Hospital Escape
Hospital Escape has been made and sold! Was a quick sale this time as I made the deal through an old client, Coolbuddy.com. They bought Hotel Escape 3, and have now bought Hospital Escape. The game should be out by the 21st August. Amit, the owner of Coolbuddy has currently got his team of testers on my game, and the verdict so far is that they like it! Here are a few screenshots of what the game looks like..
Twitter got Hacked!
I woke up this morning to loads of questions on my Twitter asking why I was spamming them with posts about weight loss. Luckily i caught it when I did, otherwise i would have probably lost most of my followers. I ran a quick scan on Malwarebytes, which returned nothing, so I'm doign an indepth one now. Make sure you have strong passwords! If you don't, change them now before the same thing happens to you.
Here's a little background to why this may have happened, and how strong my password actually was. A few months ago I happened to look at my sent messages on gmail, and noticed that there was loads of spam getting sent from my account, and I had no idea how. They had obviously got ahold of my password somehow, and started sending spam from the account. I changed my password and it stopped. I used the same password however for twitter and forgot to change it, so my password must have been added to a list somewhere, and used to get into my twitter. It wasn't a trojan or virus that helped them get access to twitter since I had recently reformatted and had a virtually clean slate when it happened.
My password had letters and a number in it. All lowercase letters and one number at the end. Unfurtunately I wasn't using a VERY secure password like I am now. Here are a few tips for making a password:
- Use Lowercase and Uppercase in your password, in defferent places, not just the beginning or end
- Use numbers, again, not just at the end or beginning
- Try not to use words in a dictionary, these can be bruteforced.
- Symbols are a good option too if you want to go that far
- A tip from a friend, you could always MD5 your old password, so if you ever forget it all you have to do is MD5 your old password to find it again.
I’m Alive!
Once again, i've been completely neglecting my blog thanks to the huge workload I have taken on recently, and general laziness. I've re-skinned the blog however, and have a few projects on the go, so I have a few things to talk about once I get down to writing the tutorials!
1. Hospital Escape
I've decided to get a holiday to Sri lanka in August and realised I can't actually afford it, so have decided to make a new escape game to cover the cost! This one is called Hospital Escape, and follows on in terms of storyline from HE3. I originally decided I had finished it today, and showed it to Amit, the owner of coolbuddy.com, and apparently his wife was disappointed and said it was nothing like HE3, so more effort has to be put into it apparently! Here is a sneak peek of what the menu looks like!
- Hospital Escape
2. Flashrunner
So I've decided to take a big step into the world of flash development, and make a platformer. I've always made escape games, and don't know any better. I know the ins and outs of coding, since I'm studying computer science and know java reasonably well, but have never coded more than what's needed for an escape game. I decided I should probably take that step at some point, so here we are. I'm sure plenty of you have played Loderunner in the past, the game that was made in the 80-90s. I certainly did, and loved it so much. Well I've decided to make it in flash. It will of course be my own interpretation, I don't intend to copy anything Sierra have done! To get me started, Emanuele Feronato's creation of a platform game helped loads, along with Kenny Sun's Create a Platform game with AS3, though I will be making my own personalised tutorials soon enough. Screens to come too!
3. FlashGameLicense
As some of you may know, I do work for FlashGameLicense now, and my hours have actually been increased to 20 hours a week now, with a daily to-do list of about 15 items. It's pretty hectic, and I could spend all day doing everything if I wanted to, but it's highly enjoyable too. The team are great to work with and I enjoy the work too. Lets hope it doesn't take too much time away from studies and flash!
I will be posting tutorials and updates on my activities more regularly from now on, promise!
Hotel Escape 3
Hotel Escape 3 has been released!
That's right, the moment we've all been waiting for has finally come. Coolbuddy.com is the primary sponsor, and you can find the game on there. Just click the picture below!
HE3 on coolbuddy.com
Hotel Escape 3 Finished!
Hey guys,
It's been ages since I've posted anything, over a month! My exams are finally over, and I can go back to concentrating on my projects, such as Hotel Escape 3, and Hospital Escape 1! Anyway, back to the news,
Hotel Escape 3 is done!
It took quite a while to finish in the end. After exams it tooko me 3 solid days of work to finish it all off ready for the sponsors. I've put it up for bid now, and I'm awaiting sponsorship. I've emailed a few portals i thought might be interested, I still have a few more names to get through. The reason it took so long was because I decided to make life hard for myself and try a few things. For example, I was messing around with MatrixTransformer.rotateAroundExternalPoint() to make a clock that told the exact time, and rotated when you clicked on it! This will be talked about in another post.
Well here are a few screenshots:
Once it's sold, I'll post exactly where you can find it 
I've already got a non-exclusive offer from AddictingGames, who sponsored both Hotel Escape 1 and Hotel Escape 2! I'm very greatful to them for their belief in my work.
If you have a FlashGameLicense account, and have a game sold on the site you can view my game here. Here are some of the features of the new game:
- More animations than its predecessors
- Much bigger room
- Hard puzzles designed to make you think laterally
- Seamless sound track
- Unique 3D graphics
Lets hope the sale goes quickly so i can let it loose on the world!
FlashGameArt.com
FlashGameArt!
FlashGameArt is the latest creation from the fathers of FlashGameLicense.com. Rather than concentrating solely on flash developers however, FGA is aimed at giving attention to the budding artists out there. It’s a proven fact that games with exceptional art do considerably better than ones without. The problem lies in finding a suitable artist at the right price. FGA seems to be doing a good job of solving that problem.
I'm an artist, what does FGA do for me?
As an artist, if you have an account on FGL, you can simply login with the same credentials and all your details will have been transferred over. If you’re not a member however you should pop over to FGL and register an account. Once that’s been done, you can start uploading examples of your art to prove yourself to developers. The pictures you upload are put into albums that you create, and are all showcased as your portfolio. In your profile, you also have the option of letting people know how busy you are, and what you’re more skilled in, code or art. Showcasing your art has never been easier! One of the attractive qualities of FGA is that it’s linked to FGL, which is a haven for hundreds of flash developers all potentially looking for artists for their games.
Personal Profile
What about developers?
FlashGameArt has recently gone into phase 2, which means that FGA just got very interesting for us developers too. If you’ve got a game you’re currently developing and you need some art for it, you can now go onto FGA and create what’s called a “project”. Basically, a project is a way of communicating exactly what you need to the artists on FGA. You can do anything from outline the scenery to explain in detail the psychological conflicts your character needs to portray whatever works for you . Once you’ve explained what you need, you get to set a price for the maximum you’re willing to pay for the work. Once your project is up on FGA, artists can come along and have a look at your project. If they think they’re up for the job, they place a “big” on your project, i.e. they state the amount they want to be paid for the work you’re asking for. You can then in turn look at the artist’s profile, check the examples of their art, and decide whether you want them to decide the fate of your game!
A project page
Overall, i’m expecting another successful site. It caters for both developers and artists, and is another helpful tool to guide you towards a successful flash game. If you haven’t jumped on the FGL bandwagon yet, I suggest you do. Life’s lush on the other side
New host!
Hey guys,
I've just changed over from Dreamhost to Media Temple because i was getting fed up of the slow speeds on Dreamhost. Therefore everything will be in the shambles for a little while while I get everything back into order.
Bear with me!
Hotel Escape 3 incoming!
It seems like there's been loads of buzz going round about Hotel Escape 3 and when it's gonna come out! I get at least 60 google searches a day for HE3. So here's an update:
I'm currently making HE3, albeit at a slow pace, but it's on its way. I was on holiday for a month but i'm back now and working hard again! The development of HE3 should take at most 1 week. It will probably take another week to find a sponsor, find a non-exclusive, and arrange all the ads etc for the company who decides to sponsor it.
Meanwhile, i'll keep you updated on what's going on, and add little previews of the game here occasionally. I'll also be posting articles regularly to help out the budding flash developer.
Cheers!
Distributing your Game
So you've finished your latest game, and you've found a primary sponsor, maybe a few non-exclusive licenses if you're lucky. Your job's not finished! As mentioned by John Cooney, from Armor Games who attended the Flash Game Summit, the best way to distribute your game is "viral viral viral!". When distributing your game, you want to get it on as many sites as possible. The goal of course being that you get your brand out there, so people get to know you, as well as racking up the number of views of your game. The more sites it's on, the more it will get noticed, which in turn means it will be taken off those sites to be put on more sites. The only reason why Hotel Escape 1 is still earning me $50 a month is because i distributed the game so much that it is now on 419 hosts, all of which are adding to the views. So what are your options?
1. Manual Distribution
Probably the lengthiest and least effective method, is to do it yourself, one by one. If you are going to distribute it yourself though, there are a few main sites you should keep in mind that are invaluable. Newgrounds, Kongregate and AddictingGames comes to mind, though there are many more, as you will see later. As i said, Manual Distribution isn't at all effective, and the time you put into it will not be beneficial in the end. Thankfully there are a few sites that do it all for you!
2. Mochi Distribution
If you're using Mochiads in your game, distribution through mochi couldn't be simpler. Unfortunately i don't use mochi so i can't shed a lot of light about how effective their distribution is, but a lot of people have said that their game was effectively distributed by them, so here it is! When filling in all the information about the game to enable ads, all you need to do is check the box labelled "Distribute my game". According to Mochi, this will distribute your game to Mochi partners, and add it to the Mochi feed, which is potentially hundreds of portals. You can also see how much your game has been distributed through the ad stats showing which sites have hosted your game. The easiest way to track the stats of your game however is the use of Mochibot, which i will get on to in another article
If you have good or bad experiences with mochi, please contact me and let me know!
3. FlashGameDistribution
While still only in Beta, FlashGameDistribution is an invaluable tool to help you distribute your game. From the makers of FlashGameLicense, this tool will automatically submit your game to hundreds of sites, email all the sponsors registered on FGL with information about your game, and give you the option of manually submitting your game to many more sites. To register on the site, simply apply to be a beta tester, and be patient while the staff go through the hundreds of registrations they receive.
Once you're a member, you need to upload your game, (or import it from FGL if you're a developer there), and fill in all the details that the portals need, including title, description, instructions, genre, exposure, and a thumbnail of your choice. You also have the option of adding links to your sponsor, to your site, and mention whether you have implemented several different APIs for certain sites (such as Kongregate's high score and tracking API).
Part of the form you'll be filling in.
As soon as you've done all that, all you need to do is sit back and wait for the FGD staff to verify their game. As soon as they're happy, the autosubmitter will submit your game to loads of sites, email sponsors about your game, and offer you the chance to submit to many more portals manually from their list. Manually submitting games has even been made easy for you as they provide all the details you need to fill in at the top of the screen while you're submitting, including description, and different sized thumbnails.
Once you're happy with the amount that you've distributed your game, you can leave FGD to do the rest, and it will keep track of how much your game has been distributed with real time stats of how many sites it's been submitted to, how many emails were sent out, and several more. Here's what it looks like:
Distribution Stats
Overall, this tool has a plethora of useful utilities, (including portal in a box, which i will discuss another time), and should definitely be explored if you want to be a successful flash game developer. I'm sure there are many other tools out there to help you out, but not quite as many with such a friendly and helpful bunch of staff pushing the project forward!
If you have any questions or need advice about anything, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them! If I feel your question is good enough to help other people, I'll add it to the developer's FAQ I will soon be setting up on the site.
PS. Apologies for being so inactive recently, I was in Egypt on holiday, and when i came back I had no motivation at all, as i'm sure you can imagine. Also, if you want to hear more of what was said in the Flash Game summit, click here.
Choosing sponsors wisely
Game traffic
So you've finished your latest game, and you're looking for a buyer. The first thing you have to think about is how you're going to sell it. Pre-2006, sponsorships used to be purely exclusive licenses. Basically, you sold your game, and all the rights to it (even the code) to one buyer. He/She then did whatever they wanted to it, and distributed it how they wanted. Games rarely included ads that would benefit the developer too. However, we are in 2009 now, things have changed. Developers are now selling Primary and Non-Exclusive licenses, and sometimes include ads in their games too.
A developer who uses several revenue streams for their game, like a primary and non-exclusive license, as well as ads will generally make a lot more money than a developer who confines himself to a single exclusive license. When i was first introduced to making flash games, a friend was telling me about how he was selling his flash games for a lump sum of $800. It obviously interested me so i did a little research, and found out about the licenses I mentioned above. My game has made a total of $1350, and that figure still grows by about $60 a month. The game hasn't earned more because it's a better game, but because of the sponsors and the deals that were struck with them. (If you're confused as to what a primary, non-exclusive, and exclusive license is, have a look at this page).
Exclusive licenses are a thing of the past!
You may be tempted by the large sum of money that a sponsor is offering you for an exclusive sponsorship of the game, but don't be fooled. You should be weary of any deal that restricts your potential income. Recently, non-exclusive licenses have become more and more popular with sponsors. There are two main reasons for this: They're cheap and they keep their traffic on their site. When you accept an exclusive license, your potentially writing-off two or three non-exclusive licenses. If each non-exclusive is around $500, you've just lost yourself quite alot of money.
Sponsors make millions from ads, why shouldn't I?
You may not think that adding ads to your game makes much of a difference to your revenue, but believe me, it does. Every dollar that you earn through ads is extra revenue that goes straight into your pocket on top of any license that a sponsor has paid you for. The best part about ads is that you're getting paid every month for the ad impressions and you don't even have to do any work for it. It takes about 5-10 minutes to set up in your game, and it can provide you with hundreds of dollars, (or thousands, if you've made a particularly good game).
Total Revenue for HE1
What you see above is what i've earned on my first game, HE1. That's almost a third of what i got for the primary license in 3 months. Even when the game's saturated the market, it's still earning me about $60 a month. If it continues like it is now, I will have earned an extra $720 extra off the game. Keep in mind that that's the revenue for one game. Once you start making a few games, you'll be earning more and more, (especially if your games are improving, which they should!).
So what should i look for in a sponsor?
So now we come to the most important part of the article. From what i've said above, it obvious that you need to be looking for sponsorships that doesn't limit your revenue. The best possible main sponsorship you could get is a Primary License that allows you to put ads in your game. That way you will be getting money from your primary deal, your potential non-exclusive deals, and from the ad revenue your game will generate too. If the sponsor doesn't allow ads, you should expect more money for the deal to compensate. Calculate a few rough numbers of how much extra you'd earn from advertising and see if the deal compensates enough.
Another important factor that you have to do before you decide, that may not be as obvious as the others, is who you're actually selling it to. Do a little research, put the sponsor's site in Alexa.com and have a look at the kind of traffic the site generates. There's no point adding ads to the game if you're only going to get a few thousand views a day. Hotel Escape 1 sold to minijuegos.com, a site that's ranked 487th on Alexa. On the day it was released, the game got about 100k views, and made $50 in a day. Hotel Escape 2, however, which sold to freegamesnews.com, ranked 19000th, only got 20k views, and made $8. Hotel Escape 2, which is still only a few weeks old is doing worse than Hotel Escape is doing now, which is now 3 months old. If you're reliant on the ads as a major revenue stream, you need to make sure that the sponsor you sell it to has a popular site that will get you plenty of ad impressions.
The game's sold, do I need to do anything else?
Of course you do! You're in charge of making sure that millions of people hear about your game and play it. The more people play it, the more money you will get. Watch out for an article on distributing your game which I will post within the next few days!
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- @FGL_Joe Haha, alright, well good luck! It's 9am here on the 25th. I'm off to celebrate.
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