My new work of art, and a project update...

[jstrike]

Well, a lot of people here kindly suggested that I should add more slots to my software project, so I spent a couple weeks putting a new game together. I'm getting the hang of slot-making, so the next one if it ain't too different might only take a week or so... but I have a feeling the next one's gonna be reallllly different (got some fun ideas). This one's kinda unique, too. 17 lines, 2x-6x progressive bonuses, and high variance. It's got some neat effects, too...all coded from scratch of course. For the people who signed up to try the demo, check it out and tell me what you think. It's called the "60 Watt Slot". It's dark and moody and vintage-looking 'cause... I've been feeling that way, and this is just what came to mind. From my basement to yours.

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I'm still going nowhere fast with getting my site actually launched for real money... basically I can't get merch processing no matter what kind of security and transparency I'm willing to show them, because everyone wants to see an EU bank account and an EU corporation, and that means I gotta get a license somewhere the EU likes, or else lie about one as at least one shady lawyer suggested. Which is a damn joke as everybody knows. "Licensing" in these places definitely doesn't mean a site's honest or not. Honest is as honest does. So after all the costs and lawyers and gov't fees, that means I'd have to come up with a bare minimum of about $40k a year extra to grease the wheel, just for the privilege of gettin taxed three times as much...it just can't work for a site that's aiming to be a boutique club and have a couple thousand users. I actually just got an investor two weeks ago offering $15k in additional angel funds...just in time to find out for sure I can't do anything with it and now I probably have to turn it down. I already told him it's looking bad. That plus our original $15k was supposed to see us through the startup. But I can't take a guy's money and not have a decent way to launch with it.

So I'm hoping maybe something will come of all this, and I'm not just a dude who threw three years of his life away writing some software that's never gonna see the light of day. Anybody in the industry know a sportsbook that needs a poker room and casino? Or a house that wants an experimental / boutique venue on the side, a little idea-factory?

As it is right now, the only other thing I can think of is to try and run through Western Union and bank wires only. The fees are crazy, though. MoneyBookers "okayed" us, but I don't want to use them because I'm afraid they'll hold player funds forever. I don't trust them at all. They're sinister. *sigh.

Meanwhile, guess I'll just keep making games. Never could take no for an answer...gotta just keep bangin on the door. Hope you guys enjoy the new slot. Don't be shy about letting me know what you think.

 

[Rhyzz]

Looking good! You should probably be working for one of the games developers rather than looking to start a site. I admire the ambition but unless you have 6 figures to buy a license and commit to marketing, plus a huge ring fenced security deposit for a bank to get merchant processing, you'd be fighting a losing battle. Seems like you certainly have talent, you should approach some new angles though to make money from it.

 

[jstrike]

Looking good! You should probably be working for one of the games developers rather than looking to start a site.

I know...but I don't think they could offer me anything that would be worth giving up my own project. I'm a freelance developer now after a few years of working for agencies, and getting seriously underpaid, and this is like my passion / hobby thing...I did it so I could become really financially free, instead of having to work hourly like I do right now. Right now I work an average of 10 hours a week on "real" code work and bill an average of $100 an hour, which is 4x what I used to make in the best job I ever had as a microserf. I do another 15-20, sometimes 40, for a design job that pays $35/hr. I can do it 'cause I'm fast, I can do the work of a coder, a designer and a producer for half the price of what the top agencies bill. I mean, where I used to work in Silicon Valley, I made $25/hr. and they billed $200/hr. for my time. And they didn't really put my skills to full use, which is what killed me. My bosses sat around collecting big paychecks and playing Warcraft in the "fun room". Those guys were just in the way.

Now I get to spend my free time working on stuff like this. This isn't the only side project I'm managing. I wrote some open-source code that's gonna revolutionize animation in HTML5, it got picked up by a software co. that's gonna include it in their next release (but all I get is credit), I'm designing for a non-profit animal shelter, I wrote five novels (nothing published), play music, and travel. Been living on the road for four years now, place to place, Asia, Australia, Europe and South America. I'm 30. I never went to college so I don't have debt, best decision of my life. But my, uh...habitually wasted and travel-by-train lifestyle, I guess, kinda explains why I don't have a lot of savings. Any savings. But I don't want to be less free, be tied to an office, wear a suit to work, all that stuff. I can always make money when I have to. I want to own something... an investment for the long haul... and I want something awesome to be attached to my name, something I'll be remembered for. This thing is my masterpiece and maybe the last great thing I'll ever do. I just couldn't face going back to work for someone else.

 

[jstrike]

I got inspired to record a video demo, after seeing that King Kong slot... I have a ways to go...

 

[jstrike]

My next project is a multiplayer slot...but not a tournament slot. It's gonna be a single machine where everybody shares the same reels, only you sit on different sides of them. And the progressives rack up as you play. Totally out there. After that: Oh man, I can't tell ya, someone will steal it, but it's gonna completely change the way you look at slots forever. Stay tuned

 

[DiamondGeezer]

This looks highly interesting.

Hopefully someone in the industry can help you overcome the merchant problems.

Good luck it looks highly innovative.

 

[rainmaker]

lightning lines was quite cool

 

[Repro]

My next project is a multiplayer slot...but not a tournament slot. It's gonna be a single machine where everybody shares the same reels, only you sit on different sides of them. And the progressives rack up as you play. Totally out there. After that: Oh man, I can't tell ya, someone will steal it, but it's gonna completely change the way you look at slots forever. Stay tuned

I don't know why i missed this thread... But better late than never

The new slot looks a lot better than the first one. I actually played it for quite a while. The idea of "saving up" multiplier spins is very good IMO.

I understand you would have trouble making slots with lots of cinematic stuff or insane extended bonusfeatures, but i think developers can learn of lot from the way you think. So far, i think you are quite original en hope you keep it up!

I'll be checking your site often for updates!

 

[cerdikola]

Amazing game! You're very talented!

Just like Rhyzz said, I suggest you to find investors before thinking of licenses or try to sell your ideas to an established casino operation or software provider.

If you don't have enough money to cover players' winnings, where 'enough' means a millions of bucks, you'll be on your way to the rogue pit

 

[Glunn11]

I've been lurking in your (jstrike)'s threads for quite some time, and have to say that your ingenuity is a much-needed force in the online gambling world. I am truly impressed with how much effort you are putting towards this software and applaud you for really taking the time to interact with the community.

Of course, I must agree with virtually everyone with regard to starting the casino itself. While I'm no expert, it's apparent that without enough monetary resources, you can't stand a chance at making a successful casino, even if you have the best of intentions (which you clearly do). See if you can find a few wealthy folks to sell your products and ideas to. Since you're not a mega-company, you could afford to sell at a lower price than competing software providers and make creativity profitable and mainstream. Your visions could definitely set the standards way higher for online gambling imo.

I look forward to the day when your software is on an accredited casino.

 

[onlineprime08]

Interesting game. The somewhat lightning lines are great and that it attracts me. Hoping for it soon. Very nice and innovative game.

 

[jstrike]

Hey wow, this thread took off!

I just want to say that making CM my daily reading, and being able to interact with the community here, has really helped my thinking about how to make games, and given me a lot of fresh ideas and encouragement. Especially at a time when I was really starting to despair that, you know, my whole creation was just a tree falling in the forest. It's like I got a second wind. I wouldn't have come up with this new game if I hadn't been reading all these threads and seeing what people like, what they don't, and thinking "how can I do that?" And I've also had some very cool, very open industry members share some great advice, both publicly and privately, that's pushed me to take my work to the next level. So it's awesome to have this community to sound ideas off of, and there's nowhere else like it. Thank you ALL, and please keep it up...I need it.

I'm not giving up on actually launching it one day, at least as a private club, but I know I'll need plenty more money even for that. The idea of doing it out of my own pocket and starting as a poker club is DOA because of the processing barrier. I just applied for $100k of investment through the new AngelList site (who knows?)... but even if that doesn't work, I hope if I just keep putting out new ideas, sooner or later I'll hit on something the industry won't be able to ignore, and someone will pick up the software and the boutique business model, and get us set up as a franchise, or a game incubator, or a sub-licensee, or something. So I don't end up being the Preston Tucker of casino software. Who's one of my heroes, but not how I want to end up.

In the meantime, I sort of feel like getting these ideas out and creating new games is the only thing that keeps me sane...nothing else is really happening without the money to make it happen, but as long as I'm still at the drawing board, I feel alright.

 

[Rhyzz]

I think the problem you face jstrike is that to get this game to market takes an awful lot of investment 'after the fact'. The game design and code is a very small portion of the work involved, you will need to integrate it with the closed platforms widely used by the industry, have the game tested and verified at significant cost and also hold a license to distribute the game.

I sincerely hope you land your $100k investment and push it because the game looks to be of a decent standard, with some practice and maybe a minion or two helping out you could probably make some good quality games, just make sure you're not 'p**sing in the wind' so to say and do some proper research into what will be involved to get this game to market.

 

[jstrike]

Thanks, Rhyzz. You're right on the money...you definitely know your stuff. I found out lately from discussions with industry folks that it would probably take $40-100k to bring any one original Sapphire game to market on a closed platform under normal circumstances, I mean if their own people had to do the integration. I've got 22 games. $100k for one game is crazy, because in my real job I charge $100 an hour for code, and I can make a finished game in anywhere from 40-80 hours if I know the system...and I'm sure most experienced coders could do that too. I'm more interested in the creative side, of inventing the games. Code can be outsourced to guys in Romania who can do it even cheaper. But for me, it's all one thing, inventing and coding, because I have the luxury of owning the platform. In the web world, the process of bringing something new to market is -- well, the easiest part, because all you have to do is code it from your dorm room. Not like in the retail world, for example, where dozens of regional buyers have to be satisfied. I'm used to that there because I design packages that go into Walmart on the side. But casino ops and bureaucracy seem to be working more like retail chains than like Silicon Valley startups, I guess because the regulation is so complex. Or maybe it's because they have too much money to waste. IMHO they'd profit a lot more than they'd lose at this point if they weren't afraid of a little Google-style innovation for the sake of innovation, seeing that the market's already bound and gagged and most of the players are just waiting for something to knock their socks off. But in my experience, when things happen in corporate committees, it always takes about twice as long and four times as many people as when one lone programmer, or one CEO, just makes a decision and goes with it. That's the inertia of being big. Anyway, I'd have to come up with one hell of a great game, that no one else could rip off, for anyone to justify that kind of expense to convert it to their platform... and I don't know if it makes sense to try to market my games that way in the end. The cost would be a lot lower if I could do most of the coding on my end, but that would mean the operator/platform has to have an API or some kind of documentation on integrating with their system... and from what I've heard, most of them don't.

Selling a game or even just the math for a game would be great, but that's not really where I think the money is. My platform works as a single unit...the games aren't separate, they're all coded into one web page, and on my system each new game only adds between 2kb and 6kb to the page load size. And new games -- not clones -- can be developed, tested and deployed on it inside of two weeks. It's the only casino platform in the world that doesn't have to load a separate window or java/flash program for each game. I'm hoping someone will see the potential of the system as a whole, and just let me set the damn thing up, rebrand it with their logos as their "labs", like Google Labs, and operate it under their payment processing. Then it wouldn't cost them anything up front or later. With a deal like that in pocket, I'd be able to raise enough to bank it and have my own people run it in a heartbeat; I'd give our master operator full access to the system, exclusive rights to all the new games I'm churning out and consultation if they wanted to integrate one of my games into their old system; and I'd kick back anywhere up to half of our gross gaming revs for the privilege of operating under their licensing and banking arrangement. If they weren't worried that our games would make their games look bad, I can't see how they could refuse a deal like that.

The major IT / internet / software companies fund small publishers and startups under these kinds of terms all the time. It's totally retrograde that the online gaming industry hasn't started looking to the future and started to acquire independent startups this way, and the only explanation is that they're in equlibrium, they don't feel the need to innovate, and they're stuck in a rut.

But assuming that doesn't happen, I'm hoping that the when the Feds get around to legalizing online gambling in a year or two, a clause about land-based casinos having rights to go online would let me take this to a small land operator -- like, a family-run hotel-casino in Reno -- brand it for them, kick 'em back 25% without any work on their part, and everyone would be happy. And I wouldn't mind seeing it launch on that scale...that'd be just about right.