[Blog Post] Porting Gun Frenzy to Windows Phone

[WaveLightGames]

thanks for the heads up.

I'm noticing that the laser / plasma shots on the new weapons are causing a bit of a performance hit as compared to other weapons. I'm going to look into making those a bit smoother in the next update or just replace them with new effects.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Converting over to these new light settings is a lot more efficient than my previous lighting settings. I've converted over 7 of the 28 levels and doing that reduced the download file size by 100 MB! So now it looks better and is now a ~400MB download. I'm hoping that converting over the remaining 21+ levels will further reduce the file size. I'm pretty sure it should.

 

[dKp1977]

I'd like to kindly ask for a crosshair please. I always have some issues when trying to aim at the enemies. I often miss them by a few pixels. Having a crosshair that indicates the direction where the character is aiming would be very helpful.
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[WaveLightGames]

I'd like to kindly ask for a crosshair please. I always have some issues when trying to aim at the enemies. I often miss them by a few pixels. Having a crosshair that indicates the direction where the character is aiming would be very helpful.
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Hmmm ... I hadn't considered adding a crosshair to the mobile version. There is a crosshair on the Windows 8 store version but that only works with mouse controls. I'll look into whether I can setup a crosshair for the touch screen controls.

Another option would be for me to just make hitting the enemies easier on the phone version. That would be a very quick thing to do .... and it would simply mean that while the enemies wouldn't appear any bigger, the invisible area around them where a bullet counts as a hit if it touches would be bigger. Essentially, you wouldn't have to aim as well but would still score hits. I believe a lot of mobile games do this ... because it is much harder to use touch screen controls on a small screen as compared to the precision you get on a computer with a mouse. For people that don't want it, I can just have it apply on the Easy setting (which the mobile version defaults to anyway).

A couple of questions for you guys:

1 - I enabled moving and shooting a while ago. Do you guys use this option and is it good / bad?

2 - Is it clear that the shooting touch stick is actually a touch stick control or do people instinctively think of it as a button? Is how to aim with the shooting touch stick clear or did it take you a while to figure it out? Any suggesions on how I can make it clearer if it isnt' clear?

I ask because I do still get the occasional bad review about the controls ... but to me the controls are pretty decent. I'm wondering if perhaps it's just not clear that the game uses dual touch stick controls similar to Halo rather than the usual tap an enemy to shoot it or press a shooting button to shoot.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Also, I've figured out how to make infinite ammo for the pistol. That will be in the next release. I now need a new icon though since the roll / reload button is now only going to be used for doing a roll and I don't have a dedicated "rolling" icon. Man ... I wish I had an artist. The joys of being a one man development house.

 

[WaveLightGames]

One more question .... do you guys use the temporary Boosts much? Do they make the game more enjoyable or just too easy? I'm thinking of allowing players to get a free boost by clicking a button that will show a full screen ad. Would that be something you guys would like?

 

[WaveLightGames]

I experimented with having some larger projectiles to make aiming easier and it seems to work very nicely. A lot easier to hit the bad guys and allows you to move and shoot more easily since you don't have to so precise to score a hit. Great suggestion ... many thanks!

 

[WaveLightGames]

Also, quick status update ... I'm just over half way through redoing the lighting in all the levels. Download size is now in the low 300 MB range. Also, I've added much better looking and much smoother shooting effects on the new, futuristic weapons. The next update will also include some new musical tracks to add some more variety in the back ground music. I've also found what I think is yet another way to optimize the graphics so if it works, performance should be a bit better again.

 

[dKp1977]

Thanks for implementing bigger hitboxes. I still would like to have a crosshair though. Gives me more confidence in rather hectic situations. But larger hitboxes are already a great step towards convenient gameplay.
Regarding temporary boosts. Tbh, I've never ever used one. And this applies to pretty much all the games I play.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Thanks for the feedback. Boosts haven't been a big seller ... only 2 sold since they were released. I'm really struggling on the monetization front ... I'm going to try to add google ads but if those don't work, then I might have to change it to so that levels after 7 are locked. I'll make it so that any in-app purchase (except boosts) will unlock those levels so that anyone that has already made an in-app purchase won't be affected. The reason I wouldn't be able to put boosts in that category is that they are handled differently by the Microsoft code in the back-end as they are "consumables" and the others are "non-consumable".

Anyway, next update is making good progress. I'm about 70% through redoing the lighting and the download size is now around 230 MB. Sci fi guns have new particle effects that are a lot more efficient and don't cause the slowdown that the current ones do. Hit boxes on shooting objects has also gotten bigger. I've also updated most of the wide open levels so that they aren't so dull and have more rooms, corridors and wall sections.

Things still to do before next release:

1 - Add more background music
2 - Try to add a targeting cursor (not sure if I can do this )
3 - Finish the lighting updates on remaining levels.
4 - Add infinite ammo for pistol
5 - Continue to make early levels easier to allow people to gradually get used to the controls
6 - Add some levels where (a) there is lots of gold but not a lot of weapons / potions and (b) there are loads of guns but no potions

 

[dKp1977]

As long as you add an in app purchase to remove ads, I'm okay with it. Or will the already available in app purchases remove ads as well?

 

[WaveLightGames]

Yep ... that's what I was thinking. Just add the "Unlock All Levels" to all of the existing in-app purchases. So if you've buy either the "remove ads", "extra equipment" or "extra life / starting weapon", you also unlock all levels. Anyone that's already purchased one of those 3 will also have all levels unlocked and won't notice any difference.

We'll see ... I'll give it a shot and see how it goes. I'm also going to experiment with some other ad networks and see if there are any that can actually generate some money. Microsoft's ad network has been very disappointing. If they want to actually compete in that space, they need to really pick up their game for just buy someone else who's doing a better job.

 

[dKp1977]

I've heard good things about AdDuplex. Not sure though if it's gonna work out for you.
Why not restrict the free version to a couple of levels and offer a full paid version on the store?
Or what about upgradable weapons? Take a look at Gunfinger, it has quite a good system, that certainly generates good revenue.
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[WaveLightGames]

Regarding a free and paid version. Isn't it easier to have one version and then unlock all the levels with an in-app purchase? Or perhaps have one version and have it use a trial that only lets you play the first few levels? I've never quite understood why Halo had a full version and a free version with 1 level. Is there actually a benefit to that approach?

 

[dKp1977]

Regarding a free and paid version. Isn't it easier to have one version and then unlock all the levels with an in-app purchase? Or perhaps have one version and have it use a trial that only lets you play the first few levels? I've never quite understood why Halo had a full version and a free version with 1 level. Is there actually a benefit to that approach?

Tbh, I don't get why people put out 2 versions of the same app either. That doesn't make much sense. What I was referring to is having a single version that has a trial. The trial is somewhat limited compared to the paid version.

 

[WaveLightGames]

I think that's what I'll eventually do. I'll do it by locking levels 8+ to only those that have made an in-app purchase. So if you purchase any of the 3 permanent in-app purchases (remove ads, bonus health, bonus equipment), you unlock the extra levels. The reason I don't want to make it a trial is that I don't want anyone that's already purchased an in-app purchase to have to pay again.

 

[dKp1977]

I think that's what I'll eventually do. I'll do it by locking levels 8+ to only those that have made an in-app purchase. So if you purchase any of the 3 permanent in-app purchases (remove ads, bonus health, bonus equipment), you unlock the extra levels. The reason I don't want to make it a trial is that I don't want anyone that's already purchased an in-app purchase to have to pay again.

Wouldn't happen. Anyone who already installed the game while it was free won't have to pay for it.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Cool ... thanks for the info.

I've decided on a few changes:

1 - Going to get rid of the micro transactions so no more extra gun and extra health purchases. Instead, everyone will get these for free. I've also added an extra gun for each girl.

2 - Remove the boosts as in-app purchases. Instead, everyone gets more boosts to begin with and you can get some more by just leaving a review for the game.

3 - Only have one in-app purchase and that is to remove ads and unlock levels 8 to 28. As part of that, you also get some extra boosts to use.

Anyone that's already made an in-app purchase won't be affected and won't notice any changes. The levels will remain unlocked for them. Essentially the same as a trial option but using the in-app purchase tools. I'll explain that the game has only the first 7 levels free in the description.

Otherwise, update is almost good to go. I heard back from my playtester that it runs smoothly on a 520 even with the new graphics. I've replaced the pistols for both girls with interesting sub-machine guns. I've also added infinite ammo for those starter guns. Going to make a few more tweaks and then hit the submit button. Hopefully some time today .... if not, definitely tomorrow.

 

[dKp1977]

Cool ... thanks for the info.

I've decided on a few changes:

1 - Going to get rid of the micro transactions so no more extra gun and extra health purchases. Instead, everyone will get these for free. I've also added an extra gun for each girl.

2 - Remove the boosts as in-app purchases. Instead, everyone gets more boosts to begin with and you can get some more by just leaving a review for the game.

3 - Only have one in-app purchase and that is to remove ads and unlock levels 8 to 28. As part of that, you also get some extra boosts to use.

Anyone that's already made an in-app purchase won't be affected and won't notice any changes. The levels will remain unlocked for them. Essentially the same as a trial option but using the in-app purchase tools. I'll explain that the game has only the first 7 levels free in the description.

Otherwise, update is almost good to go. I heard back from my playtester that it runs smoothly on a 520 even with the new graphics. I've replaced the pistols for both girls with interesting sub-machine guns. I've also added infinite ammo for those starter guns. Going to make a few more tweaks and then hit the submit button. Hopefully some time today .... if not, definitely tomorrow.

These are very welcomed changes. You've definitely have put some thought into these. Thank you. I won't get the extra boosts for rating the game, since I've already done that. But I don't use boosts anyways, so it's not a big deal for me. Looking forward to the update, mate. Thank you very very much for all your efforts. I really hope it'll pay out for you.

 

[WaveLightGames]

Thanks ... like your new avatar pic, by the way. Looks very manly. Did you use some sort of sketching software to convert a pic to a sketch?

By the way, I figured out how to add a targeting cursor too. Though I'm not sure it's really much of an improvement so I think I'll put it as option so people can enable it if they want.