I hope the reason that we arent hearing anything is because youre busy finalising the second episode. I hope.
We are certainly working hard to get all the features into episode two. We're currently playing around with various enemy types, and I have to say that it's looking quite promising! Battling enemies in open arena-like spaces adds a very fluid motion to the game as you circle around them, move between them and jump over them. Fighting enemies without changing the control method, or making the game more complicated has been difficult - but now that it's in it feels like we have certainly expanded the game in a very exciting way.
why make episode 2 a DLC? i'm sure many people might just wanna get episode 2 without getting episode one. but i wouldn't know. your choice ultimately
The original plan was for the second episode to be released as a separate application. However, a lot of people complained about this as they don't want two separate applications for what they regard to be the same game - so we decided to release it as downloadable content instead. But having thought about it some more, there are some very substantial issues with the DLC model for us: 1. Games are sold mainly based on their location in the appstore charts, and DLC sales only affects the top grossing chart. The top grossing chart is extremely difficult to get into with a $0.99 game - and if your on a position in that chart that is high enough to generate further sales through exposure, you have already made enough money to recoup what you spent on the project three times over. 2. People who just want the second episode will have to pay for the first one. 3. DLC requires an OS version 3.0 or higher. Since this upgrade costs money on the iPod Touch for some reason, there may be some people who won't be able to play the second episode. The positive aspects of DLC are: 1. People who already own Dark Nebula will get an instant notification that the next episode is out. 2. People will not have two separate applications on their device. What are your thoughts on this?
Why not do both if it's based on the same code base as the original? Release an episode two as a standalone app, but update the original to offer DLC for the second episode - make it very clear that those buying via DLC that its the same as the new app to avoid complaints from those that buy both. With the second app you can always include the slow buildup/training scenario for new players and omit that from the DLC version.
I had exactly the same thought. The only concern is that sales of the sequel would then be accounted across two different SKUs (so to speak), and you would have a tougher time getting into the Top Paid lists.
Yeah it isnt a big deal to have a seperate app. And thanks for the info on the second episode. When will you be looking to submit it?
I persaonlly don't really care about which a game has, other than how easy it is to log in to Openfeint when you start a game that has it for the first time...and then after that you don't have to even know its there if you don't want. Plus+ does seem to slow startup down.
Thanks for the input guys! We are currently looking at a submission sometime in February. But it's hard to say before we've got all the features in, as some features may need more love than others to reach the quality level we're aiming for.
Yeah the quality of dark nebula is like no other (in a good way) so id rather you spend the extra time on it.
Just so you know, episode one of Dark Nebula will be free this weekend starting immediately - so make sure you tell all your friends!
Well, it was certainly popular to download Dark Nebula this weekend. It was the number one downloaded game in 25 countries including the US. A total of one million downloads!
Looking good Hejden, cant wait for this game, and glad that episode 1 did so well in the giveaway, i told all of my friends. Im hoping that this means that episode 2 will do better in sales due to people wanting more. I would love to see that intro movie as an extra special treat, if your feeling generous
