Critique Requested

[Cosmic Geek]

Would anyone care to take a look at my site?

Thanks

HTTP://WWW.COSMICINTERACTIVE.COM

[hobolooter]

Do you write the software, or are you distributing other's freeware?

[YvetteKuhns]

I have seen some freeware programs to create games like these. There are free games to download from the sites that offer the programs. Your games are simple, but that is okay. You should try to market your site to kids or classic gamers.

The site could look more professional, but this is a new site. I only saw the golf game, so there really isn't a selection yet. You may want to create additional games or screenshots of upcoming releases. Have a What's New section get people interested in coming back to the website.

Where are the privacy, refund and payment policies? (I saw some info on buy.php) There is an option for online or offline payments which is nice. The word guaranteed is spelled incorrectly. Do you accept PayPal? Which credit cards do you accept?

The word receive is spelled incorrectly in the area to sign up for a free newsletter. You have blue text that are not links while there are blue text that are links. Try another color or shade of blue or underline links to make them more obvious.

The biggest problem (besides only having one product) is that the company address, phone number or hours are not on a contact page - or did I miss it? An email address is not enough contact information for me to make a purchase. And the site won't get listed in dmoz.org without this info.

Don't underline words unless they are links. You only had one question in FAQ. Make up a few more and make another page. More will follow. What requirements for OS, etc.

The site looks like a teenager created the product and the site to make a few dollars. That's okay. Go for it! But if you want more sales, you have to appear more professional and credible. And use a spell checker. ;)

But you made a nice try with the interesting design concept related to the business name, consistent design and contents. Add a few different games and related reciprocal links.

Good luck!

[Cosmic Geek]

LOL

A teenager did make the site ;) College tuition is rather expensive, and I have no time at all to work. So I figured Id program for a living.

I program these games. My games are made with multimedia fusion, you can find it and its creators at www.clickteam.com

More games are coming up, as Im constantly getting better at this very difficult art.

I understand that I need to work on the professional look if I want to get more sales. Im going to work on putting more professional text in there, but how do the graphics and layout look? I was aiming for a cartoony and futuristic look, I hope I hit the mark.

Im planning a redesign of the buy page, for it is the one that needs the most work.

Im still trying to think of some FAQ questions, but I havent gotten any tech support email yet, so as of now I am uncertain as to what problems the end users may run into.

Thank you so much for the critique!

[YvetteKuhns]

I am the great, all-knowing swami. I know that you are a teenager who makes your own game software.... :D

Just kidding.

Gee, can you tell I am a 35 year old stay-at-home mom working from a home office when visiting my site? Well, no Sesame Street characters appear and little or no use of pink on my site, thank God. Glad you weren't insulted by my opinion.

Look at your competitor sites for ideas - what you like or don't like. You are too young to remember the monochrome monitors with the green text, but you may have seen them in old sci-fi movies.

http://www.tripletsandus.com/80s/80s_games/arcade.htm
see scrolling text in box, also see games

http://www.smiliegames.com/
see blue box borders, also see games

http://www.gameyard.com/download.html
see site and free game downloads

These are examples, but my son could tell you many more. He likes the Lego building games on MSN games.

I looked at classic games, because players of the simple classics will like your game(s).

Go to http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/gmaker/ to see this game maker program (freeware) and free game downloads. My son Mark played several of these games. He is a fantastic game tester. He has installed his own games on his own computer since he was 3 and I never showed him how to play the games! He has more software than I have.

He did play one free golf game on a website for kids (Cartoon Network, Postopia, Nick Jr, PBS Kids or something). Maybe we can try your game with him and let him tell you what he thinks! Kids will like games that are simple enough to understand and score. I will check back with you.

[hobolooter]

BTW, if you want your game ported to the Pocket PC, let me know, I do porting for a semi-living and would be happy to help you out with that.

[YvetteKuhns]

hobolooter, Who's stalking who? :p

So you like pocket games?! :D

[hobolooter]

I didn't buy an iPAQ 3835 and an iPAQ 5555 for nothing :-)

[YvetteKuhns]

Do you play pocket pool? :D Just kidding. This post will probably be edited. [why??? - mod ;)]

Do you do Java for mobile computing? Very interesting. I will keep that in mind in case someone needs this service.

Could I ask how you chose or got the name hobolooter?

[hobolooter]

Actually hobolooter is a metaphore for innovation. The site hobolooter.com will soon be relaunching. IMHO hobo is someone who is homeless, but that means they have an abandoned home. Looter is someone who takes. So basically fit that in with programming and you get an innovator that takes abandoned software and builds upon it. I also like to use in graphic design with concepts.

Java has never been a specialty so no, I don't port with java.

[Cosmic Geek]

Your a mind reader Hobo!

I have been interested in pocket pc porting for a few weeks now. exactly how is it done? Perhaps you can give me a basic overview of what is involved and show me some tutorial links?

I dont think my games are possible to port however, as I dont have access to the source code. the multimedia fusion IDE is kind of strange. I suppose its a lot like making stuff with powerpoint. I have a storyboard and an event editor.

I can save it as a multimedia fusion document .cca or to a stand alone application .exe. Im sure behind the scenes the program is most likely compiling c++ code into the .exe because this software can be expanded with plugin extensions that are built with c++

Would you say that the pocket pc market is profitable enough hobolooter?

[hobolooter]

Hell yes, the Pocket PC Market is currently one of the highest in IT marketing to date. As for porting Microsoft's eMBedded Visual Tools have everything you need.

[YvetteKuhns]

I think the simple games are better for the pocket PC, since advanced graphics are not viewable on a small screen and players want to score in a hurry.

[hobolooter]

Depends on the pda. I have two iPAQ's and they can both handle games like Jamdat LemonadeTycoon, Jamdat BaseballAddict, and Jamdat Links.

[YvetteKuhns]

True. How about the cellphones that take photos and/or play games?

[Mirzabah]

Originally posted by YvetteKuhns
... and players want to score in a hurry. Hey, I don't like scoring in a hurry. I like to take my time, you know, create the right atmosphere, dim the lights, soft music...

... oh, you said player... sorry :p

[YvetteKuhns]

I knew someone would comment on that. ;) Ooh, I like the way you describe it. Mmm. Keep talking, honey! :D

[Cosmic Geek]

I made the same initial interpretation Mirzabah

Hobolooter,

I just bought a pocket pc and Ive been looking all over the internet for successful big game ports, and all Ive managed to find is pocket Quake.

Do you know of any sites that give a list of ported software?

[YvetteKuhns]

Search Google for "pocket pc game downloads" and you will find many.

[hobolooter]

Age of Empires and Pocket SimCity are out you can search for them. There are also many others like Microsoft's Links golf game out at Jamdat. If you are looking for some good software try out Hexacto/Jamdat @ hexacto.com