First of all I just want to say this has been an amazing experience. It makes me very thrilled to see all of you enjoy the game. You guys make me extremely happy, which makes all the hard work worth it.
Current situation, future plans:
A few of you asked if there will be DLC added to this game. Unfortunately, the answer is no.
I know I’ve previously stated there would be one, and I’m sorry about that. I got ahead of myself without thinking it through properly.
I love this game a lot, like, really a lot. I would love to pursue it. However, I don’t think it’ll be worth it in the long run in terms of expanding personal skills as well as keeping international appeal in mind.
I’ve learned a lot from making this game, like readability, game design, level design, art, animation, do’s and don’ts, scope, pipeline lots and lots of good stuff.
However, the visuals of the game are really basic. I’m not saying basic is a bad thing, but for me personally I need to expand, exit my comfort zone and try something different.
If I proceed with this game, especially by making a sequel, I will barely be able to expand anything. This industry is continuously evolving, and I need to keep up with that.
In terms of international appeal, it did alright, but nothing astonishing. It did decent on launch, but as of today there's barely any copies getting sold, and I kind of saw it coming with the amount of traffic it got on social media throughout development. Example on Twitter, there was in general about 20-50 likes per post related to the game. 100-250 on rare occasions.
I need to aim much higher than this. I need to take it to a new standard, something like 1000-5000 likes per post. For reals.
It all comes down to whether you know something will sell great or not. If what you’re posting gets a lot of attention, you know you’re onto something. If not, it’s worth considering if this project is worth pursuing. It doesn’t matter how much you love the project, the end results are what matters, and it can be extremely devastating if things go badly after spending years on it.
With all that said, It’s worth noting that I haven’t completely abandoned Apple Slash! I do have some small future updates and fixes I’d like to address before I call in the quits.
Next project, what, when?
I might make a reboot of Apple Slash, but nothing is decided yet. Moving forward there will be a lot of experimenting, but that’s the fun part! It’s likely I’ll make a small game from time to time, just to prototype and chill.
This will give me a lot of creative freedom where I'll be able to gather inspiration and cool ideas.
If you want to stay tuned for future posts, you'll find me on Twitter!
Builds/Console ports
I am currently looking into adding support for Mac, Linux and potentially get it ported to consoles, as well as other platforms.
Game modes: Speed run, One hit, Arena(?)
To add some replayability, game modes will be unlocked upon completing your first playthrough!
“Speed run” and “One hit” mode is currently decided to happen. I'm also toying around with potentially adding a third mode, which is arena themed.
This game was actually first designed to be an arena game, similar to Devil Daggers. This got changed later down the pipeline to what it is today. It’s not decided yet, but it might be fun to go back to the game's roots by adding this!
Multiple languages:
More languages are coming! This will be a long process, but I plan to add the following overtime:
-Norwegian
-German
-French
-Italian
-Spanish - Spain
-Portuguese
-Russian
-Simplified Chinese
-Japanese
-Korean
-Portuguese - Brazil
-Spanish - Latin America
Due to the game's low resolution, text size in the game might have to be adjusted to properly work with all languages. This means it’s possible the game will no longer be super pixel perfect in all aspects, but I think it’s much more important to have dialogue with good readability that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. Either way, we’ll see how it goes.
Do let me know if you want to contribute with translation! I could definitely use some help with that.
TL;DR:
No DLC, no sequel. Will experiment with new ideas, styles, maybe make small games here and there.
Need to expand personal skills, get out of my comfort zone.
Currently not enough international appeal on Apple Slash, need to aim higher, experiment on something with more potential.
Will add minor updates and adjustments to Apple Slash. Mac & linux support + potentially console port.
2-3 new game modes. Speed run, One hit run and maybe Endless Arena.
Add 12+ upcoming languages overtime.
That’s it for now ya’ll.
Hopefully this gives you a clear picture of what's to come.
I hope you can understand the decisions I’m taking, it’s for the best. Again, thanks for all your support, your kind words and passion makes my day.
Stay awesome!