How did it become three!

This weekend I started the preliminary coding phase for my next game as well as fixing some issues for the next release of Video Poker.

Somehow I ended up with preliminary work nearly finished on two seperate games. The arcade one and the slot game. I hadn't planned on doing this at all but, got into thinking about how i would implement the slot reels and then boom! I had a small routine that scrolled through the reels. I also went on to create the initial structure for the arcade game I'm doing. Planning out all of the menus and transitions.

So now I have three games to do. Maintenance and updating on Video Poker and creation and development of the slot and arcade games. As always time management is key and having to work full time i don't have a lot of spare time to allocate.

Moving along with game number deux.

It was a very busy weekend for me, what with playing Fez and continued development on the Video Poker update. Somehow in all of that I actually found time to put down the framework and general idea for game number two.

I can't tell you what it is at the moment, only that it's not a casino style game (though I have some plans to add some slots to the penny parlour). Nope this new game is for the lone arcade machines in the back. Classic but fun penny wasters.

Maintaining a Product

Having finished Video Poker version 1.0. I realised that I already have some ideas about how to improve it and give my minuscule buying public more value for their buck. To this end I'm going to add some new video poker rules.

So far I have looked at adding deuces wild and Jokers wild but, will likely just keep adding rules as they come to mind. Of course that means that I need to add in a new play screen to allow for the selection of the rules that you want to play under and then add in some way for you to view your stats based on the game you played.

I also now have a solid idea of what game I want to do next. It's likely to be a simple arcade style game so that I can flesh out my penny parlour into the style of those old arcades I used to marvel at when I was a kid. They had everything and then right at the back would nearly always have a Zaxxon or Gorf machine.

Video Poker is Live

So I finally got my first solo app out of the door. Now the hard work begins. Video Poker is available on the app store but, no-one knows it's there.

I now have to start to actually get the word out there that the app is available and can be picked up for a measly 99 cents or 59p if you are here in good old Blighty. My next step is to research how people do all of those great gameplay videos and then get the message out to the correct audience.

I also now need to look at getting a web site up for the Penny Parlour.

Oh and before I forget it's on to game number 2.

Whew!

Peter's Penny Parlour is opening for business!

Well my first all me app has been submitted to the app store. It's a simple video poker app that uses the jacks or better rules. You even get super corny music on the title screen to make your ears bleed (thankfully you can switch this off from the options screen).

If the app makes it through submission I plan to upgrade it with additional rule sets as i go along. I think the next set will be Deuces Wild and then Jokers Wild. I noticed that I actually designed my card sprites with two spare slots for the jokers. I'm not an accomplished artist so it takes me longer to create the super heavy art than I'd like.

I think I've learned a valuable lesson too. I know when to let something go. It seems to be the point at which you are actively looking for things to change without any real reason to change them.