So, about 3 months later, Don’t Panic is finally completed (of course, I’m awaiting the bombardment of dream-crushing bug reports any minute now).
But technically, the game is done. All that’s left is to slap the sponsor’s branding on it and then release it to the masses.
Right now, however, the game is receiving some “First Impression” reviews from FlashGameLicense.com. In fact, you can play it right here. Of course, you either need to be a reviewer or a developer with a high enough Market Level to view that page 😉
So yeah, I just wanted to get that out there before the usual weekly game update on Sunday.
What’s left to do? Well I have to make a trailer for the game. Nothing big, probably just a few clips of gameplay set to some music. After that I’ll be uploading the game for approval on either Sunday or Monday and the game will officially be up for grabs. After that it’s just a matter of patience – waiting out the bidding process.
In the meantime, however, I’m going to enjoy drawing some concept art for Hero Dude and getting some planning work done for it.
Ugh, crazy weekend. Was able to get a lot of work done throughout the week. Let’s see how much work, exactly.
Accomplished
- Finish animating the two cutscenes. (Almost completed – end cutscene is completely finished and opening cutscene is about 80% finished.)
- Finish programming the two bosses. (Competed.)
- Put the game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions. (Not completed, will be done on Tuesday.)
To-Do
- Finish animating the opening cutscene.
- Put game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.
- Make trailer, screenshots, and thumbnails.
- Bug test and upload for sponsorship!
Planning Ahead
My plan was to finish the game today (Sunday) and bug test it throughout both today and tomorrow. I was then going to throw together a trailer tomorrow (Monday) and also upload the game on FlashGameLicense for approval for sponsorship bidding. In hindsight, this was a terrible idea. I don’t want to rush the final stage of this project after I’ve spent three months on it.
Anyway, sorry about the lateness of this post, too. I’ve just been very busy today with both game and non-game work. I can assure you that next week’s Weekly Game Update will be the final one for Don’t Panic. Then we move on to Hero Dude 😀
Wow, February definitely flew by. I almost forgot I had to post this until I saw in my email that I received a payment from CPMStar. Let’s get into it.
Similar to last month, I didn’t release any games or sell any sitelocks or anything like that. As a result, revenue is still going to be low. Don’t Panic will in all likelihood be released in late March (being that it will be completed this weekend).
Anyway, let’s get started…
Total’s for the month of February 2011.
Website Revenue
Google Adsense: $36.12
Game Revenue
Exclusive/Primary Sponsorships and Sitelocks: $0.00
Mochi Ads (Total): $4.34
CPMStar Ads (Total): $19.86
Game Sessions
Gameplays (Total): 269,136
Monthly Total
Total: $60.32
So that’s that. Revenue is just dripping in at this point. I should kinda kick myself into gear. I need to be releasing something at least every other month.
Oh, and you may have noticed I got rid of the little (+- ##%) thing after each number. To be honest that was just getting annoying and I doubt it was too useful for anyone.
If all goes well I should have a sponsor for Don’t Panic by mid-to-late-March and the game will be released late March. However these things are always unpredictable, so we’ll see.
That’s all from me for now.
This past week was definitely one of my best weeks in terms of productivity – got loads of things done.
Stats:
According to my header up there, the game was 88% complete as of this time last week and currently stands at Final Stages. That is a… um. I actually don’t know how much of an improvement that is, actually.
It basically means I’m very close to completing the game. I can’t guess with numbers anymore.
Accomplished
- Begin animating the two cutscenes. (Completed – both cutscenes are completely sketched out. Also, all of the backgrounds are completely drawn. All that’s left is to do the actual character animation and they’ll be completed. The first cutscene is roughly 45 seconds long and the final cutscene is about 12 seconds long.)
- Design and program the two bosses. (Half completed. Both bosses are designed and I began programming boss 1 last night. Today I’ll finish programming both of them.)
- Find and apply music. (Completed.)
- Get “Survival Mode” working. (Completed.)
- Implement “saving” and “loading” functionality. (Completed.)
- Put game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions. (Not completed. Probably sometime late next week. Friday is looking promising.)
To-Do
- Bug test.
- Finish animating the two cutscenes.
- Bug test.
- Finish programming the two bosses.
- Bug test.
- Bug test.
- Put the game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.
Planning Ahead
- Need a trailer for the game when it goes up for bidding.
So yeah, as you can see – besides finishing the cutscenes and bosses, my main priority this week is to bug test the hell out of the game. It’s always one of the most stressful parts of the development cycle. Sometimes you just don’t want to rigorously test certain aspects of the game because if you do find something wrong you’re afraid you might have no idea how to fix it. It kinda ruins your whole day.
So yeah. We’re almost there. As soon as this game is up for bidding I can’t wait to get to work on Hero Dude. I have big plans for it. Feces will be so money.
We’re finally back on schedule with these posts – isn’t that great? Lot’s of good progress made, things are looking promising. Let’s get into it.
Stats:
According to my header up there, the game was 83% complete as of this time last week and currently stands at 88%. That is a 5% improvement in just 1 week. What does this mean? I really don’t know anymore. The game is so close to being completed that these percentages don’t hold a lot of meaning anymore. We’re at the point where it’s best to start judging progress by how much is left to do rather than how much has been completed.
Accomplished
- Complete upgrade menu. (Completed.)
- Add all other levels (includes a rough idea of the amount of enemies and types of enemies spawned in each level as well as customized beginning/end menus). (Completed.)
- Start animating the beginning/end cutscenes. (Not completed, will likely begin today however.)
- Start looking for music. (Half completed, been looking, haven’t found anything great. I’m open to suggestions if you have any. Preferably from the NewGrounds Audio Portal.)
To-Do
- Begin animating the two cutscenes.
- Design and program the two bosses.
- Find and apply music.
- Get “Survival Mode” working.
- Implement “saving” and “loading” functionality.
- Put game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.
- Bug test.
Planning Ahead
- Need a trailer for the game when it goes up for bidding.
Screenshots!
Alright, since I never got that video of gameplay up like I promised, I decided to give you guys 3 brand new screenshots. Hold onto your privates!
(click to enlarge)
Alright, so lot’s of stuff completed and just a few more things left to complete. Great news.
However, I was definitely wrong when I said in the last Monthly Revenue Report that February earnings would definitely be higher than my January earnings. I said this because I was under the impression I’d have this game sponsored some time in February, thus boosting my earnings significantly. I can safely say now that this won’t be the case, but I am 99% certain that it will be the case for March.
That’s all from me, time to get back to work.
