What i learnt from iAd and RevMob so far.

Hi guys it's Dario how are you? Today i wanna talk about ads, and particulary iAd and RevMob, which are the ones i am using, for my game, Smash a Mole.

Actually, i am using gamesalad to develop this game, and i feel REALLY, REALLY caged in their system. I mean, what the hell: rev mob, you can only use fullscreen ads. iAd, only banners, and only on apple games, or the game will crash. These are obviously things i learnt myself, because they don't tell you ANYTHING.

Ranting apart,

well, if you are planning to put ads on your game, GO FOR THE BANNERS.

Actually, a banner in the game over screen if the game is fast, and a banner in the gameplay window if the game has a lot of action and no gameover scene at all. 

Why not choosing fullscreen ads?

1. Long story short, in the first place, they are SLOW to load. A lot of people told me that the game sometimes seem frozen at the start ( where the full screen ad appears).
2. They STOP the gameplay, completely. And it's freaking tedious to click that X, and maybe miss it.
3. If internet is missing, they crash the game usually.
4. People get nervous if you put too much of them: imagine every single time you die on Flappy Bird, having to press an X to close an add. Would be so frustrating that you probably close and delete the app completely.

Why choosing banner instead?

1. They are very fast loading. And if internet is not there, they don't load at all, but still you can play!
2. They don't stop the gameplay. They CAN maybe affect a bit the speed of the game, in terms of framerate, but still, it's a deal when it's loaded.
3. People ignore them, but you still get paid. It's not that bad uh?
4. You can put TONS of them without make them even noticing.

So where will you be? in the dark, sloppy fullscreen ad side, or the bright fast banner side?

Have you tried something else? Let me know! :)

When up to date means... every single day!

Hey there guys, still updating Smash a Mole. By now i added a standalone mac version that will be playable with keyboard ( although it will be pretty hard i have to say). So by now we have it available for iPhone, android phones and Mac! Ayeah. 

Later on i started working on more chara-design, or at least chara tweaking: one for each stage i am making. This way it will be more fun to have every time the moles themed as the stage :)

Hope you will enjoy!

Smash a Mole is getting bigger, don't miss it!

Hi guys how are you? These days i have worked a lot on smash a mole to make it "work". It needed some clean up here and there and maybe this is the right way: i am adding a lot of things actually, that i am going to show you:

First of all: A new stage selector! It's way better than choosing always a random stage, you can focus on just the stage you love the best. And if you check closely, there is also a menu below: account, my records, and online records.

On the account menu' we can put our name, no need for password or somethng like that. Just put your name and surname and you will be ok! 

"My records" button shows all the points you made while playing, and as you can see for now they re all 0. So let's go playing some!:

Now that we did this stage in endless mode, and we did 287, if we return on the records menu and we press endless, we can see our score registered;) isn't that nice? 

But that's not all: we can even publish it online just pressing "publish": check it out.

Sorry for the dark images. Anyway, now the score just made is online! Doesn't matter if you have an iphone or android, it will all go online together.

I am sure that you will enjoy it! And i am keep improving it just for you guys! :*

DOWNLOAD IT NOW for FREE:

 View in Google Play store

View in App Store 

Smash a mole soon to be updated!

Hello guys, these days i have worked on Smash a Mole quite a bit, i am trying to give it a nice twist with multiple levels, so it will be funny to see different backgrounds while playing, AND also game play will be sooo much spiced up!

For now i have been working on 2 stages, a burning volcano, and a snowy ambient!

Please take a look (cit.)

Isn't it nice?? :D

I am sure you will enjoy this new twist i will add.

DOWNLOAD smash a mole for FREE : View in App Store

Oh.... There is also a super secret project going on.....

Learning Some 3d makes me crazy but happy :D

AAAAnd so guys, sometimes my brain decides it's time to learn something new. Three years ago was the guitar, now it's the 3d. I always gave up and i don't know if even this time i will end up giving it all up,BUT, i am making my little steps towards this fascinating world.

Since i am a graphic designer, i told myself that i can't know nothing about it: it's so common these days to see something made in 3d that if they tell you: can you do some 3d and you say "weeeelll... nope", it makes me feel uncomfortable! So, everyone started somewhere right?

Here is my start: Unity and Maya.





The problem is that you don't just have to model in 3d: you have to "colour" or texturize what you made, and also, you have to animate it. Putting a bone inside a model should be called "rigging" even if i am not that sure.

By the way! I dont need millions of ploygons, so here is my low poly version of a palm tree! You start out with a cube and add little deformations, extrusions and such. There is plenty of tutorials on youtube on how to do that, and usually when i start learning something, i check millions of videos..

Then you drag those palms inside unity:

From GameSalad to Unity: what i found for now.

Hello guys! How are you? It's Dario and today i want to talk with you about the scariest step you could ever take: Programming from "no code" to "real code".

If you are used to gamesalad,in which everything is so easy to set (you just import your image, you just drop it as an actor, you just make it DO actual things) , to make the big jump to something "better" looks really scary (and believe me, it is!).

BUT. There is a hope if you have never programmed anything. It will be a long road, but if you take it patiently, you probably will go actually SOMEWHERE.

If you don't know anything about javascript, your first step is: codeacademy.com

Then, after two or three months you will come back here, and you will say:
"Alright, now javascript has no secrets, but still i can't do anything with Unity".

And that's okay if you started with GameSalad. How do you move objects? How do you use timers? How do you make "rules" as they are called on GS?

Let's see a LITTLE comparison list:

On GS you can have only ACTORS, IMAGES, SOUNDS, SCENES, and TABLES.
 >On UNITY you have Prefabs(ACTORS), SCENES, IMAGES, MATERIALS(textures), SCRIPTS(The CODE PART of the ACTOR), Physics elements (PHYSICS part of the actor).. aaaand a lot of other things. 


On GS every actor has everything attached to it, all the above: physics, codes, etc. 
>On Unity you can dismiss the useless parts: not everything needs physics!

On GS you have "change attribute" without a rule?
>On Unity you have "function OnStart(){.........}";

On GS You have Timer: Every 0 seconds.
>On Unity you have "function OnUpdate(){...}"

On GS you have "random(10,20)?
>On Unity you have "Random.Range(10,20)";

On GS You have Timer: after 1 seconds.
>On Unity you have "yield WaitForSeconds(1);"

On GS you have "game.points = game.points +1?
>On Unity you have "var points += 1;";

On GS you have "Spawn Actor"?
>On Unity you have "Instantiate(objectName , position, rotation)"; <-- this is a bit  more complex when used.

On GS you have "Destroy"?
>On Unity you have "Destroy(gameObject, secondsToDestroyIt); <-- you can destroy all the object, or whatever part it has attached.

On GS you have "self.position.x"?
>On Unity you have transform.position.x; <--- transform is just like "self". It IS the object.

-and more- (Updating as i find them...)

Do you know something else? Just pop a comment and we will be all happy!

Go Download it, i Know you want to!

It's out guys :) This super simple game is out and you can download and rate it right now! :D

Still i am waiting for apple acceptance, i sincerely hope they will accept it soon. Now in a few months i will tell you how it's going, if someone DID actually download it, and such.

I just found a bug: gosh, the rate me button addresses to itunes store only! Aw!

i am gonna fix it right now!!!

If you want to support me just download it here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariorigon.smashamole

it's completely free so, try it out and pop a comment below! See you soon guys!

Oh, have you released something that you want me to rate? I would really love to help you!

Depressive post about iTunes Connect

Hi guys,  i'm a bit depressed right now. It has been DAYS now, and still i have my apps rejected due to an infinite numbers of problems. In app purchases with Jumpy Boy, crashes with Smash a Mole.. AAARGH!

Somebody Help ME!

Smash a Mole (FREE GAME for iPad) - Gameplay

Here it is a bit of Gameplay for Smash a Mole! :D

"Smash a Mole" will be out SOON!

Hi guys! It has been a Tour de Force, but after 3 days of programming it's already HERE! Say hi to Smash a Mole! Do you remember the Alpha Screen? Well, now look at it! It's completely finished! Ah, the joy that comes out when you finish a project you worked hard on!! Now, Let's Hope that Apple accept it. I REALLY hope it.

Also because this game will be free. Oh yess.. Completely free with a simple ad at the start.

Wel Well Well. Smash a mole is a game about.. smashing moles! There will be two game modes, one with 30 seconds of gameplay, the other endless, with lives. If you fail at killing those cute moles, your life will decrease and goodbyeee! :)

This game features Game Center too, for those who uses it: i personally skip the game center part all the times, but you know. If people want challenges, i have to give them challenges!

A cool thing about this game in GameSalad is that it doesn't use "scenes" at all. It's just a single scene incorporating it all. I used a "gameSection" set to "int" variable to control the game: this way there is no lag between scenes, no loading, nothing. it's just plain FAST.

Well, if you desire, check this link and go play it!(when it will be avaible):

View in App Store 

Smash a Mole, a new (alpha)Game by Rigon Games.

Hi guys, how are you??
Today i am presenting a new game i am making, which will be really a SUPER FAST PROJECT but why not, a cool game to play. It will be called SMASH A MOLE. Here you can see an alpha screenshot where i was just establishing variables and gameplay mechanisms.

Hopefully graphics will be WAY better than this ahah.

• The game play is easy as it looks: two modes, 30 seconds and Endless. 
• You gotta hit the good moles, and not hit the bad ones. 
•  If you don't hit in time the moles you will lose a life. 
• That's all. 

High scores on Game Center. It will be free, with a little AD at the beginning. I honestly hope you will enjoy it because it will have 0 lag, it will be fun, and it will be endless! And it's not always the same Flappy Bird Clone.

If you have some ideas you would like to see, just pop a comment below! ;)

Stay tuned for Smash a Mole!

I got my app rejected! What to do now??

Hello guys! Bad news. JumpyBoy got Rejected. But don't you worry, it's not permanent. As long as it seems, it's a problem with iAP (Apple in App Purchases).

Since i am using gamesalad, which is a "no-code", i have to figure out what the problem is. They say quite a confusing thing: the game with ipad is crashing when buying iap. The iAP Product id not found, and then they even highlight a problem with the iAP description.

...but the game is not for ipad AND the description looks right. So i guess the problem is the Product_ID?

After a little research i found how i was using apple IDs on Gamesalad and not product IDs! Don't get confused, it's so easy to mess up everything :|

Now i actually resolved that and i am ready to re-upload the binary again... let's cross fingers together! Luckily i also updated the bug i found in the previous version of the game sooo.. Sorry for you, you will never find it ahah! ;)

Oh, also, i added a quality mode on the game, for earlier phones. So you can switch between high and low quality if your phone is lagging so bad. I think that's is a nice implementation to do, just like with pc games. I usually struggle is a game is made for iPhone 5s, and my poor iPhone 4s can not even make it start :(

If you are planning to make a game i suggest you to do that too:

1. you just need a variable "Quality" to be saved as a boolean, true or false.
2. you make a if on every graphic element you want: if "Quality" is true....
3. and then you decide what to shut down when quality is false, like particles, or other effects.
4. That's all!

It's easy as that, and make your player life soo better.

Delirious Bug on Jumpy Boy. Will Apple accept us?

Hello folks!
It's still Dario, i have a funny story here: i sent Jumpy Boy to apple just to discover few minutes later that it has a tremendous bug ( not gonna tell you which, will you find it?? ). And sincerely i HOPE apple will refuse my game because if not i will have to make an update just after the release. Well, at leas i can excuse myself thinking about the tremendous bugs that iphone 4, or PS4 had at the launch....

That's not a good excuse i guess!

Have you ever experienced something like this? i feel so upset with myself. Ahew. How could i miss that little part of code?

By the way, after this problem is fixed, i have already ready some facebook ads i will launch just after the game launch. I sincerely hope they will work, at least i will try them and let you know guys.

About the game, i am working on a quality-options system for iphone.
Sincerely i have never seen that on recent iphone games, and thats quite irritating. I have an iPhone 4, and sometimes 3d games are freaking slowing down. I would like to have an option to turn of some useless particles and such. almost all games lack it. Well, i am making it for my game! Duh!

While apple is laughing at my bugs, here some new images:

And that's all for today! :)

Presenting a new game!: Jumpy Boy!

Hey guys it's Dario. I want to start this blog by talking about "the Jumpy Boy". It is a game i am currently developing from scratch with gamesalad. Gamesalad it's a no-code application to develop games for ios, html5, android and so forth. So, here is a screenshot:

The main idea here is to replicate those great old-school 16bits games, which is actually not a really simple job after all! Society turned all the people of the world into squares, that think, do, communicate all in the same way. Your main role is to run and get the hell out of that place... You got missions, coins, gems, powers, in app purchases and so on! It's still in alpha-mode, so, it's not yet fully playable.

SO. Cool story uh?

Here some other screenshots: 


Yes, if you are asking, it's an endless game, for now. It will have levels, story game mode, and even a 2p mode, maybe... one day.. ahah :D

So what do you think? Am i wasting my time or would you try it? It will be free with in-app purchases :) Let me know your opinion! I am open minded and i am evolving it with comments by people like you!

Dario

Hello World!

Opening!