Hi all,
I contacted a 1980s programmer years ago to ask if I could upgrade a text game of his into an app. He gave me permission to do so. The result was Monster in the Marsh for iPhone & iPad.
Essentially it is a very fast, bug-free version of Joey Latimer’s swamp escape game of the same name. It runs as fast as Angry Birds if you have a couple of bad runs; it’s very easy to play three, even four times in ten seconds if you lose, and the longest games take a minute to a minute and a half. The interface runs like butter too; it’s been very easy to pick up for new players.
I’m looking to get it compliant for the App Store again and monetize it with ads and an IAP to remove them. For all the promotion I did and positive feedback I received I sold about 13 copies (thank you China!).
Here’s the rest of my wishlist:
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Upgrade graphics for new screen sizes
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Improve rewards for a social share (currently a free rock per game, just looking to upgrade to a powerup not in player’s possession at the moment, very easy)
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Upgrade code for (relatively) new sprite system
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Add a Hardcore mode allowing players to set distance from the exit, stones on hand, and Monster’s steps away. Three modes are currently in the game.
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As is, at each step one powerup at a time spawns according to a probability based on the number of upgrade points that have been spent on it, up to 91%. Time and effort willing, I’d like to also offer the ability to adjust the percent points per upgrade, so that items show up anywhere from 13% to 91% of the time when fully upgraded. This way, a quick trip through the swamp can still be tough, while a longer number of steps can be made more exciting to play through with a higher item spawn chance.
The following is a summary of gameplay. Long story short, I added several fun power-ups, each of them operating off a 2/3 probability they work right, and a store system.
_Monster in the Marsh is a game originally built by Joey Latimer in the 1980s in a language called BASIC. In the game, it’s you and your trusty bag of rocks against a wet, treacherous marsh and a hungry monster on your trail. At every step you can only throw a single rock into the marsh before needing to pick one of three paths. As you get farther out of the marsh, your rocks start to dwindle. Can you afford to take a blind step through the marsh to save a rock? If you stumble into water, do you have your Life Jacket handy? Do you have Camo on so the Monster doesn’t sneak up on your frantic stumbling? And what about those Jet Shoes? Will they shoot you three steps ahead or dunk you in a swimming pool of suspense as you struggle to turn over the ignition? If you’re down to your very, very last stone and escaping through Hard difficulty, you can even Tweet to your friends for help and get an extra life-saving stone once per game!
As you progress through the game, you’ll also pick up coins, which will let you upgrade the frequency of power-ups like Monster Spray, Home-ing Missiles, Life Jackets, Camo, the Magic Hat, the Piggy Bank, and my personal favorite, the Jet Shoe. That is, if you can escape the Marsh… you don’t get to buy anything at the ramshackle store at the end of the swamp if you don’t survive!
Simple fun with constantly hilarious sound effects._
YouTube summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvd_b_KMKD4
Any collaborative help would be truly appreciated. I’ve put about 200 hours of design and testing in, and I know it will take a lot less to get it into a decent freemium model.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Lionel Houde