********** New Game Annoucement - My First Game :) **********

MarcusO

Hi All,

I just wanted to share my new game that I have developed.

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/wall-breakerz/id499464545?mt=8

Reviews and feedback greatly appreciated.

I've already have updates in mind to make the game even more fun and awesome. They will come soon including adding game centre etc.

Cheers.
M

zombieaddict

quite alot i could point out but a couple of things that jumped at me straight away..

i would change the colour palette of some of the characters. in the first screen shot most of the characters have a grey hue on them so when they overlap it makes the image look a bit "muddy".

in the second screenshot the the width of the heads needs to be made smaller so they're not distorted.

MarcusO

Thanks For the feedback Zombie Addict.
I'll keep them in mind.
But please continue with the feedback with all that you notice. It's greatly appreciated

zombieaddict

your HUD at the top. the number after "Chances" isnt aligned with the other numbers.

in screenshots 1 and 2 the yellow icons look like they've just been upsized from their default size because the pixelation around the edges is quite noticable. probably best to make these over from scratch at the correct size.

all your text should probably be changed to images for aesthetic purposes. im guessing they're just going to be saying the same word for the most part so find a nice font and replace the words like "Choose a character" to an image. the wallbreakers part of your name should look better/more noticeable than all the other text in your game aswell because its the actual name of the app.

in screenshots 3, 4 and 5 the values and colour intensity of the HUD elements (music button, pause button, etc) are similar to the actual background elements so it almost makes it look like a single object rather than easily being able to look at the screenshots and be able to tell what is the background and what is the HUD.

colour of the background in screenshot 5 stands out quite a bit compared to the other backgrounds. either add more colour into the other ones or tone down the colour in screenshot 5 to match up with the rest.

i would experiment with different colours at the top. instead of the black space area. whenever you look the screenshots your eyes are constantly drawn to that part of the screen instead of focusing on the gameplay area.


hope that helps and hope you dont take it in a bad way. those are all pretty minor fixes but they should make a noticeable improvement to help your game look a bit more uniform

MarcusO

Hi Zombie Addict.
Thanks for your honest and straight forward feedback.
I havent taken anything you said, or that matter what anybody else's feedback,
in a bad way at all.
You've made alot of good points.
As i mentioned before, I will take them, as well as others feedback, into considerations.
Cheers,
M

The_Gamesalad_Guru

This is why it's important to have others beta test and review a game before release. The worst thing a developer can do is release a game with issues. You rarely get a second chance to make a good first impression. I know many new developers are eager to have an app out as I guess it affords some type of so called status but what good is that if you cripple your chance at long term success. Take your time and be through, test and ask people who will give you honest advice and feedback about your work before you release. Once I know a developer has put out a buggy app or a crappy one I usually write them off long term as do many other customers. App development isn't an ego thing, it's a business thing as your goal is to get customers to part with their money and is an even more difficult thing in this economy.

EatingMyHat

To avoid the text alignment issue you might want to display the caption and text in the same player. Your display text can look like:

"Chances: "..game.chances

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Follow Eating My Hat on Facebook and the Blog
Check out my templates in the GS Marketplace or at the store

MarcusO

Hi Guys,
OK so thanks for everybody's feedback and input. It's always appreciated

@Zombie Addict -

With regards to the misalignment, The first time i loaded it to test the game, the chances and levels row was aligned on GS but not when load to the devices. So, I changed it on GS to properly align when loaded on the device and it worked. So even thought the screen shots, which are taken from the GS snap shot, shows misalignment, it aligns perfectly well on the device.

The Screen shot you see at the itunes store have been pixilated when i had to meet the new 960 requirements. So i had to stretch out the original screen shots which we're crisp and clean. Also on the adhoc that was loaded onto the iPhone and IPod rendered crisp clean graphics with no pixilations.

The alpha on the game screen icons were initially 1 but when i beta tested it, some said to reduce their focus as it take away from the game play itself so i reduced the alpha.

The colors of the top area and the colors on the game play area are contrasted on purpose as i found from feedback it helps focus on the play area. Although it may not seem that way looking at the screenshots on the iTunes store, on the device itself it worked well.

So i suppose, these last two points above, it ,may be a matter of perspective. But nonetheless a good points

With regards to the fonts, i could have use picture fonts in this game, but the game play area needed to be maximized. With picture fonts it was reduced significantly as that what i started off with. In fact the next upgrade i'll be putting out soon will have and even greater play area and a bigger ball as well. One of the ways this will be done is by further shrinking the top score, chances, levels area. This will also reduce focus on it regardless of the contrast.

With regards to the characters looking muddy, I very much see your point as on the screen shots since they were expanded, they do look that way. On the devices however this muddy look goes away and the pics appear clean and crisp.

This was not to downplay any of your suggestion as they were good observations based on the screen shots you saw from the link. And as i said i always appreciate feedback from all.

@ FryingBaconStudios -

Thank you for the passionate message about putting out a solid product. Im guessing ur a scorpio like me We share the same passion of getting things done right the first time through testing like crazy; especially for first launch as that sets the tone for users in the future.
This game was slated to come out in November when i had finished it. However, The time since mid-Novemeber '11 until the end of Feb was spent testing and correcting over and over again. Lots of modifications and corrections were done; not just technical but even legal elements of game productions as well. As a person who works in IT, and as you can appreciate, i can definitely see the value of testing over and over again till it right. I know the consequences very well, as you do and thus, i spent all that time doing beta testing with people of all backgrounds and got lots of feedback. I knew that i wanted to put out a solid product. I definitely didnt want to put out a buggy product or be written off by anybody. As others will vouch for me, I made sure as much as i can to get this right by crossing all my t's and dotting all my i's

@ EatMyHat.

Thanks for that tip. I saw it on one of the vids but could never get it right..will have to try again. LOL! it would help take away a bunch of actors for sure.

Looking forward to everybody's success
M.