Phew! Its been a frantic few weeks here at Shark Soup Studios, and Id like to say we had time to sit down and take a breather, but I dont see that happening! It was perhaps even more frantic than we anticipated this week, given that Apple zipped Hungry Birdz through the review process in under 3 days and caught us somewhat by surprise! Its been difficult, with this being our first game, our first experience of publishing to iTunes (or, well, anywhere!), and with so many other variables that were unknown to us, to get the balance right; you can read all the advice and information out there to get a feel for the experience overall, but much of it gives conflicting advice and none of it can really prepare you for your own individual experience! Do you publicise your game beforehand conventional wisdom says yes, Im sure and run the risk of disappointing any expectant fans you might have gained from it should you not meet your deadlines, or should your app be rejected? Or do you play safe, wait until its released and then play catch up on the publicity? In fact, this time round, its fair to say weve very much been winging it (no bird related pun intended!). It was even hard to say when we were finished with the game, because and I dont want to land ourselves in trouble by saying too much at this stage (playing safe again!) we have a number of big ideas for Hungry Birdz that we intend to feature in future updates; ideas that excited us so much that we were forever saying well, lets just add this and that feature now!, but you have to draw the line somewhere, or it would never end up being released at all! That right there is another unknown variable for us, anyway in itself; how much do you say about updates and the features you intend to add? Does it put people off just mentioning it? Does it infer that the game seem somehow incomplete as it stands? Or does it show a commitment to give players even more than they have now? To us, Hungry Birdz is very much a complete game right now its just we want to make it even more fun in the coming weeks and months! Survival mode was one of those features that just evolved out of one of our frequent banterings about what would be a fun variation. It came about when we coded and were testing the hawks for the main game, and found it to be a lot of fun in its own right. What started out as a jokey comment that we should take out the food and just have loads of hawks flying over evolved into an entirely new game that is every bit as fun as the main Nature and Arcade game, perfectly suited to those times when you want a quick gaming session but dont really want to have to think about such things as feeding strategies! And as you may have seen, we gave it all new graphics, too! Perhaps the most disadvantageous thing about having had no prior publicity for the game, from our point of view, is lack of feedback; would people like the game? Now that it IS released, do they like the game? Were eagerly waiting for any feedback either here or on the appstore, just to see what people are thinking! Just because we liked it, and thought it was a game perfectly suited to the iPhone touch screen capabilities, doesnt necessarily mean to say it will appeal to the iPhone gaming public! Although, given that ratings and reviews on apps seem to be biased towards a potentially bad review (I mean, that you are asked to rate and/or review a game when you are removing it from your device!), perhaps no news is good news! Perhaps people are so busy playing Hungry Birdz that they havent had time to talk about it? I know. It sounds like were full of self doubt, here were really not. Were just a bit new to all this! Were quite confident that Hungry Birdz is a really fun little game with just the right mix of frantic, finger tapping fun combined with a little strategy and a simple learning curve to gaining those big points. Were also realistic enough to know that we wont get everything right first time, but weve learned a lot over the past weeks, as we hope to demonstrate in future releases; both within Hungry Birdz, and in upcoming games were working on. Meanwhile, if you do have any thoughts or feedback, were all ears! Dont hesitate to get in touch! Cheers Mike R
Promoting your game before release is important. Releasing some screenshots, video, or better yet a lite version that's free of charge will usually help you gain a bit more recognition. I think that disappointing fans shouldn't be a concern -- if it is, the game may not be ready for release yet. Planning updates early on is generally good as well. The important part is that the game should be able to stand on its own as soon as it is released.
We've noted that the browser based 'iTunes Preview' doesn't reflect edited descriptions on the app store. Given that it's the link we promote, it would obviously be nice if it was 'correct'! Does anyone know why? Does it only update when a new app update is made, or at given intervals or something? Anyway, Its amazing how quickly you learn when starting out on this development road. Some of the early feedback we have received suggested that we might be confusing people with Too Much Information about Hungry Birdz, and in the event, suggesting the game is more difficult than it really is! We thought that it was a valid criticism, so we updated our description, and we'll revamp the instructions in game for version 1.1 (which is already in development). Hopefully, the following description, which, really, describes the game and how to play it in a nutshell, will make it clearer, and help convey that Hungry Birdz really is a simple, if frantic, finger tapping fun little game! We're always happy to hear other developers feedback, because we want to make Hungry Birdz the best game it can be. Anyway here is the new description we created for the game. Any thoughts? ------------------- Hungry Birdz Frantic Finger Tapping Fun! In Hungry Birdz, you must nurture your little chicks until they are ready to fly the nest at 5 days old. You must make sure they have enough to eat each day and protect them from predators. Feed Them! Simply tap a bird to feed it the highlighted food at the bottom of the feed chute. Watch what youre feeding them, though! Not all food is good! It can get pretty frantic when you have many birds and not a lot of time! Protect Them! Beware of hawks give them a whack and send them on their way! Fledge Them! A 5 day old (black colored) chick will fly the nest if it survives its 5th day, giving you a healthy score bonus! Cheers Mike R
