Ads, Update. What's happened Leadbolt?

I had a create last month last month from ads, using mainly leadbolt, and a bit of admob.  During the second half of the month I was making between 40-80$ (30-65 Euros) a day.   This was mainly from Spain using my The Penalty of Ramos or (el Penalti de ramos) joke game.

But this month (even though it started well), I have only been making between 2-6$ a day and it looks like Leadbolt don't have many advertisers anymore, sometimes there aren't even any ads available in the country (at most there is just one)
As shown here, I'm not the only one to experience this.

I have enjoyed making money with Leadbolt and they are a business with a focus on making money, they have seemed to be a respectable one.   However, as well as moving to the 'easy to learn' and multi-platform monkey programming language, I'll probably be phasing out Leadbolt ads from current and future games.

 Any suggestions for good advertising networks?

NaGaDeMo Game Update

Today, I've been working on my top-down spy/stealth shooter game that I'm hoping will eventually be available for Android phones, flash and Windows/Linux PC's. 

It was meant to be finished for National Game Development Month (NaGaDeMo), but I think because of learning a new language and a few problems I've mentioned previously, the best I can hope for is a demo level of the game.


Today, I have managed to do a little:

• Enemies and objects (such as crates, chairs, ...) can be added in the editor
• The Player now collides with objects as well as the tile map
• The Player can shoot bullets
• The Bullets now can collide with  the tile map and objects
• Fixed various annoying problems with the editor, and added a new menu, to make selecting the tile and objects you want easier.

Here is a screen shot showing the enemies, objects and bullets now in the game:

And here is a screenshot of the incomplete level editor which I'm using to create my levels:

 

In regards to graphics, I've only added a chair to the objects, which can be seen in both screenshots above, I think I'll leave the graphics untill I' need some time out from coding.

NaGaDeMo - No Go

It looks like I'm not going to get my NaGaDeMo game finished.
I haven't had a lot of time to continue making the game as I've been quite ill and haven't been up to it.

Today, was my first day back working on the game, and I've spend most of the day learning monkey and editing the level editor.  So haven't made much progress, game wise.

This week I'm going to be busy as well preparing for a two week trip in July, so it doesn't look good.

But as said in the last post from last week, I'll aim to try and get at least a demo level done by the end of this week. But to do that I've got the following things to do in 3 days:
Create basic enemy movement/AI
Create more tiles and graphics,
Create objectives in the levels (such as destroy computer / get documents / reach point A / rescue hostages).

I will try and update more this week.

NaGaDeMo Game Update: Collisions and Prospects

Today I have started on collisions with the map.  It's taking me longer than I expected because I'm still getting used to Monkey (although as mentioned before, because of my experience with BlitzMax, I am liking it a lot).

The screenshot doesn't show much difference, and the collision isn't perfect yet, but it show the man stopping when there is a wall in the way of where the user has clicked and the man.

As said before, I'm going to program the game in the free version of Monkey (which let's you compile full HTML5 games), and if I complete the game, I'll then buy the full version and release an Android version of the game.   But, to be honest I don't think I'll have an Android version before the end of the month or even a full version of the game.  I do hope to have a demo ready, with at least one full working level.

Não Cry Ronaldo Um jogo para Euro 2012

Eu criei um jogo de piada rápida chamada Não chore Ronaldo.

No jogo você tem que parar as bolas, cartões amarelos e Messi de se aproximar de Cristiano Ronaldo, ao deixar-lhe de beber seu leite.



O jogo está disponível para celulares com Android móveis aqui na loja jogo google:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sionco.nolloresronaldo

Tenha um riso e se divertir enquanto você assiste Euro 2012

Don't Cry Ronaldo A game for Euro 2012

I've created a quick joke game called Don't Cry Ronaldo.

In the game you have to stop the balls, yellow cards and Messi's from coming near Cristiano Ronaldo, while letting him drink his milk.

The game is available for Android Mobile phones here  in the google play store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sionco.nolloresronaldo

Have a laugh and enjoy it while you watch Euro 2012

NaGaDemo, Delays and Finding a new tool: Monkey

A week has passed since my last update.

But I've been frustrated with processing.org.  It's definetly not suited to a tilemap based game.  So, I've been thinking long term and looking for a good game engine/language that I can use long term for bigger games.  Over the past few days I've been looking at the languages ease of use, what targets it can compile for (most important is Android), and then small things such as if it's possible to add adverts.

I eventually came down to, libGDX, Gideros, glBasic and Monkey, which all felt not so difficult to get into.  I think, I was a bit overwhelmed with libGDX coming from a Basic background.  I really liked Gideros, and think it's an awesome tool if your just focuesed on Android or the IPhone.  But, my choice came down to glBasic (which I had used before) and Monkey, which both can compile the same code for a variety of platforms, from Android and iOS to Windows and Linux (among others)

I have chosen Monkey for two reasons, first there are community created modules for using ads in mobile games, and secondly, it's not too far away from my first love, BlitzMax.

Anyway this means that my NaGaDeMo game has taken a step back as I rewrite it in Monkey, (I'm at the same point as I was in Processing and it has taken only a few hours).  I hope that the loss of 7 days will allow me to complete it.  Also, at first it will probably only be available for HTML5, as I'll have to wait until my next pay day to buy Monkey, which will enable me to compile for Android (and PC and Flash).

For very small games I will continue to use Basic4Android.

NaGaDeMo 6th June. Small Updates

Today, I've added tiles, so it looks a bit better, and in the editor you can set the start position of the player.  Also, fixed one of those really stupid errors (AGAIN!!), which seems so obvious after you've corrected it.

It does look like the game is going towards an infiltration type game, although I'm still unsure of the theme (as discussed here)

NaGaDeMo 4th June, Android shooter Update

Wow, two posts in the same day!
First a screenshot, showing that a basic map created is loaded in the game (still no textures or objects)

and also, I've only just seen this game through searching google images, but this is the sort of look I think I am leaning too:
http://db.tigsource.com/games/hakaiman


Also, I'm still not totally convinced about the control system.  As said in a previous post, I'm currently using a system where the player moves to where the user taps, but feel that this might not be great for one to one combat.  However, I don't really want to take up more space on the screen, with a control pad overlay.  Any ideas? Anybody reading?

NaGaDeMo 4th June: A good nights Sleep!

The wonders of a good nights sleep.  A problem that I coudn't figure out yesterday, was solved within a few minutes today.

I'm pleased with the progress of my overhead shooter game which I'm aiming at Android mobile phones.

Progress:
Basic movement, player turns and moves to where the user clicks/touches.
Clicking the buttons (currently the white boxes at the bottom) causes the player to shoot.
Basic Level editor.


Next steps.
Add enemies
Add the ability to add objects, enemies to the level editor.

NAGADEMO Day 2 . progress

It doesn't look much, but it's a start. 
Today I have created the start of a simple level editor, to create the 'rooms' and levels for my game, and also have implemented basic movement for my character.

I'm still not 100% decided on two points:

1. Whether to have 360 free rotation, or 8 directions and more restricted tile based.
2. Whether to use the overhead perspective as shown in the screenshot, or use a 60% perspective as used in RPG's.  Now, using an overhead, would be easier for me in the art department, and maybe in the resource department, which could be important, as I'm trying to create this game for Android mobiles.

NAGADEMO - Day 2. The Idea, The Tools.

Ok, for my game for the National Game Development Month, I've decided to create a overhead shooter for android phones, where the user controls a man (I haven't decided on the theme yet) and has to complete missions.

For my development tool, I've done some tile map demos using both basic4android and processing.org, but am leaning more towards processing.org, as basic4android just seems completely wrong for an action game engine, making things such as drawing sprites in the game loop over complicated and more resource hungry.

With processing.org, It's a really fun language, and ofcourse it means that with a bit of editing the game will be able to run on Winodows, Linux, Mac(although I won't as I don't have a Mac), browsers as well as my main target ofAndroid.


For controlling the player on the phone, I have to make some tough desicions, whether to super-impose a small control pad onto the screen (thus, compromising the playing area), or work out a easy yet fun control method using tapping the screen to perform actions.

The world will be made up of tiled rooms, (indoor and outdoor) that connect.
The two themes that I'm thinking of are either a classic Star Trek inspired game, or a Mission Impossible, Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell, etc.. spy game, where the objective is to infiltrate somewhere without being seen.


As, this blog and my apps in the Android market show, I've often failed to finish bigger games, and all of the games that I've finished have been silly jokes, or very small games.  But hopefully, with NAGADEMO, I'll be able to finish a bigger game that satisfies me.

Some Ideas: