Next Project

Hi all,

This is a quick update just to say I’ve started thinking and just started developing the next project for 1 hour a day. I’m not going to tell you what it is yet, just that it will involve physics!

I’ll post a video and/or more information in due time!

Thanks,

Dave.

TapSplosion v2.0 is Approved!

Hi All,

I woke up this morning with the surprising news that TapSplosion v2.0 has been approved! It is now live in the Marketplace .

It’s surprising because Microsoft had no problems with the word “Achievements”… I’ve heard lots of stories about Xbox Live Indie Games not being allowed to use “Achievements” so I was expecting the same to apply to WP7.

Anyway, Enjoy the update! and I’ll be updating you guys on my new project later.

TapSplosion – v2.0 with Achievements Submitted

Hi All!

So, TapSplosion with Achievements has been submitted to Microsoft, and if approved should arrive in the marketplace on Friday, BUT … “Achievements” is a term which I fear Microsoft reserve for Xbox Live games, and the game may be failed on this. If it is failed, I think “Awards” is the next best thing, so it will be changed and re-submitted.

I shall keep you posted on any news, and when it is released!

What Now?

I’ve finished TapSplosion v2.0, I think now it is time to go back to working 1 hour a day on a new project! This will start tomorrow, I’m not 100% sure on what the new project will be, but I have a few ideas. I’ll also be taking time out of my schedule to update TapSplosion more and more, but that will probably be only when I have time to do more than 1 hour a day. (Weekends and Holidays?)

I’ll also try to implement Achievements into the Free version if there is enough of a cry for them, I just feel Achievements are something that people should pay to acquire!

Thanks, will keep you all posted.

Dave.

TapSplosion – Achievements Preview

Hi All,

As promised, a demo of the achievements system has been uploaded, and you can watch it from embedded video below:

Let me know what you think!

Back on Track – TapSplosion Achievements

Hi Readers!

So as promised in the last post, I have indeed been working on TapSplosion again since no I have no University work to be doing! I’ve been working longer than an hour a day though, but I’m allowed to catch up on previously missed time =P.

Over the past couple of days I’ve been working on adding Achievements into TapSplosion, I’ve got all of the Artwork and it looks excellent so everything is moving along nicely at the moment! Tomorrow I will update again with screenshots and maybe a video of Achievements in action, and hopefully by Wednesday the Update should be submitted! I’m only planning on adding Achievements into the Paid version of the game, and maybe into the free version after a few weeks have passed. I’ll have to wait and see!

Thanks for your patience!
Dave.

Apologies for the Lack of Updates

Hi All,

Apologies for the recent lack of updates, it has been a busy time for me. It’s the dieing weeks of my Final Year at University, so as you can expect it has been pretty busy! The bank holidays over the easter didn’t help either =).

I’ve completed 2 out of 4 university modules, and should have the others complete soon. From Saturday onwards I will pledge to get started on this project, and will be blogging at least more regularly, but will try to be daily!

Thanks for your patience,
Dave.

TapSplosion – Update and New Free Version

Hey All!

I’ve been working (slowly) on achievements! Also waiting on some artwork which should make it’s way to me over the weekend. But this update is not really about Achievements, it’s about what I’ve decided to do on the Free Version of TapSplosion.

So after working with Millennial Media for the adverts in the Free Version since release, I’ve decided to swap to the official Microsoft Ad SDK, and wait until they support countries outside of the UK to be paid. I’ve had poor results with Millennial Media and if I’d been with Microsoft from launch of the game then I’d probably be a lot better off financially too if peoples figures are to believed.

Unfortunately these adverts are slightly larger in size, so there has been a reduction in size of the play area, but it is still awfully fun!

I’ll update very soon about achievements, and will post a video to show them in action too!

Thanks,
Dave.

Millennial Media Impressions – WP7 Ad SDK for Devs Outside of US

So, the reason for the slow progress on any new additions to TapSplosion is because of my Free Version’s Adverts. If you have played TapSplosion Free, you have probably noticed that ALL of the adverts are of the same type (Daily Deals) … This is a problem with the SDK, which is completely broken:

To begin with, I wasn’t getting any Clicks registered for when I click the adverts in the game, and since it is Pay-per-Click, that is bad! After talking with their support (which was pretty decent) they eventually recognised that it is their problem and not mine. They managed to fix something in the background (with the XMLs) which eventually got the SDK to recognised my clicks, which meant I could finally get some revenue from my adverts, but they still have the problem of only one type of Advert showing, which is still a big problem.

They are aiming for a new SDK at the beginning of next week, and I’m happy to stick with them for a big longer to try and get this fixed for the Windows Phone 7 community, since it’s the only alternative for XNA games. It’s just a shame that I had to test out their SDK in a live app before they realised their SDK is totally broken.

As for the figures that matter, they are not very impressive at all. This may be due to the broken SDK, when that is fixed I’ll post some figures then, but at the moment I’m getting the following numbers:

Daily Requests: ~ 15k

Daily View: ~6k

Fill Rate: ~40% (Bad)

Average Daily Revenue: ~$4

eCPM: $0.297 (Revenue per 1k views)

CTR: ~0.55% (Click through rate)

Anyone used Microsofts Official SDK? I tried another SDK due to being in the UK, and outside of the US is not supported by Microsoft at the moment. How do my figures stack up to others? I’m guessing very badly because of the broken SDK!

I’ll let people know when they fix the SDK and if things improve … if I’m still getting a decent amount of impressions that is!

Thanks, Will keep you up to date!

Dave.

TapSplosion – What’s Next

Hi All,

I thought I’d update you with what is going on now with TapSplosion. As I promised, I will be updating the game (all be it slowly (1 hour a day)). and the first thing I’ll be adding to the game are Achievements! These will be difficult to gain and should add another element of re-playability to the game! I’m expecting this to take a week at most, I may also need some new artwork so it depends on how quickly Joe (the artist) responds with some quick artwork. I’ll also need to design a whole new page in the game for the achievements, which could take a while, so keep an eye out here and I’ll be updating you as and when I update it!

Here is a preview of the Achievements:

Name	Points	Description
Survivor	50	- Stay alive for 5 mins
We Come in Peace	100	- Survive for 2 mins with no Explosion
Killing Spree!	25	- 50 Combo
Rampage!	50	- 100 Combo
Unstoppable!	75	- 200 Combo
God Like!	100	- 400 Combo
Thanks for the Help!	100	- Juggernaut explosion kills 50 enemies
Save them for Later	50	- Save 5 powerups for later
Obliteration	75	- Kill 95% of enemies on screen (more than 50)
One Million!	50	- 1 Million points
Ten Million!	100	- 10 Million Points
First Page!	75	- Top 7 Daily Score
Extreme Survivor	150	- Survive for 8 Mins

Thanks! Will keep you posted!
Dave.

TapSplosion – Free, Reviews and VOTE!

Hello There!

TapSplosion has been getting a lot of publicity over the past few days, which is awesome!

1. Firstly, TapSplosion FREE is now available on the marketplace! This is a fully featured (Although it will get updates later), Ad funded version of the Paid game!  Download it Now!

2. Secondly, TapSplosion has had another amazing review, this time from WMPowerUser.com, and can be read here:

http://wmpoweruser.com/tapsplosion-fantastic-addicting-game/

And here is the video review to accompany it:

Key Quotes include: “This game is a Masterpiece” =P I was overwhelmed by the response it has been getting.

3. Next, is where I need your help! Over at bestwp7games.com they have released a Poll, for best game of the month. TapSplosion has been shortlisted and I need your help to vote! So head on over and vote, if you think TapSplosion is better than the rest of course =P.

http://www.bestwp7games.com/top-wp7-games-march-2011-poll.html

Thanks Guys!

Dave.