The font I used is a free font I found somewhere called Tweedy.
I think you should give options options of some different head designs or something, I think it would get pretty boring looking at rabbits all the time.
If the game does ok I'll add more heads. Though it is help to have the same one just so you know which way round they are. You end up looking past them anyway.
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