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Main forum => Announcements => Topic started by: dreamerman on 2018-Sep-22

Title: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: dreamerman on 2018-Sep-22
Soon more will come here...



Edit:

Finally after long time my first finished GLBasic game is comming to Steam (currently only for Windows).
Nothing special, more as a test that I can do it and finish work on that project, generally it's a bundle/pack of few logical/puzzle games.

Little back story: some games started as Symbian OS projects years ago, coded with QML/JS and released on official Nokia/Ovi store, remade later in GLBasic and enchanced.
Games are 'inspired' by already available titles, nothing original just done in the way that I like it.
At first I was aiming to release all games seperately (with in-app advertising) yet during to long developement time and possible Steam release I choosed to bundle them.

Technical stuff:
At beggining I wanted to use GLBasic as ultimate tool, yet as we know future Android/iOS platform status makes this hard/impossible, despite this I wanted to at least check other platforms, so I ported game to pure HTML5/JS with Canvas based drawing.
HTML5/JS port is used on Android (with Cordova), Windows Store (desktop and phones), LG TV, Vewd and possible others.
Steam version is made with GLBasic, it has gui with fancy transition animations and this will be main version to add possible enchantements, additional games or whatever.
As You may surely assume, I don't have any special / big expectations for this release, just to pave the way, enter this market and see how all things like project management in store are done.


Next in line are two GLBasic games, that are already waiting from some time, target platform is also Steam.

Steam link (https://store.steampowered.com/app/936950/BR_Logic_Pack/)
YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jy-fSweBPM)
For some reason YT video doesn't work.. hm..


PS. other versions links:
Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.benarom.brlogicpack), Windows Store (https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9P6CQCDV110H), LG TV Store (https://us.lgappstv.com/appspc/store/product/retrieveProductInfo.lge?appId=464107)...
Vewd / Opera TV platform is still waiting for approval...

ps2. Maybe it would be better to have some kind of 'Steam Thread' to post all GLB projects available there in that topic, for such small releases it would be better.
Title: Re: BR Logic Pack - my first finished GLBasic project on Steam...
Post by: MrPlow on 2018-Sep-22
Good stuff Dreamerman!
I did the same with Zen Blocks (puzzle game also) -started just publishing due to being the most PC like of my mobile titles and ended up redoing a lot of it for higher PC resolution and extra features / modes etc.

Learned a lot from it and next game will be much different.

Look very nice! Puzzle category is niche on steam and the category doesn't get lot of attention unless some super viral new puzzle game is created.

I learned that majority of PC Steam users are not Puzzle-heads...but they do like Strategy.

:good: Good Luck with it!!!!
Title: Re: BR Logic Pack - my first finished GLBasic project on Steam...
Post by: r0ber7 on 2018-Sep-22
Nice! How was your experience using the Steam publishing platform? I sometimes find the web interface a bit confusing...
Title: Re: BR Logic Pack - my first finished GLBasic project on Steam...
Post by: bigsofty on 2018-Sep-23
Good luck with your Steam releases Dreamerman!  :good:
Title: Re: BR Logic Pack - my first finished GLBasic project on Steam...
Post by: dreamerman on 2018-Sep-23
@MrPlow
Yes puzzle games are niche on Steam, and without really original concept or design it's hard to got attention. On other hand many people may think that paying more that couple bucks for puzzle game is to much so I'm aiming at low price and hope to get that $1000 limit and add Trading Cards later as this also can ramp up sales a little. Next projects are action/arcade puzzle game, second is 'lite' strategy, so I will see how it will go with them.

@r0ber7
All that stuff with app ids, packages, content packs or whatever it's called can be misleading some times, specially that some tutorials on YT presents older submitting process from what I see. But for such small games it isn't hard if You don't plan to add DLC, create separate packs for testers and so on..

@bigsofty
TY, it will be needed! :d


Best thing is that now I'm focused only on GLBasic stuff, no more any hmtl5/JS porting, testing and so on, and Android SDK is awful when compared to VS...
PS. I hope to see 'Red Wizard Island' and 'PMS' soon on Steam! ;]
Title: Re: BR Logic Pack - my first finished GLBasic project on Steam...
Post by: MrPlow on 2018-Sep-24
Great stuff! Keep us updated on how you get on with Trading Cards!
Title: Re: BR Logic Pack - my first finished GLBasic project on Steam...
Post by: spacefractal on 2018-Sep-30
Trading Card is NOT all god and gold at all and you believe its will get more sale, but.....

Im have experince various issue with that when im got it implemented. Vavle will notice it when you try to sell it outside steam cheap, that have tradingcard support and will deny requesting more keys (Im cant request anymore keys for Greedy Mouse and Karma Miwa example). This was that im experinced with Tradingcard. So Tradingcard Farmers pretty much killed it for me, which is why im dont like them anymore. So im personally have no plans to implement it for PowerUp Elevation.

Howover checkout the bonus forum, im have created a thread about it, so you can get inspiration how you need to design your own. Tradingcards is SDK free, so no glbasic implemeration is required at all, same with save games when done right (im use a lots of flat files to been picked up by steam cloud).
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: dreamerman on 2022-Aug-04
Rather small update than some super changes.
'BR Logic Pack' started as 6 puzzle games pack, now there are 9 games, and I plan to add at least 2 more.
3 'new' games are:
- Pixel Village - build walls and roads with nice pixel based sprites,
- Dungeon Slider - move wizards in dungeon and collect potions,
- match 3 - classic game with some variations,
- additionally few other games got new playing modes,
Game is also available on itch.io, You can download and check it out for free (https://dreamerman.itch.io/br-logic-pack), Steam version will get new additions earlier and currently supports achievements and leader boards (for now only sends user score, but all code for online high score is already in game and awaits for larger update).
trailer for current version:


Current main project is clone of Solomon's Key game with rather old school pixel-art graphic (based on itch / devmarket assets due to limited founds :D), many things are done: most graphics, core mechanics, menus, Steam achievements + leader boards, map editor with sharing levels online (classic web-based not Steam Workshop), some requires more work: additional game modes, boss logic, atm. has no music/sound and needs some polish before I will share proper gameplay video.

Another large project that's currently in limbo is an 2D RTS game (viewed from side, not top), won't say to much but I have basic prototype, and final product will be interesting. Have some nice ideas for it but, this would require redesign from ground to use threads, remaking my gui system, polish pathfinding and so on. Will get to work on this after finishing current things. Don't wont say to much as it's still early stage.
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: bigsofty on 2022-Aug-05
Looks great Dreamerman, you've been very busy! I really must stop sitting around and get my own game finished!  :S
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: Qedo on 2022-Aug-06
good Dreamerman, and I still have to finish my first game.  :blink:
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: dreamerman on 2022-Aug-20
To be honest, last couple months I only fixed some small bug in game, and apart that I didn't have time to do proper coding ,specially in GLB :/ , just recently I played with maze generating algorithms in JavaScript. Now I will port it to GLB and make some 'game' from it, still I need to write some crazy code to generate 3d cube maze from prepared 2d arrays :> Not sure what later, I would like to finish that Solomon's Key clone, or at least push it to point that only sound and pr/steam/translation in missing, as I could do proper alpha testing in such case.
I'm waiting impatiently to see Yours projects :P and really any GLB project ;)
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: loftcat on 2022-Aug-28
Looks really professional @dreamerman thanks for sharing. Love seeing these GLB games on Steam, real inspiration to keep pressing on with my projects :)
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: erico on 2022-Aug-31
A great fit! People into puzzles will get a lot out of it. You seem to have something for everyone. Even I, that donĀ“t fancy much puzzles, can spot a couple there which happens to be of my interest :)
Well designed!
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: loftcat on 2022-Sep-19
Quote from: dreamerman on 2022-Aug-20
To be honest, last couple months I only fixed some small bug in game, and apart that I didn't have time to do proper coding ,specially in GLB :/ , just recently I played with maze generating algorithms in JavaScript. Now I will port it to GLB and make some 'game' from it, still I need to write some crazy code to generate 3d cube maze from prepared 2d arrays :> Not sure what later, I would like to finish that Solomon's Key clone, or at least push it to point that only sound and pr/steam/translation in missing, as I could do proper alpha testing in such case.
I'm waiting impatiently to see Yours projects :P and really any GLB project ;)

@dreamerman I bought your game pack on Steam and am very impressed. I like the way I can launch all the games from a single menu without having to completely exit the game pack each time. Curious how you did this... am I right thinking all the games are inside one executable?
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: dreamerman on 2022-Sep-20
@erico
Sadly there is not so much people that likes such small 2d puzzles, people prefer something more artistic driven - like 'The Witness', or it's just rather not popular at moment.

@loftcat
Thanks, to be honest that main menu should be animated/interactive in a way that would show how each game is looking, but this would be just to much work for something like this. But if I will make some 'Action Pack' that would be preferred way to make main menu.
Yes all games are in one exe/project, as those are small games that's not an issue, of course some games have dedicated variables, but most things are shared like map/board structure.
main loop is something like this:
Code (glbasic) Select

do UI stuff (handles inputs, events, drawing both UI and game canvas)
if stage = game_1_
do game_1_logic (AI, tiles animations)
elseif stage = game_2_
do game_2_logic
[...]
endif

similar for user input, proper click/key handling function is called depending on game.


Progress with current maze mini-game.
Porting maze generation code to GLB finished, core board generation is done, but most functions like mouse/touch/key events, undo, needs coding/tweaks. 3D maze generation is working nice, not sure about texturing scheme I should use for it, will play with controls for this game mode, now it looks like this:
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: erico on 2022-Sep-22
That is superbly nice! I build a wood and cardboard 3d maze last year out of an interesting design I found on the webs.
The maze is my own. I intended to add a sort of dungeon game over it, but never got too deep into it. :)
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: bigsofty on 2022-Sep-22
3D mazes look hard!  :D Great work Dreamerman!

And Erico, that's some serious cardboard crafting skills right there, well done!
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: loftcat on 2022-Sep-22
Thanks for sharing how you created a menu for your games pack. One of the thngs I like is how they all feel a part of the same pack, well thought out. I have a few mini games that I'd like to do this with, I will have to think about all my procedures and variables and how easy this would be to do retrospectively.

Great looking maze by the way, keep us updated on your progress!
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: svenart on 2022-Oct-06
Congratulations. That looks all pretty nice. I specially like this pipe puzzle game. I started yesterday myself to create another puzzle game in glbasic (love them) and had to decide between binary puzzle and pipe puzzle :D I choosed the binary, but soon I will also do a pipe puzzle just for fun.. One question: Dont you have to pay money to get your games on steam? Are you uploading on Itch.Io as well?
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: dreamerman on 2022-Oct-08
That pipe game has some story behind it, was my first puzzle game for Symbian S60 platform years ago, and managed to get to top3 puzzle games for touch phones in Nokia Store. That was so long time ago :) With GLB you can make it much more interesting with additional gameplay changes.
About your question, itch.io version is older and won't get updated with new content, Steam version will get additional games, and has Steamworks integration - achievements, cloud saves, upcoming leaderboards for highscore. Generally such 2d puzzle games without eye-catching visuals aren't popular so even on itch.io they are burried below ton of prototypes/alpha versions of more appealing games.
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: loftcat on 2022-Oct-08
Interesting to hear this too as I'd also like to try Steam for releasing a game one day. Does Steam help to make your games easy to update?

Also fascinating you came from Symbian, I too released a game for the Symbian range some years back. What tools did you use back then? I used NSBASIC for Symbian. I don't think there were too many of us using it.
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: spacefractal on 2022-Oct-14
im today just checked this game on my steam deck. The game works, but the controls is confusion.

When you select something, the next screen, the default one selected is on the BACK button, rather on the lastest level possible. This os very odd, which means by pressing X, you allways go from and back on same two selection screens and newer start a game. This is odd and confusion really. This is on the Twisted Line.

Also when you completed a game, its also selected the wrong one first. Its should allways auto selected on the next one really.

Both is small thing throught, not major: Its fully playable on the Deck and such a nice game to play on a Deck really. If you have used the music command? Then Vavle might have fixed it in a very recent release.
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: spacefractal on 2022-Oct-14
in the Twisted Lines:

Rules could have been explained better. Im could not sovle the first level in Normal at all, until im in many tries found up, you actuelly could cross a line (which is often disallowerd in this kind of games, but its a nice idea throught). A little idea for this game, why not possible to select both ends on a line?

This would make more sense, which can been confusion since you using the same graphics on both ends and looks like you can select it, but you cant do that?

This could do a more fun to the puzzle, so you could start on a "center" off a area and does not break a sovle at all.
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: dreamerman on 2022-Oct-16
@loftcat
About Symbian version, first attempt was in Symbian WRT (HTML, JS), shortly updated with QT Quick (QML, JS, C++ inline for OS things like minimize/resume), with addition of Inneractive network for in-app ads. Generally I had positive feelings specially from QML, but it was little to late in Nokia Store life cycle, soon Nokia switched to Windows Phone (that also wasn't bad OS).
Main reason to prioritize Steam version is that it gives chance to make any $ - wider audience, users that are willing to pay for games, and it's main platform for PC games, itch.io is good for contests, and small original concepts that are not final games - to raise interest.
Steam/itch itself doesn't imposes way of coding or something, both tool sets are easy to use for updating game builds and so on. Most important that docs are easily available so you can check how steamworks build process works :-)


@spacefractal
Huge thanks for testing game with real Steam Deck ;) Good to hear that it's working properly without serious issues, for music I'm using this SDL2 code (https://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=11313.msg100666#msg100666).

That level UI selection issue in Twisted Line, yeap - good hint, will need to look into other similar 'selection' inconveniences, so playing with gamepad will feel better. Thing with selecting only last/recent end of line most likely was designed to simplify writing 'undo move' function, and you are right, both ends should be 'selectable', that also will be fixed, need some testing if fast/easy fix will be sufficient or requires something more. I will look into help screens, maybe create some additional, specially as you can cross lines with different colors.
Title: Re: My Steam projects - BR Logic Pack..
Post by: spacefractal on 2022-Oct-17
Property the first level design wasent up to show that as you could chros a line (which is a nice idea for sure. Havent checked rest yet. Navigation was just a bit annoying, when im except when you press on X, you select to the next screen, not back. But there is no serious issues throught, not at all. Its still very playable.