Developing a great game is only part of the challenge for game developers in the age of digital distribution. Gamers can’t buy your wonderful game if they don’t know it exists, so getting the word out about your latest and greatest creation has become a vital part of the game development/self-publishing process – and it’s quite a challenge. Big publishers with their multi-million dollar marketing budgets can pay for huge advertising campaigns and arrange expensive press junkets, whisking a hoard of journalists off to a swish venue to demo the game…. followed by a good deal of entertaining.

It’s hard to get noticed

Gamers will know that these big budget games are on the horizon and journalists will write about them because they know there is a ready audience of readers waiting for information. The same can’t be said for the debut title from “Minuscule Studios” as they beaver away on their first ever game. For independent developers with a much smaller/non-existent marketing budget it’s a different story. Blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter Feeds and press releases are all essential tools to build awareness. Of course building awareness in this way takes time -  If people don’t know about you/your game, then they are unlikely to know about your Facebook page either.  It takes time, plus a steady trickle of information, to raise awareness. The hope is that customers will learn about your game and, become interested, and in-turn, tell others about it. Another hoped for outcome is that the gaming press become aware of your game and start to write about it.

Press releases, screen shots and videos sent out to journalists are a great way to let them know you exist. An even better way – and one of the hardest to pull off – is to embark on a press tour and get some real face time with the gaming press. Actually getting to sit down with the press and show them your game can go a long way to boosting your chances of success.

As the latest step in our marketing campaign for Space Ark, our Technical Director Simon Morris has been out and about meeting up with UK journalists, while I have undertaken a US press tour. Simon hit the road first and met with Gamespot UK, FemaleGamers.co.uk, Thunderbolt Games, Brutal Gamer, Electronic Theatre and Girl Gamers UK to show off the latest build of the game.

FemaleGamers.co.uk
“Space Ark is so full of fun, from its bright colours, catchy music, cute characters and wonderfully transformed planets to the sheer addictive pleasure of trying to get as many combos as you can, collect fruit and avoid dying, all whilst bouncing away.”

It’s not easy to get next to even one journalist, let alone a gaggle of them. It takes time, effort and luck. Obviously, as with any business, money can substitute for some of this (you can pay a PR agency to help you). However you manage it though the benefits can be enormous; not only as a result of the increased exposure your game will get. Previews and Reviews are the mainstay of the gaming press but building a good relationship with the press can lead to interviews, developer diaries and assorted other features that will all help to raise awareness of your game.

Brutal Gamer
“Space Ark is a lot of fun. It’s childish and silly but it’s brilliant and incredibly addictive. Completionists and people who like to compete will be in their element here”

It’s not just about gaining exposure

A press visit is not just about giving out information – its a two way process. Getting hands-on the game with the game developer helps the journalist get a better insight into the game. Any questions can be answered and almost as importantly they can see the passion that the developer has for the game. It is also a great way to get independent feedback on your game. Journalists are gamers too and as such they are an excellent source of feedback. Importantly they aren’t invested in the game in the same way that the developer is, which means that their comments and feedback will likely throw up any quirks or problems that the developer may have got used to during the development process. These problems will be thrown into sharp relief when the journalist point them out.  Hopefully you will also get to see them reacting positively to all the great parts of your game as well.

For the second leg of our press tour I flew out to San Francisco to meet with members of the US gaming press including OXM, IGN, Gamespot, Team Xbox, CVG, Gamepro and Giant Bomb, G4, Game Trailers, EGM & Gaming Evolution.

Gamepro
“I must’ve been playing Space Ark for at least the amount of time that Marchant had spent telling me how to play it, but I didn’t even notice. The game is that fun. I was actually kind of bummed out when he wanted to switch to multiplayer because I wasn’t ready to share, in a way.“

As a result of the visits we gained some great insights into Space Ark; a game that we have all become very close to internally. As a result we were able to make final changes to the game before submitting a final version to Microsoft for certification.  It was also really gratifying to have people confirm the  addictive nature of the combo and bonus fruit collecting, the desire for players to beat their previous scores (and those of their friends) and the insanely frantic multi-player mode.

CVG
“Do you remember when games were jolly? When the key to success wasn’t how angry you could make your protagonist, or how many shades of brown you could coat the walls with? 20 years ago all you needed was a bright blue sky, happy animal hero and a crap-ton of fruit to collect – Space Ark resurrects this spirit.”

All in all a very rewarding and enjoyable experience. Now we just need to get the game finished and released.

We couldn’t do a reboot of the 80s arcade genre without fruit bonuses – lots and lots of fruit bonuses. But the fruit in Space Ark does more than just give you bonus points because the key to a good arcade game is depth within simplicity. You get fruit as a bonus for creating Combos and collecting the fruit gives you points – simple. But fruit also increases your power meter (show on the left of the screen in this screen shot).

The meter has multiple levels and each level you reach multiplies the points you get from collecting DNA, combos and any lives remaining at the end of a level. This means that fruit has an impact on every other scoring element of the game and is an essential part of your Space Ark game play strategy if you want to achieve mega high scores.

But beware – gravity is a harsh mistress. The good work you do collecting fruit can be undone if you let your Arkonaut hit the ground. The level meter will drop one level every time you drop your Arkonaut (and you will lose one life as well.)

Previous Space Ark design posts:
Space Ark – Introducing combos

A new selection of screen shots have been added to the Space Ark page and can also be downloaded from the new Space Ark media page. The media page also includes previously released assets such as videos, company information and copies of previous press releases.

The concept we started with for Space Ark was simple. We want to bounce something into the air in order to collect stuff. What do we want to bounce? Cute characters – gotta be cute characters cos all decent arcade games have them. What are the characters collecting? Coloured bricks containing DNA that will be used to repair damaged planets. Now bouncing and collecting alone don’t make for a really fun game – a great arcade game needs a simple core concept but it also need other things layered on top of that concept to make it fun. A big part of the fun in game development is trying out different things to see what works and the real pleasure is when something you try suddenly transforms the game. That is what happened when we introduced Combos.

Originally you just needed to collect all the bricks in a level to complete the level. It was fun and cute but there was something missing. There was no on-going challenge during the level. This is where the Combo feature came in. Space Ark levels have rows of coloured bricks. Collecting three or more of the same coloured bricks in a row generates a Combo and every level has a minimum combo score necessary to complete it.

Like the bouncing and collecting this Combo system is very simple but of course we have added more depth to make it challenging and fun. Firstly there is a reward for generating Combos (in addition to you being able to complete the level). Each level of Combo (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…. upwards) that you create generates a different bonus fruit. Collecting the fruit fills your power meter, which in turn multiplies your score. This means that if you want to generate a really big high score you need to try and collect as much fruit as possible rather than just focusing on collecting the bricks. Secondly you have to keep bouncing your character (your Arkonaut) without dropping them. If your Arkonaut hits the ground they drop the combos (rather like losing rings in Sonic) and you have to try to recover them before they drift off screen. The result is much more entertaining game play as you are both challenged to meet your combo quota and rewarded as you do so.

At the moment we have a couple of bugs in the Combo system. If you look at the screen shots you can see the Combo trail (the line of numbers) following behind the Penguin. For some reason they keep disappearing or randomly appearing on screen in odd positions. Gotta keep testing to find out what is happening so the guys can fix it. Will try to pop back soon to talk about the level designs.

We are currently preparing to post our latest Space Ark video which should be ready in a few days. Just so you have something to compare to I thought I would post the very first Space Ark visualisation trailer to our Youtube channel. This video was created when the game had the working title Bounce.

This video was produced as part of the Microsoft pitching process. The video, along with various documentation, was submitted to MS in order to get approval to publish Space Ark on Xbox360 Live Arcade.

The unofficial finally becomes official with the announcement that our newest original game Space Ark will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade in Q3 2009.

Space Ark, which was formerly known under the working title of Bounce, is a fun homage to the bright and bouncy arcade games of the late 80s such as Rainbow Island and Arkanoid, with an added mix of Pinball.

A wandering black hole has passed through the galaxy destroying planets and leaving others damaged and desolate in its wake. The Arkonauts – a team of space traveling animals – have been dispatched in their Space Ark on a mission to terraform the damaged worlds, and bring life back to the shattered worlds. You must aid the Arkonauts in their quest by bouncing them into the air to collect DNA (which helps to heal the planets) whilst also collecting bonuses and power-ups.

The game features 180 levels, split across 5 worlds, of ‘Arkonaut’ bouncing entertainment with 24 selectable Arkonauts, five mini games, bonus levels and a host of powerups.

For more info and screen shots check out our games pages – Space Ark game page

Space Ark – Let’s bounce!

An interview we did with Ben Parfitt has just been posted over at Intent Media’s casualgaming.biz site.

The interview was set up by PR guru Dene Landucci (every indie developer should hire a PR person to help promote their business) and in it we discuss a range of topics including the challenges of developing original games,  iTunes vs XBLA vs PSN, piracy (boo hiss) and our new XBLA game.

You can find the full interview at http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/28626/INTERVIEW-Strawdog-Studios

General game play (PSN version)
Geon isn’t just about collecting pellets. If you want to win it’s essential that you stop your opponent from scoring and that they don’t stop you. Expert Geon players will learn to keep track of their opponent whereabouts and will also keep watching their pellet meter. Knowing when your opponent’s Geon cube is full gives you an indication of when it is time to hunt them down/defend your goal. The following general game play tips should help improve your Geon skills.

Try to always carry a powerball, this will make your cube roll faster. Grab one even if you aren’t planning to use it.

Attacking as you opponent exist a loop is a good tactic

Opponents will be out of control as they travel around a loop-the-loop so lay in wait for them and trigger a bash attack just as they reach the end.
Your cube will move faster when jumping (but you won’t collect pellets) so use jump to travel quickly across the grid, when trying to evade an opponent or when trying to catch them to stop them scoring.

Try to keep a close eye on your opponents pellet meter. If they are nearly full you should attack quickly to regain the advantage. Attacking when they are nearly full will cause them to lose more pellets.

The shield not only protects you from your opponents attacks but can also be used to counter attack when you are on the same side of the grid. Bumping into them while the shield is active will cause them to take damage – but it is difficult to pull off.

Grab one of your opponent’s powerballs when you flip over to score a goal, if nothing else it’s one less for them to use against you!

When you select a grid think about what will work best with your powerball selection. Some powerballs have a slight advantage on large open grids whilst others work well on small and intricate grids.

Try to be systematic when collecting pellets. Make sure that stray pellets are not left on distant parts of the grid as this will cause problems/delays later in the round.

So I was down at GameSpot HQ today joining Guy and Alex in their soundproof basement for their latest podcast. It’s a pretty good format, they cover a wide selection of games news and reviews, and so we were pleased to have the invitation to talk a little bit about Geon, how it started out on Xbox Live Arcade, and how we’ve been busy porting it to PSN and Wii. We also talked a little bit about what we’re doing next as well as how Strawdog Studios got started, which is something I always forget is interesting to many folks. The whole idea of setting up your own company to make games can be either crazy and/or inspiring! I’m pretty sure we’ll write more about that one day.
Anyway the podcast homepage is here, but you can hear today’s epsiode right here.

So our brand new best friends over at wonderwallweb have uploaded their first thoughts on Geon, and it certainly seems to have created the right emotion with them anyway! We’re really pleased to read that they have enjoyed the game, and taken the time to note some of the things we hoped would get recognition: the new tutorial, the new strategy behind the emotions and level designs, and the refined competition in the various game modes.

So for this review, www, we salute you!

http://wonderwallweb.com/article-481-Geon-.html