Hi everyone,

I write a breakout game and recently i published it, 15 days past, there has many download but no one buy it. I'm doubt is there something wrong in my game? Can someone give me any suggestion?

The download url is:
http://www.crystalapplesoftware.com/download/SevenCrystalSetup.exe

Thanks in advance.

I'm here to hear from you. Sorry for my bad english.

lief

I haven't tried your game so I can't help you with that side of things. But I still have some questions:

* Is Crystal Apple Software your website? I can't tell, there are so many games that it looks to me like a download site or maybe an affiliate site. If it isn't your site, then you really should get a website of your own.

On your Seven Crystal info page (http://www.crystalapplesoftware.com/sevencrystal.htm) here:

* There are a lot of typos and spelling mistakes. That's understandable since it appears English is not your native language, but it doesn't give a professional impression.

* Having 800x600 screenshots and resizing them down using HTML width & height ideas is a bad thing. You should make small thumbnails of the screenshots, and when clicking on the thumbnail then you display the full image. As it is, your page took several minutes to load on my computer.

* A lot of your ad copy is written in the "passive voice", this should be in the "active voice (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html)" to make it sound more exciting. Instead of saying "Save/load game feature is enabled." try "You can save and load your game in the full purchased version."

* This is nitpicking, but... I would recommend you replace all references to the word "register" with the word "purchase" or "buy". I still get emails from people asking me "Where do I register your program" thinking that registering is free. When I tell them they have to buy the program to register I never hear from them again.

* Perhaps your limitation of only allowing them to play the game 10 times is putting people off? What about cutting back the features after the 10th time, so they can still play the game, but see that something is missing that they'll get if they purchase? With most software that stops working, people will uninstall it unless they really need it.

* Some other parts of your ad copy should be changed to focus on benefits to the customer, not features. A "super wonderfully particle effect" doesn't really tell me anything. "Colorful graphics and special effects that will dazzle your eyes" is more interesting to me. I'm sure someone else can think of a better benefit. "You will get a different feeling every time you play" makes me think, what sort of feeling will I get? Will it be a bad feeling?

* And lastly, "developed using Microsoft's DirectX technique and support 800x600 16 bpp screen setting" isn't important to me. Most people won't care if your game uses DirectX or OpenGL or whatever. As for 800x600 16bpp setting, I can see people thinking "oh, I have 1024x768, it won't work for me" or "what's 16bpp? Sound like that won't work on my computer."

It's good to see that you've got Buy Now links on your front page and info page, that's very important.

I can't get to the game just yet, maybe I'll try some time this weekend.

Regardless, I do have one comment: Breakout style games really are a dime a dozen amough the indie scene. I think it's going to particular difficult to generate many sales with the market been flooded with so many seemingly identical games.

Please understand that I'm not trying to be rude, I really do wish every indie developer all the best. But personally, I don't even bother with Breakout games anymore.

Good luck all the same. :)

I tried the game, and it is quite fun. But I don't usually play Arkanoid-type games, so maybe someone who DOES play them would feel like "been there done that". But for what it's worth, I did have fun playing it :)

My suggestions are in the area of presentation:

-Even though English is not your first language, you have to improve the game's text, as well as the text on the webpage. Ask a native English speaker to give you a hand polishing your text.

-The splash screen telling users to buy the game now so they can start it faster looks off-center to me. I'd fix that.

-Don't use one of Windows' sounds when the game is over, or when the player wants to exit. It doesn't feel very professional.

Aside from that, I think you've made a solid game, and I hope sales pick up :)

Originally posted by lief
Hi everyone,
I write a breakout game and recently i published it, 15 days past, there has many download but no one buy it. I'm doubt is there something wrong in my game? Can someone give me any suggestion?
A few quick points:

1. The game exits to windows if I press spacebar while the CrystalSomething logo is on screen (the first thing that appears when you run the game).

2. That skull thingy is a bit of an odd choice if you're targeting casual players.

3. Powerups drop down at the speed of light, there's no way I could deliberately catch them, I assume this is a bug.

4. The ball movement is a bit odd (are you taking incoming angle into account when bouncing the ball off the pad?).

5. The "navbar" on the left is not very intuitive, I'd prefer just straight text buttons.

6. You nag too much too soon.

7. The level progession confuses me, when exactly have I "passed" a level?

8. Particle effects need work.

9. Sound effects need work.

Overall, I think it's an O.K. game, but there's a lot of competition in this arena. Exactly how many downloads did you get, BTW?

I'd say fix #1 and #3, see what you can do about #4, and consider the rest of it. ;)

Max: Regardless, I do have one comment: Breakout style games really are a dime a dozen amough the indie scene. I think it's going to particular difficult to generate many sales with the market been flooded with so many seemingly identical games.

As Max says, there are many games inspired by Breakout and Arkanoid (http://www.atcybertopia.com/news/download.php?topcat=games&cat=Breakout%20Clones); players have a lot to choose from. We did a Breakout-Style Palm OS game in 2001 (http://www.dejobaan.com/quadblast/), and sales turned out to be disappointing; our more unique offerings (http://www.dejobaan.com/bebop/index.htm) won out every time. So:

Lief: I write a breakout game and recently i published it, 15 days past, there has many download but no one buy it... Can someone give me any suggestion?

One suggestion would be to add something to make your game particularly unique. An example (that may not be appropriate here) would be to add a storyline that draws the player in. Is there a twist you can put on your game -- something that players can't get elsewhere?

Also checkout www.Arkanoid.com for more examples of Breakout style games. They do seem to be a dime a dozen. But some have managed to be very successful if you consider the ReadArcade’s top 10 list to be any indication. Ultra Ball was recently the #5 selling game for 4 weeks and Magic Ball has been in the top 10 for 7 weeks and counting. It was at number 3 for 5 weeks but now they slid down to the # 6 spot. Rebound was in Real’s top 3 for 5 months and in the top 10 for 17 months!

There is a LOT of competition in this space and some of it is very good. You would probably be better of doing something more original. But it is possible to do well even if you game is another breakout clone. You just have to work harder at it.

Thanks all

I will fix some bugs just like Mkovavic said. Yes, there are too many breakout games in this field, looks i need do more hard work to attract the players.

Thanks for all your reply.

lief

Originally posted by mkovacic

7. The level progession confuses me, when exactly have I "passed" a level?



oh, i forget to answer this question.

There is a grogress bar in the right side of the screen, the progress bar will go the top once you break enough bricks and then a special brick(fire brick) will drop down. You should bounce the ball to break this special brick, after that you clear the level.

lief