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Chatterb0x
Guest
Friends,
I share with you the hard-sown fruits of my labor. These 10 tips will save small developers hours of wasted time and money. Others allow you to budget in advance. Please note that my experience pertains to Google Play. But first...
The Secret Origin of Blind Samurai
Marvel’s Daredevil serial is awesome! Did you know it debuted without blind accessibility? Irony is when a blind audience can’t appreciate a blind hero. That notion made me wonder what a Daredevil video game would play like. I imagined players listening to the enemies every step along concrete roofs, pouncing when the time was right.
Developers partake in programming marathons called Game Jams. In October 2015, I entered a 30-day competition with 1 rule: Finish a game – Take it to market – Earn $1. You know the theme. 365 days later, it became apparent my vision was too ambitious for a monthly project! But it was still perfect for mobile devices.
The Final Product
Blind Samurai is the first mobile action game 100% accessible to the blind and visually impaired. You can play it with your eyes closed! All you need are headphones and ears. Listen to enemy footsteps and swipe towards the direction they approaching from. They may wade through snow, charge through the rain, or use wind as a disguise.
There are 5 levels per cycle and a boss fight at the end. Gameplay speeds up each cycle.
What Did I Learn?
1) Be prepared to buy domain and hosting if your game requests permissions.
Because Google requires a Privacy Policy for games requesting them (ie. READ_PHONE_STATE). An example can be found here. Feel free to use mine verbatim. I recommend mentioning Unique Device Identification code in your game.
2) Official YoYo Games extensions have permissions built in.
I'm referring to the Google Play Licensing and Google APK expansion extension. For whatever reason, these have certain permissions built in and there is no option to deselect them.
3) Consider avoiding them altogether.
Sorry guys, these extensions gave me too much trouble. You can't test your Android game once installed because it requests a license . Even when my game was downloaded from the store during Alpha, it gave me a licensing error. There is little documentation.
4) Google charges $25 for becoming a developer.
Better to find out sooner than later.
5) Developer must change release version internally each update.
Found under the Global Game Settings. You must increment your version number by 1 or more each upload. IT DOES NOT MATTER IF UPLOADS ARE FUNCTIONALLY THE SAME. For example, I uploaded an APK with an extension, then decided to remove it. Nothing important had changed but Google requested I specify a new version number.
6) Track changes between updates.
Google shows players what specifically has been modified or added. Document them in a notepad.
7) REDUCING PRICE TO $0 MAKES IT FREE FOREVER!
Even if you only publish to Alpha, making it free once sets it to free at all stages. I was forced to delete the project and re-upload under another name. Which brings me to my next point...
8) Each app must have a unique name and package.
Because of my misstep, I could no longer use the original game name, Blind Samurai. I changed the package name internally and re-uploaded as Blind Samurai Complete. A real bummer, so learn from my error!
9) You must provide a 512x512 icon for achievements.
Google Play Services was the only YoYo Games extension I used for achievements. It should have been obvious, but hitherto, I had not designed an icon. Support community artists.
10) Implement Google Analytics into your game.
I recommend Taylor Dale's Easy Google Analytics. Analytics can turn a $100 game into a $10,000 game. For example, you put a line of code indicating which levels players are dying at and how often. You then update the game with a chance to bypass that level by watching an ad. Boom! A win/win! Players have a better experience, and you make $$$.
Thanks for reading, hope that helps! Please consider checking the first mobile action game 100% accessible to blind and visually impaired players. Blind Samurai is available on Google Play now!
Big thanks to the GM Community and Admins. Wow, how do you guys do it? Answering the same banal questions must be a grind. First rounds on me if you're ever in Saskatchewan, Canada.
I share with you the hard-sown fruits of my labor. These 10 tips will save small developers hours of wasted time and money. Others allow you to budget in advance. Please note that my experience pertains to Google Play. But first...
The Secret Origin of Blind Samurai
Marvel’s Daredevil serial is awesome! Did you know it debuted without blind accessibility? Irony is when a blind audience can’t appreciate a blind hero. That notion made me wonder what a Daredevil video game would play like. I imagined players listening to the enemies every step along concrete roofs, pouncing when the time was right.
Developers partake in programming marathons called Game Jams. In October 2015, I entered a 30-day competition with 1 rule: Finish a game – Take it to market – Earn $1. You know the theme. 365 days later, it became apparent my vision was too ambitious for a monthly project! But it was still perfect for mobile devices.
The Final Product
Blind Samurai is the first mobile action game 100% accessible to the blind and visually impaired. You can play it with your eyes closed! All you need are headphones and ears. Listen to enemy footsteps and swipe towards the direction they approaching from. They may wade through snow, charge through the rain, or use wind as a disguise.
There are 5 levels per cycle and a boss fight at the end. Gameplay speeds up each cycle.
What Did I Learn?
1) Be prepared to buy domain and hosting if your game requests permissions.
Because Google requires a Privacy Policy for games requesting them (ie. READ_PHONE_STATE). An example can be found here. Feel free to use mine verbatim. I recommend mentioning Unique Device Identification code in your game.
2) Official YoYo Games extensions have permissions built in.
I'm referring to the Google Play Licensing and Google APK expansion extension. For whatever reason, these have certain permissions built in and there is no option to deselect them.
3) Consider avoiding them altogether.
Sorry guys, these extensions gave me too much trouble. You can't test your Android game once installed because it requests a license . Even when my game was downloaded from the store during Alpha, it gave me a licensing error. There is little documentation.
4) Google charges $25 for becoming a developer.
Better to find out sooner than later.
5) Developer must change release version internally each update.
Found under the Global Game Settings. You must increment your version number by 1 or more each upload. IT DOES NOT MATTER IF UPLOADS ARE FUNCTIONALLY THE SAME. For example, I uploaded an APK with an extension, then decided to remove it. Nothing important had changed but Google requested I specify a new version number.
6) Track changes between updates.
Google shows players what specifically has been modified or added. Document them in a notepad.
7) REDUCING PRICE TO $0 MAKES IT FREE FOREVER!
Even if you only publish to Alpha, making it free once sets it to free at all stages. I was forced to delete the project and re-upload under another name. Which brings me to my next point...
8) Each app must have a unique name and package.
Because of my misstep, I could no longer use the original game name, Blind Samurai. I changed the package name internally and re-uploaded as Blind Samurai Complete. A real bummer, so learn from my error!
9) You must provide a 512x512 icon for achievements.
Google Play Services was the only YoYo Games extension I used for achievements. It should have been obvious, but hitherto, I had not designed an icon. Support community artists.
10) Implement Google Analytics into your game.
I recommend Taylor Dale's Easy Google Analytics. Analytics can turn a $100 game into a $10,000 game. For example, you put a line of code indicating which levels players are dying at and how often. You then update the game with a chance to bypass that level by watching an ad. Boom! A win/win! Players have a better experience, and you make $$$.
Thanks for reading, hope that helps! Please consider checking the first mobile action game 100% accessible to blind and visually impaired players. Blind Samurai is available on Google Play now!
Big thanks to the GM Community and Admins. Wow, how do you guys do it? Answering the same banal questions must be a grind. First rounds on me if you're ever in Saskatchewan, Canada.
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