Hey folks, following up on my last message.
I just heard back from the folks at PlayerIO, who informed me that under their new pricing model, keeping the game online would cost $500/month. This massively higher than the original cost to keep servers running, and is far too much for me to pay out of pocket.
I'm a bit disappointed in this whole thing. It frustrates me that PlayerIO upped their prices so dramatically after we had built the game on their system, it frustrates me even more that the publisher disappeared without saying a word, and it frustrates me the most that my name is out there on a broken game that I can't fix and I can't take offline.
I am going to continue trying to sort things out, but if I am unable to figure out a solution, I want to thank all of you for the wonderful times we had, and I want to apologize for the way this all ended. Again, it has been a very long time since I've received any payments from the publisher, but if any of you have made in-game purchases within the past couple of months, please send me an email (fex@fexlabs.com) and I will try to refund you out of pocket.
Fortunately, my contract with EpicGameAds (the publisher who disappeared with the money) allows me to retain full IP rights, which means I still have the right to develop and release a sequel on my own. With a little luck, there may one day be a DH3.
Cheers,
fex
Hey folks!
Sorry for the lack of communication- it's been crazy around here.
The short version of the story is that I haven't heard anything from the publisher in over a year (including payments), which means I've had to prioritize other [paying] projects.
With that said, though, I did get a chance to look into this, and it turns out that the game was taken offline because the server host was not receiving payments, either.
I've set things up to pay for the servers out-of-pocket, and I've contacted them to see how long it will take for the game to come back online.
Thanks for your patience, and sorry for the inconvenience!
My God. The zombie level is just so bad. There is nothing in the world more frustrating than hitting a 110% right as a zombie pops up and go flying backwards - twice in a row. That is not fun. Apart from that one level, nice time waster.
@mrLumLum: Actually, none of the characters are really intended to be parodies of anything (although we did obviously realize that there are launch games involving turtles and penguins. :D)
@sneakdog: Wavespark is a game made by Nathan McCoy, where you slide down hills and then use the momentum to fly through the air. It was made almost a full year before Tiny Wings came out.
@Dundeey: Unfortunately, no! Andreas Illiger is the guy who made Tiny Wings: he's probably off on some private island sipping expensive drinks.
But yeah, the games are both very similar: they are both inspired by Wavespark (a game by Nathan McCoy). :D
@jingks: Loud and clear, good sir. One of the things I really want to do in the sequel is break the entire game out into manageable chunks, where each new chunk (or world/zone) introduces a lot of new stuff: a couple new powerups, a new character, a few new enemies/obstacles, and a new method of flight. Stringing 10 levels back to back makes for a decent score attack game, but I'd also like to have a mode that keeps the player entertained by introducing new mechanics at a steady pace.
@dans: Absolutely. I've got way too many cool ideas I wanted to try out for this game, so I'm really looking forward to playing around with some of them in the next game. I can't really make any promises about when, but a sequel will definitely happen, and it's gonna have a lot of awesome new stuff. :D
 "Dillo Hills 2"){kind=icon}
 "Kingdom Rush"){kind=icon}
 "Turbo Golf"){kind=icon}
 "Dillo Hills"){kind=icon}
I am going to continue trying to sort things out, but if I am unable to figure out a solution, I want to thank all of you for the wonderful times we had, and I want to apologize for the way this all ended. Again, it has been a very long time since I've received any payments from the publisher, but if any of you have made in-game purchases within the past couple of months, please send me an email (fex@fexlabs.com) and I will try to refund you out of pocket. Fortunately, my contract with EpicGameAds (the publisher who disappeared with the money) allows me to retain full IP rights, which means I still have the right to develop and release a sequel on my own. With a little luck, there may one day be a DH3. Cheers, fex