GRAVONAUT - Now Available on the App Store! - 8 Bit Astro Adventure

NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
edited November -1 in Announce Your Game!
Hey everybody, well here it is, my first app that I've been working on for a while now. I'm very excited and nervous but I hope you all really enjoy it.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gravonaut/id409697603?mt=8

Gravonaut is a gravity-defying sidescrolling astro adventure where you play as a stranded astronaut traveling though the uncharted realms of the moon. Manipulate gravity to lead your character through the dangers and terrors that lie ahead and get him back to earth safely.

Gravonaut is a game that is a true test of skill and reflex. Can you handle the lunar challenge?

FEATURES:
-Gravity Controlling Space Adventure
-Brutally Challenging Levels
-Intense Boss Fights
-Addicting Gameplay, Unlockables, & More!

Our Cheesy 80's commercial spoof:


image

image

More information and more screens:

www.gravonaut.com

Touch Arcade thread

http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=77668

Please note that version 1.1 is in the works for bug fixes that were discovered post submission.
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Comments

  • UtopianGamesUtopianGames Member Posts: 5,692
    Congrats on release!

    Gameplay looks nice and im loving the retro art.

    Very clever design.

    Darren.
  • GamersRejoiceGamersRejoice Member Posts: 817
    Looks cool, that commercial took me back in time.
  • juzcookjuzcook Member Posts: 259
    hahaha i LOVE that trailer! looks like a great game, ill pick myself up a copy shortly :)

    Juz
  • ktfrightktfright Member Posts: 964
    Awesome. :}
  • juzcookjuzcook Member Posts: 259
    No kidding with the three difficulties, I just passed the first boss. Level 3 alone took me 19 goes :P Very smooth and polished game though! Did you consider adding a few more easy levels to get people into the game without getting too frustrated? That's the only thing that could hold people back from trying to finish the game. A challenge is good though, I just think it gets pretty hard very early on! Good luck with sales :)
  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Just bought it, and have to say that I love love love the retro styling - I didn't realise how far you were going to go with that and I'm really impressed.

    The trailer is fantastic - make sure you get as many people to see that as possible!

    The game itself is bloody well put together, but just much too difficult for me, personally. And unfortunately I don't live in the 80s anymore (well - not officially) so don't have the time/patience to beat really hard games!

    I'm a wimp, I know!

    Sincere congrats though - fantastic little game, only let down (and that's a personal opinion) by the difficulty level!

    QS :D

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • butterbeanbutterbean Member Posts: 4,315
    OMG love the trailer!! Brings back fond memories of the BEST games! Will purchase and review later! :)
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    Haha thank you very much guys. The intention was the make the game hard, but not to the point of hating it, so balance was key. If there is something that you all agree on that should be fixed to make it atleast passable (modding the level perhaps to fix this), then let me know, I want it to be a game people can finish.

    Glad you like the commercial as well, not bad for like a $100 budget haha. The game was supposed to be a small side project but turned out rather huge for us.
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    P.S.

    Touch Arcade thread if I can get your guys help to keep that thread going :)

    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=77668
  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Just bumped ya at TA - deserves to do well!

    QS :D

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    Thanks, need all the help I can get :)
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    I have 5 promo codes I can spare, if you post your email address I will send you a code only if I may get a review in return.
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    Well I checked my sales reports for today, sadly fairly low numbers. I've been reading on other dev forums that usually beginning of the week has that effect and I've also read that people have been reporting extremely low numbers these past 2 weeks due to Christmas coming up. Here is hoping sales pick up around Christmas *crosses fingers*

    On the bright side, reception everywhere for the game seems to be very positive, now if only I could get featured or reviewed lol.
  • jonmulcahyjonmulcahy Member, Sous Chef Posts: 10,408
    I love the video, very clever. I just bought it!

    make sure you carpet bomb every major game review website with review requests, but wait until after new years, most sites are living for the holiday right now, or busy covering all the huge sales going on.

    Send and Receive Data using your own Server Tutorial! | Vote for A Long Way Home on Steam Greenlight! | Ten Years Left

  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Agree with Jon totally - I think we've all learned a lesson here - don't release a game just before a major holiday!

    Hope your sales pick up Mr. Nexus - your game deserves it!

    QS :D

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • AfterBurnettAfterBurnett Member Posts: 3,474
    That looks AWESOME! How'd you do the TV style "lines"? Looks very authentic!
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    Thanks for all the nice comments guys!

    @POLYGAMe, for the scanlines, I made a filter overlay thats semi-transparent that has a line filter on it, when applied on a non moving layer, it gives the effect of scanlines of an old CRT monitor or TV screen.

    As an update, sales are now getting lower :( hoping things change by the end of the week. If they do not, I might pull from the store and resubmit in the new year at a better time. I'll find out if xmas has any effect on sales, plan on doing another big push in promotion, its unfortunate but also a good experiment to keep you guys informed on how holidays affect sales.
  • AfterBurnettAfterBurnett Member Posts: 3,474
    Awesome, wish I'd thought of doing that for Max Vector! LOL. Looks great!
  • HunnenkoenigHunnenkoenig Member Posts: 1,173
    I love that commercial!
    Well done! :-)

    I think, I am really happy that our game missed the Christmas sale.
    We will put it up in january and I hope, we can then make a huge revenue :-)

    I hope, everybody else shot their powder for christmas and they have nothing to upload until februarry :-P
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    This is straight from Gravonaut, its 480x320, but when stretched to 960x640, it still looks perfect. Feel free to use it, it really helps to the 8 bit effect :)

    http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/6025/scanlines.png

    Its a transparent .png, make sure it saves as that.
  • ktfrightktfright Member Posts: 964
    NexusGameStudio said:
    This is straight from Gravonaut, its 480x320, but when stretched to 960x640, it still looks perfect. Feel free to use it, it really helps to the 8 bit effect :)

    http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/6025/scanlines.png

    Its a transparent .png, make sure it saves as that.

    Sweet!
  • ktfrightktfright Member Posts: 964
    @nexus, I wanted to ask, I want my next game to utilize retina display, but I'm confused about the size of my primary character. what was the size of your Gravonaut character?
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    Here is a tip I'll share with you. Gravonaut is not technically native retina supported. By the design of pixel art, when the game is scaled 2 times for retina screens, pixel art, being blocks, does not have aliasing, so its a smooth transition and looks as if it is retina supported. I designed the game at 480x320. However, the Nexus logo and the Commander 64 screens are made with retina 960x640 in mind graphic wise. It's a cheat way, but also saves memory without the need of using resolution independence.

    So the character's size (if I remember correctly) is 26w X 29h, double that if you are not using pixel art for no aliasing.

    Luckily for me, the game scaled nicely for retina.
  • ktfrightktfright Member Posts: 964
    NexusGameStudio said:
    Here is a tip I'll share with you. Gravonaut is not technically native retina supported. By the design of pixel art, when the game is scaled 2 times for retina screens, pixel art, being blocks, does not have aliasing, so its a smooth transition and looks as if it is retina supported. I designed the game at 480x320. However, the Nexus logo and the Commander 64 screens are made with retina 960x640 in mind graphic wise. It's a cheat way, but also saves memory without the need of using resolution independence.

    So the character's size (if I remember correctly) is 26w X 29h, double that if you are not using pixel art for no aliasing.

    Luckily for me, the game scaled nicely for retina.

    Nice, thanks for the tip!
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    No worries, I learned a lot over the past several months making this game haha, few tips and tricks.

    On the bright side, first bit of good news: Gravonaut is featured under "New and Noteworthy" under the arcade and adventure categories, the top 5 of 20 :)
  • jonmulcahyjonmulcahy Member, Sous Chef Posts: 10,408
    awesome, that should help sales, especially if it sticks that way over christmas. the game is great, it deserves some recognition.

    make sure you update your TA thread with that info and include it on any press releases you send out.

    Send and Receive Data using your own Server Tutorial! | Vote for A Long Way Home on Steam Greenlight! | Ten Years Left

  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    Thanks for the kind words jon :) I updated my TA thread with the N&N update and I'll now include it on future press releases, good tip ;)

    If I can keep it on N&N on those pages (or if somehow I pulled a miracle and got on the main N&N) by tomorrow, then I'm good as the freeze goes into effect around midnight is what I've heard.
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    Hey guys, first web review is out. Extremely positive!

    http://appmodo.com/40154/gravonaut-review-twitch-based-gameplay-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon/

    MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE :)

    image
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    I have some spare Promo Codes left over, first come first serve but I do ask if you could be kind and leave a review when you use one.

    A9RKXNLEH73E
    WWT4XYAP4NHX
    WWYFM69WYTFJ
    JTHJP7JKLFYW
    7FA4HHNR3P9T
    TJNHHWK9W9XJ

    Also, any support in helping to bump our Touch Arcade post would be greatful :)

    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=77668

    Sadly sales are bombing, regardless of my tireless efforts, any help to get the spark back would be awesome.
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    I have some spare Promo Codes left over, first come first serve but I do ask if you could be kind and leave a review when you use one.

    A9RKXNLEH73E
    WWT4XYAP4NHX
    WWYFM69WYTFJ
    JTHJP7JKLFYW
    7FA4HHNR3P9T
    TJNHHWK9W9XJ

    Also, any support in helping to bump our Touch Arcade post would be greatful :)

    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=77668

    Sadly sales are bombing, regardless of my tireless efforts, any help to get the spark back would be awesome.
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