Worklog for Matty

Convergence

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Finished(Posted 2016-01-09)
The game is now complete as far as I am concerned.

Version 1.30e is most likely the last update the game will receive in a while as all the core features are in, it has been played heavily over the past 4 months since release in October and is very stable, balanced.

There is one feature I would like to add but it is a non essential feature that can be let out for now - it doesn't add much to the game but would be a fair amount of work that I am not willing to put into it at this stage.

Marketing efforts have finished although I will still post pictures, videos and blog posts about the game from time to time as I am still heavily playing it.

The full version has been released for free after I found that it was extremely difficult to gain traction in terms of sales. I was initially disappointed by this but then I should have realised that it is extremely difficult to make any sort of inroads financially with a game, let alone a mobile game for an indie developer.

I am very happy now that the game is free and I would love it if many people played it and enjoyed it. That was my whole intention originally to make a game that people enjoy playing. If they don't enjoy it, then don't play it, but if they do - I really hope that it is enjoyed and played for hours on end.

I understand mobile games are typically casual pick up and play for a few minutes. However I play this game for hours on end at a time while sitting in a cafe on a weekend. I love the space battles. It is more a space battle generator in some ways than a game but there is still a game element to it.

In my mind the game is a success because I enjoy it (the only person whose opinion really counts about my game) but as said - I'd love it if other people tried it and enjoyed it for themselves.

from Matt

The game is currently receiving about 10 new users per day for the full game and about 6 for the lite. I don't know why people still bother downloading the lite version now that the full is free but hey, go figure?


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Some basic statistics(Posted 2015-12-22)
I keep track of all my user metrics and keep a close eye on them.

In terms of trends it seems they are positive.

For example.

Comparing users who actually used the product vs installs (at least one use properly).

In the month of October only about 35% of users who installed the app actually used it appreciably.

In the month of December that figure is almost 80%.

This suggests to me that my changes to make the game easier and more accessible have worked.

Also, organic searches are up.

In the first two months my average organic visit to the page was about half what it has been in December.

However although visits have doubled the number of downloads has not increased at the same rate. This is slightly worrying as it suggests that my store page is not as good as it should be.

I am aware that it could be improved in many ways but at this stage I do not have the resources to do so in a signficant manner.

Visits to the store have increased by 90 and 25% respectively for the months of November and December.

Downloads have increased but not by as much.

Downloads as a fraction of store visits seems to be hovering at around the 12% mark after starting at a high of about 18% in October. I'm not sure if this is a bad result or not.

I can also tell, and I had a good idea of this, that users obtained through google ads are not as high quality as users obtained organically. Whether this is due to language barriers or network availability in the countries that my ads get shown in I'm not sure.


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Moddable pilot chatter(Posted 2015-12-22)
Speech packs are now a distinct possibility for the pilot chatter.

Pilot Chatter can be modded.


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Yet another promotional video(Posted 2015-12-18)



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Comments(Posted 2015-12-17)
I thought I'd share some of the more interesting (I think) comments in my codebase for my game here.....just in case anyone ever wants to read them....my colleagues at work seem to enjoy my commenting style...almost conversational...

J3D.java:// only do this if the world doesn't exist yet - I think this
should fix the LG issue..good thing I bought the device.
J3D.java:if (currentlevel.failexit) // if the file load was really
bad....which can happen...sometimes....
J3D.java:// don't do anything...we are paused and that's how we should stay....
J3D.java:// something went hideously wrong...hideously!

J3DMini.java:// really bad Matt...how lazy is this!

Level3.java:// this will place it smack bang
Level3.java:// on the object...not what we
Level3.java:// really want.....
Level3.java:// it is okay for small objects
Level3.java:// like fighters and bombers but
Level3.java:// not big ships.....
Level3.java:// we are going to have to play with this......a lot......

ContinueGameActivity.java:// this may or may not crash....
ContinueGameActivity.java:// possibly an error code...

GeekyStatsActivity.java:// show geekinfo each time you come in here......

InviteActivity.java:// what is going to be on this screen?

Simulator.java:// non dodgy data...go!
Simulator.java:// do nothing yet....

Simulator.java:// cheat for now....since no idea if the up vectors will
Simulator.java:// match between this and the replay....
Simulator.java:// yep need a bloody up vector as well as a forwards vector
Simulator.java:// to define the orientation...
Simulator.java:// of the bounding box..

Simulator.java:// Log.i(TAG,"BEAM LOOKING VERY GOOD");

Simulator.java:// some kind of formation system would be lovely
Simulator.java:// eventually!
Simulator.java:// for now we use this....oh? :-(

Simulator.java:// technically we always want to look just a little bit
ahead of the small ship....
Simulator.java:// that's what I've learned from a few tips on
cinematography....rather than looking
Simulator.java:// straight at the subject....look slightly
ahead....obviously the camera position will affect this....
Simulator.java:// these little guys move around 3-5 units per
frame...so in 100 frames they could travel up to
Simulator.java:// 300-500 units in world space...that's a lot...
Simulator.java:// so we really only want to look about 30-50 units in
front of them.....
Simulator.java:// so pick a time no more than 10 frames ahead....
Simulator.java:// we will use 7 or 8 for now....

Simulator.java:// get an idea for where the damage is coming from.....and
Simulator.java:// include that in the shot.....
Simulator.java:// simply position ourselves at right angles to the ship......
Simulator.java:// find a vector perpendicular to this one....
Simulator.java:// good old dot product again.....

Simulator.java:// Log.i(TAG,"Huh no fid?");

pg_uploadbattle://work out what this means properly....

levelconstructor.bb:;so our direction of facing has to change
(although not necessarily our position...that will confuse folks!(good
old starfury movement)
levelconstructor.bb:;don't change facing......(maybe a little).....
levelconstructor.bb:;we want to gradually come back to facing forwards



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Advertising Method part 2(Posted 2015-12-13)
Hello,

I now have an equation that seems to fit quite well the marketing and
promotion methods I have available to me.

U = kD^n + jE^m,
where U = users gained, the first term kD^n relates to the dollars
spent advertising and the second term jE^m relates to the effort (in
minutes) spent spruiking my app.

In the case of adwords the free app has the following values:

U = 3D

Completely linear, independent of my own efforts. For the paid app
(through promoting the free app) the equation becomes:

U = 0.05D

where D = the dollars spent on advertising.

In the case of engaging with real people in the real world and telling
them about my app I have an actual numeric value for this
(approximately) as well:

U = 0.1E^(1+a) where a is a very small positive value greater than 0
(say 0.01 at best)

and E = the minutes spent on promoting my app.

It is slightly non linear, independent of money spent and in the case
of the paid app has a much higher conversion rate than the free one
that I would estimate as being more like this:

U = 0.01E^(1+b) where b is a very small positive value greater than 0
and most likely smaller than a (0.001?)

In simple English - for every 10 minutes spent talking to a potential
customer I get a download of the free app whereas for every 100
minutes spent talking to potential customers about the app I get a
download of the paid app.

There is a difference in the level of 'reach' I can have with the
second method however and it would be great to find the right group
where the value of a and b is higher.

There you go - numbers for everything!

from Matt


About Me

Methods Of Advertising(Posted 2015-12-10)
Advertising in a sense is a form of paying for users. Nothing wrong with that as such - we all do it in one form or another simply by spending our time, effort and resources on producing a product in and of itself.

However the mathematical model that I can see fits advertising or promoting a product goes something like this:

Number of Users Gained = k * Dollars Spent ^ n + j * Effort Spent ^ m where k and j are both positive, n and m are both greater than or equal to zero.

With advertising through google ads especially, although the k value may change depending on the competition for advertising space, the n value is equal to 1. this is why I believe adwords is not a viable method of advertising for small time developers.

As a smaller developer what you are looking for is a method where n and m are greater than 1. In other words - doubling the dollars and /or effort spent to get users results in a more than doubling of the users gained.

Larger companies can afford to have a value close to 1 as long as k and j are high.

Smaller individuals and companies need to have a value of n and m greater than 1 with a k and j that is moderate.

Finding a method that fits this model with constraints of n,m > 1 (preferably >> 1) is very difficult.

Personally I can imagine a few ways such as releasing a secondary game purely as advertising on a free game hosting website which would drive traffic to the actual game and cost the developer minimal money but a certain fixed amount of effort. This would hopefully give a value of m > 1 and k close to zero (since no money is spent). That is one method.

Another method is simply sharing the game with your friends. However the value is capped in that case to the people you know.

Hmm...this is tricky.


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Metrics(Posted 2015-12-10)
Rather than clutter up the forum with my posts too much I thought I'd share some metrics here.

Usage:

In the last week I had about 80 users install and play the app at least 1 time. This was the result of some advertising on Friday last week.

Of them about 17 have been found to have been active in the past 24 hours.

So I lose about 80% of my users after around a week. Or at least they go inactive. Google Play says they haven't uninstalled the app.

When I have a large install day (like last Friday) I find that about 1/3 of users who install the app uninstall on the same day.

Also I find that the majority of users play the app once and then not again. About 65%.

The remaining 35% play a few more times.

It generally gets positive reviews. I had one 1 star rating with no comment so it is difficult to know what they didn't like about the app and it stands in stark contrast to the plethora of 5+ reviews and ratings i've received.

From what I can understand this is quite common for most games - play once or twice and then abandon. Normal.

I get about a 2-3% conversion rate from free to paid (it's hard to gauge exactly).....have had around 10 sales and just under 500 downloads of the free version.

The numbers go something like this with google ads and other advertising:

20,000 impressions/views of ad.
500 clicks of ad
350 visits to page through click (I guess that signals how many were intentional)
150 downloads of app (30% is not too shabby I'd say)
70 users playing
20 users keep playing for more than a few days
1 user pays for full game.


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Grime(Posted 2015-12-07)
I've added a bit of grime to the ships textures in the shader to add a sense of solidity to the look of the ships.....







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Checking out the competition(Posted 2015-11-28)
go to google play. Search for space battles. these are the entries as they appear in order. Mine is well down the list. Need to work on bringing it up the list.....the list doesn't seem to be in order of merit looking at a lot of the entries.....




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Changes(Posted 2015-11-27)
bug fix yesterday.
offline mode completed.
camera angles revisited (free look of sorts added)
potentially changing monetisation strategy - if any - this game was never meant to be about money.


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Offline mode built (basics)(Posted 2015-11-26)
The offline mode has been written and tested briefly.

There's more to come however.

I want to work out if it will purely be a skirmish mode or whether it will have some campaign elements to it.

No login needed for that mode.


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Pilot Chatter(Posted 2015-11-20)
Pilot Chatter added in v1.14 (released on google play in a few hours).

It contains 200 different lines of dialogue that get played at random throughout the battle...with a few different voices. Adds a couple of seconds to the loading time but is really good even for TTS...however I'll get proper voice towards the end of the year.

Example:



removed for now - too low quality.


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Login details(Posted 2015-11-19)
Login details no longer required - game generates a random username and password that ought to be unique and hides it from the user. User only needs to enter a callsign.


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nuked(Posted 2015-11-18)
Facebook nuked my account. Im guessing i wasnt adhering to their terms of play. Oh well.


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Promotional video(Posted 2015-11-17)
isn't tts grand...




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A learning machine(Posted 2015-11-11)
As was originally intended the AI players are effectively learning machines.

Each game session the AI players pick the same settings as one of the best human players in the game. Every 20 minutes they then adjust these settings by a slight random variation. As such they will eventually converge upon a good set of flight settings as more users play the game.

The patterns used by the players forms the patterns used by the AI meaning the AI grows and develops with subsequent games and ove time.

Lovely.


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Bugfixed and Enhancements(Posted 2015-11-10)
The current version of the game is 1.10.

It has fixed a long standing bug regarding closing screens. The android activity lifecycle has an stopped state which I needed to use more effectively when the user presses the home button. Not a major thing but it was a bit of an annoyance.

Also a bug regarding to when the server timed out at times meant that on one particular screen it would crash out - rarely happened but it shouldn't happen at all. that has now been fixed although preventing the server from timing out would have been nice.

Balance issues are continuing - I'm still working on getting the balance right for both the lite and full version although at this stage the lite version is more pressing since that is the first one most users see.

I've reduced wait times for ships to rebuild - consistent feedback has been that it is too long although I don't want it to be too short and Id definitely am not going to make it an in app purchase as some have suggested to rebuild more quickly. I don't believe in that garbage.

Additional information and help text has been scattered liberally throughout the game.

I am thinking of putting a video into the lite version through a menu option with a bit of a talk from me the developer to the end user - add a bit of a friendly face to the game...probaby quite unusual for a mobile game but hey it's already quite different to most games out there.

I've added larger explosions to when the little ships die - previously sometimes the little ships would appear to just disappear.. They now disappear properly.

I've also updated many of the php and postgre sql statements to be faster.

Also cronjobs have been added to periodically clean up the tables and update the ai and research settings of bot players in the game. Nice. Every half hour or so the bots will adjust their ai settings and research settings meaning they improve as the game goes on - if the user allows it to go on for too long. Often in a single player game it doesn't make a huge difference if the player plays very short sessions.

There is a minor bug that pisses me off regarding flight patterns but I can't really do much about - there is the occasioanl rare situation where the flights get into orbits that are unbreakable. This simply means the battle ends as a draw.


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Bunch of Battle Videos(Posted 2015-11-02)
Recorded from my low spec LG phone
























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Battle Screenshots (image heavy)(Posted 2015-10-29)



























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v1.07(Posted 2015-10-24)
v1.07 contains an alert if the server is unavailable ... lesson learned...


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More Help Added(Posted 2015-10-23)
In game help video added (thanks Google for increasing the size cap past 50MB....just over now by about 3MB)

Available in about 1.5hrs from now. (9pm AEST 23-10-2015)





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1.05a Released(Posted 2015-10-22)
1.05a contains a few edits...

1)Performance upgrade for space battles on really low spec devices (and I mean below the bottom end)

2)Additional help text throughout game.


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AioSenti vs EarthHope(Posted 2015-10-22)



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More videos(Posted 2015-10-21)



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v1.03b(Posted 2015-10-19)
v1.03b is scheduled to release about 8pm AEST tonight.

It has an updated help feature as well as improved camera angles (more variety).

My downloads are growing which is good of the free version but as RemiD pointed out the documentation was lacking which certainly made it difficult for some users (which was already known) to know what the game was precisely about.


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Facebook(Posted 2015-10-16)
Facebook page set up

https://www.facebook.com/Star-Dancer-Cinematic-Space-Battles-For-Mobile-497885423724574/


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Some more vids(Posted 2015-10-10)







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About Me(Posted 2015-10-08)
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How to play (2)(Posted 2015-10-07)



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Single player(Posted 2015-10-07)





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AI Bots(Posted 2015-10-07)
Basic AI Bots added to the game now. They are able to be attacked and are basically training bots. They don't attack the player however.

Eventually I will train their AI settings by conforming them to the 'most effective human player ai settings' with some variation (random)....should keep players on their toes.


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Videos(Posted 2015-09-05)
Gameplay (no audio - should show how to play pretty much though)




Battle example


Slideshow of screenshots



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Stuff(Posted 2015-09-02)
Still in semi hospital environment. Life is gradually getting on track. Things still seem a little unusual at times.

There seem to be a lot of actors in the world.

My game though - trying to advertise it in my spare time - very hard to get anyone to actually download it despite the fact it caused a lot of excitement a while ago.

from Matt


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Coming together(Posted 2015-08-22)
The game is coming together quite nicely now.

There's a few little bits and pieces to do still....started a blog with a strategy guide and an 'about' section. Also did some gardening today.

I still feel a little odd but hopefully that will pass as time goes by.

from Matt

Star Dancer Blog

google play entries:

Lite version

Full version


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First(real) animation has arrived(Posted 2015-06-23)
And it looks good.

Also fixed a bug on the server config settings.


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lite demo created(Posted 2015-06-22)
Lite demo version has been built (few things to put in but it works...)

Took some stuff out.

Duplicated server and database.

Linked to paid version in google play.

All coming together.


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bug fix(Posted 2015-06-22)
fixed a fairly annoying bug that only occurred on one of my phones.

It was to do with threading re:audio - I hadn't properly managed the state of the audio player correctly which didn't make a difference on most phones except for one of them which had being showing up as an intermittent fault (very intermittent) - thankfully the phone has a decent logging system. In the end it was a very easy fix (that I should have picked up much, much earlier)


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almost there(Posted 2015-06-20)
Just waiting for artist to complete a few animations.....there is the odd occasional code change.....

From July onwards I will be spending time working on marketing, promotion, balancing, and so on.

There will be a free (limited) demo version (no ads either) in addition to the full version.


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getting closer(Posted 2015-06-12)
Artist (same one) has been contracted again to do a few more bits and pieces - mainly update the anims I put together into something more pretty (bit more expensive this time but still under budget---though not by much, I'm expecting to be about 10% under budget by the time I finish assuming there are no unexpected major costs)

(Private) testing will take place in late June (not long now)

The plan then is to spend the next month implementing any serious changes needed as a result of user feedback.

Balance will be worked on as well in this time - until about mid August.

Follow up testing will take place as well around Sept.

About September start releasing 'proper' promotional videos and so on.

Re: advertising - (not in game - none of that thanks!) - I will probably go to a few common websites that are frequented by my target market and pay for some advertising space (not going to spend much - these are fairly obscure websites by world standards but the users are definitely my target market - hence advertising won't break the bank) I will also visit some clubs/groups/events/organisations in my own city where potential users exist and do a bit of word of mouth advertising....



Release expected late Nov, early Dec,

I'm not expecting a huge initial sales volume but am hoping that I can grow the user base with time.

The product will be a paid app (still deciding on pricing) - with no ads or cr@p in it....a simple reason for this is to attract the users I am after - if I put it out for free not only do server costs become unsustainable if it becomes popular but I will likely get a lot more downloads from those I'd rather not have to deal with.

If you've listened to the Coodabeens (doubt it on this website) then "Ivan from Ivanhoe" has the right idea......


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updates(Posted 2015-06-09)
Made some minor cosmetic changes (changed icon, adjusted planet positions, adjusted gui element positions on a couple of screens)

Optimised web (mostly)

Going to take a video of the gameflow soon (not really for public consumption though.... - other purposes)

Need to do more anims.

There is 1 feature that may get added much later in the year - but that is a surprise.


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progress(Posted 2015-06-06)
I've reached June!

Game due to be released in early December.

My original design doc estimated I'd have the majority (or almost all) of the code done by June and that the next 3 months would be engaging artists etc.

Things changed slightly.

The majority of the code is done - and the majority of the media assets are done too.

The game is "feature complete" in a lot of ways - every part of the game works as it is intended - I am not going to add many more features (there are a handful that are going to be added a bit later).

Most of the artwork is in there - and the artist and I are working on a few more animations (I'm building samples and she will reproduce them in a more aesthetically pleasing manner).

The next 3 months or so as I see it are going to be spent testing, refining & polishing further.

Because it is my own project, and I have no deadline other than my self imposed December deadline I have the luxury of being able to get the product in the state that I want it to be before release.

Quite happy with it.

There is some testing that needs doing related to certain multiplayer aspects but it is coming along well.


Stability:

The app is very stable however I have come across one intermittent fault on a particular phone. I don't usually like saying this (because 99% of time the fault is with the developer) - but on a particular phone model - after the phone has been switched on for 3 or 4 days - with nothing else installed other than my game and the OS (and shovelware that comes with the phone) - in a phone with no sim - sometimes the app runs less efficiently which is remedied by switching the phone off/on.

There are no memory leaks in my app (according to logs or anything else). However the pre installed software on the phone does seem to have leaks - which darn well is annoying since in my view it should be able to run 'forever'....(on a higher quality produced phone I don't get these problems at all) .... blahgh!


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work continues apace(Posted 2015-06-02)
Animation in various interfaces is being worked on at the moment.

Testing and balancing continues.

I would say I am ahead of schedule or at the very least well on time.

Going on holidays this (extra) long weekend.....going to take PC with me to do some work but also enjoy the beach (in the middle of Winter!)


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Great artist - going well - updates(Posted 2015-05-23)
Video Link

The artist is doing a great job, very happy with her.

Today I purchased a second phone to test with. I'm not sure if it is lower spec than my Samsung S4 (I was hoping it would be - it's an LG H440V) however it outperforms the Samsung S4 in the 3d scenes amazingly.

I had to make a simple change to fix a glitch due to the software keyboard. My Samsung has a hardware keyboard but the LG has a software keyboard which means that when the user touches the screen the keyboard appears (which is fine) but it triggers onSurfaceChanged in the GLSurfaceView - other than that it works with no problems...

Oh actually there is one minor issue (which is not a major thing)...

The EP4 replay files - despite being associated with the app - don't load from the LG's file browser - the file browser refuses to recognise them since they don't fit the expected file extension. I'll fix this eventually.

There are other issues too -

LG (and other phone like a friend's Sony phone) won't let the user install an apk via wifi direct (however over blue tooth is fine?)

Also - my friend's Sony phone for some reason doesn't have a file browser at all by default - which is a bit stupid in my view - but then I guess some companies do like to lock down a few things.

I haven't managed to connect adb to the LG yet...I'm not sure why it doesn't....developer mode etc is all switched on.....however there are other ways of checking logs etc with a few system permissions (not to be used in the final app)

Also - found a useful splitter at the shops today for HDMI -> DVI which is helpful.....none of the staff seemed have any idea about what I was trying to do though so I'll probably have to go online to purchase (later in the year) a video capture device for DVI -> MP4 or similar.


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Updates(Posted 2015-05-14)
Purchased music for the menu system - have been listening to it in the car on the way to work. It's quite easy to listen to.

I've started working with another artist to do some of the 2d gui work - she lives in Melbourne which is a plus - makes communication very easy - and was recommended by an (extended) family member.

There have been a few minor bug fixes, and a few enhancements.

If I were to classify where I'm up to I'd say (in WW2 terms) I'm at the beginning of the mid-war period, perhaps almost part way through the mid-war. The early war is over, but D-Day has not come yet.

I've got a testing day coming up on the 20th/27th of June at my home with a small group of people to get feedback on ease of use and general player response.

There are some features that have not been implemented yet which ought to be but I keep putting them off (victory/defeat screens, a few other bits and pieces that are semi gameplay related).


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Tidying up a bit more(Posted 2015-05-07)
tidied up some minor interface issues.

corrected some minor things with the surface shader on the space ships.

Started looking into video capture devices from my phone to mp4 format via hdmi -

unfortunately my phone (a samsung) encrypts all output via hdmi with hdcp regardless of source. The only ways around it is to either use a splitter or purchase a handful of specific devices from China which can get around it (not entirely if that would be exactly legal though even if it is only for my own application)....alternatively the R&D guys at work may be able to show me the file specification for their PVRs recording software which would a useful thing to have access to.


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Fixed input issue(Posted 2015-05-05)
Finally....fixed an input method issue that had been bugging me for months....

When each screen loaded the device would ignore the first touch to the display.

After spending a couple of days trying to fix this I eventually resolved it.

Certain window commands were being called prior to the window being created which I think (not entirely sure) threw the system off.

It works now as expected.

Fantastic.

Balancing still being done (very, very hard...)

Here's something though;

There's one other game out there like mine - but it is 2d (and lacks a strategic campaign) - looking at how it plays (from a typical wargamer perspective) the battles are basically 'attrition' and so are a lot easier to balance - you can simply measure damage output per second to get an idea for a game like that. However because mine is in 3d, and the fleets are smaller, and also because mobility is a big factor in mine - it is much harder to balance - it reminds me of my university days with ODES and a thing called "bifurcation theory" along with the idea of stability of a system...unfortunately a slight change to any parameter can set the system in a complete different direction. This does make it very hard to predict - even though the game is perfectly deterministic - it is quite difficult to predict how large a tiny change will affect the final outcome....

The equivalent that is known in popular culture is the butterfly effect....

Change a single value (such as a ship's acceleration) and because of the physical systems everything changes....so hard to predict....

To be honest - I'll be happy if I can simply balance the starting combinations such that both sides in a battle lose at least 'x' ships with the default config where x may different in each and every case...


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Testing(Posted 2015-05-04)
In about a month's time I'm going to have my first semi public test with a bunch of friends....hopefully we'll have about 5 players and I'll be able get some feedback on the ease of use and their general reaction.

(late June- 20th/27th)

In the meantime I've got get the balance issues worked out...which is bloody hard - I've got a system in place to do so but even so balancing an asymmetric system with so many options and 5 different factions is very, very hard....ultimately all I can really do as a first attempt is make sure that none of the starting setups are too weak/powerful.


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Updates(Posted 2015-05-02)
I fixed some of the shaders (lighting was being calculated slightly incorrectly due to incorrect camera pos and a few other things) Corrected specular and bump mapping.

Optimised the loading routine for the battle - reduced by a factor of 4 which is good for now...would be nice to do a bit more.

Reduced filesize of apk - from 50MB down to 35MB

Updated UI - streamlined further, added a few more indicators to help the user.

Fixed a very simple error in logic in battles

Purchased some sound effects to play around with

Spent more time on youtube doing 'research'....

Changed some of the tech logic slightly - streamlined further.

Tidied ui - removed elements at certain times.


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Expenses....(Posted 2015-04-28)
So far I've spent a little bit of money on various components (which is all documented)....

I thought I'd share a brief overview of costs here - most of the expenses are to do with media assets:

All prices are in AUD
Graphics:

Graphics -

$620 on stock models from turbo squid

$311 on a deposit for work which was never completed successfully.

$150-$200 on stock 2d graphics including fonts, backgrounds and so on from shutterstock, cgtextures and a handful of other sites.

$160 on skybox / nebula imagery

Audio:

$15 cheap speakers for PC

$750 for music tracks and commercial broadcast licence

Total so far just a little shy of $2k. (AUD)

Not included in this is obviously my own "development time" - however time spent is approximately 20-25 hours per week (on top of full time 40hr a week job) each week since January 10. Total of
approximately 300 hours work so far (I'd estimated I'd have to spend 400 hours by June to have the game at a particular state - it's looking about right)

Not included is hosting fees - currently using existing web server - most likely in late August/September there will be a change to this.

Future Expenses include - voice acting, web development, promotion and a few other bits and pieces.


About Me

UI....as it currently stands(Posted 2015-04-28)





































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Oops - bug fixing(Posted 2015-04-27)
Fixed a major logic error tonight....had been wondering why the ships were behaving a certain way....I'd implemented a 'repulsive force' between ships to prevent them colliding but rather than apply it only to ships that were likely to collide I'd applied it to everyone which meant that in battle the little fighters would often not shoot until the second half of the battle....it was a bit bizarre.....however now that they do - there's a bit of balancing to do....


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continuing(Posted 2015-04-26)
Work is progressing well.

I'd love to show it off but I'm going to wait a little longer before I do - the video is beautiful. Mesmerising to be honest.


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To do (continued)(Posted 2015-04-22)
Game stuff still left to do: (in no particular order - and even this is not a complete list)

Options screen - ability for user to specify game settings such as volume of music/mute, specifying mod folders, specifying whether to receive
email notifications or other alerts, specifying the default folder for new game content downloads, profile features - whether the player / user wants
other users to be aware of their online/offline status, whether to auto email / send replays to opponents,

Title screen, menu audio - ie button click sounds, music,

In game tutorial - a single player session that the user has to play first to familiarise themselves with the core game functionality (basically the full
game but with computer controlled opponents)

Backstory/Theme descriptions for the 5 factions including potentially artwork but at the very least textual descriptions.

Notification system for when something happens in game - ie another user elsewhere in the world does something - how to alert affected players/users.

Ship modules - ability to select alternative ship weapon loadouts for a particular vessel.

Ship graphical customisation - ability to select alternative "paint jobs" for vessels both from preset and also user provided.

Ability to view saved replays through the game (rather than through the user's file browser)

Ability to send replays to other users via email or other method.

In game replay - improved camera positioning, additional/modified effects - engine trails behind ships, smoke trails behind missiles, improved laser effects,
"warp/portal/hyperspace" effects for ships entering battle area, additional ui features for selecting camera angles and alerting user to events, improved sun
model, potentially the ability to render the replay out as a proper video file for user to submit to youtube etc, ships (especially large ones) need to
break apart and send off debris when damaged/destroyed,

Balance issues - making sure that the five factions (which are different) are balanced for competitive play - and that a single strategy/faction does not
trump all others. This one could take a long time to get right.

Bug fixes - map problems (as discovered),

Focus issues - ie on the TV displays the buttons do not highlight when focused - need to design for both TV and phone use in mind.

Optimisations - server response times, remove redundant code from php scripts, minimise data transfer between user and server, minimise server computations
improve efficiency of replay file generation, speed up loading times, fix progress bar on loading screen (it doesn't move currently), add spinning progress
wheel to loading screen,

Security - encrypt user information sent to and from server,

Add invite system - allow user to click button which invites friends to play game with them (via email/facebook etc - message includes "Hi 'Joe' wants
to play game with you...click link to join game, or download from mattiesgames.com etc'

UI graphical update - before release (and before beta testing) find someone to pretty up the menus etc

User testing - at least 5-6 weeks of testing with the public (October?)

Support - ability for user to contact 'support' (ie me) with questions or requests.

Web page - advertising game, describing features, providing additional content, discussion board for players, youtube videos and promotional trailers,

Server upgrade - eventually move to Amazon Cloud Services (potentially) depending on likely server load.

Compatibility testing with various phones and android devices.


About Me

invite system(Posted 2015-04-22)
Really, really basic invite system is in place.

Needs more to be done, however it simply generates a key which users can share with their friends to join the game.

They also need the name of the game...


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upload to server works(Posted 2015-04-21)
uploading replay to server works.

next stage is the invite system and then the download system (fairly straight forward)


About Me

Added balance tester(Posted 2015-04-20)
I've written a little test program that runs the simulation for various combinations of fleet composition and faction for the default settings to help balance out the game.

I've also tidied up some problems with the ship target choice logic - hopefully it is improved.

I've also removed a couple of minor features from the simulator that were getting in the way bit.

I've begun work on the replay file upload/download and notification system - I need to investigate further on internet security.


About Me

Updates again(Posted 2015-04-18)
I've made a little icon for the game launcher.

An automated test system has been built to help balance out the factions.

Camera angles have been improved.

Database has been updated slightly as have php scripts - a few minor changes.

Added cache system - more responsive.

Added some new weapon types (tractor beams, disruptors - these drain the target's 'power' as well as doing damage)

Have a good idea of the personality and flavour of the factions - as a sampling - the universe/setting is a very 'human' universe. A universe where the human race has realised that they truly are alone in the depths of space....(good old Fermi problem) - however human instincts to survive have not changed all that much.....

I recorded a bunch of test pilot chatter last night but will put that bit on hold for a moment.

In terms of lines of code that comprise the apk/php scripts currently-

about 25k.....however there is a lot more 'supporting' code that has been built in the last 4 months to get it to this point - in various languages including javascript, blitz3d, blitzplus, java, dos batch files, php, and pretty much anything else that was needed to the job that needed doing.

I've also added ship icons (very small) to the replay screen which change colour when ships are damaged -> green, yellow, orange, red, disappeared - at % health increments. This is actually very useful - and is much less obtrusive than health bars, and is one of the reasons (as well as the music choice) that pilot chatter may be unnecessary.

I've decided that public updates on places like youtube etc will only be done about once a month or at least until I'm a lot further along with the project. I imagine by about August I will be ready to start making a bit of noise publicly.


About Me

still going(Posted 2015-04-17)
Music added. My choice of music certainly sets the tone. ..in a good way. It's different than my initial imaginings and as a result my idea of pilot chatter in the replay is changing too. I always knew audio was what would set this game apart in many ways ..and it definitely will...the pilot chatter needs to be a lot more subtle than what I first envisaged to not overpower the experience and to retain the vibe I've got going.

The tranquility of the void is probably a useful description. ...


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Updates....(Posted 2015-04-15)
Added the rest of the fleet factions (there are now 5 factions with unique ships).

Added the 'starmap' campaign map with logic etc...

Minor tweaks and bug fixes along the way.

Purchased music for battle replays.

updated back end (website a little)

Added 3d preview of ship(s) on ship info page.

Reduced team count from 8 to 5. (However multiple players per team is possible)

EDIT - Updated battle replay planets....much nicer looking....(and suns)





I would say I'm still on track.


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Further updates to ui(Posted 2015-04-12)
Research focus:




Fleet maintenance top level menu:



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updating ui(Posted 2015-04-10)









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Progress bars(Posted 2015-04-09)
Added progress bars to loading screen as well as to space battle replay. It is possible to seek to any point in the replay instantaneously by touching the seek bar.

The progress bar in the loading screen still needs to get the logic right (currently it doesn't make it all the way across....)

Shutterstock has come in handy.... (and will continue to do so)

Game scope has been reduced slightly - I've gotten back to the core idea of the game a bit more...

here are some pics:

Loading....


In game sliders....





Some of the menus in game:





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Core features added(Posted 2015-04-08)
Additional core feature have been added including the timeslider on the replay - works perfectly and instantly seeks to the correct position in the movie.

Caching of 3d imagery before first render seems good - should fix the problem that low spec devices had on freezing the first time a texture had to be uploaded to the phone gpu.


Added starmap (v.basic) - still working on the features for this.

updated research to be more streamlined and minimised process.

Associated replay files with android file system so that app auto plays them back on clicking in file browser.

To do: (among many other things) - but these are next

Backgrounds for 2d UI.
Improved replay gfx (beams, lasers, engine glow etc)
Purchase additional ships (a further 6 teams of 4 ie 24 ships)
Get AI bots working - play system will be no problem...what to do about the replay system for AI bots attacking players? not sure.


Note - AI system:

AI players will simply use the settings (AI sliders, research etc) of the top 'n' players of the previous week/month hence AI behaviour will certainly change and adapt as users interact with the game.

things to consider:

Do I want to incorporate exploration/diplomacy? Not part of the original design so most likely not...perhaps in V2......(that would add far too much work to the schedule)


About Me

Further progress(Posted 2015-04-04)
Explains a bit....(see video)



Coming along nicely...


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Progressing further(Posted 2015-04-02)
UI works as required. Everything connects to the database correctly.
While testing I've put the simulator on to the apk itself. The replay viewer works well.

Lots of things left to do though.


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Continuing....(Posted 2015-03-28)
The UI is coming along nicely. I've prettied up the GUI elements considerably.

The new meshes for the spaceships are in place....still toying with a few shaders.

Environmental effects are being worked on.

Database has been added to - research techs etc.....

It looks like I'm well on target to get this done in the time I hoped.

Had a problem with my web host though - have been speaking to Support since midnight last night, they experienced a DDos attack and a lot of problems have happened with the server since that time.

Quite pleased with progress.


About Me

Contractors....(Posted 2015-03-06)
So..I'm actually a lot further along than I thought.

I've put some feelers out for contractors (polycount forum: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149839 )

We will see how we go.

Going to get the visual side of things completed by mid May hopefully. I've also got audio to work on as well - VoiceBunny seems the way to go for that....(audio is a fairly large component of this game despite me not showing it off yet)


About Me

Simulator 2(Posted 2015-02-28)
Ok...this morning got the simulator working. Well it at least generates the output files. I then spent from 4 to 8 this afternoon getting the keyframes to load into my phone and play a video of some ships blasting the crap out of each other in 3d. Very basic at this stage however my phone easily handles the qty of ships I was aiming for.
.Explosions may need to be optimised but that can wait.....there's a long way to go....a very long way.....but we are getting there.

The due date of Dec is still looking ok....as long as I get all my code done before june....it will be close.


About Me

Simulator(Posted 2015-02-22)
So this weekend I fixed a handful of minor bugs and then moved on to the simulator.

Yesterday I managed to write about 1200 lines of code putting the basic simulator together. Early this morning I linked the output to my 3d engine to test. After a few minor issues it works fine. Still a lot of kinks to work out....lots to do but basically it should do pretty much what I'm hoping.

I think the next task is to tie it all together a bit more....Currently I'm using dummy data. But it's getting there.

Ive also had a few ideas regarding graphical style when it comes to ships....after spending time on Friday evening browsing ship designs online.

Hmmm will it be ready for the contractors by June? I think it will be close. It's definitely not a walk in the park....


About Me

Worklog started(Posted 2015-02-20)
So..I've been working on a project since early January this year of my own.

It's more ambitious than pretty much anything I've ever built. However, I've learned a great deal over the past 12 months (and my health has completely recovered (finally - after 17 years!).

The technology the game uses is the following:

Android Java - for the app that will be used on Smart TVs and also on mobile phones.

JPCT-AE the 3d library (I'll mainly use some of the Vector functions, 3d loaders, and GLSL routines as well as some of the basic memory management and camera stuff)

OpenGL ES 2.0 - shaders are nice!

PHP for interacting with the database on my webserver.

postgresql - the database system I use to manage the data.

bitbucket, git and tortoisegit for managing source control.

blitz3d and blitzplus for testing out various ideas, prototyping functions and algorithms (such as my snazzy lead targeting calc etc)

A handful of other bits and pieces.

But what is the game?

Well that is kind of a bit of a secret ...at the moment...mainly because as I've said elsewhere - there is nothing at all like it anywhere. Once I'm a little further down the track then I'll definitely be shouting from the roof tops. Around June/July I should have a completely working build that is just awaiting the media to be created....which I hope to have done by October/November to allow for 6 weeks of beta testing with real live players.

But....it is a strategy game.

It is multiplayer, and it is online.

It is turn based but also real time. (think Combat Mission series for something reasonably similar in that sense).

It is set in space. - > Fleet combat.

Is is massively multiplayer - up to 8 teams per game, but effectively no real upper limit on players per team (well within database limits!)

It is asynchronous play. So...the user can log in when they get home from work, do a few actions, watch a few replays, view progress of things like research, builds, the war effort etc, and then put it aside until the next day. They do not need the other players to be active at the same time (that is the whole point of asynchronous play).

Example. Johnny has come home and checks his news feed. There's a battle waiting for him to watch. After viewing the battle he decides to counter attack with one of his fleets - especially since his nice new capital ship has just been built - and his research for warp implosion destructor devices (made up) has completed. So Johnny picks his best fleet, goes to the war room and launches an attack against Billy. Billy however lives in another timezone and won't be up for another 8 hours so Johnny shuts the app down and goes about his normal daily duties.

Billy gets up in the morning, checks his phone and sees there is a battle. He runs to the living room, turns on the TV and downloads the battle to his Smart TV and watches it in full glorious cinematic action scenes.

And the game goes on....

Each game has an upper time limit for when it is completed....set in days. So a game could last for a couple of days or it could be a mammoth war effort that lasts longer than the first world war! (I'd like to say the hundred years war but I doubt either my system or android will still be around then! - oh and I think unix time stamps finish in 2038 anyway ;-) )


In terms of features....

the game will have research - which is time based and proportional to the length of the game. So .. when a user researches a tech it will take 'x' minutes/hours/days to actually be researched. When a user rebuilds a destroyed vessel or builds a new one it will take 'x' time as well.

There is a very unique feature however - which is what sets this game apart from pretty much everything else ever created. So far it probably doesn't sound all that unique. However the specific feature that sets it apart I'm keeping to myself for now....but....the mastery of this aspect of the game is what will separate the good players from the elite players.

The game will have voices (pilot chatter), and a 3d environment etc...

In terms of my progress so far:

I've built about 70-80% of the interface code -> php scripts, xml files,
android activities. They all hang together nicely and work well. In June/July I'll be paying someone to pretty them up.

The 3d engine works. The current version (which I showed off at work) will change significantly however I've already seen that I can have dozens of spaceships flying around blasting the crap out of each other on my mobile in 3d. Looks great. My next task is to rebuild it for the current system - build a simulator to generate the necessary keyframes and then build a keyframe replay system (which is not too difficult - I've done it hundreds of times before over the last 10 or so years with other games).

The game will include a modding capability. This basically will be a folder on the user's SD card in the structure "mod/modname/..." with sub folders for each moddable component (currently - all audio, certain visuals, and a few other things) - the user will simply select which mod they wish to activate in the options section and the relevant files will be loaded instead of the default files at run time. They will also have the option of sending the mod to their friends.

When it comes to monetising the game...still not sure but most likely I will probably have a nominal fee for being allowed to upload mods to the server for other people (who can then rank it).

This all sounds pretty intense for a mobile game...it certainly is no fracking flappy bird. However the actual game interface is designed for mobile and for Smart TV...it is not a twitch game, it does not require complex gestures. Most of it is menu driven. Very easy to use with either a TV remote control or your mobile.


In terms of time frame....

Well.... I'm looking at having a fully functional interface (minus a handful of features) by the end of Feb. Technically that is already done.

By Mid April I hope to have a fully completed database (actual data) - with all tested and balanced out research techs, ship builds, weapon loadouts etc. This bit will be fun.

By the end of this weekend I hope to have a basic simulator written, as well as (if I'm lucky) the key frame viewer. Then I actually test a few battles between a few devices at home. If I do that I may post a video (here .. not overly publicly)

By end of May I hope to have most of the tidying up done of the interface, and 3d engine etc.

That gives me June to make sure I'm happy with it.

Then June/July start hiring contractors for:

2d Interface artwork (including XML files for android)
3d ship models. (less than 10MB)
3d environment stuff (nebula, space dust, stars, planets, etc etc)
3d Effects (lasers, engine glows, trails, explosions, warp gates)
Music (menu, pre battle, post battle, a few in battle clips) - keeping this to less than 20MB
Audio (sound effects - standard sort of stuff)
Audio (pilot chatter - possibly about 10-20 minutes worth of audio - 5 second clips each...played at the appropriate time in battle (randomly chosen from large selection)
Website - need to get the actual pretty promotional stuff done (along with market/app store promos - trailers etc)
PR/Marketing ... hire someone to do this....or at least help out.

Actual costs involved....

Elance seems pretty good for the art work,
Voicebunny seems pretty good (and cheap) for the vocals.
Website....well I know a bunch of people....
Music - I've got a few leads..

I've worked out that total cost will be under 'x' $...(within a range) however this does not include any necessary server upgrades that need to be done.

I've actually tested parts of it on the TVs at work - lovely - looks nice. Even on the 'Smart Dongle' which can turn a regular Tv into a Android 4.0 device through HDMI port works beautifully (although the image quality is slightly less)

In terms of hours work...I estimated when I started (on my design doc) that it would me 400 hours to code everything that was required. I equated that to about 20 weeks work - roughly 2 hours a night Mon-Fri and 5 hours Sat/5 hours Sun....given I work full time Mon-Fri as well I'm pretty much glued to a screen a lot of the time...hence important to have quality rest time....spending time in the garden...looking at the trees etc..going for walks...getting fresh air...keeping fresh. It's a good thing I don't have a family!



The other thing I've got to work on during spare time is the theme...artistic direction.

I've got a few ideas..

Here are some common motifs/themes for sci fi that I've seen over the years: (my own terminology)

Cartoony
Cutesy
Shiny reflective chrome
White sterile medical ascetic
Industrial - pipes everywhere
Coloured panels
Glassy
Curved, rounded
Hard, edged, polygonal
Organic
Military
Rustbucket future
naval vessels in space
asymmetric
symmetric
gothic (looking at you WH40K)
insectlike
antenna man's paradise
present day earthlike (space shuttle)


Of these I'm not sure yet...but given I can't stand the sight of cartoony or cutesy crap on mobile that's right out...can't stand those big eyes with blue spiky hair and pixar style rendered junk

(don't particularly like the shiny chrome stuff either)

That's probably enough for a first worklog.....

Time to do some research....lots of time spent watching the Battle of Endor lately.......


About Me