Friday, July 12, 2013

Updates

Hidden in Plain Sight is going through a bit of a renaissance, which is kind of exciting.  First of all, the Ouya has officially launched, and HIPS is selling dozens of units per day.  And even though the minimum required price is $0.99, the average price people are paying is over $2, so that’s kind of cool.

Furthermore, a very popular YouTube channel has done a series of three videos, which cumulatively have over half a million views.  That’s led to a big spike in sales on the Xbox… 4000 copies sold in the first 11 days of this month.  If it’s anything like the Great SourceFed Spike of ’12, I expect there to be quite a long tail of sales as word of mouth spreads.

Crazy.

I got this email yesterday.  It looked like spam on the surface, but here’s what it said:

Hi I am 14 and i have played this game called "Hidden in Plain Sight ". i think you might know it. this game is really fun and i have played it with my sister and my friend and it is better than any 60 $ game i have ever bought.   me and my sister are not really close and we fight alot. this game made us laugh together and we had a good time together. its been a while since that happened. Thank you.

I was very emotionally touched by this.  It’s one thing to make a silly little game that people like playing, but to think that I’ve perhaps had some hand in helping create or restore a bond of friendship between friends or family… that’s a big deal.  So that was really cool.


I want to make a new game.  I’ve been fooling around in Unity, and getting lots of inspiration from all kinds of sources, but just am lacking the time and energy to actually sit down and work.  Maybe soon.  My daughter and I have been playing Fariune on the iPad, and she’s really enjoying it.  So my latest thoughts are a adventure’ish game kind of like Ultima IV.  Big world, lots of little puzzles and items to find and unlock areas of the world.  We’ll see.

18 comments:

  1. It is clearly not the Yogscast playing it ;)

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  2. I am super super happy to hear about the spike in sales! I found Hidden in Plain Sight as a hidden jewel in OUYA's earlier days pre-launch and still enjoy a good few rounds with my siblings and friends. I have run into issues with Xbox 360 controllers not being able to change teams (D-Pad input not being read?) and not being able to control crosshairs (crosshairs controlled by 360 pads uncontrollably yearn to reach the top-left corner of the screen and stay there). Even with these setbacks, Ninja Party and Knights vs. Ninjas is a ton of fun to play with 4 people and I have been immensely enjoying the other modes with my two OUYA controllers. Thanks so much for your amazing game and I look forward to whatever you create next! Cheers! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comments!

      I just tested my Xbox controllers (wireless, if that makes a difference), and the Dpad to change teams and the crosshairs worked perfectly.

      So... not sure what I should do...

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  3. Any chance of a PS3 version?

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  4. I can't buy this game because it's not available in Finland. That sucks... Is there any way to get this game? I want it so bad...

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  5. Dear Adam, first of all, thank you so much for this incredible game! Just after watching other people play it, I started to love it! :)

    I just wanted to ask, if it could be possible to implement the keyboard controls for more than one player on PC? For example, I have only one gamepad, and when I use it, the keyboard input and the gamepad input are both working as the 1st player. It would be so nice, if we could have 2 players on the two sides of a keyboard! WASD & Arrow keys, for example!
    Or maybe there is an other solution..?

    Thank you once more in advance! :)

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    Replies
    1. Multiplayer on keyboard is really tricky. Different keyboards work in different ways, and many times holding down various combinations of keys doesn't work. It's a whole mess I'd rather avoid.

      My advice would be to save up for some additional controllers, or borrow some from friends. :)

      Delete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. If you're unsure what to do next or something, I would love it if you could port this game to PC or some other popular platform. I, honestly, have no idea what an Ouya is. I don't have an Xbox 360 and would absolutely LOVE to play this amazing game. Just a request.

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  8. really.. a game about sociopaths

    or a game made by a sociopath


    this is very interesting indeed

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    Replies
    1. the game logo and the game name makes it obvious to me

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  9. Hi Adam,

    I think you're on the edge of something great happening with your game soon and you'll see lots of sales growth very soon. I'm interested in this so I'm going to follow your posts in my RSS feed.

    However, I did notice you haven't put any links in your posts, for example when you said "a very popular YouTube channel" I wanted to know how to find said channel. Secondly, you don't have a download link to your game or any screenshots or videos. This simple stuff will make a big difference mate.

    Good luck :)

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    Replies
    1. "I think you're on the edge of something great happening with your game soon and you'll see lots of sales growth very soon."

      This sounds ominous... Do you know something I don't know? Or are you just guessing?

      Thanks for the advice about the links!

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    2. Sorry I didn't mean to sound ominous.. lol. I'm just guessing based on what I can see happening in your graphs and media coverage. It was meant as a compliment. It would be kinda cool though right?

      Anyways, if you keep up the great blog posts, I'll keep reading them :)

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  10. Really your blog have good post. I like online games. The post is very nice and useful to all. Thanks admin for share me.

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