Hi from Wave Light Games - Indie Game Development Focussed on Windows & Windows Phone

[WaveLightGames]

Hi everyone,

Long time reader of WPCentral and have been actively involved with Windows Phone since Windows Phone 7. I'm in charge of a small Indie Development group that plans to focus heavily on Windows 8 and Windows Phone games. We released our first game yesterday but it had a technical issue in it that caused the file size to be unnecessarily large and we have submitted an update that has passed certification and should be live in the marketplace tomorrow. I wouldn't recommend downloading it until that update has been posted.

I and most of my team come from a tabletop wargaming background (warhammer, etc.) and are massive RPG nerds so we plan our next games to be turn-based titles similar to XCOM and Blackguards.

Looking forward to being more active in this community. If you'd like to check out our site, you can find it here:

Wave Light Games

All the best,

Raj

 

[anon(7900571)]

Welcome to WPCentral Raj. Good luck for your apps :smile:

 

[gedzum]

Welcome Raj. I hope you find this another great outlet to interact with your user base. Wish you all the best in your app/game development adventures :wink:

 

[dKp1977]

Hi Raj,

your first game for Windows 8.1 is looking great, I'm definitely gonna give it a try. Are you planning to release it for Windows Phone too?

 

[WaveLightGames]

Hi guys ... thanks for the warm welcome!

Yes, Gun Frenzy will be coming over to Windows Phone soon. I'm working on the port now actually.

One thing I'm not sure of is whether to port the game over as it is and try to reduce the existing 3D models so that they'll work on phone specs or if it's better to remove them entirely and replace with more cartoony models that are will work more easily on a mobile platform. I'll experiment with both options and see which works best.

By the way, when you checked the link to the Game on the Windows store, does the download size appear as a 600Mb file download or a 1.7 GB download? I, rather stupidly, forgot some texture optimization steps in my initial upload and so the download size was way bigger than it should have been. I posted an update yesterday with those optimizations and some bug fixes and I got an email from Microsoft saying it was updated but when I check it in the store, I still see the old listing. I really want to make sure that anyone downloading it is getting the updated version. Might just be a timing issue or perhaps the old listing is somehow cached in my account since I already downloaded the game ... if so, that seems odd as I don't know how anyone would see the updates.

 

[dKp1977]

Hi guys ... thanks for the warm welcome!

Yes, Gun Frenzy will be coming over to Windows Phone soon. I'm working on the port now actually.

One thing I'm not sure of is whether to port the game over as it is and try to reduce the existing 3D models so that they'll work on phone specs or if it's better to remove them entirely and replace with more cartoony models that are will work more easily on a mobile platform. I'll experiment with both options and see which works best.

By the way, when you checked the link to the Game on the Windows store, does the download size appear as a 600Mb file download or a 1.7 GB download? I, rather stupidly, forgot some texture optimization steps in my initial upload and so the download size was way bigger than it should have been. I posted an update yesterday with those optimizations and some bug fixes and I got an email from Microsoft saying it was updated but when I check it in the store, I still see the old listing. I really want to make sure that anyone downloading it is getting the updated version. Might just be a timing issue or perhaps the old listing is somehow cached in my account since I already downloaded the game ... if so, that seems odd as I don't know how anyone would see the updates.

Shows as 674.2MB download for me. I would prefer to keep the current models, even if you have to reduce them.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Awesome ... I'll give that a shot and let you guys know how it goes.

 

[hopmedic]

Welcome to WPCentral! We're glad to have you! It's always great to see a developer - or a team - get involved with the platform, and as well to see them get involved in the community here!

 

[TheMightyCraken]

Welcome to Windows Phone!

 

[WanderingTraveler]

Oh, hi there develop---wait, are you developing turn-based strategy games? You've just earned a spot on my 'to follow' list.

Well, have a nice day developing for the twin Windows platforms! (And since you're porting your game to WP, could you make sure it works as a cross-platform app as well?)

 

[Muessig]

Hey there, welcome to WPCentral! Really great to see new talent on these boards and you're in a good place to get some feedback too. Wish you all the best with the game!

 

[dKp1977]

Gave Gun Frenzy a shot. Man, I NEED this on my 1520.

 

[a5cent]

Sounds like we have the same taste in games. Will try too!

 

[pmhgeneral]

Welcome to WP central, good luck with your new game and will take a look at it

 

[WaveLightGames]

Wow ... so many replies! Thanks guys ... I'm realizing I should have joined the forums a long time ago. rly:

Quick update, I am working feverishly on porting Gun Frenzy to Windows Phone! I did a direct port over the weekend and the initial results were VERY impressive. I was completely blown away by how smoothly it ran without any actual mobile optimization on my Lumia 920. I'm working on adding the dual stick touch controls and making a list of stuff to tweak for the mobile release but I expect that it should be submitted for certification some time this week.

I'm also going to try several optimization tricks for mobile so that hopefully it'll run even smoother and perhaps I could even get it working on lower spec hardware ... but if you're running a 920 or up, it should be buttery smooth.

 

[WaveLightGames]

My next game (after the Gun Frenzy port to Windows Phone) will be Demon's Bane (working title). It's a cross between XCOM and Diablo and essentially has you exploring a dungeon with a team of six heroes in a turn-based format. The game will use a hex grid and action points to determine how much a warrior can do each turn. The game is currently at around 50% complete ... the core engine is done and the first 5 levels are in a fairly polished state. 8 out of the 16 hero options are done. Here's an early screen shot to wet your appetites ... I expect to release on Windows Store and Windows Phone before the end of the year.

 

[dKp1977]

My next game (after the Gun Frenzy port to Windows Phone) will be Demon's Bane (working title). It's a cross between XCOM and Diablo and essentially has you exploring a dungeon with a team of six heroes in a turn-based format. The game will use a hex grid and action points to determine how much a warrior can do each turn. The game is currently at around 50% complete ... the core engine is done and the first 5 levels are in a fairly polished state. 8 out of the 16 hero options are done. Here's an early screen shot to wet your appetites ... I expect to release on Windows Store and Windows Phone before the end of the year.

View attachment 69955

Wah, stop teasing us! You make me wanna take a cryo nap for the time until release.
Seriously, I'm looking forward to both games. Let me know if you need a beta tester. I can test your apps on a Lumia 1020 and a Lumia 1520 as well as on a Surface Pro (first generation). And also let me know if you need a hand with German translations, if you plan to include these. I'm gladly offering my help there too.

 

[gedzum]

This looks very promising! I am glad you are reaching out to the user base of WPCentral. I hope it gets good traction here and is successful.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Really? That would be fantastic. I'll get in touch with you later this week for testing Gun Frenzy Windows Phone. My current testing device is a 920 so making sure it works on a 1520 would be great. German translation for Demon's Bane would be phenomenal.

Did Gun Frenzy work okay on the Surface Pro? I tried deploying to my Surface RT early in the development and it had some issues but I didn't go back and check since then ... I figure I'll do that after the phone release and get it working on Windows 8 touch devices.

I'll put up a developer bog or post for Demon's Bane so you can follow the progress. This week, I'll finish the Gun Frenzy port and then next work switch gears back to Demon's Bane. As I'm using Unity Pro for both games, I may be able to set up a web browser demo so you and others could play early versions of it from your web browser.

 

[unstoppablekem]

Welcome!
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