My first game [FREE DEMO] + Screenshots

General (non-technical) New Apps / Works in Progress
#1

I have completed my first game using the Corona SDK. It is a jigsaw puzzle game that reveals a story as the puzzles are completed. I released the free demo containing five levels today in order to get some feedback before launching the full 25 level version for 99 cents. Because it’s quicker to launch to the Android market I’ve done that first. I have tested the game with an old iPod and will be publishing both free and full versions for iOS as well.


My website with more screenshots

Link to Google Market

If you come across any bugs, glitches, or things you just don’t plain like, feel free to email me at chuckabuckproductions@gmail.com or post in this thread. I am open to suggestions! Remember to include your device model to help make things easier. [import]uid: 22492 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 311948[/import]

#2

I now have approval for the iPhone / iPod versions and have created a YouTube video to show the game in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVkBZ_eksz0

Links for the Apple App Store:
Free Demo

Full Version

Links for Android Market:
Demo Version

Full Version
Any feedback is appreciated!

[import]uid: 22492 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 45574[/import]

#3

Game seems really nice. Graphics are cool. Did you draw them yourself? And I appreciate if you could give me some tips how you achieve to snap two related piece together. [import]uid: 46529 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 45578[/import]

#4

Thanks, I’m glad you liked the game.

95% of the graphics are photos. I composite 30 - 50 layers together in Photoshop to create each puzzle. I then run it through some filters to give it a bit of a hand-drawn look.

For connecting pieces together I created a 2-dimensional array called solution[][]. The first dimension is the piece number (in my case 1 - 28) and the second dimension is the side (left, top, right, bottom). I set it equal to the piece number that it connects to on that side. So for example if we had a simple 3x3 puzzle with pieces numbered as such:

1 2 3  
4 5 6  
7 8 9

I’d set my array for piece #1 like this

solution[1][1] = 0 -- Nothing on the left of piece 1 to connect to  
solution[1][2] = 0 -- Nothing on the top of piece 1 to connect to  
solution[1][3] = 2 -- Connect on the right to piece 2  
solution[1][4] = 4 -- Connect on the bottom to piece 4

I have an event trigger for onTouch, phase == ended that uses the event.target piece (the one that was dragged) and compares its 4 possible side pieces’ x,y coordinates (+/- a threshold equal to about 10% of the piece size so the user doesn’t need to be spot-on).

If there is a match, the two pieces are added to a “group” (I put “group” in quotes because it is not the built in Corona group but one I created). I set the solution[][] for that piece’s side to 0 to avoid the piece repeatedly trying to connect.

The “group” is then iterated through on each drag so all the pieces move together as a single unit. The entire group is also iterated through for checking connecting pieces so any piece in the group can connect to any free piece. Also, all pieces in the group are brought to the front onTouch and on a successful connect of pieces.
Hope that helps you out. [import]uid: 22492 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 45703[/import]

#5

Thanks for the info. I have a couple of suggestions.

  1. You may want a better “Piece by Piece” logo. If you can’t design, LogoNerds.com makes pretty good logos for 27 dollars.

  2. I think it would be better to call free version as lite, as demo sounds “lacks feature, and not useful”.

  3. A button for “upgrade to full version” which opens full version page in app store, though i don’t know how to do it in corona.

  4. If possible, more than one zoom level maybe useful. current zoom out view is a little too small. I had problems to move small pieces.

Above all, this is a good app, and the story makes it interesting.

If possible I would like to hear how many purchases happen after a few weeks. I am new and never submitted an app to app store, and I am curious how many purchases happen for an app on average.

[import]uid: 46529 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 45710[/import]

#6

Hey great concept. The only thing I would suggest is to make the menu in landscape as well (same orientation as the game) that way the user won’t have rotate the device each time he/she wants to change options or level.

Keep up the great work!

Mo [import]uid: 49236 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 45713[/import]

#7

Hey great concept. The only thing I would suggest is to make the menu in landscape as well (same orientation as the game) that way the user won’t have rotate the device each time he/she wants to change options or level.

Keep up the great work!

Mo
EDIT: I am very sorry for the double posting. I am not sure who to delete one of them :frowning: [import]uid: 49236 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 45714[/import]

#8

For culutas,

  1. Yes, I am graphically challenged :wink: I will have to checkout LogoNerds and see if they can help me out.

  2. Back in my day we called 'em demos, but looking around through the market I see you’re right, the term “lite” seems to be used much more to describe free versions of apps.

  3. There’s some company suing people for having a built-in “upgrade” button and I wanted to avoid it until there’s some resolution. See here for more info: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/13/lodsys-threatens-to-sue-app-store-developers-over-purchase-links/

  4. I thought about making it pinch-to-zoom but decided to keep it simple. The zoom-out view is good because it displays the entire working area and is exactly half-size for everything. I originally had 3 zoom levels (50%, 75%, 100%) but decided just having a single zoom button that went from 100% to 50% (and back) was cleaner than having an increase and decrease zoom button, plus displaying the current zoom level.
    Thanks for the great feedback!

Oh, and to lemsim, the user doesn’t ALWAYS have to rotate from the portrait menu to the puzzle, because there are in fact a few portrait puzzles :wink:

But yeah, most of the levels are landscape so it should have a landscape menu. Or I could do it the right way and have the menu change orientation dynamically. Maybe that will be in version 2.
Thanks again guys! [import]uid: 22492 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 45800[/import]

#9

if I were you, I wouldn’t take serious the patent thing. As far as I know everybody can claim a patent and even they could get one. But that does not mean, in case of a legal suit, the patent owner going to win the lawsuit.

To patent something, it should not be “obvious”. And a link to a page, is trivial and obvious.

Don’t be afraid, and put a button as “Get Full Version Now!”. So in case of a claim - although I see no probability to happen - you can say this is not “upgrade” button but a link to the app store. [import]uid: 46529 topic_id: 11948 reply_id: 45804[/import]