I had a totally different blog drafted and ready to go this week — one that I’m very excited about, so watch for that next time! — but I thought it would be nice to bookend the last two months of side project work by doing a bit of a recap here instead.
Two months.
Two months to build five new levels, implement a mapping system to be displayed in two different modes, automate the process of calculating the number of collectables in each level, define what a level even is in the context of this mapping feature and having built the game worlds in totally incongruous ways, implement a speedrun mode with powerups that are maintained separately from the ones you can find in the normal campaign, add a speed boost powerup, track position data over time and visualize it as a player “ghost,” implement Steam leaderboard support and a leaderboard UI, write some new dialog, append some new music to the soundtrack, find and fix bugs, and deploy six builds across three storefronts.
That’s a lot to get done in two months, and it’s been a bit of a rough landing, requiring several days of hurried bug fixing. But it’s all wrapped up now, fingers crossed, and Super Win the Game can go back to being a thing that I support from a distance rather than with hands-on development.
My plan with this update was to effectively “relaunch” the game and give it another shot at visibility and viability. Even though a few of my ideas fell through (for instance, a relaunch discount was forced off the table due to the timing of other sales), some unexpected opportunities popped up to take their place, and ultimately it does feel like I’ve been successful in drumming up renewed interest. It’s difficult to say whether it will be enough to justify the costs, but it’s off to a pretty good start, and I’m hopeful about the future.
It’s coincidental that this update/relaunch landed so close to the release of David’s NEON STRUCT, and I’m not entirely sure what that means for messaging. One of our goals when we formed Minor Key Games was to benefit from the promotion and visibility of each other’s titles. It’s possible this is a case for that. On the other hand, it feels like maybe I’m diluting a message that should be taking precedence. I don’t have enough knowledge, experience, or data to support either side at this time, but it’s something I’m thinking about.
I can’t wait to get back to Gunmetal Arcadia, and I’m super excited about some of the new developments I have in the pipeline. But it’s been nice to revisit Super Win and right some of its wrongs. As I said two months ago when I first announced this update, I had had a lot of bad feelings about this game for a while after its launch, and I think I’ve finally managed to put those behind me. If you haven’t played it yet, I’d encourage you to give it a try. The minimap really does make a world of difference; everyone who asked for it was right, and I’m glad I finally reached a point where I wasn’t too proud or too burnt out to consider it seriously.
Super Win the Game is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux for $7.99 (standard) or $9.99 (soundtrack edition). You can find it on Steam, Humble, and itch.io. The soundtrack is also available for purchase on BandCamp.