Today's iteration of Catastrophe X includes the new private messaging feature. You can send a player private messages from their profile (even if they are offline), and you can see which players have recently messaged you in your headquarters. As with the rest of the game, all private message displays are updated in real-time as you send and receive communications.
Now that the most critical feature gaps have been filled, I am about ready to get started publicizing Catastrophe X. However, before starting I will be taking the next few days to make the game more approachable to new players. In particular I want to develop proper documentation, update the video tutorial, and spruce up the UI a touch.
More soon!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
In-game Forums are Here
Today's iteration of Catastrophe X includes in-game forums, which are accessible from the main Catastrophe X screen in the game. The forums are intended to provide a way for the entire community to engage in discussion without having to be online at the same time. As with the rest of the game, the forums are updated in real-time, so new threads and posts appear without refreshing the page.
Up next: private messaging. More soon!
Up next: private messaging. More soon!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Ranking of Top Players
Today's deployment of Catastrophe X enables the top-rated players feature discussed in my last post, which is available from the main Catastrophe X screen in the game. The ranking is designed to display all players whose rating exceeds a certain threshold -- currently 1050, but I will increase this threshold as player activity rises. Since battle activity continues to be sparse, there are few commanders shown in the top-ranked list right now.
Looking forward, I will soon begin to devote more time and resources to publicizing Catastrophe X. To-date, I have invested very little effort into building a player base. This has been intentional -- it seems wasteful to invest time and money into promotion when lack of key features means that player retention will be very low. I have now filled the most obvious gaps in functionality (accounts, savable detachments, profiles, ratings, rankings), and at this point I think the game mainly needs better community functions in order to adequately engage new players (proper forums and offline messaging in particular). I will focus on these community features over the coming days and weeks, and once in place I will make developing a player base my number one priority.
Looking forward, I will soon begin to devote more time and resources to publicizing Catastrophe X. To-date, I have invested very little effort into building a player base. This has been intentional -- it seems wasteful to invest time and money into promotion when lack of key features means that player retention will be very low. I have now filled the most obvious gaps in functionality (accounts, savable detachments, profiles, ratings, rankings), and at this point I think the game mainly needs better community functions in order to adequately engage new players (proper forums and offline messaging in particular). I will focus on these community features over the coming days and weeks, and once in place I will make developing a player base my number one priority.
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