Cyclone facelift...and more?
by Dave Myers · in General Discussion · 12/29/2002 (10:20 am) · 8 replies
Earlier this year 21-6 released a small title on RealOne Arcade called Cyclone. We had an exclusive deal with Real for Cyclone, but now we are reaching the end of that exclusivity and plan on putting Cyclone out elsewhere. What we plan on doing is giving it a facelift at the very least before we do so.
Cyclone is a pretty interesting color-matching, bubble-popping type of game, but we think we can update it to be better. We were hoping that maybe some of you might have the time and inclination to download and install the game and possibly post some feedback here. Sorry - it's only on Real, so if you have a strong anti-Real bias and don't want to download their Arcade client we completely understand.
Peer review of our products in order to make sure they continue to sell the next few years seems like an important part of the game dev process, so any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Dave Myers
Vice President
21-6 Productions, Inc.
Cyclone is a pretty interesting color-matching, bubble-popping type of game, but we think we can update it to be better. We were hoping that maybe some of you might have the time and inclination to download and install the game and possibly post some feedback here. Sorry - it's only on Real, so if you have a strong anti-Real bias and don't want to download their Arcade client we completely understand.
Peer review of our products in order to make sure they continue to sell the next few years seems like an important part of the game dev process, so any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Dave Myers
Vice President
21-6 Productions, Inc.
About the author
Considerable experience developing with Torque-based technologies and produced the first third-party game using any Torque technology (Orbz). Game designer, programmer, and producer, and credits include the innovative title Orbz and the colorful BuggOut.
#2
12/29/2002 (1:14 pm)
GarageGames quite rightly wants some exclusivity on titles, so Cyclone doesn't really qualify. 
#3
I suggest :
- use 3d hardware if available to render the cyclone turning : it will be clearer and easier to play to see it rotating rather than to see it popping 30 degrees at a time.
- your eyes need to look for the next missiles : make it bigger and/or flashy : thus you won't need to look for it and you can concentrate on the cyclone itself.
- animate the falling blocks that move when there's nothing under them. Again thaht will be clearer.
So generally speaking I think you can improve on the feedback given to the player.
Now I got a question for you : can you give me (or email me) a general figure of the number of units you sold of this game, if you did some communication work or was it just Real that did the job, and if you were happy with the del with Real. Indeed I'm thinking about leaving my game development company to work on small games on my own.
Thanks.
12/29/2002 (3:02 pm)
David,I suggest :
- use 3d hardware if available to render the cyclone turning : it will be clearer and easier to play to see it rotating rather than to see it popping 30 degrees at a time.
- your eyes need to look for the next missiles : make it bigger and/or flashy : thus you won't need to look for it and you can concentrate on the cyclone itself.
- animate the falling blocks that move when there's nothing under them. Again thaht will be clearer.
So generally speaking I think you can improve on the feedback given to the player.
Now I got a question for you : can you give me (or email me) a general figure of the number of units you sold of this game, if you did some communication work or was it just Real that did the job, and if you were happy with the del with Real. Indeed I'm thinking about leaving my game development company to work on small games on my own.
Thanks.
#4
12/29/2002 (3:07 pm)
I forgot : if you can, use DX3 rather than DX6 : NT4 machine will then be able to launch the game. But I don't know if there's much difference in DDraw between DX3 & DX6.
#5
Having the grid rotate smoothly is something I too would like to see added. It is a tad jarring the way it is now.
Personally I don't have trouble finding the next missile. However, I do not like the "launch platform" graphics we have - they make it tougher to see the next missile.
This is a solid suggestion and ties in with something that we thought about during development but didn't implement - showing the next level that will be added from the inner row (ala Collapse and similar). This is jarring, also.
Lowering the system requirements is an interesting thought, and though it might not make it into the next update, it is something to consider when updating it further.
Again, thanks for the input.
Dave Myers
Vice President
21-6 Productions, Inc.
12/29/2002 (5:31 pm)
Thanks for the feedback - it is greatly appreciated.Quote:
I suggest :
- use 3d hardware if available to render the cyclone turning : it will be clearer and easier to play to see it rotating rather than to see it popping 30 degrees at a time.
Having the grid rotate smoothly is something I too would like to see added. It is a tad jarring the way it is now.
Quote:
- your eyes need to look for the next missiles : make it bigger and/or flashy : thus you won't need to look for it and you can concentrate on the cyclone itself.
Personally I don't have trouble finding the next missile. However, I do not like the "launch platform" graphics we have - they make it tougher to see the next missile.
Quote:
- animate the falling blocks that move when there's nothing under them. Again thaht will be clearer.
This is a solid suggestion and ties in with something that we thought about during development but didn't implement - showing the next level that will be added from the inner row (ala Collapse and similar). This is jarring, also.
Quote:
If you can, use DX3 rather than DX6 : NT4 machine will then be able to launch the game. But I don't know if there's much difference in DDraw between DX3 & DX6.
Lowering the system requirements is an interesting thought, and though it might not make it into the next update, it is something to consider when updating it further.
Again, thanks for the input.
Dave Myers
Vice President
21-6 Productions, Inc.
#6
In a nutshell, we are doing fairly on Real with Cyclone - not great, but nothing to sneeze at. We would not recommend the path we took, as we put Cyclone on there as an exclusive. Exclusivity very likely will not pay off, as it does not guarantee additional marketing on their sites and Arcade client. They will not push your game if it does not convert at 2% or higher, so keep that in mind, also.
They also have something called Game Pass which you should be aware of if distributing through them. The gist is that a consumer signs up for Game Pass by paying $7 per month in advance. So a year is $84, or 3 month term would be $21. For that $7, each month you get a game. And you get $5 off ANY and ALL games you choose to buy past that one. Think about that a moment. It means that they have effectively lowered the price point of their $20 titles to $15. Important to consider when trying to determine sales figures and revenue you are expecting.
Dave Myers
Vice President
21-6 Productions, Inc.
12/29/2002 (5:43 pm)
In regards to the Real experience we had, we are planning on writing up some post mortem type stuff soon on Orbz, so perhaps we should include Cyclone as a separate write-up. In a nutshell, we are doing fairly on Real with Cyclone - not great, but nothing to sneeze at. We would not recommend the path we took, as we put Cyclone on there as an exclusive. Exclusivity very likely will not pay off, as it does not guarantee additional marketing on their sites and Arcade client. They will not push your game if it does not convert at 2% or higher, so keep that in mind, also.
They also have something called Game Pass which you should be aware of if distributing through them. The gist is that a consumer signs up for Game Pass by paying $7 per month in advance. So a year is $84, or 3 month term would be $21. For that $7, each month you get a game. And you get $5 off ANY and ALL games you choose to buy past that one. Think about that a moment. It means that they have effectively lowered the price point of their $20 titles to $15. Important to consider when trying to determine sales figures and revenue you are expecting.
Dave Myers
Vice President
21-6 Productions, Inc.
#7
12/29/2002 (5:51 pm)
Just repeating what Dave said, there are 3 price points on Real Arcade. $20 (normal price), $15 (game pass members), $7 (game pass free game). That's an average of $14 if the sales for each price point were even. They aren't. Only about 30% of our sales were for full price. Average unit price considering these type of sales figures can get down near $10. 
#8
There don't seem to be any particulary deep games on there at the moment. Cyclone is pretty good though guys. But i'll stick to Orbz ;)
12/29/2002 (8:16 pm)
It's seems a fairly clever structure on Real Arcade, $20 a game seems fairly expensive, but the $6 whatever a month makes all the games X ($5?) cheaper. So people go... ha ha... I might as well sign up for this monthly deal. And that what they're aiming to build.There don't seem to be any particulary deep games on there at the moment. Cyclone is pretty good though guys. But i'll stick to Orbz ;)
Torque 3D Owner Xavier "eXoDuS" Amado
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