LIGHTS Now Available on The Apple App Store!
sebmat86
Member Posts: 339
Hey there ya'll!
LIGHTS is finally up on the Apple App Store. If you've got the time, I'd love for you guys to check it out and maybe share your thoughts and if you like it, leave a review!
The full app name is "LIGHTS - Be The Light". Here's the link: https://appsto.re/se/ECOU8.i
Short description:
LIGHTS is an endless 2D sidescroller about finding yourself. Finding the strength and calm within you to be the light. Your own light, in times of darkness.
Embrace the escapist in you and take a break from your stressful everyday life. Sit back and step into the beautiful world of LIGHTS, an endless sidescroller with minimalistic graphics, simple controls along with deep, relaxing ambient tracks!
How long can you survive? Illuminate your path. Find yourself. Be the light!
The trailer: 
The Awesome soundtrack för LIGHTS: https://sebastianmatar.bandcamp.com
"LIGHTS - Be The Light". Here's the link: https://appsto.re/se/ECOU8.i
Will keep updating the game with more content and changes and fixes. Also planning on an Android release next year. But we'll see about that!
Tell me what you think. Cheers ya'll!
/Seb @Venerable Rain
Comments
Congratulations!
Thanks @frd
Feels really good! Though its hard to get downloads and all... But still, Im glad!
Hey all!
I've been working hard to get in contact with a bunch of people reviewing, blogging and making pod casts and yeah, pretty much every thing game related. I'm still far from connecting with every one on my looooooong list. But I wanted to share an email template that I've sent to a few persons/sites already. But I figured what better to do than to check with the actual English speaking peeps here if this template is OK. Should I change or add anything maybe, before sending out more emails? Tell me what you think.
__________________________________ Template
After over a year of developing my first iPhone application, I have finally released it to the Apple App Store. It is now available to download, for free.
LIGHTS is an endless 2D sidescroller about finding yourself. Finding the strength and calm within you to be the light. Your own light, in times of darkness.
This is what makes the game unique. The symbolism of every obstacle you need to pass in order to become a brighter light in your own as well as in others live's. To fight, and to never give up when Universe serves you a buffet of endless problems for you to either overcome or drown in.
LIGHTS is the biography of my life. Even though the symbolism is subtle, it is there. It is there through the aesthetic atmosphere of the game as well as the gameplay.
My life has never been a walk in the park. Which I believe many, if not most people can relate to. It has been one long sitting at the buffet I mentioned above. Im still eating. Im still feeling like !@#$%. And I will for a long time to come. But I'm eating dessert now. I've fought. Never given up. I see the light. Because I became it. My own light. The sole concept of this game is to inspire people in so many aspects of life, and to not give up.
Here is the Apps description followed by a few screens, the trailer and the link to the soundtrack:
LIGHTS is an endless 2D sidescroller about finding yourself. Finding the strength and calm within you to be the light. Your own light, in times of darkness.
Embrace the escapist in you and take a break from your stressful everyday life. Sit back and step into the beautiful world of LIGHTS, an endless sidescroller with minimalistic graphics, simple controls along with deep, relaxing ambient tracks!
How long can you survive? Illuminate your path. Find yourself. Be the light!
Here is the link to the Youtube trailer:
The soundtrack for LIGHTS is also made by me. It is the result of many years of belief of failure, haters hating and people discouraging me from trying my best to succeed.
The soundtrack consists of all the emotions, memories and experiences from my life. But in the end, it is filled with hope. With beauty. With the tones that ensures you that what Alfred said to Bruce really is true. "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."
You'll find the music here: https://sebastianmatar.bandcamp.com
Finally I hope LIGHTS will light a little bright spark of warmth and love within you. And to stop you for a while and make you really feel. To really make you remember how beautiful feelings are and that they are what truly separates us from the animals! That we have the possibility to make great things based on our passion!
Here's the link to App Store:
"LIGHTS - Be The Light". Here's the link: https://appsto.re/se/ECOU8.i
If you need anything more from me, please, get back to me and I'll see what I can do.
All the best,
/Sebastian Matar - Venerable Rain
__________________________________ End of template
It's as real as it gets. But how real should I get? I feel that I should at least try to follow my vision, and this template is my vision. But at the same time I should try out different approaches. I saw this speech by Kevin Spacey on Content Marketing World 2014 about the importance of selling a story. So I figured that I'd try that out. Cuz there really is a story behind LIGHTS. Check Spacey's speech out here, it's pretty good:
Anyways, gotta go and take a shower now. Maybe even burn my clothes. Bah! All these emotions make me sick!
/Seb
Congrats on getting Lights released! Looks really good!
First thing I think of when I read your template is that it's waaaay to long.
When pitching your game to people who write you need to catch their attention within the first two sentences or you are pretty much out. Most of these people get tons of emails every day so you really need to get them hooked fast.
Just my two cents
Far tooooooo long !
Reviewers get hundred of emails like this every month, they simply won't read it, they will scan it over quickly, if it looks like too much work, it will go into the bin and they'll move on to the next in the queue . . .
Here's my honest opinion on the information contained in the email:
. . . . . .
After over a year of developing my first iPhone application, I have finally released it to the Apple App Store. It is now available to download, for free.
Why would a reviewer want to know how long it took ?
The fact that it's on the App Store is already implied by 'my iPhone application'. I think you can dump all that.
. . . . . .
This is what makes the game unique. The symbolism of every obstacle you need to pass in order to become a brighter light in your own as well as in others live's
I'd move the possessive apostrophe from 'lives' to 'others', so . . . others' lives
. . . . . .
To fight, and to never give up when Universe serves you a buffet of endless problems for you to either overcome or drown in.
I'd use 'when the universe' rather than 'when Universe'.
. . . . . .
LIGHTS is the biography of my life. Even though the symbolism is subtle, it is there. It is there through the aesthetic atmosphere of the game as well as the gameplay.
My life has never been a walk in the park. Which I believe many, if not most people can relate to. It has been one long sitting at the buffet I mentioned above. Im still eating. Im still feeling like ****. And I will for a long time to come. But I'm eating dessert now. I've fought. Never given up. I see the light. Because I became it. My own light. The sole concept of this game is to inspire people in so many aspects of life, and to not give up.
Apostrophe needed in I'm.
I'm not sure you need to recount your life story to the reviewer, he's not your therapist !
Personally I'd leave all that stuff out, tell him about the game he is deciding whether or whether not to review rather than how you still feel like **** !
. . . . . .
Here is the Apps description followed by a few screens, the trailer and the link to the soundtrack:
Apostrophe needed in App's.
Politicians do this thing where rather than simply saying something, they say that they are going to say something, everyone hates it . . ("look, what I say to you is this, I say we can't have a robust economy without . . . etc), which is kind of what you are doing here, rather than explain what you are about to show, simply show it !
. . . . . .
LIGHTS is an endless 2D sidescroller about finding yourself. Finding the strength and calm within you to be the light. Your own light, in times of darkness.
Embrace the escapist in you and take a break from your stressful everyday life. Sit back and step into the beautiful world of LIGHTS, an endless sidescroller with minimalistic graphics, simple controls along with deep, relaxing ambient tracks!
How long can you survive? Illuminate your path. Find yourself. Be the light!
I'd probably chop that down to this (below) and make it you whole press release !
"Embrace the escapist in you and take a break from everyday life. Sit back and step into the beautiful world of LIGHTS, an endless sidescroller with minimalistic graphics, simple controls and a deep, relaxing ambient soundtrack. How long can you survive? Illuminate your path. Find yourself. Be the light!"
. . . . . .
The soundtrack for LIGHTS is also made by me. It is the result of many years of belief of failure, haters hating and people discouraging me from trying my best to succeed.
Again, I'd be tempted ask why would the reviewer want to know about the 'haters' ?
Also, if you are going with the confessional angle, you'd nee a comma in "many years of belief of failure" . . . unless LIGHTS is the product of a long period of time believing in failure !
. . . . . .
The soundtrack consists of all the emotions, memories and experiences from my life. But in the end, it is filled with hope. With beauty. With the tones that ensures you that what Alfred said to Bruce really is true. "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."
There is no real reason to describe music ! (beyond 'pumping electro-house' - 'relaxing ambient' etc) - the reviewer will hear in on the video.
. . . . . .
Finally I hope LIGHTS will light a little bright spark of warmth and love within you. And to stop you for a while and make you really feel. To really make you remember how beautiful feelings are and that they are what truly separates us from the animals! That we have the possibility to make great things based on our passion!
Starting to sound like a sermon ! I honestly think all the 'we are all sitting at the buffet of life' and 'I still feel ****' and 'we are separate from the animals' (etc etc) really isn't needed, just make the game sound cool/exciting/interesting/fun in a one succinct paragraph.
Anyhow just my personal opinion !!
Good luck with the downloads !!
Hey, @Dues Really appreciate the feedback. And I guess you're right. I really need to cut it down. It's really hard to find the right balance when promoting our games. Thank you very much for your time, man!
Hey, @Socks! Thank you so much for your time and the detailed feedback. Though it might sting a bit to chop the text down and leave stuff out that really feels important, I believe you are absolutely right. So grateful for the help and I will try my best to make it better and learn from this.
Cheers!
great game ! Glad to see a release !!
Complete Guide to iOS Publishing {} Complete Guide to Mac Publishing
Thanks, @Thunder_Child
Appreciate it! Feels great to have released the game finally