ANN: Discover the lost city of Atlantis

[Robert Cummings]

I'll help you. Let me test your game and I'll give you some feedback. I think I can spot where the X is.

[berserker]

Emmanuel,
Oh don't worry, that was a joke. I am not into this thing anyway

[chanon]

The game looks good but I think the levels are a little bland. The backgrounds seem to be mostly solid color. I think the game should have some more personality to it.

Like papillon said, if the backgrounds were more interesting, or maybe if there was a "quest" map or something else that would make the player look forward to, it would help with the longetivity.

But I'd still say great job! And I'm impressed by how you can come out with new games so quickly.

[Sharkbait]

This is a very polished offering. I like the Atlantis-technology feel to it. To be honest I haven't played Luxor yet (only tried Zuma, Tumblebugs and Zzed) so I cannot really compare, but I still feel it is well executed.

Some comments:
- Player craft looks a little flat.. would benefit from having a shadow
- More variation in the backgrounds, perhaps elements from a watery theme may be applied to hint at Atlantis being a 'sunken city'.

[Robert Cummings]

Maybe the whole egypt/atlantis thing is overused. Something more alien could be in order of the day.

[Ricardo C]

This game is to Luxor as Tumblebugs is to Zuma: A complete clone. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you, but wow. You even copied the musical style. If someone had shown this to me and told me it was Luxor 2, I would have believed it.

[Sharkbait]

Originally Posted by Robert Cummings

Maybe the whole egypt/atlantis thing is overused. Something more alien could be in order of the day.

Except that it might be judged as not-so-Portal-friendly.. take Cosmo Bots for example.. first a name change to Cosmic Bugs, next a sequel with 'cuter' graphics.

[Phil Steinmeyer]

deleted - accidentally posted in wrong thread

[Emmanuel]

Never disappointed, always surprised

I've uploaded a new version for Mac and PC with bugfixes as well as a sound when chains rejoin. We'll be adding different patterns for the balls in a day or two; I've tried Atlantis on old CRT screens (that their owners still use to play games) and indeed, red and orange balls are hard to differentiate (as well as ivory and yellow ones in higher levels).

So far 47 sales in the last two days directly from funpause.com (this isn't steady state yet though - we're still in the news).

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[tentons]

Just curious, what is the proportion of PC and Mac sales?

[Emmanuel]

tentons: about the same, slightly more Macs.

Ok, we've published a new version with different patterns for the balls. Let me know what you think.

The game will now use DirectX automatically if OpenGL isn't accelerated or available (ptk power). We use the latest ptk with very good DX compatibility (first ptk game to work on an old TNT2 with blending and whatnot ).

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[tolik]

The most exciting part in this game is visual effects and menus.
Gameplay just sucks, it's choppily-quick (choppy as opposed to smooth), uncasually hard (second level looks like 7th world in Luxor) and boring - backgrounds are 100% dead. That's my personal verdict.

[Jack Norton]

Originally Posted by emuLynx

The most exciting part in this game is visual effects and menus.
Gameplay just sucks, it's choppily-quick (choppy as opposed to smooth), uncasually hard (second level looks like 7th world in Luxor) and boring - backgrounds are 100% dead. That's my personal verdict.

Wow then I need to make a game that sucks badly to get 50 direct sales in 2 days!

[Emmanuel]

Make that 70 in 3 days

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[Robert Cummings]

Nice work! that from funpause?

[Emmanuel]

Yes, so far

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[Jack Norton]

Well that's not simply "nice work", but I would say awesome result.
I think very few developer in the world had such a start with a new game ever. Maybe sale rate will drop consistently (25 a day? crazy!) but still... there's enough to be jealous

Congrats again!

[Chris Evans]

Yeah, that's more than "nice work". That's absolutely amazing considering it's direct sales. A puzzle game no less.

I guess it's time for Pow Pow's Zuma Attack.

[Robert Cummings]

It's "nice" I think if you're selling from somewhere which has established traffic. From a portal I'd expect a few hundred the first day, minimum.

[mooktown]

Originally Posted by Robert Cummings

It's "nice" I think if you're selling from somewhere which has established traffic. From a portal I'd expect a few hundred the first day, minimum.

Rob, why do you talk like you know it all but sound like you know nothing?

forgive me if i'm wrong but judging by your site you have no experience to base most of your comments on

[Emmanuel]

Make that 93 in 4 days (including ONE affiliate )

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[soniCron]

Originally Posted by Emmanuel

Make that 93 in 4 days (including ONE affiliate )

Wow! Great job! I'm quite impressed (as are you, I'm sure) with the turnout so far! Here's to hoping the trend continues!

[mj32]

Well, seems like people cant get enough of the same old game!

I didnt think that another clone would sell - but hell - you cant complain about those stats!

Nice one!

[Robert Cummings]

Rob, why do you talk like you know it all but sound like you know nothing?

I choose not to host anything on the developer site (this isn't the selling site).

I base the opinion on what most people manage to achieve - This is what I have been told. People actually do sell 100's on the popular portals with ease. And when Atlantis goes mainstream, I expect it'll do the same.

I am ambitious: if that offends then I apologise. I feel 100 copies in the first day would be a good starting point.

I sound like I know 'something' probably because I've sold well over 500 pieces of artwork in my career (lost count long ago). Thats kept me going for a few years, and I have moved into the casual game industry. Enough about me

[Chris Evans]

Originally Posted by Emmanuel

Make that 93 in 4 days (including ONE affiliate )

Best regards,
Emmanuel

Nice to see affiliates pulling their weight.

Out of curiosity, are you receiving exceptional sales due to high download numbers or is your conversion rate extremely high?

[Emmanuel]

So far, due to a decent CR (closing in on 2%) but we need to see over a longer period of time, this is too soon to really talk about a CR.

I don't claim to be doing exceptional, certainly here a lot of people are doing a lot better than I do (raptisoft, james c. smith, retro64 etc). But I'm damn happy of these direct sales for sure We'll see how the game fares on portals

Thanks for your nice words Chris, appreciated

Best regards,
Emmanuel