Saturday, April 14, 2012

Christmas Magic is out ! Celebrations,Jitters,aftershocks and opulent outbursts of a game designer ! :)

Aha ! Its been a long busy time working on Christmas Magic, our mighty game for the iPad, and what do you know : ITS DONE NOW :D ! Yes ! Finally the game is done and out on the App Store now, ready to be devoured and swallowed whole by each and every one of you out there ! :

Link to 'Christmas Magic' shining bright on the AppStore ! Click on Me Now ! :)



( There, see, after having seen this amazing painting from the game, you have to click on the link ;) ! if you haven't, don't worry, I'll provide the link at the bottom of the post too.)

 and just like every game developer/artist/parent, I was jittery about how it would be received by the world wide web of people from all walks of life : Appreciated/Ignored/Detested/Raised an eyebrow at/ Screamed at like mad men or Worshiped like an Inca Goddess ! 

           Thankfully, the reaction is somewhere between "Appreciated" and "Worshiped like an Inca Goddess" ! Phew! The 1037 people who have played it and others who have  seen their friends play it on their shiny iPads(thoughts of stealing the shiny thingie might also come to mind :P) or watched the "oh-so-amazing !" trailer have all appreciated its good looks, great production values, sweet story telling and deeply relaxing and unique gameplay. (A lot of credit goes to Trevor Holms for composing such a mesmersing OST for the game!) A true testament to this appreciation from people, apart from the 5-star ratings, reviews and comments, is the fact that most, almost 50%, of the downloads have happened because of recommendation from friends. Yes ! When we launched the game on the 3rd of April, 2012, we did not have any marketing media ready with us. For the first 3 days, the game was visible in the "New Releases" section of the App Store and we got 600 downloads during that time, but soon it got buried in the flurry of 'newer' new releases. Ever since then, all the downloads have been a result of people telling their friends, their friends telling their friends and so on ! Well, there might have been some who hated the game so much that they recommended it to their arch enemy/nemesis hoping he would die of shock n boredom , LOL , but you get the flow :D ! He ! He !

              This is very very encouraging for us, the whole team, as it means that people who have played it are loving the game and find it worthy enough to be associated with their reputation and hence, are recommending it to others. There is no bigger satisfaction than that for a game designer: the fact that the little idea, the thought that once came in my head, which I trusted, banked upon and nourished, shared with my friends and asked them to believe in it, is finally being loved by the world! Believed by the world ! My little walk in the imagination, a stroke of emotions from my heart on an idle afternoon, a moment when an illusion tried to force itself into the real world inside my head has evolved into an amalgamation of shapes, sounds and colours, of names, places, longings and fullfillment,  that is as real to players now as any other place and person in this physical world ! People talk of L'il pono and the Magical Tree to each other ! People smile when the Tree surprises Pono, get excited when magic starts to flow from Pono's fingertips! They help him out in fulfilling his innocent wishes for a Christmas night and feel the warmth when love flows on the magical night !



   Putting a game out in the App Store is almost like sending your child to school. You have nurtured that little one from when he did not exist to now and now you send him off to the world. Will people like him? what will his teachers say? will his classmates like him? will his teachers like him? will he perform well? Have I brought him up well? Will I be a proud parent ?!
           Ah ! The jitters ! but now its all over !All the anxiety, the fear of judgements is all gone... All that has settled around me now is tranquility and a contended smile :) ! The child has turned out to be a prodigy, his teachers love him, his classmates love him and he is performing really well on his own !

What is needed now is more efforts from us parents ! what is that, you say? Well, marketing, promotions and visibility ! Not for the children in schools heh heh ,but for our game. The first step towards that has been taken and I present to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, Guys n Gals and all the hep n happenin' synonyms for males and females ..........

The Launch Trailer !!!!
The launch trailer in all its ridiculously sharp 720pHD awesomeness  :) ! 
Check it out  :
Watch it, love it , like it , comment on it and spread it all around the net !!!

My burst of happiness has brought about this magical effluent and opulent post of mine after a long time in slumber. I am generally happy these days  and ,well, exhausted, but happily exhausted ! So, you will hear from me again........ and when I am back I will bring around some goodies that can otherwise be accessed only from the game , just for you right here :D ! Till then enjoy the game, if not the game, enjoy the trailer, its just as awesome as the full game .....!!!!!

2 comments:

Sharan said...

Stupendous ! graphics are awesome. Pono - name and character is loveable.

RenegadeRocks said...

Thank you for the appreciation ! Glad to hear you liked it a lot ;) !