Plugwatson wrote me the following e-mail, which I am going to answer here. Maybe some others are interested in this information too (I hope). > Hello, my name is James Watson, I read your account of > shareware success in the similarly name forum on gamedev. I > hope you could answer my question which is really how were you > able to write this game all by yourself? Well, I am making games since I was 10 and this is now...12 years ago. With the time it was going very well. > How did you learn to program and how long did it take to learn > to your standard? My standard is not really that high. I am able to code very fast though. Normally I make a game in one month. Sorry I do not know how long it takes. If I were you I would just start somewhere. > how long did you spend deigning the game before writing it Well this is difficult for me to say. I know most people bitch around that you need a design document, etc. I design a complete game on one piece of paper and then begin. I design on the fly. The good point is that I immidiately see an success and can immidiately play and test the game. One month. I worked one month on Smugglers. Maybe 4-6 hours a day. > and have you received interest from any publishing companies? Yes. Up to now I have not decided who will publish it yet. I am waiting for an offer that includes an advance, which seems to be almost impossible to get for games in the 9.95$ price range. > I'm sorry to bother you with this trivial matter. No problem. Link my website and buy my game. > Yours Plugwatson (gamedev ID) --- Edited by - Jester101 on May 21, 2001 12:17:38 PM

Hi jester ! Great game Smugglers. I''ve voted for it in the Isidor competition. Can I ask a question too ?

That 700.000 Smugglers users note on your site killed me. Did those magazines pay you anything for having Smugglers on their CD ? And if not, do the "from magazine" Smugglers users have access to newer patches, Smugglers II, etc., like the buying users ?


Now for some tiny bugs report :
I just downloaded the Online Demo 1.1. All the text windows are fully editable, when they should be read-only. The trading informations windows has some bugs. The medicine cost doesnt show (prolly because of the last line being empty), and if I go up with the cursor in this window, another Fusion Engines appears in the top.

Yes, a magazine publishing company bought Smugglers to cover it in two to three magazines. I am not rich now though.

The people that have the full version from the cover CDs have the same access to upgrades. However Smugglers II and the upcoming addon Smugglers: Invasion are not free upgrades.

To your bug reports:
Editable text windows: Thank you. I never had the idea to test this. Np. Its fixed now for the upcoming release.

The trading information window has been replaced by a real table (next release). Anyway this bug is serious and I will try to fix it until next weekend. This is a new bug of the last release. Thank you.


Edited by - Jester101 on May 22, 2001 11:36:03 AM

Oh, catastrophy struck ! I''ve played the demo, made 750.000 at the end, quit the game, and now when I''m online, ready to mail it the demo stoped working. Gone is my world record

If you have reached a highscore in the 32, 60, 120 turn game and you retire your highscore is saved. If you quit using the QUIT button you are informed by a window that if you continue your highscore will NOT be saved. Uhm?!

Well, I am sure you will achieve it again.
Just make sure to RETIRE or let the game time out.

Before the GameDev community bans us, you maybe should post game related issues on the Smugglers forum.