Confessions of an Indie Game Developer

Shocked

2012-02-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

These people were able to raise over $1,000,000.00 in less than a week for their (indie?) game.

Shien Tsao

2012-02-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

What looks like a honey mango, tastes like a sweet potato, and has a seed like an avacado?

It's called Shien Tsao. Shien Tsao is many things. Sometimes it's a peach and sometimes it's like the picture below:

Oh, yeah. Shien means god and tsao means peach.

Help! We Need People to Help Test our PinBall Game!

2012-02-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Our pinball game was super complicated to create, so we need your help! It just takes a few minutes to test it and you can find it here:

http://visualnovelgames.com/contest.html

Submit your score, and you could win $10.00 or a copy of our next game The Host Holic!

Here's the promo video below:

Protest Unfair Labor Practices in China and Apple

2012-01-30T23:23:00.000-08:00

Apple is making everything in China and abusing the Chinese with unfair labor practices. They're not the only one, but as the leader of smartphones, they should be setting the example.

Protest Apple and unfair labor practices by buying the Samsung Galaxy instead. It's better than the Iphone anyway and it's 4G!

Curse of Slate Rock Manor is Free for Valentine's Day!

2012-01-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

We have partnered with Trial Pay to bring Curse of Slate Rock Manor to everyone for free!

When you buy flowers using our Trial Pay referral, we will give you a free copy of Curse of Slate Rock Manor. Please see our display page for details:

http://www.visualnovelgames.com/VN-Curse-of-Slate-Rock-Manor.html
If you miss Valentine's Day, or this is an old post for you, you can still take advantage of the Trial Pay offer, but flowers may not be available.

Just uploaded our new dress up game to Kongregate

2012-01-27T01:15:00.001-08:00

http://www.kongregate.com/games/LexZ1/goddess-avatar-rpg-dress-up?referrer=LexZ1

Key Bill Pay still Down for Me!

2012-01-26T09:45:00.001-08:00

I haven't been able to log-in to Key Bill Pay for 3 weeks now! So angry! They "upgraded" their system and nobody could log-in for a few days, but they have assured me the problem has been fixed, but after three e-mails, I still can't get in.

Switching everything to BECU now...

We have chibis for our visual novel!

2012-01-26T06:38:00.001-08:00

Finding Sponsorships for Dress Up Games is Not Easy...

2012-01-25T03:40:00.000-08:00

Alas, woe is me. Nobody wants my dress up game. It's called Goddess RPG Avatar.

It's so cute! Right? I guess there aren't enough options, but to me it looks like there are so many!

I put the game up for auction on FlashGameLicense, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

A Sirius Indie Game About Pirate Ships and 3D Adventure!

2012-01-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

A Sirius Game, is now available in 3D.

It's Tradewinds! It's Chocolatier! It's Indie?

Play the role of the bad guy with bad intentions! Be the rotten apple that you always wanted to be!

Visit the Developer's Page Now!

New Visual Novel: To the Moon

2012-01-23T05:21:00.000-08:00

Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts have rather peculiar jobs:

They give people another chance to live. Literally.

There exists a technology that allows doctors to weave artificial memories, such that a patient can request attempts to alter their mind, and wake up with memories of things that didn't actually happen.

However, since these new memories are permanent, the conflict between them and the existing authentic memories clash in such a way that it ceases the person's ability to properly function.

Click here to visit the developer's site for more information.

My Project Wonderful Ad Stats (Publisher)

2012-01-22T22:41:00.000-08:00

I thought that some people may find my ad stats for Project Wonderful interesting so I posted them here:

Click the picture to see the original size.

I think that this is still the cheapest source of advertising for indie developers.

You can click here if you want more information about opening on adverising or publishing account.

Please note that I receive a small affiliate credit if you sign up ($3 for every $100 that you spend.)

Megaupload Goes Down - File Sharing Sites Scramble...

2012-01-22T22:30:00.001-08:00

This is bad...

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/65920166.html

Is there something that we can do about this? I don't like piracy, but this is getting out of control!

Out of Control Breast Size on Dragon's Crown for PS Vita

2012-01-22T06:06:00.000-08:00

Is this really necessary? A skull in her breasts and two phallic symbols? Come on, guys! The rating on this game is currently pending, but I'll be surprised to see what rating this game gets and why it gets it.

I guess this is the next step in pushing the sex card. As if the current scantily clad bimbos weren't enough...

RPG Maker XP Pin Ball

2012-01-22T01:25:00.000-08:00

Yep, I did it!

You can download the game here:

http://www.visualnovelgames.com/contest.html

Alternatives to Pandora

2012-01-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

What's wrong with Pandora?

Too many ads... It's a processing hog (because of Flash I think)... and most importantly:

If you are traveling overseas, Pandora will block you if they don't like your IP address!

You could trick them by using a proxy, but it's easier and faster to just sign up at musicovery.com. They will just show you one banner ad, but it's not constantly changing and sucking up your bandwidth as far as I can tell. And, you can use your account overseas.

Hostess Failed to Change With the Times. Say Goodbye to Twinkies and Wonderbread...

2012-01-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hostess is filing for bankruptcy...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/11/hostess-bankruptcy-_n_1198789.html

Host Holic: We have characters!

2012-01-13T21:06:00.001-08:00

Prosper.com Rates Lowered to 6.59% APR!

2012-01-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Prosper.com just announced that they lowered their rates by up to 3%. Interest rates are really low right now, so if you need extra funding for your indie game, Prosper is a really great place to start.

Funny Bird Names Game!

2011-12-28T22:25:00.001-08:00

I have been making a funny birds name game.

Finished!

http://games.mochiads.com/c/g/funny-bird-names/FunnyBirdNames.swf

How to Create More than 26 Global Variables / Values in Multimedia Fusion (or The Games Factory)

2011-12-28T05:38:00.000-08:00

I spent like two hours on this. Super infuriating!

If you need more than 26 Global Values, simply go to the Application level in your "Workspace Toolbar".

1: Click the red application icon.
2: Go to the square A-Z button in the Properties Toolbar.
3: Click "New" more than 26 times.
4: Now you have more global variables.

So stupid! Ahhhh!!!! I think this is getting fixed in MM3 (I mean, they are adding a global editor, so you don't have to look in this one place that nobody will ever look!

How to Generate a Random Number in Multimedia Fusion or The Games Factory

2011-12-27T00:35:00.000-08:00

It took me like an hour to figure out this simple task. So angry!

If you want to generate a random number, you just need to use the following script:

Random(x)

However, "x" needs to be replaced with a real number.

So, if you type "Random(2)" into your expression, the system will generate a random number of "0, 1, or 2" or 1 of 3 different numbers.

Step 1: Insert an object into your frame
Step 2: Choose "counter"
Step 3: Go to the event editor
Step 4: Create your condition.
Steo 5: Right click on the counter's box and select "Set Counter"
Step 6: Enter: Random(#) into your expression. (Replace "#" with an actual number)

If you have any questions, I can usually respond to comments with 24 hours.

Get started with The Games Factory for as little as $49.95.
The Games Factory 2 for Win

Multimedia Fusion for Developers

Mutlimedia Fusion 2

How To Load a Web Page or a URL with Internet Explorer in RPG Maker XP

2011-12-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

This script has really helped me to refer customers to my site, especially for those who have pirated my game.

If you want to create a way for users to connect to your homepage with your RPG XP game, simply paste the following script into:

Event Command,
Click the 3rd tab,
"Script" is the last option on the right

paste the following code:

#Launch internet Explorer
Thread.new{
system("explorer http://www.website.com/")}

Just change the URL to your site.

Please note! If your website name is too long, you may run into some issues, so you can use http://tinyurl.com/ to make your URL shorter.

Do you have a better script? You can share it here and feel free to leave questions or comments below.

We Have Chibis for The Host Holic!

2011-12-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

We got our first chibi for our Host Holic Visual Novel Game.

My friend is making chibis for $5 right now. You can visit his page at DeviantArt here:

http://karijn-s-basement.deviantart.com/

Please leave comments!

How to Fund Your Indie Game When Your Crowdfunding Project Fails

2011-12-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

Many developers try to crowdfund for their indie game, but most of these projects fail. The Indie Game Fund is pretty exclusive, so you won't be able to fund a small game there.

You may actually need to take out a business loan.

Getting a business loan is not easy right now, so a lot of people are turning to peer lending. I have done this myself, and highly recommend it to others. You can get the money really fast and you don't need to provide excessive documentation up front. People actually want to give you the money here, so it's a lot easier to raise the funds since investors are supporting you directly as opposed to using a bank as a middle-man. You can raise up to $25,000 this way.

I prefer Prosper.com. I liked it better when they had the loan auction, the the SEC didn't like that I guess, so now they offer you a rate up front without investors bidding. Investors still choose specific borrowers, but they don't get to name their rate anymore. If you know your Transunion score, you can determine your rate before applying. For more information, you can visit the link below.

Borrow With Prosper!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Please note that I am an affiliate of Prosper.com.