Kaptain Kannon Post Mortem
So my first attempt at making a game for the Playstore has been out for the last three months, as of the time of writing, and I guess I wanted to write about my thoughts and experiences about the project and since you are here, dear reader I guess you are curious too (Download Link). So how was the development process? How much did I spend on it? How much money did I make? The answers and maybe more are below, and if you want to ask me anything, feel free to do so in the comments.
Before I begin, let me make a quick introduction. My name is Chota, and I am a developer from Lusaka, Zambia. I started learning how to develop games in the Unity Engine in 2017, and after a few years on and off with it, I decided to make a full commitment to making a game for the Playstore. Well, as full a commitment as my full-time job will allow.
So back to my post-mortem.
There is a lot I want to say, but I want to keep this short to keep this an easy read.
When I first started working on the project, I had no idea what I wanted to make, well, not entirely. I knew I wanted to make a platformer, and in my mind’s eye, I saw a linear, story-driven platformer, with levels inspired by games like Earthworm Jim and Sonic The Hedgehog. I also wanted the mechanics to be simple, fun and engaging. I had worked on a number of tutorials, and I had a level of confidence from working as a web developer for a few years. I could see all the pieces in my minds eye all I needed was to put them together. And I gave myself 3 months to work on it.
Making a platformer was more difficult than I thought.
As I begun to tackle the project, the full scale of what I had wanted to undertake started to unfold before me. My Trello list grew longer, the tasks grew more complex, and the days turned into weeks.
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It was clear there was still more to learn; this was only my second attempt at making a platformer, after all. Unity provided a full suite of features to make my life easier, I could animate my characters in the engine, and its tilemap feature made level design a breeze. On the other hand, creating the artwork was a bigger chore than I imagined, as I had to work within the technical limitations set by the engine and think creatively about how I wanted to present my work. There were several rough drafts as I struggled to get everything right.
There were a number of times the prospect of giving up crept into my mind, the allure of “better” ideas teasing me from the sidelines. But I kept on with this idea, not because it was the idea; in my mind, I felt it would have been better for me to finish the current idea before moving on. What do you think?
On 8th December 2021, I finally released the game on the Playstore. After 7 months of working on it.
So what happened next? My sister thought it was a good idea to start promoting the game early, and she helmed my social media accounts before the game’s release to get it into as many people’s minds as possible. On its release, it was welcomed by the supporters we had found. To add to that, I talked about the game on Reddit, getting motivation and support from strangers with the weirdest usernames. After the game’s release, I spent about 500 Kwacha(28 Dollars) promoting the game on Google Ads for 10 days. And the result?
We received a little over 300 downloads on the Playstore over the last three months. I had implemented Google Admob into the game to try and get some revenue, and I had made… drum roll, please…
2 Dollars and 10 Cents.
I am rolling in it.
What do I think about my game? While it falls short on many points, I do like my game. The graphics were well received, and few people enjoyed the mechanics, despite a few finding them difficult. There are a number of things I would change, the first being the length of the levels. I would make the levels much, much shorter, providing a more focused challenge. Another thing that’s sorely needed is a decent reward system. I had initially hoped the accomplishment of completing levels and defeating bosses would be rewarding enough. I’m still scratching my head on how I will implement them but more on that later.
So what do I want to do next? I plan on learning more about game design, understanding core loops and more. One thing Kaptain Kannon lacked was early access by the community; having more eyes to give me feedback and provide suggestions is great for games. So I plan to get more community involvement on my next idea. Also, I need to work with more people. Solo development is amazing, but I am stretched thin between too many disciplines, art, code, writing and music.
As for Kaptain Kannon, I plan on shelving the idea for the moment. I worked on the game for 7 months and not much else. When I learn more, I’ll revisit it (I like the name too much to leave it alone). In the meantime, I hope to work on smaller projects, hopefully, and maybe something interesting might come up. So yeah… Good day and don’t forget to drink water.
You can follow me on my Instagram here.
You can download the game here
