cao:

All because I'm not ready to clear the corrupted zones, the hunting lodge trials and the remaining 2 cauldrons in HZD. I haven't even started Frozen Wilds yet.

It's not all that bad I guess... it took me about 78 hours to Platinum the game. Working through Frozen Wilds now.

Milo30:

Wow. I've never heard of photogrammetry before. I think placing priority on the ROI would only limit one's creativity and effort. If I meet someone who would do it, I don't mind touring the cities and taking the photographs myself.

To be a successful video game company, you absolutely must put the ROI extremely high on the priority list. You have to pay salaries, bills, taxes, and all production costs that go into making the game.

Photogrammetry isn't simply about driving around town and taking photos, you need special equipment that can read the actual land data and convert it into height maps in the game, which then needs to be adjusted by the track designers and textured by the artists. You need to have 3d modellers, riggers, animators, lighting and visual effects artists that will work on the cars. You need to have physics programmers that will work on the physics of the driving model. You need to have programmers that can take all the data that the artists have created and still have the game perform smoothly at 60fps.

It's a balancing act really. You're creating a product that consumers will purchase which will help you make better products. If you do not consider the ROI, no serious investor is going to put money in your business. Without money, you can't pull off creative techniques like Photogrammetry. Without creative techniques like Photogrammetry, your game can't compete internationally. If your game can't compete internationally, your business will fail. If your business fails...well...you get the point lol

Milo30:
A Need for Speed styled race game with Abuja and Lagos maps would be beyond thrilling.

This would be nice. But the problem is budget and ROI. Current gen racing games use a technique called Photogrammetry to map out their tracks and produce the most realistic textures. I'm not sure the collective disposable income in Nigeria is enough to recoup the investment in making such a game, even though it would be cool as hell.

sonofthunder:

hello, nice efforts. Do you program or you use an app builder?
p.s. you can provide a link to playstore for your app.

Thanks. The link is in my signature (at the bottom of all my posts), but I'll post it again: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.recursionsystems.hex

I used the Unity game engine to build it. You can download it here for free: https://unity3d.com/

You do need extensive knowledge of the C# language to make a game worth playing though.

Touch Combat was considerably shorter (about 6 months), mostly due to Touch Combat being a single player game and Battle of the gods being a multiplayer game.

Multiplayer games are incredibly difficult to build and maintain because of all the factors that lie outside your control (like user bandwidth, network, etc and making sure the game can handle almost any situation without blowing up in the users face). I also added In-app purchasing for the first time (a pain to implement) as well as single player content.

Having an online component also meant I had to have "e-sport like" features, such as weekly tournaments, worldwide battles, advanced player stat tracking, etc. Being the sole programmer, artist, and designer, you can only imagine how difficult it would have been to implement all these features.

Hopefully one day when data is not that big an issue in Nigeria it will catch on, but until then, I'll keep it as my greatest game design and programming accomplishment thus far!

I Hope you enjoy both games

Hey guys,

I have recently completed production of a Christmas short film entitled: ADVENT MESSIAH

It is a film about the journey undertaken by three shepherds to the manger where Jesus Christ was born. It's a family friendly film, and will run for about 9 minutes.

It was filmed using miniature figures and sets, with voice narration added in post production.

I'm really excited to share the film this Christmas season as I believe it has a great message, especially for kids and young adults, and in addition to playing at local churches, I believe some external coverage will help with reaching as wide an audience as possible.

The trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCfutN4ltYY

The full film is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoybOl3hWeE

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/adventmessiah

Please let me know what you think!

Thank you,

Bisong Taiwo.

Interesting, I posted a similar question on Radar a while back: http://radar.techcabal.com/t/why-arent-nigerian-mobile-games-conquering-the-app-store/1149

It seems nothing has changed in the year since, which is kinda sad.

It's a multifaceted problem, but these are the two main problems:

1) We have no world class Nigerian game developers (you have to be one to compete with Candy Crush and the others)
2) We have zero discoverability for locally made games.

For the common Nigerian to discover your app on the app store easily, your game must be "Featured" on the app store.

To be "Featured" on the app store means your game is of world class quality (competing with Angry Birds and Candy Crush, etc).

I'm a game developer myself, and have developed a real-time multiplayer match 3 game called Battle Of The Gods: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.recursionsystems.hex

I tried to keep the visual and audio quality high, but alas because we have zero Marketing channels (with the exception of adwords and the like), it is difficult to get the game the exposure it needs.

What do you think are valuable prizes to win though?

I was thinking T-shirts with the game logo might be cool but any ideas are welcome!

Hey guys,

I'm looking to start an online video game tournament that runs every week for my Android game (link is in my signature). I'm looking for cool but cost effective prizes I can give out each week to the winners. Any ideas?

Keep in mind that because it's an online game, I would have to factor in shipping & handling fees as well so that I can send the prizes to winners all over the world.

What do you think? Is it feasible??

I built a prototype for an Electronic Medical Records system a while back but never saw it to completion. I'm glad there are others that have realized that we need to handle our medical records digitally.

As others have said, the UI needs major refinement. Accessibility would also be of major value so as to allow the software to be used on pc and mobile.

This is a service that is definitely coming to Nigeria, so rest assured that if you take the time to build it right, you will reap MASSIVE benefits in the future.

Good luck!

Linda Ikeji is No. 10 in the Alexa ranking for Nigeria. I don't know of any other personal blog anywhere close to that. So the answer is probably no one.

Of course, feel free to scroll through the top 500 for yourself: http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/NG

viickerz:
That's why I always encourage guys to chase money before girls. ..

imagine, Wizkid , the guy is not even that handsome, no 6 packs, no beards, etc.. and he has been dating and dumping 'hot', classy and expensive girls..

and you will see broke guys , going to the gym 24/7 , carry 6 pack, grow beards all in the name of attracting girls.. only for one 'rich overfed midget' to come and take all the girls !

I have not shaved in like 5 weeks now, all in the name of joining "#Beard Gang.. upon all that, no girl has ever toasted me..


And I used to think girls like guys with beards..

the only thing these girls want is ' money'

if you like carry bear bear like Osama bin laden , get 6packs, one fat rich guy will still snatch ur girlfriend with his G wagon

I think this guy has a point.

Stconvict:
This looks amazing. Trying it out ASAP.
Too bad Nigerians don't show support for homemade games.

Thanks man. Lemme know how I can improve

Brand New look!

Here's the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.recursionsystems.hex

purplekayc:
nice games.whats your systems spec? You develop games on what platform?

I play those games on PS4. And I develop games for mobile devices (iOS/Android).

The Phantom Pain and The Witcher 3 on PS4 (both tied for game of the year imo). And of course my very own developed game: Battle Of The Gods on Android.

Here you go:

10 months in the making, Battle Of The Gods has finally been set forth upon the world. It is a real-time multiplayer match 3 game, and (although I'm biased) probably the best designed game ever made by Nigerian talent.

Obviously I say this because I'm the developer , but in all seriousness, I would like you guys to try it out (It's free) and come back and tell me if there is any other Nigerian developed mobile game on the market with the kind of depth this game has.

By depth I mean: Real-time multiplayer, Friend system, Ranked battles, Weekly tournaments with in-game prizes, over 100 Anfani card boosters, the list goes on.

This isn't just about bragging rights (although it kinda is), but I would like to keep bringing updates and improvements to the game and really bring a level of polish that can rival Candy Crush and the others, so constructive criticism is very much welcome!

Check it out here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.recursionsystems.hex

See you online! (my Friend ID is: baddestguy)

- B

Here's a couple new screenshots with the newly designed characters!

I'm a competitive guy, so competitive multiplayer games would be to my liking. But since Nigerians don't develop quality racing/fighting/FPS games, I will have to settle for the next best thing: https://www.facebook.com/godbattles

Full Disclosure: I developed that

Okay, so the game now has an open public Beta, as well as a Facebook Page! Head out to https://www.facebook.com/godbattles to join the community.

If you want to join the Beta test, simply send me your gmail address you use for the Google Play Store, and I will add you to my list and send you a link to download the game from the Play Store!

- Bisong.

I'm curious about this, as I was thinking of starting a video game centre business myself. If its PC gaming then there are a lot of time tracking software out there that can get the job done, but with game consoles like the Playstation, you would need an external means of doing tracking time.

How about a ticketing system where each player receives a ticket on entering the store, and then on your main computer you can track how much time they have spent and charge accordingly, or have them pay upfront for specific times. Regardless it has to be a digital/automated solution, so your boy can't lie or give fake accounts of gameplay sessions.

I'm also curious as to if the business is actually profitable.

- Bisong.

Here is what the general gameplay is like. Apologies for poor Audio/Visual quality. The game looks and sounds better than this trust me

https://youtu.be/Z750DYHiqGE

- Bisong.

I think I'll upload a video to youtube and post the link here. That would be the best demonstration of the gameplay.

@cao yeah for sure just send me your email and I'll add you to the testers list, then you'll be able to download the game and play.

- Bisong.

My people,

Make una listen well, well. So as the title suggests, I'm working on a brand new mobile game called Battle Of The Gods. It is a real-time multiplayer match-3 game where you choose your favorite god and do battle with players from around the world.

The game is very simple to pick up and play but has several layers that make it hard to master. My goal is for the game to appeal to Nigerians, and by extension, the rest of the world.

Because the game is a multiplayer game, and because naija mobile internet isn't necessarily the best, I need to thoroughly test the game with Nigerian mobile networks to make sure its playable and has a smooth gameplay experience.

That's where you guys come in. If you're interested in playing the game and helping out with its development, send me a private message/email and I will add your email to the Google Play Testers list. You will then be able to download the beta from the Google Play Store and play the game (Android users only).

Please do not redistribute the apk publicly, the game is still in early stages and I have been working on this for the past 6 months. We wouldn't want to throw all that work away now would we?

Feedback can be posted here and I will fix bugs (there will be plenty) as fast as I can. Feedback on the game design can also be posted here and will definitely be taken into consideration.

The game has unique features that make it stand out from anything else that has been done before such as:
Real-time gameplay - You will play against people from all around the world in real-time!
Friend System - Add your friends in the game; chat with them; battle against them.
Arena Mode - These are Ranked matches where champions battle and win rewards. Only the very best compete here.

I've attached some pictures to show the state of development right now. If you have any questions/comments, feel free to post them!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll come aboard!

Bisong.

Guess again...

Hey guys,

It's nice to see fellow game devs/aspiring game devs on the site. I recently released a game exclusively on Android called Touch Combat. It took me about a year to develop and publish. I had to take care of all the art, animation, programming, design, etc. This is my 2 cents:

- Focus on mobile. Mobile is where the money is at right now. Every one and their grandmother in Africa has a phone.

- Play the best games on mobile. Study their game design. Why do they have 1 million downloads? What are their monetization strategies? ads? in-app purchases?

- Set a time frame and a budget for your game This is very important. Before you even begin to write one line of code. You should try and envision the entire game and design and plan your time, resources, and money accordingly. Stick to the plan!

- Create awareness. This, at least for me, is the hardest part, and one I haven't fully figured out yet. If your app is featured on the front page on the app store, you have struck gold. I have created a Facebook page and a twitter page for Touch Combat, but it is difficult to get those downloads. Perhaps the price point is too prohibitive ($2 right now). Perhaps I need someone like Wizkid to mention the game on his twitter feed or something...I don't know. Perhaps I'm not marketing it to the right audience (Africans). Again, I don't know.

In essence, if you focus on good design for mobile, a fun, accessible, highly polished and addictive game, good monetization, proper development planning, and a solid marketing campaign, you will be good. I'm taking a break from developing games for now to focus on writing a novel, but I'm thinking of porting Touch Combat to PC sometime in the future. Keep it up guys, I see something good here!

Oh and btw, here's a link to the game if you're interested : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.recursionsystems.touchcombat&hl=en

Canada!

Thanks guys. I'm hoping it will be selected by the panel of judges. If it does then the public can vote for it to win! I'm trying to promote it on Nigerian entertainment websites n stuff so that people can see that important African stories can also be told through animation.

Here is an animated short I made for the Afrinolly short film festival. Enjoy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qa8GfretdI

-Bisong

Hey guys. There is an African short film competition going on right now. This is the entry I made. Let me know what you think!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qa8GfretdI

- Bisong

Here's mine. I focus solely on 2d animation using Flash.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/492105