Jump to content

hurricaneviolet

Game Owner
  • Posts

    86
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by hurricaneviolet

  1. Hi! I’m looking for an item artist for horsephenomena.com. It’s only a few items that we need so it’ll be a pretty small/quick job. Please send me examples of your work if you’re interested :).
  2. I haven't developed alone, it's been me and a team of rotating freelancers, plus the mods and admins to bounce ideas off of, but I've been running my game for 10 years and have worked on many others, and I'm always open to chatting game development! I just don't check the forums much.
  3. Hello! We're looking for someone to do a new background for Horse Phenomena (https://horsephenomena.com). Open to different styles, but the basic requirements would be: The background would feature a horse and a dog along with some nature imagery Would need 4 seasonal recolors + night mode recolor (will provide general color palettes for each) Full rights to the images (for use on the game, advertising for the game, game merch, re-sale, etc.) Would also need .psd files for the images Must be willing to sign a contract for image rights, price, etc. If you're interested, please message me with some examples of your work and prices and we can discuss the details further! Thanks!
  4. Unfortunately in this business it happens all the time.
  5. WHOOPS. Realized this was in the looking for work section, not the hiring section. Could an admin delete this please?
  6. Adsense is Google's program for you to serve ads ON your site, not to advertise your site. (I do have experience with this as well.) Google Ads is for you to advertise, and I've done it a really long time ago and didn't get a whole lot out of it, but their advertising methods have changed a lot in recent years. It's worth a shot! Ultimately $50 isn't a whole lot to spend on an ad campaign, but you can do it and see where it gets you! For whatever it's worth, I haven't had a lot of luck with any type of online advertising - between ad-blockers and people training themselves to ignore them (when was the last time you actually paid attention to a banner ad, let alone actually followed it?), the return on investment is pretty low in my experience.
  7. We will "close" (i.e. ban them) accounts for players who want to take a break and come back and open their accounts again later. I completely delete accounts when players request it (also I'm pretty sure we're required by law to do this when requested, at least in terms of removing their personal information from the account, but I'm not a lawyer, so don't take my word for it), and I also purge old and inactive accounts sometimes. When an account is deleted, the animals on it are moved to the rescue account to be re-sold and everything else associated with the account is deleted besides financial records. I think it's bad practice to not allow account deletions at all - people should be able to control what websites they have accounts on and where their personal information is. HOWEVER, I would not allow users to delete their own accounts just because it's pretty common for people to share their account info and I don't want someone with a vendetta against a player to delete their account and I don't want players to break a bunch of rules and delete their account before it can be banned. That's asking for trolling, in my opinion.
  8. Honestly, I think the short and simple answer is that your bug reporting system is fine as long as you can easily find what people are reporting and people can figure out how to report things. On HP we have a section in the forum which is good because it makes it all super public so other people can see the issues and comment if they have the same issue, and they can see staff responses to it. People also message me about bugs, and I keep a separate list. As far as a good rate of bug fixing, it depends on the bug. I think in general the best time to fix a bug is ASAP, though. At least on a live game. When it no longer serves the game. I can't think of a time when I've shut down a feature because it was too bugged (although, I can't say for sure that it's NEVER happened - 9 years is a long time to remember things :P), but we have completely revamped and changed features that were chronically bugged. ALWAYS. I'm not sure what you mean here. If you mean if a player reports something like "I think the bank gave me too much money, is this a bug?" no, I don't hold those funds. I either investigate and reverse it once I find out that it was a bug, or if it was wide-spread enough and small enough, I let it go because it was our fault. We once had a bug where anytime someone used an upgrade coupon it was giving them 25 mill in game money on top of it. I was pretty sure based on what the bug ended up being that it had always done that, but I only knew WITHOUT A DOUBT that it has happened for the last two coupons, so I only reserved it for the last two coupons. If it's affecting gameplay in a major way then it is an ASAP type of thing. If it's something I can fix easily, I do it as soon as I have time. If it's something I need to hire someone to fix and it's not affecting gameplay, but are sort of annoying, I deal with them the next time we have other bug fixes or programming done. In the news, on social media, and on the forums if it's widespread, or I just message the reporting player and let them know if it only affected them. It really just depends on the bug and how it's affecting them. If they can't play major parts of the game, any amount of time beyond you finding out and contacting a programmer (or looking at it yourself) is unreasonable to them. If it's a small bug (for example when they buy feed it tells them "Congrats, you bought a cat!" but still gives them feed), then there's not really an urgency, but you should still deal with it as soon as you can. You should start compensating players as soon as you can. If you're not able to compensate players right away, you should be keeping them up-to-date in the news (or however you communicate with your players) about the fix and when they can expect compensation. Not beyond what I have already said. Hope that helps you!
  9. This is something we've struggled with on HP, but inflation is relatively under control now. 1. We track the economy, like the overall amount of dollars floating around out there. 2. MONEY SINKS. Everywhere. When we run games we charge entrance fees. We will randomly sell rare game items for game money to pull money out of the economy, or have a game money auction on a low account ID and pull money out that way. 3. Adjust the pricing in the store accordingly. If the average player has 3 billion dollars and a new pet costs 500 dollars, that's not serving anyone. 4. Taxes. We tax the earnings from shows, at I think 3%. To help new players, we start new accounts (truly new accounts, with new email addresses and everything) with a 7 day upgrade and some extra game dollars. Then they get a welcome message explaining how to make the most out of their trial upgrade, and if they respond to the welcome message, we send them some more game money. Then they can also buy a Starter Pack which comes with game money for the first week. We also have a separate, cheaper store for non-upgraded players. Also, I think this is pretty obvious, but you need to be very careful about the ways you give players to "create" new money. There can be an infinite amount of ways for them to earn money, as long as that money is coming from other players and not being created by the game, so make sure to put limits on how new money enters the game's economy.
  10. Also June. I heard from him after this and he apologized and asked me to send the list of bugs again, so I did and then never heard from him again. I've already paid someone else to fix his bugs, so I haven't pursued it any further.
  11. Hello! I am looking for someone who can fix a few bugs on horsephenomena.com! They should be relatively simple, but if things work out and you’re interested, I also have some bigger projects in mind for the near future. HP is an open game with active players so I need someone who is timely and good at communication. If you’re interested please PM me with your hourly rate and examples of your work :), and I can tell you more about what needs to be done. Thank you!
  12. I allow it on HP as long as they are all upgraded, basic accounts are limited to 5, and if people drop upgrades and are over the basic limit, we ban the extras but let them unban later to upgrade if they choose. With the way the game is set up, it makes sense to allow multiple accounts and it works well! The biggest problem we have is that the game is set up to give truly new players a 7 day trial upgrade, and not existing players just making new accounts, so some people try to take advantage of that, but the mods are pretty good at catching them and then we reverse the extra trial upgrades and any of the money they earned from them.
  13. I also was working with him and he went dark on me too. I PM'ed you with some other possible ways to contact him.
  14. HP has a really active community! I'm not sure what type of metrics you're wondering about, but there are usually between 20 and 40 people online at any given time, and there are ~1 million page views per month. I don't actively track how many daily users there are (especially because people having multiple accounts makes this difficult), but it looks like there were 1085 accounts online in the past 24 hours. I don't share specific financial information, but HP makes enough for me to live on from upgrades, cash shop sales, and advertising.
  15. The one thing that I haven't seen mentioned here yet that will affect games, is the age requirement. From the GDPR website: I'm curious how other people are planning to address this. We used to have a parental verification system for people under 13 (which was complicated and frustrating, and also mostly useless since HP is almost entirely adults), but when we put ads up, we completely blocked anyone under the age of 13 from signing up rather than dealing with the more complex issue of serving ads to people protected by COPPA. But I'm hesitant to block people under the age of 16 since 90% of HP's audience comes from the US, Canada, and Australia where the age is 13. I could bring back the parental consent system if I need to, but again, with it being unnecessary for most of the people who would even sign up who were under 16, makes me not like that option either.
  16. Look for a programmer first, because that's the backbone of your game. You can fill in the art as you go, but there's no game with no programming. I'm very happy with Liquid Web and I have been with them for several years. I would seriously recommend them to anybody. They are a bit pricey though if you don't have an established site that's generating money yet. Most hosting companies can accommodate pet sites, but you'll probably want to get some input from other people on the companies they recommend as well. For whatever it's worth, I host my blog on DreamHost and I have also been happy with them. As far as start up costs, it really does vary. Honestly I can't even begin to give you an accurate estimate without knowing anything about your planned site. Will it be very complex, or more basic? Will it be art-heavy? Will the art and characters be "set", or will you have dynamic images? Will you be starting with some features and building on later, or are you hoping to start with a more full game? I would say - and this is a VERY, very rough estimate because I'm going into this blind - assuming that you will be hiring out for all coding and art, and that you are looking for a pretty "standard" pet site, that you are probably looking at around $5,000 USD in start up expenses, at least. I would shop around for programmers and send them your plans and see what they quote you, and look around at what people are pricing their commissions at in the marketplace for art. I hope that helps!
  17. Bumping this! A lot of items are still for sale.
  18. Remember when we designed stickers and said that eventually you might be able to buy HP t-shirts? Well, that day has arrived!HP now has a store on Zazzle where you can order t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, magnets, stickers, and more! Check it out here! Quick FAQ!Q: Why is a third party website selling this stuff?A: Sites like Zazzle custom-print designs when they're ordered, so there's no inventory for us to order and keep track of. They do all of the heavy lifting, and worry about shipping, so we don't have to!Q: Will they ship outside of the US?A: Yes! You can read more about their shipping policies here.Q: Why are some shirts and certain colors or sizes more expensive than others?A: Darker colors are more expensive to print, so those items cost slightly more. However, there is a large array of colors options available at various price points. We did our best to make sure all sizes were within the same price ranges for apparel, but unfortunately, we don't have complete control over that aspect of pricing.Q: Can I use Zazzle coupon codes on orders for HP merch?A: You sure can! Right now there is 20% off site-wide, with the code ZAZZCARDSAVE.Q: What if I'm not happy with my order?A: You can return it for free! Read more about their return policy here.Q: Will there ever be more items or designs available?A: Definitely! We will do some seasonal designs and will offer more products in time.Q: Are you going to do giveaways of HP merch?A: That might be a future possibility ;).Q: Does the sale of merch help support HP?A: Yes! A small percentage of the sale goes toward HP. It also benefits HP in the form of advertising and getting our name out there.Other questions? Don't hesitate to ask! View full news
  19. mini games on hp Your wish is our command! We heard you in the surveys and on the forums when you requested mini games on HP, and now we've officially got our very own game, and Zadkiel did the art for us! introducing tetrimino! Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move and reposition the blocks. The UP arrow will change the position of the block and the DOWN arrow will make the blocks fall faster.The goal is to line them up as perfectly as possible. Every time a line is filled, it will disappear. Pay attention, because the more lines your clear, the faster the blocks fall!For each line cleared you will earn 3500 HPD. You can play it up to 3 times a day to send your score and earn HPD, or as many times a day for free as you want. After you send your score, the HPD will be automatically added to your bank account.Click here to play! or you can find the link anytime under the Community tab in the main navigation.The game has music, but you can mute the sound of the game at any point with the little horn icon.We know that some people are a little apprehensive about mini games on HP, but please be assured that playing them is in no way a requirement, and if you're not a fan, you can sidestep them completely! They're just a way to earn some extra HPD, and will never become the only way or even the main way to do so.If this game does well, we plan to add others in the future and depending on the skill level of the games involved, we may give options to earn animal points instead of HPD. congratulations to our new mods Please congratulate Panthera Onca (#13599), Koni (#29377) (previously Eiko), and Siib!Thank you to everyone who applied :). We loved reading your applications!Happy Tuesday!-SamP.S. The bank link is now under the "Home" menu rather than the "Shop" menu, I thought it made more sense there! You can also still find it on your home page. View full news
  20. cyber monday on hp! Check out our sales on upgrades, cash shop items, and store items! upgrades 6 month upgrades are $12 (normally $15) 1 year upgrades are $25 (normally $30) *These prices are good for auctions too!* cash shop 50 Horse Bucks package (50% Discount) for $25 Retirement breedings are 3 Horse Bucks (normally 7 Horse Bucks) One year deages are now 100,000,000 HPD (normally 300,000,000) Two year deages are 3 Horse Bucks (normally 6 Horse Bucks) Limited edition breed pass is 500,000 HPD (normally 1,500,000) Resurrection Passes are now 6 Horse Bucks (normally 10 Horse Bucks) Custom Store Pairs are available and they are only 3 Horse Bucks (normally 7 Horse Bucks) Breeding Boosts are 2 Horse Bucks (normally 5 Horse Bucks) regular store Stalls and Crates are 6,000 HPD (normally 12,500 HPD) Mass Feeders are 2,500,000 HPD (normally 15,625,000 HPD) Extra Energy is 3,000,000 HPD (normally 6,250,000 HPD) special sales SOLD OUT Get 50% off of a 1 month upgrade with the code "CyberMonday30" - but hurry! There are only 20 of these coupons available. Starter Packs are available to EVERYONE from 6 pm HP time until Cyber Monday sales end! All of these sales will be valid through midnight HP time tonight! Happy shopping! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend :). -Sam P.S. Due to the high volume of internet sales on the Thanksgiving weekend, PayPal may be running a little behind. This means that your upgrade or Horse Bucks may take up to 30 minutes to show up on your account, but rest assured that they will! Please message me on account #1 with any payment issues. When doing auctions, make sure you only have ONE tab with HP open, or it may not go through properly. View full news
  21. I think collecting in some form is addictive to people. If you look at console games like Yooka-Laylee or Ratchet and Clank or any of the Lego games, they are all giant collectathons. Even the PS4 trophy system is nothing more than a glorified collection, because it doesn't benefit you in any way. Personally, I like collecting with a goal in mind. Like get so many of these things, unlock this. But even then, in a lot of games, the thing you're unlocking is just another thing to collect and not really do much with, and players love it.
  22. This might not be super helpful, but: On my main game, HP, I definitely haven't done it alone, but I don't have a co-owner. I've hired programmers and artists, and there are mods and admins who came after it opened. Some of the mods/admins have been with me basically since the beginning, and those are the people I bounce ideas off of, as well as players. In the beginning stages, I designed the game I wanted, took notes from potential players, and also listened to any pointers from the programmer about the best way to do things. I think it's hard to find a co-owner for a site that you've already designed. But that being said, I've co-owned two in-development games with two people who I get along with very well and both games fell apart in the development stages. It's kind of just hard to work with other people who have different management styles and different timelines and just different ideas about how things should go. So, my suggestion is that you find some people who are interested in actually playing the game and bounce some ideas off of them, because they are the people you will eventually be marketing to. But I wouldn't be stuck on finding a co-owner unless you stumble across someone with the same vision as you.
×
×
  • Create New...