This is our first Mac to test the Game. The first experience was rather disappointing - the game didn't work. Well, nobody was expecting it to run the first time, but… But one should never underestimate the power of platform differences and one should never overestimate the power of multiplatform game engines. The conclusion is that you should have all the platforms in your game lab right away to have time to wrestle all cross-platform problems that occur.

Today i have received a letter from Apple with iPhone Developer Program activation code. This means we are now official iPhone developers. Congrats to the team! Enrollment was extremely easy: the only obstacle was that Apple Online Store does not operate in our country and i had to fax my credit card details to Apple. Application processing took two days, one inquiry letter from my side, and of course $99 + $1 charge.

Today i've decided to rehearse my business plan. Haven't looked at it for a few months, and during few months things can change. To my surprise i've found that almost everything i planned for somehow changed. Not all, but most of it! First of all it is knowledge that's changed. When i was writing down some figures and estimates of how much the distribution would cost in terms of money and time i though i had come to a reasonable conclusion. I have not made any research since then, but now when i look at that plan i can see it's a total mess! Why would anyone be so stupid to write this? Wait a minute, it was me!

I'll give an example. I have planned to sell through game portals like Pop Cap and Big Fish to distribute game, but i totally underestimated the conditions these guys impose on the products they sell. Even Steam guys who have quite an open view on game requirements "don't discuss our distribution deals publicly. Once we take a look at your game, we'll get to those details". I've read somewhere that it may take Apple several months to get you app to the iTunes App Store. If you plan to finish the game in 6 months, 3 months of idle waiting to be certified make a change! How many other things i haven't though of?

There is a funny thing about this. You cannot plan for making game without getting all the information from the distributors. Distributors wont give away any information until you show them a playable game. And it better be good! People who have gone through all this can't shed any light on this because of the numerous non-disclosure agreements.

I've put my plan back on the shelf. I shall revise it once the game is shipped. I can feel a lot of fun coming.

For the last ten years i was very busy developing enterprise software. Not to say i was very unhappy doing it, but some part of mine wanted more. More users, more recognition, more money for sure. Since my first company we were selling only to local market. Video game industry with its digital distribution and global scale is a considerable shift in the way of thinking, in the way of planning. It is quite naive to expect a warm welcome from the unknown industry, i don't even have friends who work in the gaming business. But when you really want something it is unreasonable to artificially constrain yourself. If i'm up to a failure let it be a Great Failure rather than a mediocre success in doing the old stuff. So i have made my mind. I have started.

Hello, for the purpose of these blogs my name is Hu Comp, i'm the guy who started the development of this game. Right now it is still a prototype under the codename "Ice Edge". It's been awhile since we have started to code and prototype, thus in the next few posts i'll be backfilling the blog, so you can understand how we've come to what we've come to. There is a chance you'll enjoy it, good luck.