An Indie's Greatest Joy

  I've been meaning to update the blog and it's been a while since I've posted, and these past few days I kept starting off with a negative view on things.  It's been a rough first few weeks for the launch of SBX: Invasion and I was a bit down but I kept deleting the posts, I didn't want to write something negative.  I sat down and thought for a bit:  What motivates me to continue working as an indie developer?  Why do I love it?

  And as I thought and waited, I continued my efforts of marketing the game and I found what I'd been looking for.  It's not about the tons of sales, it's not about the giant press articles or getting your game noticed by the big wig websites.  It's about that one person who plays your game, and forms a connection with it.  About that person who plays it and experiences what it has to offer and laughs and has fun.

  I've been sending the game out to all sorts of places:  Big name Youtube let's players, Indie game review sites, etc, etc.  But the most enjoyable response so far was from a little no name Youtuber named Xelipher who has a meager audience.  Watching him enjoy the game and learn how it works and be challenged but succeed is one of the best feelings.  Forming that connection with a player through the game is the joy of being an indie for me.

Here are the two videos of him playing through the first few levels of SBX: Invasion:

First Let's Play:

Second Let's Play:

  I learned a lot watching him play through the levels as well.  I'd tested the game extensively, but most of my testers were found on reddit and I hadn't really seen their reactions as much and it was mostly contact through forms and e-mail.  

  Watching Xelipher play through, seeing what was difficult and seeing the things he didn't do that I would have done or would have expected the player to do was extremely rewarding.  And it's rewarding because it's genuine.

  Right now a lot of indies are worried about the "Indie Bubble" but really, you just have to be smart about it.  Being an indie is art.  It's passion.  It's love.  If the bubble pops or if the bubble stays, it really doesn't matter, it's about doing what you are passionate about, what you love.

  Even if SBX: Invasion never takes off, developing the game was worth it just to form a connection with a player.  I've enjoyed creating the game, and I'll still continue to market it, but for me, it was a success.  I'll move on with other projects and start the marketing process earlier and apply the things I've learned from this one as well.

  For me this is the greatest joy of being an indie.  What about you?  Why do you do it?   Why do you love it?

[SBX:I] New Video for SBX: Invasion along with a refocused Marketing Effort

SBX:Inv:

Well, I'm still very new to this, but launch week hasn't really been what I thought it would.  I wasn't expecting much, but so far I have one legitimate sale outside of friends and testers from the website.  So I'm refocusing my marketing efforts and working toward getting my site out there.

So, I made a new video, created a launch page for SBX: Invasion (which I didn't have before) and tried some non-boring subject lines in my e-mails.

You know that post about How to NOT market your indie game?  Yeah, even after reading that I still kept doing dumb shit on that list.

But stuff like this comes with experience, so I'll keep trudging onward and learning as I go.

Here's the new launch page:

SBX: Invasion Launch Page

It comes with a new, very short promo video.

I still suck at these videos but here it is:

It's just a short teaser but hopefully it grabs people's attention better than my last one.  Starting an indie studio is a slow, long process, but it's fun and I'm learning more now than I would in a boring job somewhere.

The learning is exciting and I'm enjoying myself, even if I let myself get a little bit stressed out from time to time.  Keeps the blood pumping ha!

Anyway, just a little update about Launch week, stay tuned I'll be working toward making this a successful indie studio, it might just take a while ;).

Cheers,

WakeskaterX

Jason C.

[SBX:I] SBX:Invasion is available for download!

SBX:Inv:

SBX:Invasion is now released!  It's been a long wait (mostly for me) but the game is finally done and out and we'll see how it goes!

You can download the game at my website here and if you use discount code "INVASION" during the month of November you'll get 50% off.

Wakeskater Studio Website

You can also get the game at Fireflower Games and itch.io.

Finally release day is here and I'm excited to finally put my game out to the world!

Cheers!

Jason Carter

[SBX:I] Release Date: November 1st, 2013

SBX:Inv:

Hey everyone!  The official release date for SBX:Invasion is now November 1st, 2013!  That's next Friday!  Exciting stuff.  The game is completely done and I'm just putting the finishing coats of polish on the game and touching things here and there up.

I went to Boston Post Mortem yesterday and handed out a bunch of fliers and met a ton of cool developers.  Finally I'll join the crowds of people who have finished a game and released it!

So on November 1st, Look for the game at the Website, at Desura, Fireflower Games and on IndieCity!
Note:  The IndieCity Release date may be later as they're still working on coming back up.  You can also get the game at itch.io as well.

And if you buy it off my website, use code "Invasion" for a 50% discount.

Cheers!

Jason

[SBX:I] Art Rework Complete!

SBX:Inv:

Well all the game art assets have been completely reworked and the game looks much, much nicer than a month ago.  It has been a long haul and there is still more work to be done, but the art part is done for now.

Which is good.

I enjoy art and I have learned so much over the past month about pixel art, but I would rather spend my time programming and designing levels than drawing pixels.  I look forward to the day I can hire a decent pixel artist full time.  We'll see how this project goes :)

So the final big thing was the Final Boss and the UI elements that went with him so here is a nice little image of the old and new boss sprites (They're big):

The new boss art looks great in game and fits well with the other new assets.

Still left to do before release:

-  Update art on Desura, Fireflower and IndieCity

-  New Promotional Video

-  Update the Game Guide that comes with the game

-  Update Website Art

-  Few Optimization coding things in the game I want to touch up before release.

Pretty short list now, I'm super stoked to finally release SBX:Invasion!

I'll be shooting for early November so subscribe to the blog if you haven't to stay updated and get special promotions.  I'll be posting up some discount codes here on the blog at some point so keep en eye out!

Cheers everyone,

Jason

[SBX:I] Screen shots: Before and After

SBX:Inv:


Here's a few screen shots of before and after the art rework.  I'm still working on some stuff but this shows a few examples of how the art has improved.

Title Screen:

Before

&
After

Level 1:

Custom Map Mode:

Level 5:

It's coming along nicely.  Still quite a bit left to do, there are a few more enemies and a couple bosses left to do which is probably going to take the longest time out of the rest of the stuff I have left.

The final boss is going to take a while; I want to make him really look good.

Anyway, just a quick post tonight before passing out.

Cheers!

~Jason

[SBX:I] Art update - Screenshots

SBX:Inv:

Just wanted to post an update on the art revision so far:

I've got a lot of it done and wanted to share the new title screen because it's pretty cool and gives a good idea of how much has been done already.

I've completed all the turrets, generators, ship, half the enemy art, the base, and a bunch of other things as well.  There is still a lot to do but it's looking very nice so far.

Here are some before and after screen shots:

Before Art Rework:

After Art Rework:

Let me know what you guys think!  I'll be doing a little more work on the asteroids (including the Magnium Asteroids) to give a little bit more variety and depth to it.

Cheers!

Jason / WakeskaterX