All posts by Adam Berent

Train Sim New Trains and Menu

August 9, 2016Blog, NewsAmazon, Android, iOS, iPhone, Train Sim, Update, Windows StoreAdam Berent

Although I had the Acela Express model ready for a while, I did not get a chance to ad it to Train Sim in the last update . Adding the Indian Scene was already a huge story and I wanted to make sure I limit the amount of changes in a single release.

So over the last 2 weeks I focused on adding the Acela Express & the Southern Pacific 4449. to Train Sim. I think you will agree that the quality of these Trains is really awesome!

I also spend some time improving the Main Menu for Train Sim. The important change here is that the scenes are now represented by text and picture, making it far more kid friendly. (This has been on my backlog for a long time.)

These changes are now live on Android & Amazon, and waiting for review on iOS. I should have the Windows Store & Phone version live within the next week or two.

Send Poke Balls!

July 19, 2016BlogFun, Pokemon Go, ProductivityAdam Berent

We are fighting a wild Pokemon Infestation. Productivity is down & we are low on poke balls, send help!

Recent Updates

July 5, 2016Blog3 Jeweled, 3 Jewels, Dinosaur Sim, Flight Sim, Train SimAdam Berent

Its been a busy month, lots of updates and work in progress.

First I added 2 new Dinosaurs to Dinosaur Sim. Pachycephhlosaurus and Argentinosaurus are now playable Dinosaurs. I still have at least 2 more dinosaurs to add in the near future including the requested Pteranodon. Although I already have an animated pteranodon I need to first add a larger playable world (so you can fly further) and implement flying (which is not easy)

After that I did some much needed updates to 3 Jewels. This was a major overhaul to the game-play system. Originally 3 Jewels only had 1 mode of play I call endless mode. This meant that you could play for hours until you run out of valid moves, which was mainly up to luck. Now on top of the existing endless mode, 3 Jewels also has over 50 challenge levels that allow you to compete with a limited number of moves. This update also came with new game-play features such as Jewel Bombs, Blocks and Slide to Move.

Also during all these updates I have also been working on a new version of Train Sim. This new version will feature a new Indian Scene which has been requested by many Indian fans of the game. Work is moving along well although I still have a few weeks remaining to ensure high quality and a nice finish.

Finally I am celebrating 1 millionth download of Flight Sim. This is one of my favorite games and I am so very happy that over 1 million players got to enjoy the value that Flight Sim provides. Most other games ask you to pay for each airplane but Flight Sim gives you 18 free airplanes with no in game purchases. (Like all my games)

Tasks the Indie Way

May 31, 2016Blog, NewsAgile, Indie Tasks, iOS, iPhone, ScrumAdam Berent

There are many frameworks for managing tasks for large teams, such as Kanban, Agile & Scrum and there are excellent tools managing these frameworks. However these tools can be overkill for developers like me, working alone.

In theory you don’t need allot, after all how much does a single developer need to remember. For a while I simply used a word processor on a 1985 Macintosh Plus. (Because I wanted a reason to turn it on)

This however had a disadvantage of not fitting in my pocket so I could not add things on the go. I needed an app.

Since I am a developer I could make that app, one that fits my exact requirements based on standards that I learned during my work on large software development teams, but tailored to the needs of a single Indie Developer.

The finished product is Indie Tasks, an app for recording and managing tasks for 1 Indie Game or App developer. Now available for iPhone & Android. An app made by and Indie Developer for Indie Developers. Tested & used daily by myself.

In Indie tasks you will find standard familiar terms & processes from Scrum & Agile such as:

– Assigning Effort by using Points to Stories using a Fibonacci Sequence
– Calculated Velocity based on last 30 days of Done Tasks
– Statuses such as Doing, Done
– Ability to distinguish between Tasks, Ideas & Bugs
– Backlog Reports and Views
– Twitter Share

I Indie Tasks daily in my workflow and will continue improving it based on user feedback as well as my own experiences.

Trains & Dinosaurs

May 21, 2016Blog, NewsAndroid, Dino Sim, Dinosaur Game, Dinosaur Sim, iOS, iPhone, Train Sim, Train Simulator, UpdateAdam Berent

Its been a busy few weeks. First I updated Train Sim with 2 (yes 2) new Trains; Class 91 & Bombardier Talent. If that was not enough I also added a new Train Selector and fixed a bunch of bugs.

I am proud to say that Train Sim now features 44 Trains. Thats 44 high quality realistic trains with full 3D cabins and custom sounds. This update is now available on Android, Amazon & iOS.

I have to say Train Sim came a long way in just over 2 years, I can only imagine where it will be in 2 more.

If that was not enough I also posted an Update to Dinosaur Sim. Although Dinosaur Sim is a fairly recent addition to my game lineup, it has proven to be very popular. So this week I added 2 new Dinosaurs (Styracosaurs & Kentrosaurus) to Dinosaur Sim. I am happy to say that this update is also already available on Android & iOS with Amazon coming soon.

I am also working on a Windows 10 version of Dinosaur Sim, I may be able to submit it next week.

To keep up to date on what is going on at 3583 Bytes please follow me on Twitter. I try to post every day so you should always know what I am working on.

Updates on Windows 10

April 29, 2016Blog, NewsAdmob, Ads, Ant Sim, Car Crashers, Kids Trains, Vungle, Windows Phone, Windows StoreAdam Berent

Just thought I would post an update on what I have been up to lately.

Over the last few weeks I have been updating several of my games for Windows 10 to catch up to their Android/iOS versions. This is as always a painful process.

The good news is I have also adapted a new monetization strategy and made these games free with ads. Traditionally all my games on the Windows Store have been monetized with purchases $1-2 each. This is because that Google Admob does not serve Ads on Windows Store platforms.

However, recently I saw that Microsoft has partnered with Vungle to provide Video Ads on the Windows Store. I investigated further and found that they have a fairly easy Unity3D SDK. So my quest began.

So far I have managed to update Car Crashers & Ant Sim & both are now free on the Windows Store & I am working on Updating Kids Trains.

Over the next few months I will monitor closely if these games will become more more popular as free games. If it works out, I will continue integrating the Vungle SDK in to my Windows Store games and changing their price to free. Who knows maybe there is a free version of Train Sim in the future for Windows Store!

Car Crashers 1 Million Downloads

April 11, 2016Blog, News1 Million, Android, Car Crashers, MilestoneAdam Berent

Today I am celebrating the 1,000,000 download of Car Crashers. Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed playing this game over the last 15 months. I am happy that a game I made to stop my son from crashing toy cars in real life, turned into so much virtual crashing fun for him and so many other players. Stay tuned for future updates to Car Crashers, starting with an update to the Windows 10 version.

Back from Build 2016

April 3, 2016BlogAdam Berent

Last week I was fortunate to attend Microsoft Build 2016 conference. It was a great learning opportunity on any Microsoft related technologies. Admittedly Microsoft platforms represent a small % of my players, however with Windows 10 ever increasing popularity I view it as a potentially growing market.

However to my present surprise this year’s focus seemed to be around multi platform app development, i.e. develop on Windows publish anywhere. In fact Microsoft’s recent purchase of Xamarin and its integration into Visual Studio it is actually possible to use Windows 10 & Visual Studio to make Android & iOS apps & games. Your Visual Studio can even connect to a remote Mac for Build & Debugging. Add to this the fact that Xamarin is now free for Small Teams on both Mac & Windows and I am sold. This is a huge change from just 3 years ago when all Microsoft could talk about was Windows 8 & Windows Phone. I am really excited in this new direction and I hope they continue it.

Another announcement I was excited about was the ability to developer unlock any Xbox One. This would potentially allow indie gamers like me to develop for and test on just a regular Xbox One device. Can anyone say Train Sim for Xbox One?

There was lots more around conversational intelligence, Sky Bots & a slew of Azure announcements. For a good recap on the whole conference visit: news.microsoft.com/build2016/

Train Sim Update

April 3, 2016Blog, NewsAmazon, Android, Train Sim, Train Simulator, UpdateAdam Berent

Last week I posted a new version of Train Sim for Android, and Amazon. This update features Double Engines which is one of the features most requested by Train Sim users I also took the opportunity to add Game Controller Support. This is not a popular request but it does open Train Sim to devices that support Game Controllers such as Amazon TV or Xbox One. Please let me know how the controller works on Android game controllers. Lastly I fixed the direction of steam when trains go backwards.

As always the iOS and Windows 10 update will come slightly after the Android releases.

Car Crashers “Car Bowling” Update

March 18, 2016Blog, NewsAndroid, Car Crashers, UpdateAdam Berent

Car Crashers Update is now live on Google Play Store. This new update features an new “Car Bowling” scene as well as an improved user interface.