[Phaser][CocoonJS] Tappy Plane for Android

[Orbital Game Studios]

Yep, it's another flappy bird type of clone. But don't despair!   

I've added some other elements to the game play. The main reason for me creating this game was I wanted a simple concept to be able to get the game done quickly. Where I spent my time was not on making a unique game, but I wanted to go through the entire process of doing all of the other things outside of the game creation to get a mobile game deployed in an app store with a simple banner advertising along the bottom.

 

There were a lot of challenges to get things working. First off, the board here has been an incredible resource. I used posts here to handle the following issues.

 

• Proper scaling of the game for mobile resolutions
• Best practices for audio in the mobile space (Kindle Fire being the only exception)
• Best practices for implementing pause/resume
• Getting CocoonJS/MoPub/Admob integrated and working
• Best practices and things to avoid when using CocoonJs/Phaser

 

In addition, I wanted to go through the metrics of getting a good looking game out into the Google Play Store. Making appropriate game-play screenshots, videos for the store listing. How to sign the .APK file in order to be published to the store. How to handle versions after deployment to incorporate new features and update to devices. Differences between deploying to Chrome store vs. Google Play vs. Kindle marketplace using a single code base.

 

The lessons learned from this process were to better educate myself on the challenges for targeting mobile platforms. In addition to these findings, I also want to include in the future: deploying to iOS, multiple ad network integration (pros/cons of performance via mopub and impressions), better marketing techniques during the process of game development through release and beyond, testing on multiple mobile devices

 

If you aren't adverse to yet another game that follows the flappy bird mechanic, I would appreciate any feedback on the game or experience on your particular mobile platform.

 

You can download the game here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orbitalgamestudios.tappyplane

 

Here are some screenshots. All art assets are from Kenny.nl

[Orbital Game Studios]

Updated:

 

Just released a version 2.0 to update the game a bit and improve performance. Also threw it on the web in a .zip to test out the new Amazon HTML5 app tester (which is pretty cool).

 

Included in Update:

• Added Tweet button to game over.
• Added dice you can collect that will give you a chance to continue if you roll doubles
• Miscellaneous collision fixes (little more forgiving)
• Changed the way enemies attack at various point levels

Again, it's just a simple game based on a familiar mechanic. Give it a whirl here:

 

http://www.orbitalgamestudios.com/games/tappy-plane-html5/

 

Download in Google Play Store Here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orbitalgamestudios.tappyplane

[zackproser]

Just ran it on my nexus 5 - looks and plays great. Nice work!

Curious about two things, since I'm planning on releasing my first game via Cocoon.js soon: 

1. How much tweaking did you have to do to get the performance you were looking for? 

 

2. How tough was getting it into the Google Store?

 

[Orbital Game Studios]

Thanks for the comments 

 

1.) Performance was pretty good without any real tweaking. Where I noticed issues was with the loading of the banner ad in the bottom and some tweens between the game over screen not being 100% smooth. I solved it by making sure the tween completed prior to calling the code to refresh the banner.

Because I'm using a bitmap font, using webview+ in cocoon.js for now. Might switch to canvas only, but since that seems to be mainly for speed and the speed is already decent, doubt I will change it.

 

2.) It's pretty easy getting setup in the Google Play store. Costs $25 to register as a developer, then you have a Google Play Developer Console in which you control your APK version, store listing, screenshots, game play movies, translations to other languages, etc. I recommend you have a site where you can list a default privacy policy. You can also set your app up for beta/alpha testing as well if you wish. I'm still learning all of the ins and outs of what is available, but it's pretty full featured and easy to navigate.

 

This is of course assuming you know how to sign your release APK from the cocoon.js compiler... That took some searching, but luckily there is a handy utility for it.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[zackproser]

Awesome - thats very helpful. I will be referencing this soon. Much appreciated.

[postepenno]

I'd prefer the plane to be on the left side of the screen instead of it center position.

 

It's great that you passed all the way through game's development and published it on Google Play. I'd be more than happy if you create a post with your development process from start to finish with all the problems you faced and solutions you found. I'd even pay for such tutorial I guess

[Orbital Game Studios]

Hello, thanks for the feedback.

 

Since it's really just a flappy bird clone at heart the design choice was to leave it in the center for the difficulty, you only have so much time to react to the oncoming obstacles. I skipped doing much user testing as the goal was really to just get a simple game out through the entire process with focus on learning the ins and outs of advertising networks, Cocoon.js, and publishing to the Google Play store.

 

I actually have a post-mortem blog post in the works, it will need to be several parts and will be posting it on my website over the next few weeks as I have time to write it up. I'll put links up here when each part is released.

 

Thanks!

[Paul P]

Nice game