So happy to be writing this, been waiting a long time to finally share with the sub my game **The Edge: Isometric Survival**. I will give a quick rundown of everything from winning a game jam to finishing development today and what's in store next. Should make for a more of an interesting read. Not to mention YouTube dev blogs which I will also be linking.
Back in 2015 I won a game jam, [as the only solo](https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/moray/528241/moray-student-crowned-winner-of-gaming-contest/) entrant it was quite a feat. Basically I was just a kid who made games in his spare time during high school (worked at a studio when i was 16), winning the jam further pushed my drive for game development so I decided to take the concept from the jam and create something completely new. If you would like to see the end product of the jam itself - feel free to download it below, I was waiting for this post on this sub to share it! The new product after about a year of part time development (loved every minute) An addictive arcade game where you battle against geometric shapes with lasers, rockets, shock weapons and more. The trick is that when you lose your health, you are camouflaged into the enemy boids and must navigate to a health pack before the timer runs out! I gave myself a little project during my exams a few years ago because I was bored. In a week I created [pob](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cjggaming.pob1) which is another mobile game. This was the first start to finish game I did, which I think was important to do so I knew how to correctly launch a game the next time.
Game Jam End Product Download - Note is it only xbox/ps4 controller compatible
Game Jam End Product Screenshot - For those who don’t want to download!
Photoshop mockups - This was to start developing the UI and see where the game was heading. I’m the worst fan of my own work a lot of the time, I have this image in my head on what I want graphics, movement, sound to be like. I feel like in this project I nearly nailed the style I was going for. This was the first menu, I then had a better idea and in 10 minutes had an animation attached to the camera following a scene with a blur. Did this effect in the jam and won me ‘style’ points if you will.
Icon - This was a fun one, I wanted minimalism and for it to be clean from text. Apart from the lite version, you can see my design process and where I went with it
Website - After reading and watching resources shared on the sub, I soon realised I needed a press kit for when the game is out so all the relevant information can be gathered from one site. Being 19 and in third year of a cs degree i was all over making a website. Only took a few hours and happy with the end result (for now, not responsive yet)
Trailer - Wanted something to show the game at an early stage so could start getting some interest! I love the result and am happy to call it my work.
IndieGoGo - OK don’t laugh, I tried really hard to get funding so I could add more streaks, more platform releases at launch and a bunch of other stuff. I don’t think i’ll make any money from this game but that’s not why i did it. I did it because it’s a game I knew I would play, and I kept highlighting this to myself during little playtest sessions throughout development when I would spend ages playing, trying a new strategy. It was a fail with about £5. That guy got a big thanks and a shoutout on the site.
Marketing - A lot of the marketing stuff can be found on the website, however I did plan something. I created a viral video on facebook with over 2.5 million views with the purpose of promoting my game. In the background I placed QR code taking you to the site. I wrote a thing on my fb about this, if you want it explained like why protein bottle etc then shoot me a line!
Final product - These are ingame shots, ones with text on them is for the stores promotional sections. Otherwise the rest is entirely in game.
Dev logs - Hope you find it interesting to see my thought process throughout development.
**SUMMARY**
If you found this interesting, I encourage you to check out the dev blogs i’ve made above. Next year for my dissertation i plan on creating a VR game using the HTC vive. I wanted to take the year out for game development and get all the little project ideas in my head out there so i can say they are done. Decided against it when I made it to the finals for British Computer Science Undergraduate of the year here if curious. As for further development it's so hard to say “yes, the game is playable has enough features, lets get it out there” but i think i've stopped for release at a good time. Development won’t stop, I plan on making a google cardboard port to make it that little bit more engrossing, and also add support for the vive. Along with steam, linux, mac OS and iOS - ios should be within the month as soon as i figure out how to make a build.
If you want to know more I am happy to answer any questions!
Link to the game ANDROID FREE As you know its a nightmare to get ratings, so if you would be so kind it means the world. Happily shout out your project :)
Link to the game ANDROID 0.69p
Facebook page - if you want to like and keep up to date!
TL;DR - Game is out today! Click on all the bold links to see progress of development, and the last three links at the bottom to check out the game for yourself
Have a good one!
- Corrie
